Sunday, September 4, 2011
Church buildings can be very busy places. Many churches fill the week with program after program—Sunday School, worship, Sunday evening worship, Wednesday prayer, children’s programs, youth programs, women’s Bible studies, men’s groups, activities for seniors, leadership meetings… Need I continue?
In fact, we have been so conditioned to associate the Christian life with activities like these, that we begin to rank our spiritual maturity based upon how busy we are at church. We feel guilty if we’re not busy. But the true measure of our spiritual maturity must take place outside of church activities.
True spiritual maturity is seen in how we love God and love people (Matt 22:35-40). Or to be more specific, I think of five characteristics that should be present and increasing in a balanced Christian life: worship, growth in knowledge and obedience, healthy relationships, service, and evangelistic outreach.
As Calvary East has developed, we’ve taken a simple approach to ministry. We don’t want to be consumed by church busyness. We’re always evaluating what we do to stay focused on encouraging each other to live out those five characteristics so that your family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers will see God at work in you.
One of our ways to keep ministry simple and streamlined has been to develop ministry teams. A ministry team focuses on a particular area of ministry. In the spring we had ministry teams for children’s ministry, youth ministry, adult discipleship, worship, outreach-service, in-reach, and missions. Working on a specific ministry area together as a team keeps people from getting burnt out.
Ministry teams meet one Sunday night a month to pray and work out how best to tackle the tasks that need to take place to work toward our goal of encouraging those five characteristics of spiritual maturity.
For ministry teams to work best, we need everyone who considers Calvary East their church home to be a part of one. What areas are you passionate about? I encourage you to consider joining one of our ministry teams for our first meeting of the fall on Sunday, September 25 at 5:30 p.m. Childcare will be available. To sign up contact us here.
Ministry Teams
Children’s Ministry
Helping families impart the wisdom that leads to salvation to their children
Youth Ministry
Helping teens develop an independent dependence on Christ
Discipleship
Helping men and women grow in their knowledge of and obedience to God’s Word
Worship
Helping us all develop a deeper love for God.
Outreach and Service
Helping us all display and proclaim the redeeming love of Christ to our community
In-reach
Helping all of us, but particularly newcomers, develop closer connections with one another
Missions
Helping all of us be aware of and engaged in God’s work beyond our congregation
– Bryan Craddock