Roles in Church

OBJECTIVE

There is no greater comfort in this world than knowing that our Lord united us with Himself through the Holy Sacraments, especially Holy Communion in the Divine Liturgy. We are blessed to be called members of the Body of Christ, with Christ as the head, called to celebrate the Divine Liturgy together. In this unit, we will develop the understanding of 5th graders on the initiation, unity, and function of the Body of Christ centered on the Divine Liturgy.

HOOK/INTRODUCTION - 10 Minutes

Bring in multiple items and use them for something completely different. Make sure the item doesn't work for its new purpose. For example, bring in a fork and demonstrate using it for eating soup or drinking coffee; bring a pair of glasses and demonstrate using it to wipe up spilled water. During your demonstration say things like "why does this fork think it's a spoon, why does it want to be a spoon; I need it to be a fork, it's more useful to me as a fork, not a spoon...

The fork and the spoon each serve a special purpose. It would be very hard to eat soup with a fork or to cut a steak with a spoon because that's not what they are made for. In the same way, we each serve a very special purpose as members of the Body of Christ. The Church is the Body of Christ and Christ is the Head of the Church, we the believers, are members of this body.

HOLY SCRIPTURE - 10 Minutes

As a class, read together 1 Corinthians 12:4-31

CONTENT (KEY POINTS) - 10 Minutes

Remember that we are One Body in Christ So that means that each of us has a role, a job to do for the Body of Christ. Re-read verse 18 "But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased." So who gave us our roles? God did He knows already what our purpose is in life and in the Body of Christ.

The jobs are endless and based on each person's unique talents. The Body of Christ encourages each individual to use his/her God given talents to help the other members of the church.

Examples of Roles of Congregants:

Those that prepare and serve the agape meal
Those that give sermons,
The servant teachers,
The cleaners,
The deacons and deaconesses,
The priests and ranks.
Servants who help the poor,
Those who visit the sick, prisoners, or outreach to non-Christians.
The icon writers, musicians, play writers and directors.
The servants that purchase supplies,
Those help with those with disabilities,
Servants who help with audiovisual in church,
Those who make the holy bread (korban),
Those who greet new-comers,
Those care of the church library and/or bookstore,
Those who drive those who need a ride to church services

We all work together to ensure we are communing with the Lord in Divine Liturgy.

"Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all." 1 Thes 5:11-14

LIFE APPLICATION (Action) - 7 Minutes

Help children recognize their own talents and their role during Liturgy and in the Body of Christ. Tell them to always pray for God to make known to them their talents and purpose for the Body of Christ. Remind them that the roles may change often based on where you are in life.

Sing a song together -- "We Are One Body In Christ" - Lyrics here

ACTIVITY - 7 Minutes

Have the children recognize the talents of the people in your church. Write thank you notes to each person, thanking them for sharing their talents for the service of the Body of Christ. See sample note in attached Activities.

RESOURCES

Diocesan Rules for Deacons

PARENTS CORNER/HOMEWORK

This week, we are celebrating our uniqueness in the One Body in Christ. We spoke about the different roles each person of the church has as he/she shares his/her talents with the rest of the Body. We would like to encourage your children to recognize his/her role in our church this week and to recognize the talents and roles of their peers. Pray daily for the Lord to reveal His purpose for our lives in the Body of Christ.