During the Season of Lay Ministries, we’ll be sharing a series of blogs from Christians called to serve in affirmed, commissioned and licensed lay ministries across the Diocese.
Jocelyn and Alexandra Kibuuka, young servers at St Jude w St Aiden, Thornton Heath, Croydon write:
Jocelyn
Alexandra and I have been serving for the church for several years and we have enjoyed every second of it! Having been part of our church community for over a decade, it has honestly been a privilege to now be able to give back to the community. By holding the crucifix, it has allowed me to gain so much knowledge on Jesus. Carrying the cross is symbolism of his death and how he did it for us – people who he had never met but had so much faith in. I’m so honoured to be given the role to walk out and lead the procession at the beginning and end of services, due to the deep symbolism behind it. In addition to this, being part of the church choir has allowed me to become so much closer to my church congregation, making friends with people I wouldn’t have had the chance to meet with otherwise. This also helped me overcome nervousness, as although I am usually confident when meeting people, it can be nerve-wracking to sing in front of the congregation. Although, over time, and with the support of other choir members, I have thankfully been able to become more adjusted to singing in front of people. I’ve also been able to practice my singing skills!
Alexandra
Controlling the technology in church has been a fun experience and I’ve been able to expand my computer skills whilst serving God. Technology has been added to provide a modern touch to church, and so that during the pandemic people could stream services from home or wherever they are. This has been extremely helpful for members of the congregation who were ill, at university or even travelling! I think that connecting people who cannot physically attend the service to be with the rest of the congregation and involving them gives me a feeling of joy as I help bring people together. I also create the church PowerPoint slides every week and these are projected onto the big screen. It’s something that does take time, but I still find it intriguing as it allows me to see different seasons through church, which further deepens my faith. I believe creating the slides also helps the service to be followed more easily as people can read what’s happening – especially when following along during the readings. Finally, taking part in handling technology at church has allowed me to mix old and new, as new technology is introduced to the services. I can easily project the hymns onto the projector, so, rather than the choir and congregation having to flick through pages, they can just look up and read the lyrics on a large screen- all while the congregation members online could also sing along if they wanted to.
By contributing to the church in our different ways, we have both seen an increase in a hunger to get to know God and also by being so involved and learning the meaning behind what we do.
