Volunteering
by Lori Callaway

As Catholics and Christians, we are asked over and over to give of our time in stewardship. It takes more than money to make any church, Sunday school program, VBS, or any group function.

It takes human time and effort to make any organization become a viable program, much less a growing one.

This year, I have done more volunteer work than ever before. I taught RCIC, which was a weekly 9 month commitment. This last Saturday night I was a volunteer for my daughter’s high school marching band in a parade. I taught a group of non-band kids how march, stay in line, march around corners and follow hand signals. The majority of these teens had never marched before in their lives, and I had a whole 45 minutes to teach them, at the parade staging area. I was needed because of my experience from when I was in high school band and had marching experience. It was exhausting and we hadn’t even entered the parade yet!

While working with these teens, I realized how easy it was to say yes when asked for help.

I could also see how easy someone could be overwhelmed with volunteering. On the bus ride back after the parade, I had a lot of time to think about all the people within my own church that volunteer. I realized, it is always the same people. That’s not really fair or right.

My worries are twofold:

1.What happens when the bulk of little old ladies in the Altar Society burn out or worse, die without passing on the secrets of perfect altar cloth folds or where the special candle holders are?

2. What happens when those people that volunteer for everything decide enough is enough and they are tired of being taken for granted?

Yes, that’s correct, taken for granted. We all do it within our churches. We expect the same people to keep stepping up and taking on the duties they always have. As a whole, our communities have taken on the thought process "that someone else will do it" or "I’m too busy already." I've heard it enough times in passing others when the plea for volunteers has gone out: "Someone else will do it, they always do." What if these constant volunteers only do it because no one else has stepped up to the challenge?

What would our lives be like if God or his Son felt the same way? Our lives would be a wreck and in shambles.

If you don’t volunteer in some way now, why not? Do you have some experience that no one else has? Something you’ve done in the past that could help your church now?

If you know of someone that is always volunteering, perhaps they are taking on something or one of the duties that you could be doing.

If you are volunteering in the secular world, why are you not able to volunteer in your church world? I can tell you, you won’t get any brownie points for volunteering at soccer matches when your time comes to explain why you had no stewardship time available for your church or God.

You know the phrase, many hands make light work. Are the same hands doing all the work at your church?

I ask you to prayerfully reflect on this. There are always opportunities to volunteer at church in one way or another. I do understand that it may not be as exciting as being a volunteer with your child’s sports team, but perhaps you could cut back on the time with the secular volunteering and give a little more time to your church volunteer work. Find a balance within your life. God and his son find time for you, perhaps its time to return the favor, even in small increments to start.

Pax,
Lori Callaway

Lori Callaway is married to her best friend Scott and mother of 3 children, all of whom are her inspiration and fodder for her freelance writing. Her hobbies are knitting (as a lefty), rosary making, sewing, cross stitching, crafts and ¾ to full time genealogist and history nut. She currently lives in one of the giant metro areas the Pacific Northwest of the US after having grown up in American’s idea of a perfect mid-western small town. Lori is also an RCIC teacher.