Are you struggling to get enough hours for your long book each week? Are you reaching the end of the first six months with less than 100 hours of service? If you find yourself in this position, there is no need to panic. However I would encourage you to stop worrying about the hours and focus on the ministry time you are doing. Ministry is more than getting hours chalked up; it is about being with people.
If you are someone who is making the hours each week, are you focused on the people you are serving or filling out the log book? Paid ministry staff have to face this issue all the time because they have to justify their ministry hours. Whilst interns and paid staff have to justify their ministry hours with time sheets and log books, the focus should always be on the people you are ministering to.
When we work in a secular job that we don’t like, we watch the clock tick by because we are only there for the money. We don’t make the time count because we are counting time. When I worked as a check out operator for a major supermarket I didn’t interact with customers because I was there to earn money. Have you ever been in a job like that?
Ministry is different to a job because we are serving God not our employer. As an intern you are building the Church not building a company’s profits. As an intern, here are four things to remember to make your service hours count:
1. Spend time building people not hours – focus on the people you are serving rather than watching the clock. See every interaction with people as time to build them up and support them in their journey with God.
2. Focus on the ministry not the log book – work for the benefit of your ministry rather than just filling the log book with hours of service. Even if you clock your hours for one week, continue to serve the ministry for the rest of the week for free.
3. Every experience has a lesson – you can learn from everything even the failures. Ministry doesn’t always go well, whilst you can still count the hours, what have you learnt the lessons from ministry experiences that failed and the ones that succeeded?
4. Start small and build from there – don’t expect big results in the first Volunteer Service Period but cast your eyes on a big vision. We need big visions because our God is a big God.
What ministry tips have you learnt so far in your ministry? Please leave a comment so that others can learn from your mistakes and successes. Please leave a comment to tell us struck you most about this post.
If you are someone who is making the hours each week, are you focused on the people you are serving or filling out the log book? Paid ministry staff have to face this issue all the time because they have to justify their ministry hours. Whilst interns and paid staff have to justify their ministry hours with time sheets and log books, the focus should always be on the people you are ministering to.
When we work in a secular job that we don’t like, we watch the clock tick by because we are only there for the money. We don’t make the time count because we are counting time. When I worked as a check out operator for a major supermarket I didn’t interact with customers because I was there to earn money. Have you ever been in a job like that?
Ministry is different to a job because we are serving God not our employer. As an intern you are building the Church not building a company’s profits. As an intern, here are four things to remember to make your service hours count:
1. Spend time building people not hours – focus on the people you are serving rather than watching the clock. See every interaction with people as time to build them up and support them in their journey with God.
2. Focus on the ministry not the log book – work for the benefit of your ministry rather than just filling the log book with hours of service. Even if you clock your hours for one week, continue to serve the ministry for the rest of the week for free.
3. Every experience has a lesson – you can learn from everything even the failures. Ministry doesn’t always go well, whilst you can still count the hours, what have you learnt the lessons from ministry experiences that failed and the ones that succeeded?
4. Start small and build from there – don’t expect big results in the first Volunteer Service Period but cast your eyes on a big vision. We need big visions because our God is a big God.
What ministry tips have you learnt so far in your ministry? Please leave a comment so that others can learn from your mistakes and successes. Please leave a comment to tell us struck you most about this post.
Blessing
Mark McDonald
The New Year gives you a fresh start - you can make a decision to be more friendly to people in 2010. Instead of saying hello, can you stop to ask someone how they are doing? instead of waving can you go over to say hello? Ministry is more about people than it is about programs.
ReplyDeleteCheck out "the 15 revolution" by Paul Scanlon for more thoughts. Can you spend 15 minutes a day to make someone's day better? How prepared are to be inconvenienced to build the Kingdom?