Volunteer Opportunities 2011

Each of us is given gifts to be used for the work of the church - Christ's ministry in the world. We rely on the work of volunteers for the things that happen at the church-from singing in worship to mailing the newsletter, and from visiting homebound members to serving the community. Below are volunteer descriptions for Abundant Rain Ministries, Inc. There are lots of ways you can be involved at Abundant Rain.

Adult Ministry

Roaring River Men's Retreat. The group offers an opportunity to connect with other men of the congregation, community, city and state. There is something for everyone to do in preparation for the week. Time required: a variety of time commitments are available. Skills used: Organizational and Leadership, Teachers, Recreation Leaders, Culinary, music, Visionary. It's also a lot of fun!
Adult Spiritual Development Commission. Focus on current and potential programs for adults; evaluate, support and develop specific programs for adults. Training provided through workshops. Time required: 5 to 6 meetings, plus 2 hours per week associated work. Skills needed: Visioning, creativity, team attitude, organizational skills helpful.
Monday Morning Mom's Bible Study This group is designed for the spiritual growth and encouragement of mothers with children of all ages. Through Bible study and supportive interaction, moms can grow spiritually and build relationships with other moms. Skills needed: teaching and an open heart.
Congregational Care Women of Abundant Rain Seeking a fresh vision to involve all Abundant Rain women, this is an organization of women who nurture their faith through Bible Study, who support local, national and international mission projects through donation of their money, time and talents. They reach out to others in times of need and build the community of faith within Wagoner County. Abundant Rain provides opportunity for all women to support local, national and worldwide mission projects.
Special Events Abundant Rain hosts several annual events. Much preparation is involved when a church hosts an event. Planners, parking lot attendees, building guides, food preparation and others are needed to make those attending the day-long meeting feel welcome.

Congregational Care

Morning Prayer This prayer group raises intercessory prayers for the spiritual, physical and emotional well-being of Abundant Rain World Outreach Church and its congregation. Prayers are also raised on behalf of local, national and international churches, our nation, and countries around the world, our military and other immediate concerns that may arise. The group meets Monday through Saturday between 5:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m., at Abundant Rain World Outreach Church. New members are always welcome. Skills needed: Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and compassion for those persons with special needs.
Crisis Prayer Chain Consider being a part of this important team. Team members contact one another when a crisis has occurred to pray for the safety and well-being of individuals and their families.
Membership Team Fosters relationships with prospective members of Abundant Rain. Assists in providing dinners, classes and meetings related to the membership process. Time required: Bi-monthly team meetings and attendance at meetings with new members.
Coffee Fellowship Coordinator Schedules volunteers to help with Sunday Coffee Fellowship. Networking and organizational skills are helpful. Time required: 10 to 12 hours per quarter. Set up and serve coffee and light refreshments on Sunday mornings. Time required: 2 hours on Sunday morning, sign-up once per quarter (or more). There is one shift from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. This is a wonderful opportunity to meet members of the congregation over a cup of coffee.
Dinner Planning Team Plan the menu and schedule for annual Thanksgiving Dinner, Christmas dinner and/or Easter Dinner held in Fellowship Hall. Also help plan and prepare meals for Abundant Rain Church members during time of crisis.
Set Up Assist by setting up Fellowship table, Information table, and placing tithing envelopes and pens in pews before the service.
Greeters Stand at entrance to Abundant Rain World Outreach Church and welcome the community as they arrive. Greeters needed every Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m. & 10:30 a.m. It only requires a warm smile and little bit of your time. Greeters also pass out visitor cards, bulletins, newsletters and information packets.
Ushers Pass Out Bulletins and pick up offerings

Church Library

Librarian Volunteers are needed in the church library to help check out library materials, put circulation cards in returned materials, file books and shelves and assist people looking for materials. Time required: 1 to 2 hours once per month. Knowledge of the Dewey Decimal System is helpful.
Library Volunteer - Catalog Help with cataloging of books, typing cards for the card catalog, shelf list cards, put covers on books, insert and attach book pockets and cards in books, and display Dewey Decimal Number. Time required varies with the number of new books. Flexible work hours. Skills needed: Typing accuracy, close attention to detail.
Correspondence Volunteers telephone people who have overdue books. Calling is done monthly. The church Library needs to have borrowed materials returned so others can use them. Time required: 1 to 2 hours per month.

Children's Ministry Ages 6-12

Sunday School Teacher - Leads children in Bible knowledge, prayer, teaching witnessing skills, tithing, providing opportunities for service and mission, and teaching about worship through the use of a curriculum provided by Children's Ministry. Skills: teaching and a commitment to ongoing personal faith development. Sunday School is one way children can come to personally know Jesus Christ. They can learn to live a life that honors God, and they can learn and understand the Bible. Time required:

One volunteer working 2 hours two times a week. Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. and Wednesday Night at 7:00 p.m.
Second volunteer working 2 hours 1 time a week. Sunday evenings at 6:00 p.m. This service is during Royal Rangers & Missionettes. It is best to have one male and one female teacher on Sunday nights.

