Spiritual gifts – Next steps

Thank you for taking time to do the spiritual test. Ask God to help you know how He has gifted you for service and how you can begin to use this gift in ministry to others.  Below is a list of possible ministry opportunities for people to serve at Hurst church:

Fellowship volunteer: Pick up food and beverages, cups, plates, bowls, etc. for Christmas, Easter services, special events, or group meetings

Fall Festival Volunteer: Set up and tear down booths, games, run booth, host table of arts and crafts, etc.

Handyman: Every day church maintenance items, building props/set designs for holiday programs.

Set up and tear down: Setting out and picking up tables and chairs, reorganizing rows into straight lines/order. Put away technical parts and assist with any other clean up.

Childrens Ministry holiday Volunteer: Work along side childrens ministries director to organize holiday parties, make treats, find creative holiday themed programming for Sabbath School classes, help cut out crafts, organize and prepare SS rooms for quarterly themes, organize supplies and paper and more.

Christmas Child box Organizer: Operation Christmas Child organizer for children in the congregation to get them excited about being generous during the holidays. This individual could assign folks to a box, make sure all the pieces are correctly submitted and coordinate mailing them off. This person could also coordinate with a local homeless shelter to bless families during the holidays. Organize “Christmas in a box”- including presents, dry goods/ingredients for a Christmas dinner ornaments, lights, and a small faux tree to deliver to someone who otherwise wouldn’t have a Christmas.

Social Committee leader/Volunteer: Are you a great organizer? Are you a social buttefly? Do you love to get together with others and play games, chat, eat food, and overall have fun? This might be the place for you! This person would organize, coordinate, and oversee the fascilitation of gathering the church together for a fun night/day of outdoor activities or games and food.

Interior Decorator: Do you have a passion for interior design and decorating? The church is always in need of those who are willing to make God’s house look amazing. To include the Christmas Season, weddings, special services, childrens events, church events, etc.

Musical talents: Do you have the gift of playing an instrument? Do you have a gifted voice but are afraid to sing? Do you want to bless others with the musical talents God has given? There are ways you can serve. Maybe you know how to play an instrument and would like to teach others. We can start a free music lesson program here at the church. Organize a SINGSPIRATION (Yearly outdoor concert, indoor concert, coordinate with local talent and invite them to come share, etc.) Start a Hospice singing ministry (sing for the dying and encourage through song).

Outreach coordinator/volunteers: For family-friendly local or abroad mission trips. Do you enjoy talking with strangers and getting to know new people? Do you like to serve others and help make our community a better place to live? Can you sweep, rake, pull weeds, pick up trash, or serve dinner at the end of an outreach opportunity? No matter your age, capability, or experience, there is a job for everyone. This is an area the whole family can serve.

Card ministry for shut-ins or the sick: Find who in the church is shut in or sick and organize a regular time to buy, make, decorate, cards and take them to the members in need. Also this can be done for anniversaries, birthdays, loss of loved ones, etc.

Nursing home ministry: Have a cute kid, pet, or a passion to visit our elders in care homes? This takes a cheerful and lively person who loves people and wants to minister to those who cannot get out anymore and bring to them the love of Jesus through song, the word, or just a caring visit.

Food bank/Homeless ministry/Clothes Closet: Do you have a passion to serve others by helping organize, sort, run, a part time ministry to help needy families and individuals? Maybe you have a background in social work and could help find those in need the proper support services needed to get them back on their feet? This may be where God wants you.

One day Mission trip Organizer: Organize and lead weekly or monthly one day community mission trips to do some yard work, pick up trash, plant flowers or plants, repaint buildings, clean up a house. If you love to clean and believe Jesus is calling you to help in your community and just need a little boost, you may find this to be your niche.

Organize a church wide “mission week”: Plan and organize regular church wide mission week projects to include

1. collection of unused make-up, perfume and other cosmetics, as well as clothes and shoes, for a center for abused women – this small gesture can mean the world them. They can dress up with the clothes and makeup which will help them feel better for the holidays.

2. Distribute leaf bags during the fall: Encourage residents to clean their streets and yards.

3. Read a book to someone who isn’t able at the hospital, local senior home, etc.

4. Hand out batteries to raise awareness about smoke detectors and how they save lives.

5. Put together hygiene kits for the homeless and pass them out. One could request items to be donated from the community or go door to door.

Usher: This person, more than likely a deacon or deaconess in many churches, can assist in helping visitors or elderly members to find seats, be in charge of distributing needed items during the service, devices for hearing impaired, collection plates, giving cues to assist with orderliness.

Greeters: Every church needs a smiley, bubbly, warm soul that is self sacrificing and willing to aid others in their experience at church. The first person often a visitor sees is the greeter and that first impression goes a long way. Someone who opens the door, asks relevant questions and is willing to befriend a visitor and invite them home for lunch or sit with them during the service. Training included. This person is able to answer questions about small groups, service times, church hours, where and how to give, how to serve, and more. A greeter can be many different things to all of the folks in the church and is able to help visitors and members take the next step in their journey toward discipleship.

Roaming Greeter: This is a key role. This person intentionally goes out of their way to find newcomers, first-time visitors, or people sitting by themselves. A friendly face is a new friend and an immediate point of connection and inclusion. This person can connect visitors and those seeking a study group to the right group.

Parking Volunteer: This volunteer could help park vehicles in an efficient way and also assist elderly to the doors, families with bags, food, extra items, aid with security during the services, stand ready with an umbrella. This person could also be in charge of picking up members who otherwise could not drive or get to church. This is a person who is proactive in seeking out those who need help, making sure the parking lot is safe during inclement weather, and keeps an eye on vehicles from would be suspicious activity or walks with those to their cars when it is dark outside.

