Claim your ministry

Last night I traveled to Watertown for the calling hours for Tess Beauchamps. I met Tess through my involvement with the Miss Connecticut program seven years ago. She was involved with oversight of all the Miss Contestants from across the state that year. I was a volunteer. I offered to drive the girls back and forth between Connecticut College and the Garde Arts Center during competition week.

She was a real lady. A former contestant and a long time volunteer in the Miss America system, Tess worked out every detail of the week. She was eighty years old but she had me hustling. The next year my role changed and I didn't get to work with Tess until last year when I was asked o be her assistant. In 2007 she took over as the state Judges Chair. That meant it was her job to greet them, instruct them on what their role was and to make sure that they had a good time while they were here. I was the gofor.

I had a good time and when she asked me if I would work with her again, I readily agreed. So a few months ago she and I hooked up again for the 2008 Miss Connecticut Pageant. During our two years we had a few opportunities to talk about life and faith. She was a devout Roman Catholic and her faith was important to her. As a matter of fact, it was one of the reasons she got involved in the Miss Connecticut Scholarship Program. She wanted to encourage young woman to excel in all they did. At eighty years old, Tess was still going strong and she proved to be an inspiration to many of the young women in the program. You should have seen the line of people waiting to get in to pay their respects last night. There were hundreds of people and the wait was about an hour and a half long.

Are you wondering why I am telling you this in the First Baptist Life blog? There are two reasons. First I want you to know that I believe my ministry as your pastor goes beyond the boundaries of our membership.

In some ways I feel called to be a pastor to the whole community, akin to the Jewish philosophy of being a rabbi to the whole village. I am blessed because you give me that freedom. My ministry extends to the Norwich Rotary club, Hospice of Southeastern Connecticut, the Otis Library Board and the Backus Hospital. Over the years I have been involved with the Martin Luther King Center, the YMCA, United Community and Family Services and several other groups. You have given me permission to work and pray with all who come to me for counsel and advice. The ministry you have given me extends beyond the needs of our members. That means that at times I have had a special relationship with the employees at Charles Toyota, the parents and staff of the Luis Pabon Dance Arts Center, the group of parents who make up the NFA Band Boosters and members of the music department staff, the Community Theater community in Norwich and the list goes on. In some ways. my ministry and therefore our ministry has no limits and therefore its reach is boundless. That is good.

The second reason I am telling you this is because the same is true of your ministry. Your ministry is not limited to serving on a committee or Board at church. Your ministry is not limited to helping at the tag sale or bringing cookies for the reception after service. Your ministry goes with you wherever you go. When you volunteer with the Girl Scouts or help with the team at Little League you have an avenue for serving God. When you are standing in the classroom or waiting on tables, you can use that venue for sharing God's love.

You see, we all have a ministry that extends beyond the walls of the Church. Jesus told us that we were called to be salt and light to the world. We are to be out there flavoring it with the love of Christ. We are told to bring light into the darkness. We don't have to carry our Bibles with us to do that. We can simply do it by being thoughtful, caring, friends who are there when God needs us to say a word or offer a prayer for someone we know or work with.

All it takes for this to happen is for you to say a little prayer and ask God to use you. Believe me. He will. So get out there and claim your ministry.

Cal