A CASE FOR VOLUNTEERING

Volunteering can be a wonderful thing for a Parish and for an individual.
It is a way for us to listen and to offer our personal gifts to the service of our whole community in a certain way for a limited period of time. It is a way to respond to God’s call for us and to put faith into action and active engagement, rather than being solely an observer.
Saint Paul tells us that there is a variety of gifts (Corinthians 12), but always to the same Lord. And there are all sorts of service to be done, but always to the same Lord. These gifts we are told, are allotted to each person for a good purpose and given for the common good. And how we know that God is at work is in the diversity of our gifts rather than their uniformity. As the early Church shows us, the work of God was seen in the act of collaboration, co-operation and solidarity of the community, in service of the common good.
Volunteering, is not about building a power base. It is not about accruing rights and entitlements and positions in the Parish, due to length of service. It is not about being closed minded and expressing a way things are to be done, because that is how things have always been done around here!
Volunteering is a gift of giving. It is a generous act, graceful, open and loving. Acting in faith hope and love. Always discerning what it is that God is asking me to do on my faith journey. It offers the hand of friendship to all. It is hospitable to all. It is open to all. It is inclusive of all. It broadens parish.
It acknowledges too that there are times, when it is time to move on from a volunteer role and consider what else is being asked of me. Volunteering is not a right. It is a mere discretion to act, granted by the Church, working with and through the formal and approved processes in the Parish.
It is a way to say: ‘Here I am Lord, your servant. Your will be done’.
We have over 340 adult volunteers acting in different capacities in Mount Merrion, quietly going about their work. We thank each and every one.
For more information on Volunteering with any ministry group in the Parish, please contact either Rosemary or Vivienne in the Parish office for more information.
MM PPC – May 2019