By CTA—Christ to All
Spring has already begun to show up in various parts of the country and with it the promise of renewal. Nature springs back to life, for sure. But there are other definitions of renewal and your men’s ministry can lead the way to bringing renewal within your community. One way to do that is to host a “Spring Clean” within your congregation or neighborhood or to plan now for a fall event.
After a long winter, there are certainly areas of the church parking lot and landscaping that can use a little attention. If it’s within your group’s capabilities to handle the work, great. But if not, then volunteer to coordinate the work for the staff or committee in charge. This has been a very tiring season of ministry for church staffs. What a renewal for their spirit to have these administrative burdens lifted! What a joy for the members and community to see a refreshed church façade, shining brightly in their neighborhood.
Are there members of your church that need small handyman jobs completed but don’t have the funds to cover them? What a blessing it would be for them to have those tasks finished! Want to create some goodwill with your neighbors? How about creating a flyer of services you’ll offer to them and allow them to sign up?
While the joy for them is obvious, the secret key to unlock true joy is Christian service. The ability to bless someone’s life fills your bucket with joy in ways that are often hard to describe and that last much longer than the thrill of a great game performance, a new tool or electronic, or a promotion.
In this time of reduced travel and travel bans, mission trips haven’t been possible, but you can always go on mission in your own neighborhood. With the strain of unemployment, isolation, virtual learning, and so on, now is the perfect time to engage your congregation and neighborhood. You may find many people who want to participate with your men’s group project—great news! The number and scope of projects could be expanded if that’s the case.
Regardless of how you choose to implement service projects, organization is key.
- Define your scope. Will you create a work day at church? expand to projects for congregation members? reach out to the community?
- Recruit volunteers needed. The number of volunteers, the skill sets needed, and number of supervisors needed are all based on the scope of your project. Your men’s group may be all you need, but if you feel you’ll need additional people to participate, then understand that volunteers will need to know specifics. What is the time commitment? Are there specific skills needed to participate? Where will it take place?
- Meet together for prayer before beginning. Focus each volunteer on the reason for the day and ask the Lord to fill their hearts with joy in their service and bless their conversations with anyone they encounter while serving.
- Meet afterwards. Capture the energy from this service experience, thank the volunteers, and celebrate the work that was done.
One church took service to a congregation-wide servant event once a year that served their entire city. To hear how they did it, listen to the interview “Utilizing Servant Events” from CTA’s Focus on Leadership podcast by clicking here.
You are welcome to copy this article for one-time use when you include this credit line and receive no monetary benefit from it: © 2021 CTA, Inc. Used with permission.
