Greetings, Good Shepherd family and friends,
My name is Ellen Blackburn. My family and I joined Good Shepherd about two and a half years ago after moving here from Indiana. I currently serve on the vestry, schedule and train lectors, lay Eucharistic ministers and acolytes in addition to singing in the choir. The whole family, Mike, Emma, Rachel and I all jumped into the deep end when we decided to make Good Shepherd home. We all make serving a priority.
I guess you could say that volunteering at church is in our blood. I grew up attending an Episcopal church and watched my parents serve. From altar guild to treasure and from counter to Senior Warden, my parents set an example of service. The taught me that it takes the entire family of God to get things done; when our family needs us, we step up. I have followed their example and served in many capacities in the churches I’ve attended. I’ve taught Sunday school, worked at Vacation Bible School, and led Youth Groups. I’ve been a lector, Lay Eucharistic Minister and Lay Eucharistic Visitor. I’ve trained lectors and LEMs and trained and mentored acolytes in addition to scheduling them for services. I’ve served on three vestries and sung in six choirs. I’ve been part of a prayer chain ministry, sewn bags for the Jamaican mission, cooked meals, cleaned kitchens, and set up more chairs and tables than you’d care to count. I’m sure I left things out, but I hope you see that not all volunteer work requires a three year commitment or a special skill set. I volunteer because I want to serve and I want to set an example of service for my children.
In serving the people in my parish, I serve God; and in taking something off the plate of someone else, I can free them to serve as they are called. My life has had many seasons. My ability to serve has varied during these times. I learned quickly to give myself grace when my volunteer work dwindled to setting up tables in the parish hall while someone else held a baby or giving a week to VBS when I couldn’t commit to teach every Sunday. I learned that no matter the act of service or frequency of such, that I mattered and so did the work I was able to do. I am part of the family and we all have chores. Think about those chore charts most of us had growing up. How can our Good Shepherd family do chores to free up time and money for our mission of serving the world in Christ’s name?
Please volunteer. Your family needs you.