Ministry Reflection from Claude Garciacelay
Please watch or read the announcement from Claude about serving in lay ministry at Trinity.
On this Sunday when we celebrate ministry here at Trinity, I have been asked to share my experiences in volunteerism and ministry. My name is Claude Garciacelay, and as a long-time member of this congregation I have participated in various ministries both as part of groups and singly performing needed tasks. At the heart of it all for me is service, the call to serve in community for the betterment of the whole.
To be in community is to be of service, both in giving and receiving. Early on, when I came to Trinity, I was invited to participate in the life of the community, by sharing my gifts and talents, those known and unknown, those inherent in me and developed as I participated and worked with others. I felt included and able to help where there was need, and in the process I made connections and friendships. In the doing, I learned to better recognize Christ’s light within myself and within others.
What I received in the doing was a sense of wholeness and gratitude that can be discovered through ministry in community… the joy of service… that sense of satisfaction of a job well done, my heart swelling with love for the community and from the community to me… a part of the whole. The beauty of it for me is that the same love is apparent, present whether I’m stacking chairs after an event at church, serving as an acolyte or performing a more contemplative task by myself such as arranging flowers for a Sunday Service… in all cases, I know the community is thankful…
The cool thing is that these lessons in community, these imprints of experiences within our church, can be taken out into the greater community and applied to your life outside church. I still vividly remember the time at a business meeting, and for the first time I consciously and intentionally went into the meeting with God’s love in my heart, prayerfully as I had done in church meetings… was it just my imagination, or did things seem to go smoother, more open? I still wonder, but have continued this practice to this day.
As you explore the booths at the Ministry Fair after the service this morning, I encourage you to do so with an open heart and a spirit of discernment… where is God calling you to service? Where are you being nudged to share from your unique knowing, or challenged to step into some new role? Remember, it is in giving that we receive, and in serving our community, we find our own sense of purpose and fulfillment.
See you at the Ministry Fair… Thank you!
