Experts made the Titanic, amateurs made the ark

What are your talents? Painting? Counseling? Maybe you’ve never met a car problem you can’t repair or you’re an amazing chef. Perhaps you just find opportunities to help people wherever you go.

Whatever your talent or skill, guess what? God’s behind it! But He didn’t bless any of us with a talent or skill simply so we could look awesome or earn lots of cash. God wants us to steward those gifts for Him! Maybe you thought stewardship was just for your money. Well, yes, that’s a part of it. But it’s so much bigger than that. Stewardship is about everything in our lives—and that includes our talents.

If we want to please God—if we want to hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant” when we meet Him in heaven—then we must faithfully use our talents the way He wants us to. Colossians 3:23–24 (ESV) tells us that everything we do should be for Christ: “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”

If you are older than 18, Saint Columba Parish has many opportunities for you to help build a community that will benefit both our Parish and our regional communities. Take a look at the list below and see where your talents lead you. Get in touch with the organization’s contact person and help serve the Lord Christ through your efforts.        

Click on each of the following for descriptions, meeting times and dates, and contact’s photo and information:

Visits: 301

Whatever you do, do it for the Lord

A few years ago, Erin Wathen wrote a commentary entitled “Your Church Does Not Need Volunteers.”

She introduces her view beginning with: “I know I’m not the only one who cringes when someone sees me, without kids in tow, and asks if my husband is “babysitting.” Well, no. I mean, yes, he is at home with the kids tonight. But I do not think you can effectively say “babysitting” when it is your own dang kid. I’d say we could just call that parenting.

She continues, “I feel the same when people talk about “volunteering” at church. And yes, I know it’s just a word. But it’s the wrong word, for a lot of reasons. If you ask a grandparent or an elder of your church, I’m pretty sure they will tell you that the church they grew up in never asked them to volunteer. Historically, the church has asked people to serve–as deacons, as greeters, as Sunday school teachers, or on the property committee. Whatever the job, it was considered a service. A ministry.”

But as she notes, the meaning or definition of “volunteer” has changed and perhaps it is time we stopped using the word in our Parish. 

“But I balk at the secular nature of what it means to volunteer. To volunteer means that you are an outside resource, stepping in to help an organization in need. Volunteering is what we do when we pick up trash at the park, or build a house with Habitat, or help sort food at the local food pantry. Volunteering is what I do at my kids’ school on Fridays.”

“In other words, it’s what you do at a place that is important to you–but not at a place that belongs to you.”

Wathen believes that what we do with and for our Parish is so much more than just volunteering. 

“And I guess that is the important distinction for me… You cannot volunteer at your own church, in the same way you cannot babysit your own kid. Because the church belongs to you in the same way your family does. It’s your own place, your own people. So, of course, you help take care of it. Of course, you do yard work and make coffee and teach the kids and sing in the choir and whatever all else it is you do for the home and the people that you love.

A volunteer, in most cases, is just visiting. A fly-by. Maybe it’s a helpful fly-by, but it’s not the same as belonging to something. It’s not the same as contributing to something bigger than you, something that’s part of who you are.”

All that said, we live in the world we live in, and we cannot realistically extract this word from the life of the church. It is both a noun and a verb, and it’s the one that just rolls off the tongue when we are asking people to come and do work. Which, in the church, we are forever asking people to do. Still, as I plan for a summer sermon series on discipleship and what it means to let the church be the church, I feel a strong nudge to challenge how we talk about–and think about–the time and energy we spend in ministry. It’s important to recognize those gifts for what they are–ministry–and I’m not sure the word “volunteer” does justice to the depths contained in the work people actually do in their churches.

Call it serving. Call it discipleship. Call it the priesthood of believers, or mission, or the ministry that we all share together. Admittedly, “Priesthood of Believers” does not look great on a t-shirt. And it maybe doesn’t invite visitors to ask you where the bathrooms are… But whatever we do, we should remember that we don’t just belong to the church–it belongs to us.

And we do not babysit that which is ours.”

So, instead of us considering an opportunity to volunteer at St. Columba Church, perhaps we need to view our role as something more. And as we change how we see our role(s), we will find our place in a Parish community that is indeed, ours.

Many of our Parish activities and organizations are for everyone, giving everyone an opportunity to contribute, to participate in age-appropriate activities that benefit our church community. Saint Columba Parish has many ways for you to become involved. Take a look at the list below and see where your talents lead you. Get in touch with the organization’s contact person and help serve our Parish.

Visits: 337

Point yourself in the right direction now; when you are older, you won’t be lost

Joining a group will give you a sense of belonging. When you feel “at home” and “safe” at youth ministries, you are most likely to stay actively involved.Our youth activities and organizations are filled with meaningful teaching, discussion, worship, and relationships, everything that will keep you coming back.
Our groups will give you the opportunity to develop your skills through service or leadership projects with others of your own age.
If you are in grades 2 to 12, Saint Columba Parish has many ways for you to become involved. All activities are supervised by adults with state and federal clearances and each one meets in a Parish facility.
Take a look at the list below and see where your talents lead you. Get in touch with the organization’s contact person and be part of our Parish.

Visits: 288