Ministry that all of us can take part in

On Saturday I spent the day in and around Howard Brown Park at River Fest.

I volunteered to help out at the Norwich Rotary Club booth in the afternoon and to row with the WICH/WCTY Air Raiders Dragon Boat team in the morning.

I have to confess that these two activities were not directly church related. You may even wonder why I mention them here under First Baptist Life. The answer is simple. When we talk about living our faith, it isn't something that can easily be compartmentalized. We don't pull our "faith" out of a box on Sunday mornings and put it back in again on Sunday night. We carry it with us all week long.

We've been talking about being a missional church and that means each of us should be looking for ways to live out our faith all week long. I lift up my activities on Saturday as an example of the way I am doing it.

I joined the Norwich Rotary Club in 1991 on the invitation of Leonard Royce. Len was a member of our church and a member of the Club. It was one of the ways that he made a contribution to the community and he suggested I do the same. He was right on the mark. Over the last eighteen years I enjoyed this ministry. I call it a ministry not simply because the Rotary Club does good stuff in the community. It is a ministry in the sense that I have had a number of opportunities to be with people and to talk about issues of faith that have arisen in their lives. As a result I have become a part time chaplain to a good segment of the community, especially to those who don't attend church regularly.

The truth is that you probably come into contact with a number of people who are dealing with spiritual issues every day. When you open up to your friends and let them know you believe in God and that your faith is important to you, God will use you to speak to the hearts of your friends and acquaintances. You will be in a position to minister to them and serve God at the same time. It will become part of your ministry. When all of us begin thinking about the ways we can be used by God to share his love, then we become a missional congregation.

Now I have to tell you that the dragon boat races was something I did just for the fun of it. I really wanted to do it and the kid in me jumped at it when Michelle Chaffee asked me. Then after I began to think about it for a bit and realized that this was an opportunity for me to meet some of Michelle's friends and co-workers. Some of them have heard her talk about the mission trip and the church. By jumping on board I allowed them to meet me and see that all Christians aren't stuff shirts and like the stereo-types they see on television.

The truth is that all of us are just normal people. We need to let the rest of the world know that. Too often religious people are portrayed as nuts in movies and in the media. You and I know that's not true. To be a follower of Jesus simply means that we love him and are trying to follow him and his teachings as best we can. So it's good to get out there and let the world know who we really are.

It was a good day of ministry, even if it wasn't typical. I hope you have days like this too. They are a blessing and they bring glory to God.


Cal