HOW can you Be a Servant in the chuch?? (GIDMA)

edited December 1969 in Faith Issues

Heyy Guys, I have a question, and I will be very happy if anyone can
answer me :)

How can you be a servant in the church? Yani, ezay tigdim fe kaniesa? (goddem)
And what for kind of gidma(church service) there are?
What do you have to do to be a servant, en how can you
learn more?

Thnxx everybody,
plz Pray 4 my weaknes, look forward your repliess  :D

Comments

  • [quote author=+marmar+ link=topic=7051.msg93855#msg93855 date=1219002879]

    Heyy Guys, I have a question, and I will be very happy if anyone can
    answer me :)

    How can you be a servant in the church? Yani, ezay tigdim fe kaniesa? (goddem)
    And what for kind of gidma(church service) there are?
    What do you have to do to be a servant, en how can you
    learn more?

    Thnxx everybody,
    plz Pray 4 my weaknes, look forward your repliess  :D



    Are u sudanese?
    Because if you are, that puts u in a good position: Sudanese Copts are well known for being good servants. Ya3ni, all the ones I know seem to bend over backwards to make everyone else around them feel comfortable.

    If you are not sudanese, can u get a sudanese passport or pretend to be sudanese?

    Basically, what I suggest is this: go regularly in the Church and be always engaged in the Church sacraments yourself. Pray constantly for God to use you to serve in His Church. Then tell abouna that this is a desire. In parallel, I would strongly advise you to get a book on Sunday School lessons by Fr. Anthony Coniaris. Its worth its weight in gold. Really. Its really good for teaching everything up until pre-university.

    If u can't find that, the diocese of California have a Sunday School program which is not bad. My sister uses it to teach her class from. A few weeks ago was the story of Saint Demiana. I personally felt they missed a lot (A LOT!) from her amazing story, but the lesson was "ok".

    You definately need to follow some program. The UK Church servants have a good book/program - they wrote it themselves.

    I really encourage people to serve because if u follow these programs, the one who benefits the most IS the servant, not really the children.

  • there was once a thing about this in the saint anthony magazine..or maybe saint john...i don't remember , but it said that there are so manyyyy little things you can do and they had like a list of over 100 things you can do to serve your church...
    some were..
    if you can drive....give people a ride to church, welcome new people, help organize events , obv. sunday school teacher and all that, help clean up,
    ect.
  • [quote author=copticcross3 link=topic=7051.msg93862#msg93862 date=1219015493]
    there was once a thing about this in the saint anthony magazine..or maybe saint john...i don't remember , but it said that there are so manyyyy little things you can do and they had like a list of over 100 things you can do to serve your church...
    some were..
    if you can drive....give people a ride to church, welcome new people, help organize events , obv. sunday school teacher and all that, help clean up,
    ect.


    That's completely correct. Cleaning is done in the Church by most church servants. But I never saw this as a Church "service" - I mean, I don't consider myself a church servant, and I did the cleaning in the Church since I was 10 years old.

    Personally, I feel that Church cleaning should be done by everyone at the end of the mass, but there are many ways to serve the Church. What are your talents?

    I started out as cleaning the Church, and I got a bit disheartened because I had arranged all the books in a nice order, only to come back and find all of them messed up again. Then I took on the blessed task of removing candle stains from the carpet. This is done by using a think sheet of linen with a very hot iron. U put the linen over the candle wax stuck on the carpet, and u iron over it. The wax melts and sticks to the linen cloth. This was fun - especially if u do it with other people together.

    Ask abouna what needs to be done in the Church.
  • For me, a Church servant is someone who teaches us Christ's love, and shows it through his/her action(s). A lot of Church servants want the children or others to love their personalities, or to make themselves popular. This is totally wrong. U should just teach Christ's love and make them love Christ, and not u personally.

    Having said that, u should serve the children or the congregation in doing eftekadaat, or anything like that.. but to be honest with you: Eftekadaat is VERY hard. I mean, its WAY easier to clean the Church toilets than it is to do Eftekadaat. I really suggest u do this with abouna (if u want to that is).

    The best thing u can do is to live God's word, and if u wish to serve God, do not hesitate to teach children the respect for the Church and the sacraments. I knew so many servants that showed so much lack of respect for the Church and the sacraments just to be "cool" in the eyes of the kids. This is wrong. They've done no one any good whatsoever.
  • [quote author=QT_PA_2T link=topic=7051.msg93858#msg93858 date=1219007217]
    [quote author=+marmar+ link=topic=7051.msg93855#msg93855 date=1219002879]

    Heyy Guys, I have a question, and I will be very happy if anyone can
    answer me :)

    How can you be a servant in the church? Yani, ezay tigdim fe kaniesa? (goddem)
    And what for kind of gidma(church service) there are?
    What do you have to do to be a servant, en how can you
    learn more?

    Thnxx everybody,
    plz Pray 4 my weaknes, look forward your repliess  :D



    Are u sudanese?
    Because if you are, that puts u in a good position: Sudanese Copts are well known for being good servants. Ya3ni, all the ones I know seem to bend over backwards to make everyone else around them feel comfortable.

