It has been almost a year since I joined the family at FCC, and I have loved every minute. As I look back on my first year at FCC, I can’t help but remember my first training sessions for our 2017-2018 Church School Teachers. If you were there, you remember what I told you: “If you are a Church School Teacher at FCC, you are a MINISTER.” I definitely wasn’t trying to scare anyone, but I’m sure I still did! Volunteers who had been helping in Church School for years thought they were being given a huge amount of new responsibility. Being a minister sounds overwhelming. But the Safe Church Policies I handed out in our Teacher Training sessions define “Minister” in a surprisingly palatable way: “Minister: A person authorized by the church to carry out its ministry.” That’s not so scary, right? And what is the “ministry” of our church? Our ministry is to be “an accepting community where faith in Christ makes a difference in our lives, in our homes, and in the world.”
I wanted to assign great value to their service/ministry, while also showing that it really wasn’t too hard to serve at all. As I said to the church school teachers, making a difference at FCC is remarkably simple. What do you love to do? Find out a way to do it with/for the church. John Wygal is creative and has a fun sense of humor. He used those gifts in Church School and the kids loved it. Sophie Petti is a teen Confirmand who visited Church School to share her 4th-grade Bible Ceremony experience. I remember the wide-eyed wonder as the “big kids” shared what the “little kids” could look forward to in the future! John Stuart is a local musician and has many years of experience collaborating and performing. He gave his time and talents to get the Youth Ignite Group Band off the ground this year. And I have SO many other stories…just like these…that I could share.
Your gifts and hobbies were given to you for a reason. You can be a minister. No one ever gives or serves in isolation. Each kind word, kind action, and each moment you give will snowball as those lives get inspired to touch more lives. Thank you for serving at FCC.
Mrs. G.