As we mentioned in the introduction to our How-To series, we will be sharing a new question each month with suggestions/ideas from sisters from different stages of life and geographical locations. We are not intending to present “one answer” to many of these questions, but instead want to make available a buffet of ideas to help individuals and families “Magnify the LORD” in their lives.
*for this month’s question we requested answers from young baptized brothers and sisters*
How to find ways to help in the Ecclesia as a teen:
Young people in Ecclesiastes 11-12 are emphasized as being unique in the spirit and liveliness they are capable of. This has to be something no young person ignores, or thinks doesn’t apply to them. Before responsibilities of life, family, finances, or other complications of maturity make life less lively, young baptized people have the unique position of being less busy than adults but still aware and dedicated to the responsibility of life in the truth.
What better way to take advantage of that than throwing ourselves into service to God and learning about His character? Don’t waste time and be one of those people who only know what they had after it is gone.
Showing support for authority in activities is a very important way you can contribute (CYC, Bible Schools, Youth Conferences, Sunday school, etc.) When people seem unimpressed or annoyed with the leaders of an activity, it really discourages the leader and makes all the other young people less respectful of the authoritative figure. When a few young people really seem motivated and excited, it keeps the atmosphere more positive and therefore more effectively edifying.
Preaching is a service any young person can participate in. One of these efforts included handing out free Bibles, another way a survey to gather information about the neighborhood’s interest and knowledge, as well as business cards with the Ecclesia’s information handed out in a park. Young people can be a key part of organizing logistical needs, such as carpooling and design, distributing, and creating enthusiasm. As a young person, any service in the Ecclesia should be done with humility. However, being zealous for the truth and creating excitement for the spread of the gospel is a key component of a young person’s service.
“The glory of young men is their strength, but the splendor of old men is their gray hair.”
Proverbs 20:29
At the Ecclesial Hall:
– I’ve found that a big way to help in the Ecclesia is to have enthusiasm!
– To have the initiative to help organize activities or volunteer for setting/cleaning up the house of God. As simple as that is, it edifies both parties hugely. It is more blessed to give than to receive! The act of giving your time or service sets a wonderful example, encourages the disheartened, and motivates you to do more because it really does make you feel happy.
– Play the piano for meeting
– Talk to elderly people every week. Find something to ask them about, this could include something from their lives, a point from the readings or exhortation, advice on a decision, or family welfare.
– Teach children’s classes at study days or Bible Schools
– Offer to help a Sunday School teacher (making crafts, being a spare set of hands, preparing review games etc.)
– Offer to watch a toddler or young children before/after the meeting so their parents can visit
– Invite other members over to your house after the meeting can help everyone’s life.
– Take photos of Ecclesial events (SS performances, study days, luncheons, Ecclesial hikes, etc.) Then you can make and print photo collages for each event and post them on a bulletin board in the Ecclesial Hall lobby.
– Kitchen work (setting up/cleaning up for meals at different Ecclesial functions either in the dining room or kitchen)
– Clean up in the kitchen after luncheon or refreshments (or offer to help those that are already scheduled!)
– Teach Sunday School (one of my favourites)
– Be that positive person when others are leading activities
– Sing enthusiastically!
– Talk with younger kids and play with them around the hall
– Offer to help with the weekly/monthly landscaping. We had a group of young people in our Ecclesia that worked at a landscaping company and they surprised the Ecclesia by turning an old unused garden plot into a beautiful flower bed one day when they all got off work early.
– Attend Ecclesial workdays (there are lots of jobs to be done to help maintain Ecclesial halls, and the younger kids love having you there!)
– Make lists of ways to help out your Ecclesia! It keeps your mind on the topic and makes you aware of what you need to work on.
“For you, O LORD, are my hope, my trust, O LORD, from my youth.”
Psalm 71:5
Specifically related to CYC:
– Offer to drive teens to and from CYC, and in general, being available to offer seats to anyone who may need a ride to/from any Ecclesial events
– Lead CYC
– Lead or brainstorm games for CYC
– Spend time with all the different cliques and making sure all feel welcome
– Always bring food/drinks wherever you go
– Help clean up
– Offer to drive younger people to activities/events afterward (if the young people go out for snacks or to someone’s house for a hymn sing)
– Talk to those who seem by themselves at events
– Offer to have CYC at your house and think of a new activity/game you could do
– Offer to help with something for your young people’s gathering (registration, food, games, t-shirt ordering)
“But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.”
Jeremiah 1:7
Some ways I have found to serve outside the Ecclesia:
– Do the daily readings with peers. Pick one person to call once a week and do one of the readings with. This can be expanded to call a different person every day. (It only takes max. 30 mins. usually closer to 10-15 min.)
– Call your friends if they haven’t come out to CYC or the meeting recently (even if they don’t live close by)
– If someone is doing something important like moving we can help them by going over and help out. You could offer to bring a snack for the movers, or a meal for the family for when they first move in.
– Call someone in the ecclesia, if they were sick, or in need, or even just for fun to see how they are doing!
– Offer to parents with young children to look after their kids during an evening so the parents can go out for dinner or a walk.
– Offer to cut the lawn/rake leaves for older members of the Ecclesia
– Go over to an older sister/ brother house with a small gift (like cookies) or even just to say hi.
– Pick an encouraging/interesting verse from the daily readings (I use the second portion because it covers Psalms and Proverbs) and text/email it out separately to CYC members, Ecclesial peers, etc. once a week
“Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”
1 Timothy 4:12