    If you are not sudanese, can u get a sudanese passport or pretend to be sudanese?

    Basically, what I suggest is this: go regularly in the Church and be always engaged in the Church sacraments yourself. Pray constantly for God to use you to serve in His Church. Then tell abouna that this is a desire. In parallel, I would strongly advise you to get a book on Sunday School lessons by Fr. Anthony Coniaris. Its worth its weight in gold. Really. Its really good for teaching everything up until pre-university.

    If u can't find that, the diocese of California have a Sunday School program which is not bad. My sister uses it to teach her class from. A few weeks ago was the story of Saint Demiana. I personally felt they missed a lot (A LOT!) from her amazing story, but the lesson was "ok".

    You definately need to follow some program. The UK Church servants have a good book/program - they wrote it themselves.

    I really encourage people to serve because if u follow these programs, the one who benefits the most IS the servant, not really the children.




    Thanx 4 your advices, May the Lord bless you.
    No I am not sudanese, and I live in Holland.
    It´s a good idea to talk with abouna.
    But to tell you to the true, I don´t know some books for sunday school lessons, cause we havent here. But we have books about our religion,etc.
    I started now with singing teraniem in the church in the fast from St Mary. And I
    really like to continue that, but is that also gidma?
    And to be honesty,I wanna to do more. :p
  • [quote author=copticcross3 link=topic=7051.msg93862#msg93862 date=1219015493]
    there was once a thing about this in the saint anthony magazine..or maybe saint john...i don't remember , but it said that there are so manyyyy little things you can do and they had like a list of over 100 things you can do to serve your church...
    some were..
    if you can drive....give people a ride to church, welcome new people, help organize events , obv. sunday school teacher and all that, help clean up,
    ect.


    Thank you  also copticcross for your advice, I will try to do what you say.

    Are there any other peoples to  Who wanna give me advice?? I am looking forward your advices everyonee, thnx
    Thnx
  • service is not an easy word... and the word service comes with the word Christian, for if you're a Christian, you're also a servant...

    "...you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

    before all work on serving Jerusalem first! Jerusalem is the birth place of our Master, so its your heart! so work on yourself, on your relationship with God, by growing spiritually and worrying only about  your salvation, and if cleaning, then focus on cleaning your room!

    then work on Judea, which is your family and friends, so start serving your family, and helping your friends... while remembering God's statutes... and for the cleaning start cleaning your house first... then cleaning the church!

    and start serving Samaria... your enemies... learn to serve them and to help them! according to God's statutes!

    if you do all that, you will become a true servant... and you will be able to serve all the ends of the world... but one of the most important goals is to keep God in front of you at all times no mater what happens! and once you enter the service, you are as a fish that is in water, you leave it! you will suffer and more than likely will die!
  • [quote author=SuperMAN(BAM) link=topic=7051.msg93877#msg93877 date=1219139401]
    service is not an easy word... and the word service comes with the word Christian, for if you're a Christian, you're also a servant...

    "...you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

    before all work on serving Jerusalem first! Jerusalem is the birth place of our Master, so its your heart! so work on yourself, on your relationship with God, by growing spiritually and worrying only about  your salvation, and if cleaning, then focus on cleaning your room!

    then work on Judea, which is your family and friends, so start serving your family, and helping your friends... while remembering God's statutes... and for the cleaning start cleaning your house first... then cleaning the church!

    and start serving Samaria... your enemies... learn to serve them and to help them! according to God's statutes!

    if you do all that, you will become a true servant... and you will be able to serve all the ends of the world... but one of the most important goals is to keep God in front of you at all times no mater what happens! and once you enter the service, you are as a fish that is in water, you leave it! you will suffer and more than likely will die!


    Superbam,

    She's asking how to serve in the Church, not how to get a crown of martyrdom. I mean, its a common question. I'm suggesting that she starts by asking abouna how she can serve. Maybe she can ask him what the Church needs? Or if there's anything she can do.

    Abouna may ask u for any of the following:
    a) Cleaning the Church
    b) Translating books
    c) Helping the children during the communion
  • QT Superman(BAM) gave the perfect answer, I agree 100% with what he said. How can you expect her to be able to serve in church(really serve, not cleaning) if she hasn't worked on her self and served her family first? Great answer Superman.
  • [quote author=jydeacon link=topic=7051.msg93882#msg93882 date=1219154184]
    QT Superman(BAM) gave the perfect answer, I agree 100% with what he said. How can you expect her to be able to serve in church(really serve, not cleaning) if she hasn't worked on her self and served her family first? Great answer Superman.


    Do u honestly need to work on yourself to clean the Church?