Security Volunteer: This person is willing to take orders from security head and is willing to monitor doors, parking areas, making sure classrooms are locked after classes, directs people to the proper locations, has situational awareness, and keeps their wits about them regarding those who may arrive who are not supposed to be there. We do have a security team, however the deacons may also serve in this role even though they may not be on the security team.

Church setup/Communion prep/potluck prep: This usually falls under the responsibility of the deacons, however they could always use the help.

Church maintenance: This is the responsibility of the deacons, but is not limited to the deacons.

Anyone willing to help in the maintenance and maintaining of the church and grounds and is willing to invest time and effort in this capacity would be a great fit.

Disaster Response Coordinator: This person would oversee all volunteer efforts that pertain to the crisis, like home repairs and temporary shelters, as well as overseeing supply and donation coordination. If a tragedy strikes your community, the Body of Christ should be on the front lines of offering hope and healing to those impacted. In a time of crisis, the church needs to be proactive, not reactive. Good fits would be former or current first responders, military professionals, event planners, or public safety officials. This person would also coordinate with local conference disaster response teams after a natural disaster or accident.

STEWARDSHIP/FINANCE DIRECTOR: This role would aid in oversight of church resources and finances. Stewardship of your church’s resources is vital, and so is the stewardship of its personal finances. The Stewardship Director would be a trusted advisor to the church and the congregants, with experience and expertise to lead the “business side” of the church with major financial decisions and debt management. Good fits would be financial planners, investment professionals, banking executives, and retirement planning experts.  

Community Liaison: This role would be the eyes and ears of the church in the community. We often hear stories of churches that are full of people ready and willing to serve their community, but simply lack the knowledge of where to start. This person would network with public officials to stay in touch with current needs in the community, or connect with local clubs, scouting organizations, and nonprofits to create partnerships in supporting the community.  When a need arises, this person should coordinate and provide volunteers with opportunities to serve the community. He/she should also find and organize resources that are needed within the community. This person could also coordinate with other local churches to aid in serving. Who would be a good fit? Retirees, local entrepreneurs, retired city officials, and community organizers.

Great cook/baker or a Chef? These folks can make bread, cookies, dishes for outreach opportunities and events around the church and could be helpful in cooking classes, and health seminars.

ESL-English as a 2^nd Language: Do you know multiple languages? If you are gifted in this area you could offer free classes for residents or church members to help them learn English.

Audio/Visual/Web design/Electrical: There is always need for those interested or experienced in these areas.

Photographers, painters, scupltors and other visual artists could display their work in the church halls or start classes for free at the church in their role of expertise. These volunteers could also start a newsletter and include pictures of baptism, childrens events, seminars, series, and other church events. This person could also start a photo club and periodic safaris to areas of interest.

Writers: Do you love to write and have a passion to get the message of Jesus out via an online or paper newsletter? Maybe you would like to write an article for a local newspaper about an event the church held to help the community? Or you could submit articles for the conference quarterly magazine. There is always something newsworthy and people need to be kept up to speed about current events in the church and also calendar events.

Fitness Lovers: Do you have a desire for health and fitness? The sky is the limit on this one. This person could start many small groups to include the community such as a biking club, canoeing club, walking, sports, lifting, running, or even hold a boot camp on the church property every morning during the week for church and community members.

Pastoral Care roles: Counseling, phone calls, home visits, and more are a great way for those who love to visit and talk about life and pray to be involved. This will also help take the burden off the pastoral staff and elders.

Military Ministry: This person will most likely be a veteran or current member of the military who can organize events or support groups and is willing to visit community veterans and also serve congregational service members.

Single parent ministries: These volunteers can organize a babysitting directory, fun kid friendly events, support groups, singles ministries, and more.

Church office Volunteers: Having someone around the office to help facilitate the smooth running of day to day items, answering phones, organizing information and documents and getting information out to members.

Marriage Mentors: this is a great volunteer opportunity for a married couple, maybe a retired couple, to share some wisdom with newly married or engaged couples. This will create friendships and mentorships to last a lifetime. They could also organize a list of books and resources your church recommends for marriage and relationship enrichment and growth.

Meal Ministry:  have someone coordinate an ongoing calendar of people in the hospital, having surgery or babies, and delegate others to make meals, deliver food, and make sure they are cared for well while they’re focused on healing.

Graphic Designers: Every church needs a graphic designer who can add up to date and modern designs for the church website, flyers, event advertising, social media, and more. This person will have had or does have a background in graphic design and can quickly and effectively make quality designs to further the mission of the church.

ASL Interpreter: If you have a background in sign language you could offer sign language for various church services.

Interpreter: If you have the gift of speaking in another language, we could use you as an interpreter and offer those who cannot speak English an option to come to our church. This person would interpret all the proceedings of Sabbath Morning over a system that allows for the language impaired to understand all that is happening.

Mercy Ministry team: This team would be most effective in helping community members who are seeking benevolence offerings.

Prayer Warriors: These people will team up with other warriors and their prayer coordinators in an effort to be vigilant through prayer and pray for community, church, and individual needs. The church needs more intercessors who will watch unto prayer.

Librarian

Literature distribution Coordinator: This person is ambitious and desires to reach others for Jesus. They will man a literature distribution booth in the church and coordinate regular opportunities for outreach and lit dist. For the community. They will also be tasked with ordering and keeping stock of all required books and literature such as Great Controversy, Glow tracts, Bible study guides, etc. and maintain contact with community interests and delegate other members for Bible studies and follow up on contacts made in the community. This person must be a good organizer and willing to do the Lords work. They will also be willing to train others on how to do this work as well.

Bible worker

Health Ministries Coordinator