Letter from Pastor Ray

Dear Brother or Sister in Christ:

First, I want to thank you for considering volunteer service here at Maranatha Chapel.

The desire to serve is a wonderful sign of spiritual fruit in your life.  Your God-given gifts and talents are given the chance to blossom when you serve your church body.  The way I see it, we are a family, and we need each other.  The apostle Peter taught, "Each one should use whatever gifts he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms" (1 Peter 4:10).

The Lord put us together to bless one another, and to complement one another. "Various forms," Peter said in the verse above.  That means we are not all given the same gifts.  Some may be gifted in the arts like writing, music or art.  Others excel in administration, children's minsitry, counseling, teaching, construction, crafts, cookingƒ_Ýthe list is endless.

Now you may be trying to decide just what area of ministry to serve. You can navigate to the Volunteer  Application in this website, which  has been designed to help us get to know you better and to assist you in determining your place in the body of Christ. We desire to see God use your unique blend of experiences, talents, traits, and gifts to best accomplish His work.

The Apostle Paul calls us the '"body of Christ," and like our human bodies, each part has a specific purpose. You were designed for a specific work and we want to make sure that you serve where your gifts will best be used.  One of the main reasons for burnout in ministry is people serving in areas where they are not truly called.  Carefully filling out the Ministry Application will maximize the potential for you to experience one of the greatest joys you'll ever know - being used by God in the capacity for which you were designed.

Please don't be intimidated by the background consent and waiver in the volunteer application, in which we are asking for your social security number and driver license number.  Because many areas of our ministry involve children, the elderly, the handicapped and other groups that require these background checks, we have found it necessary to have our volunteers screened.  If there is something in your background that prevents you legally from serving in an area of ministry, please don't be discouraged.  We believe that no one has sinned so greatly that the blood of Christ cannot make a place for you to serve in the body of Christ.  We may not be able to offer you certain avenues of ministry because of legal prerequisites (Romans 13), but we can certainly find a ministry area in which God will be glorified through the gifts and talents He has given you.  I encourage you to trust God to place you in the perfect area of ministry for which He has equipped you.

When we become part of a church body we are not only on the receiving end of others' gifts, but we get the opportunity to use our gifts to bless others.  I pray that you will enjoy the excitement and challenge of this truth as you complete the enclosed Ministry Application and find your calling from God.

Once again, I want to thank you on behalf of the pastors, staff and church body.  Your service is greatly appreciated.  May God richly bless you and may you experience the abundant joy of serving Him with all your heart!

In His service,
Pastor Ray Bentley

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).