At this point you understand what Shared Ministry is and why it’s important but you may still be wondering what all of this is truly going to mean for you-what do you have to do? What it means is that now is the time to think about how you can get involved and use your natural gifts in areas that are exciting to you and bring you joy in order to impact those around you. That involvement may happen at church (that is a great starting place!) or it may happen in the community. It may happen in a formalized setting like volunteering at an agency or it may be informal like helping out a neighbor. It may happen consistently such as once a week volunteering or it may require less scheduled time.
Two weeks ago, I shared a meditation in which I said that it doesn’t matter how you are called to act, but that what’s important is that you act. I truly believe that, which means that shared ministry gives you a lot of freedom to act as you feel led. How you serve, where you serve and when you serve is up to you-you are even free to say no if you don’t feel called.
But remember serving doesn’t just occur on Sunday mornings. There are multiple opportunities to serve every day which means you also have endless possibilities before you. That means that shared ministry will require you to commit to intentionally thinking about how you might serve others, what your talents are and where they might best be utilized and what it is that you truly enjoy doing. So to break it down, here is what you have to do-listen and pay attention to figure out how you are called and commit to acting when you do feel called. You can do this!
Terisa