Getting ready to Go and Serve

I’d always heard “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have,” and yet, at the age of twenty, I was asked to not come back to the hardware store I worked at because I kept wearing my Batman costume. Mixed messages, anyone?  And now, I can really wear whatever I want (within reason) because I have the job I want, and want the job I have.  (I have given up on being Batman… or, I’m working to solidify my secret identity.  You choose.) 

I write this as preparations are being made for Installation Sunday this Sunday, where we will authorize our elders, deacons, chairs and officers to serve as they have been called. To serve as an elder means intentionally building, maintaining and growing relationships with people in the church, offering a spiritual presence and discerning leadership in the congregation, and giving of one’s time, talents, and energy above and beyond. To serve as a deacon means being the hands and feet of the church—preparing the sanctuary, collecting and passing during services, and giving one’s time, talents and energy above and beyond. Our officers and chairs take on specific tasks that both draw on their strengths and challenge their creativity, require odd jobs and specific tasks, and sometimes go thankless in their service.  All these people we will recognize, celebrate and authorize to serve in 2013. 

But that’s not all. Everyone gets installed this Sunday. Whether you absolutely know the ministry you do (which may or may not be through the church or overtly about God), are seeking to find your place, or you think we’re Peace Mennonite, this Sunday, we’re getting everyone ready to Go and Serve. It should be something else, certainly.  I look forward to seeing you all Sunday, and shalom y’all, 

Arthur