Keeping up the (church) House

[primsong]

I find a vast amount of the things I am involved in have my faith and/or my church and its various activities, needs and ongoing whatnot as a part of them - goodness knows there's always something to do, especially in a smaller one where everyone has to wear more than one hat.  Since my earliest "church days" as a teen, I've been drawn to take care of the building, furnishings and bulletin boards, etc. - i.e. one of my first actions as a new Christian was to take the welcome mats home and scrub them, hee hee....  I still update bulletin boards, polish the wood in the sanctuary, make sure the kids have scribbling paper so they don't scribble in the hymnals, pressure-wash the moss off the sidewalk and paint the lines on the parking lot, for instance.  And I love it.

Out of curiosity, for those of you who have a church or other group that meets on a regular basis, what 'slot' of duties do you find yourself falling into the most naturally?  What jazzes you that you get to be a part of it?

Comments

[senmut]

When I was a member of a church, I participated fully. I assisted our Treasurer who also mimeographed our Sunday Services pamphlet. I helped take attendance in all services and Sunday School. I was a passionate lay-speaker. I debated points during bible studies in such a way that the Elders encouraged me to speak it out with our Pastor, listening and learning despite my youth. I was both in the full choir and performed separately with the Youth Group (All four of us preteens/teens). I helped care for and organize the kids and their activities (about 7 of them, most of the time). I did Bible Drill (could have gone to state championships back then). I helped in the Fellowship and other circumstances where there were dishes and food to clean up.

We had a full roll of only 72 members, and about 45 of us regularly showed up. Small church, family oriented, Methodist by denomination with a congregation of both Methodists and Baptists. The kind of place where the pastor made home visits through the week to our Elders, and asked me why I didn't come to church some weeks. The Pastor who then told me I was welcome, even in jeans, because most of the time I missed due to babysitting the night before.

It was very rewarding, leaving me with a feeling of deep spirituality that I never truly found in any other church. Which contributed to me choosing a solitary spiritual path.

[travels_in_time]

I taught Sunday School for several years, although I don't now. I also enjoyed working in the nursery, running the overhead screen (song lyrics, scriptures, sermon points), preparing the bulletins--background stuff, where you don't get noticed.

I don't much enjoy cleaning the church, although I'm in a group that does it in a rotation; and somehow right now I'm a greeter, and that is SO WRONG for me, I can't even begin to comprehend how that happened.

[linaewen]

I am currently less involved in actual regular church duties than ever before, but I attribute that to the fact that I serve in missionary-related work full time during the week and Sunday is a day of renewal for me rather than serving -- though recently I have been thinking of getting involved with helping in the kids ministry on a part time basis. In the past, I have been involved as a Sunday School teacher, singing in the choir, working in the nursery, helping with bulletin boards (my mom was in charge of those for many years, too!), and serving as church librarian in a couple of different churches. I think I enjoyed the librarian job the best, since that was my training!

[primsong]

Church librarians ftw! I've done the library at two churches, still tweaking my current one to update from old vhs and such. I have such respect for the childcare workers as it always drove me crazy to do the kids stuff, you guys are amazing. They always, always need more people to rotate with for the kids - Maybe you could see if they need childcare on a different day of the week to cover for a study or something. Most of what I do isn't on Sundays either. :-)

[primsong]

Haha! I know, right? I've ended up at the door a couple times to greet people and it's not where I belong either. :-D Thankfully, the 'usher teams' also include being the person standing behind a counter that has all the information stuff and I do like answering questions so that works out. Bless you for doing Sunday School, teachers of all stripes are fabulous people - and for having the courage to do nursery!

It's a fine skill to keep the lyrics going at the right pace so you dont' get that earnestly muddled sound of people trying to sing but they can't quite remember what the next words were. X-D You remind me I'd like to learn how to do the lyrics and such on the overhead, seems it would be a useful thing to know in the event of no-one else being there who could keep it going. Sometimes you get events that only have a handful of people, after all.

[primsong]

Wow, you were really a 'jack of all trades' - Sounds like everything but getting up to re-shingle the roof! (or maybe you did that too!) One of the things I like about smaller churches is the way everyone is needed and everyone can be involved in...well, everything! You're less likely to run into exclusive cliques that run particular departments so picking up skills in various areas is an easy thing to do and it's always appreciated. Bless you for all you did, especially with the kids - I bet they still remember you. ^_^