Small Church Ministry

I have now been working at my field education placement for two months at a small church about a half hour north of Princeton. My first Sunday there was my first worship service in which I was to be serving in a traditional service as a liturgist, though that hardly seemed to matter. I was thrown into the deep end and had to learn how to swim real fast. It also happened to be communion, which meant I was to be responsible for helping to pass out the elements. Needless to say, I was a little terrified. If you have ever held a tray of communion cups filled to the brim with grape juice, you'll understand my terror. I was so afraid I would trip and send the juice cascading in a purple waterfall upon the elders. I have now helped with two communions since that first one and I have yet to be the cause for a grape juice downpour, but the fear still haunts me. So far, I have learned that in a small church everyone needs to pitch in and it doesn't really matter how much experience you have. Many of my experiences this term have been "sink or swim." Either I figure it out or I don't and I am forced to learn from my mistakes.

Thankfully, most of the time I have been successful thus far. Of course, I have had my fair share of teaching moments. I have been given some guidance on how to be a better reader of Scripture as well as the little traditions that I was unaware of, but overall, God has seen me through. However, the real test is about to hit me. In a week and a half, I'll be leading a prayer retreat for the Elders and Deacons. My pastor needs refreshment so he wants me to be completely in charge of this retreat. I have never lead a retreat before. I've been to many, but nothing geared toward Elders and Deacons. To say the least, this is quite the task for me. It is difficult to plan a retreat with a goal of spiritual refreshment for a church context that I am new to. I'm not sure what the root cause of their weariness is. I want this retreat to be meaningful, but I'm afraid that it will end up simply being a treatment for symptoms rather than a dose of medicine to fight the disease. I recognize that I am not the one who will renew the life of the congregation. Only God can. Frankly, I do not see the same level of general weariness that my pastor sees. Sure, people are overburdened, but I'm not sure that will be fixed by three hours talking about and practicing prayer. It might help them deal with weariness, but inspiring those who will not be coming to the retreat to pitch in and help is the only way to ease the responsibilities placed on the leadership's shoulders.

I guess this leads me back to the main lesson I'm learning. In order for a small church to be really healthy and for all the members to be thriving, ALL the members need to share the load. Submission and service are key elements of a functioning Christian community. For that I will hope and pray.