The Smallest Ministry
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[1 Comment]It was the smallest of ministry opportunities.
Mary, the pastor's assistant at my church, called one evening to ask if I'd be part of a new group that would stay late on Sunday mornings to straighten pew racks and prepare the sanctuary for the following week. I was one of several single women she was calling to solicit help, she said, explaining that she hoped to provide an opportunity for the women to get to know one another while performing a needed service for the church.
I readily agreed. While I wondered what made unmarried women uniquely qualified for the pew-cleaning task, I was grateful for an opportunity to meet other singles. I'd been attending the church for more than a year, but with 800 members and no singles' group, it had been difficult to make friends. Couples tended to gravitate toward one another, and the greeting time built into the morning services allowed for quick handshakes and hellos, but little else.
Eight or 10 women turned out the first Sunday, and we gathered in a small circle in the back of the sanctuary while Mary offered simple instructions. We briefly introduced ourselves, then fanned out across the sanctuary to begin our task.
Although we worked in pairs at first, following Mary's suggestion, we realized that the job would be finished more quickly if each of us took a section independently. I crossed to the front left section and made my way across the first row, placing pew Bibles back in their racks, turning misplaced hymnals right-side-up, and collecting discarded bulletins. I continued row by row until I reached one with books already neatly in place.
"I covered that section already," another woman called from the aisle nearby. Leaving our now-tidy area, we walked to the other side to help a handful of others still at work, and were finished a few minutes later.
The group was smaller the next Sunday. We exchanged smiles, but our conversations were brief and efficient: "Did you do the center section?" and "I have extra visitor cards if you need any." The intended fellowship opportunity seemed to have failed.
In fact, as the weeks wore on, the task only increased my feelings of isolation. As I wove between pews, I overheard couples who lingered after the service, chatting with one another and making plans for lunch. On the Sunday before Christmas, the clattering of my shoes moving across the tile floor was the only sound as I worked alone in the abandoned sanctuary.
The lonely task was reshaping my view of ministry. I'd heard numerous sermons challenging Christians to "do great things for God." I'd always imagined those "great things" to be ministries with obvious, wide-ranging impact—evangelistic tours resulting in countless new converts for Christ, or hunger programs bringing relief to people throughout the world. But a look at Scripture caused me to wonder if God had a different measure of greatness.
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judith(Registered User)
To all who read this: I'm glad to hear that Karen made friends, good friends, following the failed little ministry assignment ........... but my question to you all is this: why not, when in that situation, take some initiative and invite others who are cleaning up pews (or whatever you are doing that is "menial" and "low-reward") to go to lunch with you? In all the churches I have belonged to over the years I have taken courage AND responsibility to ask others around me to lunch, or to go to a Bible study or to the youth group's spaghetti dinner. DON'T WAIT FOR OTHERS ... IF YOU WANT TO RELATE TO OTHERS, INVITE THEM!
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