Tag Archives: volunteer ministry

Calling Teachers to Teach

We all have gifts, graces, and talents given to us by God. As Christians, we are called to serve God and use these gifts, graces, and talents. Congregations would not be able to offer its programs or opportunities for ministry without volunteers. Leadership is often “tasked” with finding volunteers to serve a variety of roles, including that of teacher and mentor for children and youth. It’s not about recruiting warm bodies, it as about an invitation into ministry. Here are some tips and pointers to invite others to share their gifts through the ministries of teaching and learning in your congregation. It is a call to ministry.

The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Matthew 9:37

vol·un·teern. one who chooses freely to do something vt. To offer or give of one’s own free will. vi. To offer to enter into service of one’s own free will.

Why do people volunteer?

  • They want to be needed
  • They want to help others and make a difference
  • They want to learn new skills or use skills they already have
  • They want to belong to a caring community and feel accepted as members
  • They seek self-esteem and affirmation
  • They want to grow in their faith and share their God-given gifts
  • They want to keep from being lonely
  • They want to support causes they believe in

When seeking to involve people in ministry: Continue reading Calling Teachers to Teach

The Episcopal Christian Educator’s Handbook

CEHandbookIt’s been years in the making as I’ve been culling through file folders full of handouts, worksheets, lists, and post-it notes. Coming early November, my latest book, “The Episcopal Christian Educator’s Handbook” should be arriving in Cokesbury’s warehouse and hopefully in Amazon’s stockpile (but one never knows with Amazon).

It was fun to assemble and quite a challenge to determine what to include and what to leave out. Trying to make it ‘light’ but informative and useful, as well as categorized in a way that would make sense to a volunteer Christian educator, I had to lay out the page titles on my dining room table before submitting my final draft for publication. Continue reading The Episcopal Christian Educator’s Handbook