by John Daubney
Many of those who provide volunteer services to others, do so using their God-given skills and engaged in activities they enjoy, coupled with a passion for serving others where they sense a need. Ted Kriss’s lifelong love for music; his skill in pr
esenting important information to groups of people, and his passion for serving those in need led him to volunteer to run our audio and visual equipment during church services. This service supports our minister and the musicians as they carry out the work of sharing God’s word with our congregation each week.
I’ve been attending Unity for more than 10 years. My wife, Bonnie, and I moved back to the area in 2000 after being away for 4 years. I began attending another church, which was okay but more and more I felt the need to find a place where I could have a stronger spiritual connection and where people were more open and inviting and accepting od each other. Bonnie, had been attending Unity for a while and she invited me to come with her to see what it was all about. It only took one visit to know this was a very special church and I knew I wanted to be part of it. I felt like I had found a spiritual home where people cared about the church and each other and where I could grow, which is why I keep coming back.
I have a number of great role models for service in my life, both inside and outside of Unity. One of the strongest for me has been my wife, Bonnie. She has served as a volunteer for the church and a number of outside causes, including Hospice and a home for the care of the terminally ill in Scotia, NY, where she also works as Volunteer Coordinator. I’ve also been blessed to have good friends in Unity, like John Daubney and John Reith, who make strong contributions to our church and serve as strong role models.
When it came to choosing how I would give service, I decided to sign up for the sound team when I learned the church had purchased a sound board and projection equipment and needed people to help run them during services. I chose this activity because I’ve always been attracted to technical things, especially computers and audio-visual equipment. I’ve been doing it for a few years now. I enjoy being able to help with the Sunday service, along with the technical challenges involved. No matter how well prepared you are, unexpected things can happen with technology where you need to react quickly to keep things on track. I remember one Sunday when I accidentally bumped my foot into a power cord and shut off the computer during the service. Fortunately we were between songs with no slide being projected but I needed to move fast because the next slide would be up shortly. I crawled under the desk, found and re-inserted the plug, restarted the computer and just when I was nearly out of the woods Jim called for the next slide. Unfortunately, the computer wasn’t fully booted up. Shortly after turning 10 shades of red and telling Jim what had happened I had things up and running so the service could continue. Although I was embarrassed it felt pretty good to learn just how quickly I was able to recover. I also learned that people at Unity don’t sweat the small stuff. Nobody made me feel bad about it or even mentioned it.
Another area where I have a passion for service is with Hospice. Bonnie and I have been Hospice volunteers for over 23 years. My brother, Gary, who was 1-1/2 years older than me, died in 1991, at 34. His death made a lasting impression on me about how precious life is and how difficult it is to lose a loved one. After experiencing such profound loss and grief, I decided a year later to become a Hospice volunteer so I could help people during this very difficult, but also beautiful time. Hospice has taught me the importance of getting out of myself and helping others and that no matter how much I give, I always get more back. Like so many of us, I have a pretty busy life, but no matter how busy my schedule gets, I always make time for volunteering.
In selecting service activities to be involved in, I look for opportunities that play to my natural strengths and interests, and which are meaningful to me. I do the sound board because I love computers and technology and I want to support Unity. I volunteer for Hospice because it has deep meaning for me; it re-centers my priorities; and because I like being with and helping others.
To anyone considering taking on a service position at Unity or in other organizations I would say, “Just do it”. You will feel better about yourself and you’ll have the satisfaction that can only come from letting go of your own needs and focusing on those of others. And you might just learn a few wonderful things you didn’t know about yourself in the process.
“The Highest form of wisdom is kindness.” –The Talmud