‘There are many gifts but the same Spirit’ (1 Corinthians 12.4)

by the Revd Hannah Cartwright

This week I have mostly been tackling rotas. Rotas for the coming term and even, dare I say it, rotas for Christmas! I secretly like getting organised but I rarely feel enthusiastic about a full day at my desk having to get stuck into administration to make it happen. However, this week I have found in it an extraordinary encouragement.

This is because behind every table of dates and times and events and roles and responsibilities are… people. People who are much loved and incredibly gifted; who give of their time and energies and expertise to offer hundreds of hours every term to serve God and others and to make the world a better place.

As a snapshot, in the course of just one hour in the building on just one day this week I very briefly talked to: two people giving their time to arrange flowers, someone giving their time to make sandwiches for the Gatehouse, several people giving their time to offer hospitality at coffee and doughnuts, someone celebrating the Eucharist, someone coordinating the stewards, and someone preparing for the next Godly Play session… all volunteers, all in just one hour and all before I have even mentioned those who are busily signing up on all the other rotas which run day in day out to make worship and outreach happen through another term ahead.

There are those who serve in very visible roles and those who serve behind the scenes; those who have served in different capacities for many years and those who are offering themselves in new ways for the first time. But each plays a different and integral role in turning what starts as just a large group of people who gather to share a common interest, into a genuine community of faith which reaches out to the city (and the world), welcome others in, and reaches up in prayer and praise to the God who draws us together in our glorious diversity.

You are the Church.

It is your ministry, and the love of God which you share in myriad ways, which keeps the doors of faith open for many who you may never meet or get the chance to hear of the impact of your words, actions and prayer, upon them. This week you reminded me that even rotas can be an extraordinary means of grace and an outworking of the Spirit in our common life.

For all that you are, and for the many gifts that you share, thanks be to God.