When I worked as a church apprentice, one of my favourite things to do was to serve the older ladies in my church at their fellowship meetings. These were the women who held me as a baby. They had prayed for me since I was a child. They had even persevered in asking me how school was going when I was a moody teenager. These ladies have continued to care for and love me, and it was great to be able to give back to them and learn from them in this way.
This showcases the wonderful connection that we have with others in our church. We are all part of the family of God. We’re all different ages, from different backgrounds and life experiences. Yet when we come together, we care, love and support each other because we know that we are joined together in Christ.
But being born into a church as a baby, and then growing up through Sunday school and youth group, can often make it hard to be taken seriously. Even older Christians with the best intentions can miss the mark. It can feel a bit awkward when they ask you the same questions every time they see you in church. It takes time and effort from both sides to help and encourage one another, and ultimately, have more meaningful relationships.
There’s lots of different things you can do to get more involved in church, but I’ve broken it down into 3 easy categories to get you started. My prayer is that this would be a starting point for you to think personally about how you could contribute and encourage your church, so that everyone will be involved and work together for the church’s good and God’s glory.
Look Up
When you’re looking to get involved in church life, to step up and move out of the ‘child of the church’ zone to ‘grown up member of the church,’ you need to understand that it’s going to take effort and time. These people have known you and loved you since you were small, and it will be hard for them to view and treat you in a different way than they have been for all these years.
One of the best ways I found to show that I was growing up was to start doing what they did in church. If you find yourself being assigned a home group, make the effort to go along. If you want to learn how to pray better and pray for others, go to your church’s prayer meeting. Actively look to learn from the older people in your church and listen to what they have to say. They’ve got years of experience – stories of when things went well and according to plan, but also when things went wrong and were out of their control. If they’re still living for and loving God, despite the ups and downs of life that they have faced, then we can learn from them.
Often people ask about school because they want to know about what’s going on in your life. Often they don’t go beyond the questions about school because they don’t know much more about you! One way to help steer the conversation off the same 3 questions, is to volunteer information about your life. Maybe you’ve read a good book or did a new walk recently with your family. Maybe you’ve got into drawing or made a new friend at school.
It’s definitely not rocket science, but if you remember that they are asking because they care, it feels less like an interrogation and more like a friendly chat. You might even find you have things in common with them, which will help in your later conversations. You can also ask them things. Try thinking of some different conversation starters that you can use. Asking questions shows that you have genuine interest in getting to know others. It shows that you care and want to be in a 2 way relationship.
Look Out
In the church there’s always ways to serve and look out for others. You’ll usually end up on a rota with a team of people, which is another great way to get to know others and move out of the ‘kid zone’. If you’ve got a skill that you think might come in handy at church, then speak to an elder or a parent about how it could be used in the church.
It’s not an exhaustive list but this might give you some ideas:
- be on the welcome team
- be on the cleaning rota
- help with admin tasks in the office
- serve tea and coffee
- help with digital design for your church website
- bake or cook for new parents
- work in the creche
- be on the AV/sound team (with a bit of training)
- play in the band
- write book recommendations
- write a card of encouragement to older members of the church
When you serve your church you show real commitment to it. You grow in love for the people there and you’ll encourage others to do the same too.
Look Around
Which brings us to the last point, but by no means the least. If you want to become more involved with church, you want to be an encouragement to those around you. Your commitment to coming along and getting involved with church life will rub off on your peers and those who are about the same age as you.
When you make a profession of faith, and in time get baptised, others will look at your life and wonder if it’s something they could do too. So, be real with your friends. Let them know how you really are. Ask for their prayers and support in the ups and the downs of life. And make friends beyond your peers, get to know others in your church family.
This is what it means to be involved in a church and mature well. It is taking your faith, and your relationships with the whole church family, seriously.
