Pastor's Notebook: Gifted for More Worship Series

This Sunday we begin our fall worship series, Gifted for More. Every person is a gift from God with gifts to share! In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul wrote that our gifts exist for the benefit of others rather than for only ourselves: “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’ so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it” (1 Cor 12:21-26). For the next five weeks we will learn how to identify our gifts, appreciate the gifts of others, and combine our gifts to help build the Kingdom of God.

This series includes a small group curriculum and online gifts assessment. CUMC was selected as one of one hundred churches to beta-test this series. The curriculum is based on several years of research by Barna and Lutheran Hour Ministries that identified 12 common skill, talent, and ability profiles among U.S. adults. These giftings are: Technical, Interpersonal, Entrepreneurial, Management, Financial, Critical Thinking, Artistic, Civic, Intercultural, Communication, Leadership, and Teamwork. Lutheran Hour Ministries used these gift profiles to develop The EveryGift Inventory, a free online assessment that helps people notice, acknowledge, and name their gifts.

We want as many people as possible to take the gifts assessment! Some of you may never have taken a gifts assessment before. This is an opportunity to gain some insight into the unique gifts God has given you to serve the world! Others of you may have taken a gifts assessment in the past and have a robust sense of your gifts. That’s great! Please still take the assessment. All of our individual gift profiles will be combined into a church report describing the unique constellation of gifts at CUMC, which will help determine our sense of mission as a faith community.

You can take the free assessment here: www.everygift.org. Please enter the following code at the end of the assessment so your gifts can be added to our church report: cdaumc. If you do not have access to or struggle using a computer, but would like to take the assessment, please contact the church office and a staff member will set up a time to help you take the assessment at the church.

A Note about the Assessment: To include as many people as possible, the assessment references different kinds of jobs and vocations as examples of using our gifts. Some of these jobs/vocations may align with your current/former profession while others may not. Focus on the skill that is being named in the examples and not the examples themselves. Does that skill sound like you? These skills are applicable across all kinds of jobs, whether paid, unpaid, or volunteer.

In Christ,

Pastor Amanda