We all have been blessed with special gifts and talents. As we learned during our early and late Christian education, we need to take our lights from under the bushel basket and let our lights shine. One way to do that is by participating in one of the areas of lay ministries available at Holy Cross.
The Catechism of the Episcopal Church declares that the mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ. The Church pursues its mission as it prays and worships, proclaims the Gospel, and promotes justice, peace, and love. The Church carries out its mission through the ministry of all its members.
The ministry of lay persons is to represent Christ and his Church; to bear witness to him wherever they may be; and, according to the gifts given them, to carry on Christ’s work of reconciliation in the world; and to take their place in the life, worship, and governance of the Church.
At our baptisms, we are initiated into the body of Christ and receive a baptism of not only water but also the Spirit whereby we are given gifts that we bring to the body for the sake of the ministry of the Church. Some of areas of ministry that you may be interested in at Holy Cross included the following:
Lay Readers. Those in our lay reader ministry may read the Old and New Testament lessons at our services.
A degree of additional training and education is needed for following areas of lay ministry:
Lay Eucharistic Minister. Those who assist the clergy in serving at the altar in various capacities and administering the chalice during communion are called Lay Eucharistic Ministers. This valuable area of ministry enhances our services and assists at the altar as required.
Lay Eucharistic Visitor. Our congregation has a number of members who are homebound, are in the hospital, or are not able to attend church and have communion. Our Lay Eucharistic Visitors are commissioned in teams to take the communion elements (the wine and wafers) from the service to those who are not able to attend services. This area of ministry is extremely rewarding and in many cases is the only frequent (monthly) contact that our homebound members have with our church.
Please join us in one of these areas of ministry and let your light shine.