Called and Equipped: Grace in 2020

Christmas is behind us. The gifts have been unwrapped and put away, or in some cases, returned. But there are other gifts that we have yet to open! These are the gifts of the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised to send, so that God’s people can do God’s work. And I think we can all agree there’s plenty of work to do! Let’s begin this new decade at Grace with a new awareness of how God is calling each of us to be the hands and feet of Christ in this crazy and conflicted culture. Developing a Spiritual-Gifts-based ministry will help us do just that. 


A Spiritual Gifts-based church is one that helps its members discover, embrace and use their God-given gifts in service to each other, to the church and to the community. This is the first step in connecting people in the body of Christ. Getting involved by using your gifts is an act of love for and devotion to Christ and facilitates the journey of moving from where you are to where God wants you to be. More than volunteering, it’s an act of love.

At first glance, this Gifts-based ministry sounds simple enough. But many people walk into a church with a consumer mind-set and it’s not easy to move from consumer to servant. Yet that is exactly the transformation that will provide the greatest joy and maturity in faith. It is in serving that we find our place, our purpose and our passion and our love for God and others.

We have a great deal of work ahead to fully develop a system at Grace that will honor each person’s Spiritual Gifts and present the serving opportunities in a way that makes them accessible and easy to manage and engage. We have a list of tasks to accomplish!
 

1. Write “job” descriptions for all our current ministries, including the time and resources required.
2. Collect the descriptions into a "ministry opportunity" booklet that will be available at the Connection Center.
3. The Lay Development Team (LDT) will continue to offer the “Blue Cards” to invite people to choose an area of serving that interests them. LDT members personally contact each person who returns a card to discuss their interests and the opportunities. LDT members will be trained to help discern gifts for ministry.
4. Grace Connect (the member database) needs a “Champion” who can use the system to its capacity to administrate the welcoming and connection process, insuring that everyone is offered opportunities as they desire.
5. Offer Spiritual Gift classes.

If you find yourself intrigued by any of the above and are looking for a new adventure in this new decade,please email Pastor Cindy at (cindy.marino@peopleofgrace.org). 

The worlds needs us to use our time, our gifts, our resources as God has designed in order to live out the hope, peace, love and joy we’ve celebrated this Christmas!