Laity Unleashed

This post is more for those lay leaders that are reading than for the Pastors out there, but I hope all of you enjoy it.

The Church is made up of many parts. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 12:12 “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all of its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.” (NIV) In the ministry of the church there seem to be many areas that are all too often left up to the senior pastor or to a few paid staff members. Some of them are the duty of the pastor, but many can be shared by the laity which is why I called this note “Laity Unleashed”. In case you are thinking that all a pastor has to do is get up and speak on Sunday mornings for a few minutes, here is a short list of duties that a pastor often is expected to do.

Pastoral Care
Preaching
Administration
Discipleship
Personal Evangelism
Building Campaigns
Outreach
Visitation
Goal Setting
Church Meetings
Budgeting
Future Planning
Staff Leadership

The list above only includes what are normally seen as “pastoral duties” and doesn’t even touch the many other areas of ministry of a church. If the body of Christ is to work as a functioning unit, the head cannot do all the work of the body. While most pastors would probably not want to give up the preaching part of their job, most would gladly set aside other areas if they felt that the laity of the church would pick up those areas and competently work to see them carried out with excellence! If you are sitting in the pew on Sunday morning just wishing someone would ask you to get involved, be a little proactive and ask where you can be of service wherever you worship.
Other areas of ministry include but are not limited to:

Prayer
Music
Children
Family
Singles
Youth
College
Support Groups
Small Groups/Home Groups
Men’s/Women’s Ministry
Bus
Parking
Greeting
New Member’s Class
Visitation
Nursery
Missions -local/statewide/ national/international
Fellowship
Special Events – Movie nights/Halloween etc.
One on one discipling
Audio/Visual

In no way is this to be viewed as a complete list, but one can quickly see that there are needs in any church for many people in the laity to be involved. I just want to encourage you to find a place in your church wherever God is leading you. As a Christian, we don’t have the option to just take up space. God made each of us differently, but He enabled each of us to be a part of the body of Christ. As we see from scripture, even the churches Paul planted weren’t perfect, but we as part of the body should strive toward perfection and not allow our pastors to throw their up their hands in desperation when they realize that they cannot do it all themselves. Have an awesome day!