MMH5 – Five Unsung Church Ministries That Show L-O-V-E
The Monday Morning High Five
Continuing our list of all things 5 to hopefully bring a smile to your Monday.
Next Sunday is Valentines Day. A day of showing how much you care for your significant other with candy, flowers, or a heart shaped piece of construction paper. Of course, this day brings a lot of references to love. This week, we’ll be talking all about love here at GodlySheep. To kick things off, I wanted to highlight some of the unsung heroes at church. If Valentines Day were to have a theme song, I believe it would be “L-O-V-E” made famous by Nat “King” Cole. I thought it would be cool to do a MMH5 with the acronym of “LOVE”. Of course that would leave me one letter short, so I’m going to do what any good Scrabble player does and add “S” at the end to make it a new word. I also thought it would be cool to bring to light some of the unsung ministries in the church. We see the love shown in the Sunday School teacher for their students, or the singer pouring their heart out in words and song, but what about those ministries that you don’t necessarily associate with love?
So here is the Five Unsung Church Ministries That Show LOVE
photo by ScottSchrantz
L is for the way the lavatory’s cleaned – I don’t know one person who would say, “I LOVE cleaning the bathroom, especially public ones!” (I don’t believe that sentence has ever been uttered outside of this post) This is not an enjoyable job. There is no waiting list to be assigned to this duty, but you know what? Someone does it. Someone takes the time, to lovingly scrub the sinks, bowls, and replace everything in a public bathroom that needs regularly replaced. This is someone who loves the church, those who go there, and Christ so much that they are willing to humbly do the job that no one wants. This is possibly the most unglorified servant duty.
O is for the Oatmeal cookies made – Chocolate chip cookies and brownies are the king and queen of the cookie prom that is a church cookie social. Everyone likes them. They are a great crowd pleaser. Oatmeal cookies are the wallflowers. They are the cookie you eat when all the other cookies are gone. Well, hats off to you, Oatmeal cookie baker. You went against the flow and baked to your own tune mixer. You represent every potluck dish that only a few people ate. You took the time, money and effort to make something that you knew was unpopular, but possibly preferred by a select few. Thanks for loving the little guy.
V is very very downright ordinary – This love is found in those who don’t have “musical talent”, or are nervous speaking in front of people, or don’t have a spectacular salvation story. Maybe you just help out in Sunday School, or you’re just a hall monitor, or you just help set up chairs and tables like a trained monkey could do. However, you do it out of love, and you love doing it. God doesn’t view love based on the high or low profileship of service. You keep being downright ordinary because you’d be surprised how extraordinary ordinary is in God’s eyes.
E is even more than what is convenient – Love happens when someone goes and gives beyond their means. Whether it’s time, money, or service. They give beyond what is expected, what is convenient, what is necessary. Even if it is less than what other people can give and no one ever knows. Love happens in the inconvenient.
S is for the smiles given out liberally – Yesterday, I realized a ministry and service that a guy in our church does that probably no one has thanked him for or even noted. There was no sign up sheet for this service. There was no announcement asking for volunteers, yet it is extremely vital to have in a church. He just did it without being asked or prompted. His service: Being nice. Whenever I see him on Sunday, he’s sincerely happy and excited that my wife and I showed up. And it’s not that my wife and I are that awesome to greet (though we kind of are 
), he responds to everyone with this type of kindness. It’s always a joy to meet him in the morning. He spreads his love with smiles and handshakes.
Do you have any other unsung church ministry that shows love?
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"You keep being downright ordinary because you’d be surprised how extraordinary ordinary is in God’s eyes." Great quote…. so very true!
Thanks
"LOVE" this high 5!! Hey, oatmeal cookies are healthy!
This from the mom who packed flax oil seed in my lunches for school, you know about providing the less popular items.
Unsung heroes:
L- Light Bulb Changer without you we’d all be in the dark!
O-Organizer of fellowships-someones gotta be in charge of it all (even who brings the oatmeal cookies) and your that person, you make sure there’s a theme, even if its just ‘finger foods’ you make these potlucks possible!
Van Cleaner-Outer its not always the people that run the transportation ministry that clean up the church vans/buses. Maybe you can’t be on the actual route, but you help in the little ways, keeping the bus/van clean. We love that our seats are gum free! Thanks!
E-Effective Follow-Upper. When someone visits your church for the first time, you volunteer to go meet them. Or people who have called the church interested in more information, you become the ‘face’ of the church and answer all their questions. This isn’t an offical job that’s done by one person, but you know who you are, and the church wouldn’t grow and blossom without you!
S-Scheduler of nurseries- everyone wants to help out in the nursery(right?) And your the lucky person who assigns the where and when.
Nice!