Reflection on Serving at Storyhill
By Deven Riley
One of my favorite facets of the Fellows Experience™ is the opportunity to serve with the kids/youth ministry at Storyhill Church. Half of the Fellows serve with the middle school ministry named Pathfinders, while me and the other Fellows serve with kids ranging from infants through 5th grade on Sunday mornings. I love serving in the kids ministry alongside the Fellows, adult volunteers, youth volunteers, and the dynamic power duo of the children’s ministry staff anchored by Maggie and Izzy.
I have heard it said before that there are three “pillars” to giving: your time, your talents, and your treasures. I believe that everyone has a surplus of one of these resources, and as a young person, my area of opportunity for prosperous giving lies in the time I have to dedicate to the church. I wholeheartedly believe in serving the local church body. I think any ministry partner, member, or avid churchgoer has the opportunity to invest in the ministry happening inside the doors and out by deciding to serve their congregational family. Serving is the proverbial “watershed decision” that a follower of Christ makes on the precipice of committing to a lifelong sacrificial relationship with the Church and church alike.
To step down from my soap box and into a more down-to-earth reflection on kids ministry within the walls of the Lord’s house located in the Lake Norman Family Branch YMCA (Storyhill), I want to consolidate my thoughts and focus on the 4th and 5th grade class I have had the privilege of serving with for so many Sunday mornings. These kids embody the phrase “children of God” so deeply and so clearly. In some ways, consciously, and in other ways, unknowingly.
In my mind, the 10-year-olds at Storyhill are analogous to the pages of a “Where’s Waldo?” book. They are silly, goofy, and a lot to take in. They are complex, artistic, creative, and beyond intuitive. They take time and intentionality to see the depths of how they were created. They are open about who they are and unashamed to be who God made them to be. Yet each page of the kids’ lives points towards the central figure that the book is published around.
Some of these kids are genuinely smarter than me, more in tune with their emotions than me, can more simply describe the Gospel than me, and live out a child-like faith more authentically than me. I say this not as self-deprecation but in adoration for The Father and the ways in which His spirit dwells uniquely in all of His people, young and old alike.