Sunday School Teacher's Assistant (Youth and Adult needed) Job includes assisting Lead Teacher. This might include but would not be limited to setting up a craft, helping to keep children on task, reading a story, encouraging the children in small group activities. Job responsibilities would be agreed upon within the teaching team. Skills: Enjoying children.
Drama Work with kids to write, practice and present skits relevant to the word of God.
Clean up crew Assist in clean up by tearing down tables and chairs. Sweeping and mopping floor and helping clean the restrooms in the children's building.
Special Events Coordinator Oversee and organize a variety of onetime special events throughout the year. Examples of past events include Kids Easter Program, Kids Christmas program, Fall Harvest Party, Vacation Bible School. Events for the year would be determined in cooperating with the children's ministry. The events would all fulfill specific goals of the Children's Ministry Vision Statement. These events would be supported by specially called teams. This ministry allows for families to work and fellowship together while exploring new ideas. Christian education is stimulated beyond Sunday morning classroom experiences. Time required varies. A core group of adults that support the Children's Ministry staff and elders with: Continual long-range planning, leadership for implementation of current programming, prayer support, acting ambassadors to the congregation and community for positive promotion of Children's ministry.
Sunday School Officer of the Day Provides to the Director of Sunday School during Sunday morning and provides assistance to the teachers if the need arises in the classroom. Sunday School teachers feel welcomed and supported through the resources the officer of the day provides. Their support ensures that teachers can give undivided attention to the children in their classrooms. Skills: Organization and hospitality.
Vacation Bible School The entire church community rallies around this week-long event, usually held in June, involving hundreds of children, youth and adults! This Vacation Bible School is a high energy, biblically-based theme week of sharing the Good News with children of Abundant Rain World Outreach Church and the community. The program is typically 40% community outreach. There is something for everyone to do in preparation for the week. Time required: a variety of time commitments are available. Skills used: Organizational/Leadership, Teachers, Recreation Leaders, Art and Craft Leaders, Culinary, Drama, music, Visionary. It's also a lot of fun!

Children's Nursery Coordinator Ages 0-2

Maintain sign-up sheets for parents of children to help volunteer. Coordinate parent volunteers. Be an ambassador for the church to the members of the community that make use of this ministry. This ministry provides children (0 to 2 years) with the opportunity to experience loving, happy, spiritual relationships with adults and children outside their own homes. When children are old enough to sit for a story, they are introduced to a Christian curriculum that includes stories, music and crafts. This ministry is also an outreach to the community. Schedule Includes:

One volunteer working 2 hours a week Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m.
2nd volunteer working 2 hours a week working Sunday evening at 6:00 p.m.
3rd volunteer working 2 hours a week working Wednesday evening at 7 p.m.

Children's Teacher Ages 3-5

Leads children in Bible knowledge, prayer, teaching witnessing skills, tithing, providing opportunities for service and mission, and teaching about worship through the use of a curriculum provided by Children's Ministry. Skills: teaching and a commitment to ongoing personal faith development. Sunday School is one way children can come to personally know Jesus Christ. They can learn to live a life that honors God, and they can learn and understand the Bible. Time required:

One volunteer working 2 hours two times a week Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. and Wednesday evening at 7:00 p.m.
Second volunteer working 2 hours one time a week Sunday evenings at 6:00 p.m.

Volunteer Youth Ministry

Greeters Stand at entrance and welcome youth as they arrive.
Clean Up Crew Assist in clean up after the service by tearing down tables and chairs and picking up, sweeping and mopping floor and cleaning youth rest room.
Drama Work with youth to write, practice and present skits.
Planning Team Creativity and organization skills used to plan exciting and relevant activities and games.
Special Event Planning Team Creativity and organization skills to plan exciting and relevant activities.
Special Events Chaperone Adults are always needed to attend events.

Outreach Ministry

Evangelism Team Reaches out to the community and invites people to discover what faith in Jesus Christ means. Sacking groceries and distributing food to families with low/no income. We minister the love of Christ with others by supplying their physical needs through food and their spiritual needs through prayer.

Christmas Toy Drive

Abundant Rain collects toys to be distributed to families during the Christmas season. The collection begins with a festive, family oriented Gift Bagging-Stocking Stuffing Party. Volunteers are needed to setup and coordinate the "package and label" stations.