    As for serving your family 1st, yes - she should clean the dishes at home before cleaning those in the Church. That we agree with.
  • [quote author=QT_PA_2T link=topic=7051.msg93883#msg93883 date=1219156336]
    [quote author=jydeacon link=topic=7051.msg93882#msg93882 date=1219154184]
    QT Superman(BAM) gave the perfect answer, I agree 100% with what he said. How can you expect her to be able to serve in church(really serve, not cleaning) if she hasn't worked on her self and served her family first? Great answer Superman.


    Do u honestly need to work on yourself to clean the Church?

    As for serving your family 1st, yes - she should clean the dishes at home before cleaning those in the Church. That we agree with.


    Cleaning the church is only a small part of a bigger service and can't count as your service(to a certain extent) she's talking about real service.
  • [quote author=jydeacon link=topic=7051.msg93884#msg93884 date=1219158467]
    [quote author=QT_PA_2T link=topic=7051.msg93883#msg93883 date=1219156336]
    [quote author=jydeacon link=topic=7051.msg93882#msg93882 date=1219154184]
    QT Superman(BAM) gave the perfect answer, I agree 100% with what he said. How can you expect her to be able to serve in church(really serve, not cleaning) if she hasn't worked on her self and served her family first? Great answer Superman.


    Do u honestly need to work on yourself to clean the Church?

    As for serving your family 1st, yes - she should clean the dishes at home before cleaning those in the Church. That we agree with.


    Cleaning the church is only a small part of a bigger service and can't count as your service(to a certain extent) she's talking about real service.


    That's absolutely NOT true. Cleaning is a service that's REALLY important and just as blessed as serving Children or teaching. I mean, those that clean the Church are some of the most bourjois Copts u could ever possibly imagine to meet or to have expected to have chosen this as a service. But not only do these people clean the Church, but they don't even let u share with them. I mean, I tried to even help them once, and they wouldn't even let me put the garbage away.

    Look - whatever u offer its a service to God: from cleaning the Church toilets to teaching alhan, u are offering something, and its still a blessing.
  • Yes I know its a service but its for sure not an ENTIRE service anyone chooses to do. Its only apart of a bigger service that people generally do.
  • [quote author=jydeacon link=topic=7051.msg93894#msg93894 date=1219185993]
    Yes I know its a service but its for sure not an ENTIRE service anyone chooses to do. Its only apart of a bigger service that people generally do.


    That's so untrue. What I'm telling u is the most educated, the most knowledgeable people in our Church clean the floors every sunday. And they really do it every sunday. Its THEIR service. They have a monopoly on Church cleaning. Look, these people ASKED to do this as a service, when they are just as learned enough to go off and teach sunday schools. When they were in Sudan, they were all sunday school teachers. They came to the UK, now they are accountants and business men, and doctors, they decided they wanted to clean the Church. That's it. They never gave us ONE sunday school lesson. They just focused on cleaning the Church. That's it.

    Cleaning the Church is a service, and not anyone can do it either.
  • So are you telling me that these people have dedicated their service to cleaning the church and THATS IT they do NOTHING else? If so thats great we need more people like that who are willing to help out regardless
  • [quote author=jydeacon link=topic=7051.msg93900#msg93900 date=1219187867]
    So are you telling me that these people have dedicated their service to cleaning the church and THATS IT they do NOTHING else? If so thats great we need more people like that who are willing to help out regardless


    That's exactly what I'm telling u.

    And they are all sudanese. Their kids however are all Sunday School teachers. But, the parents are in the Church Committee. All they do, every sunday is clean the Church. That's it.

    Now, I'm not sure whether they asked abouna if they could clean the Church, but they saw the need to clean it, and they started to clean it. I suggest u ask.

    Now, I did the same thing once, and I gave up. I arranged all the Psalmodies on one shelf, all the khedmet il shamass books on another shelf, and all the agbeya's on a shelf by itself. I came back, and found that all the books had been just put anywhere. After one day. I lost patience, and found that this was not the service for me. I found a greater calling in teaching Comparative Theology especially for baptising siamese twins.
  • ...i don't know any sudanese people at my church..that's too bad :/
    haha//
    i really think a service is ANYTHING that has to be done....i mean if someone didn't take the liberty to clean the church every single sunday and everyone thought it was a minimal task...well...we would be praying in an unclean chrch or maybe even have to payy ...A LOT to hire a cleaning companyy.
    so anythign that can be done is a service....

    also there's a verse in the Bible (i dont have time to find it this minute) but it was about how everyone has a talent from the holy spirit...EVERYONE.  wether it's singing, good communication skills...drawing, decoratingg ..ect. that can be used to serve God...it says that you must want to find your talentt.  Sotry different things and eventually you will find your given talnt that you can espically help using...
  • edited March 2017
    > copticcross3 > there was once a thing about this in the saint anthony magazine..or maybe saint john...i don't remember , but it said that there are so manyyyy little things you can do and they had like a list of over 100 things you can do to serve your church...
    some were..
    if you can drive....give people a ride to church, welcome new people, help organize events , obv. sunday school teacher and all that, help clean up,
    ect.

    This is what I was talking about :) If anyone knows it will be a great help. I am off to look.



     


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