Your Ministry in the Pew

Here are some quotes about the ministry of the pew, which is the ministry each of us have on Sunday morning.

“Church is a gathering of God’s people to hear his word and respond in faith and obedience. In this gathering, we are in fellowship with each other, through the blood of Jesus, and, because of our fellowship, we seek to serve each other. We use our gifts and abilities to strengthen one another and build Christ’s Church—‘edification’ is the word often used to describe what goes on in the church. All believers are involved in building the church, not just clergy or preachers.”

“If at church we are working to strengthen our fellow believers, where we sit becomes important since part of our work will be talking to our neighbor in the pew, welcoming people, helping each other understand God’s word and praying with each other.”

BEFORE

Prepare.  “We prepare by studying the Bible passages.”
Meeting visitors and newcomers.  “We enjoy meeting our friends at church, but we need to develop a nose for new people.”
Arriving early.

DURING

Active Listening.
Singing
Logistics
Newcomers.  “If ‘a newcomer’ can’t find their way around the Bible or the service outline, or they don’t have a Bible, help them yourself.”

AFTER

Discuss God’s Word.
Pray with others.

“Newcomers tend to leave fairly quickly so we have to move fast by identifying the visitor in our pew and offering them conversation immediately after the service ends.”

“Once you catch this vision of church, you are always the last to leave because the opportunities to minister don’t end until the last person leaves. Gone are the days of fitting church in between breakfast and brunch.”

Church requires a lot of effort, if we are to build the body of Christ.”

Taken from “The Ministry of the Pew!”  Read the entire article at  http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/1994/03/factotum-1-the-ministry-of-the-pew/