International Missions

Travel as part of a team to one of Abundant Rain's designated mission in Panama, San Blas Islands, Israel, Guatemala, Haiti and Nicaragua. Serve as Christ's ambassador representing Abundant Rain Church to the people and congregations with which we are connected. Upon return from trip, share the work of the mission projects to the members of Abundant Rain. Time required: Preparation time for the trip; time spent on the trip (1-3 weeks); occasional opportunities to report on the trip and its impact on your life. Information and training provided depending on the location and kind of project undertaken. Suggested skills; medical, teaching, engineering, general labor, computer skills, management consulting, nursing, occupational therapy, miscellaneous business skills and willingness to carry Jesus Christ's love to brothers and sisters in other lands.
Student Ministry Mission Assist our mission team with planning and attending various mission projects throughout the year.

Evangelism Opportunities

Local Mission Planning Team Plans, organizes, and works on hand-on local mission projects. Time required: 3 to 5 hours per month. Additional time as needed to complete special projects. Local Mission team is committed to handle its responsibility with love, understanding and good stewardship.
Hands-On Local Mission Helper When local mission projects are identified and scheduled, hands-on workers are needed. Work on multiple projects or just one. Projects are supervised by skilled craftspeople. Abundant Rain members of all ages and abilities provide the willing spirits and elbow grease to do the manual labor. Time required varies from a morning to all day.
Hunger reaches out in the local community to help provide non-perishable food for local Joseph House Community Food Bank. Monthly food donations are provided. No special skills are needed. Just a willingness to help the hungry in our community.

Joseph House Community Food Bank

Food Pickup We need volunteers to help with food pickup during the week from donating merchants. Time Commitment: 1-2 hours per week. Skills Needed: Driver's license (CDL) (Most food pickups are scheduled Thursday mornings.)
Food Packagers We need volunteers to help pack food at Joseph House on Friday mornings at 9:00 a.m. (We package food the 2nd, 3rd & 4th Friday's.) Skills Needed: Helping Hands
Food Distributors We need volunteers to help transport food to needy families living in Wagoner County. We meet at the Joseph House Saturday mornings at 9:00 a.m. (We distribute food the 2nd, 3rd & 4th Saturday's of every month.) Time Commitment: 3 hours on Saturday

Joseph House International Food Relief Program

Families and friends are invited to come to the church to help package easy-to-assemble dried meals for delivery around the world where survivors of tragic ordeals need free, easy-to-prepare food and other emergency supplies, to handle the crisis situations that have befallen them. Joseph House International Food Relief participants work in an assembly-line fashion mixing, weighing, and bagging a dehydrated flavoring mix consisting of 21 essential vitamins with fortified rice-soy-vegetable products for nutritious meals so that adults and children will not go hungry.

Worship

Opportunities In worship, we acknowledge God present in the world and in our lives. As we respond to God's claim and redemptive action in Jesus Christ, we are transformed and renewed. In worship, we offer ourselves to god and are equipped for God's service in the world. We are made to worship in communion with others.
Communion We gather at the Lord's Table we commit ourselves afresh to love and serve God, one another, and our neighbors in the world.
Welcome At Abundant Rain World Outreach Church we want to provide an environment of true community where people feel welcomed, loved, and accepted just as they are. We can offer every person who walks through the door on Sunday morning a warm smile, a firm handshake, and a kind word.
Music Song is a response which engages the whole self in prayer. "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth, make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise." Psalm 98:4

General Office Assistance

Assist with phone calls, newsletters, and emails to parents and youth. The volunteers who answer our phones are our "Ambassadors of hospitality and Problem Solvers." we also need office volunteers to serve during the week to help with general office tasks.
Computer Volunteer - To enter data on books and into our internet site. Knowledge of Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, use of scanner and bar codes is helpful. Time required varies.
Assistance with monthly community meetings including Coweta Ministerial Alliance and Coweta Chamber of Commerce.
Assistance in notification for Coweta American Newspaper for upcoming events in a timely fashion. Skills Needed - Writing articles and picture editing for email.
Receptionist The receptionists greet visitors, operate a multi-line telephone system, and direct calls to the appropriate people. They assist with office duties when requested. Shifts available Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Photography

Pictures are used for presentations, internet, newspapers, newsletters, promotional materials and displays. We always need photographers for special events.

Videographer

Taking videos of activities, skits and presentations as well as editing.

Maintenance

Assisting with repairs and remodeling for building and property maintenance including plumbing, electrical and occasional remodeling painting. We also have a great need for on-going, on-call assistance for parking lot concrete installation. Repairs and improvements to the buildings (inside crew) and to the grounds (outside crew). This ministry saves the church the cost of hiring outside contractors, promotes fellowship and friendship and a personal satisfaction through doing hands-on work. Assistance for Building management skills a plus; knowledge of building maintenance, construction and remodeling.