Kathy,

You didn't ask me but I have tried various periods of time.  The last church
I was in, I waited and was satisfied doing nothing but supporting the pastor
and what he was doing.  He was doing nothing but preaching and teaching so
there were other positions, therefore, to be filled.  After six months, he
asked me to be his assistant pastor.  I still put the offer off for at least
two months before he was sure and I was sure.  Other times, I offered right
away.  In the churches I have been in, of which the number is quite a few
over 50 decades, I have often found pastors very uncomfortable with those
who want to jump right in, as it were, to help out.  When I was pastoring
about 50 or 60 people, we had a young man who, on the very first Sunday,
wanted to start helping out.  He actually requested, by the second Sunday,
to become a part of the worship team.  We knew nothing about him and the
more I tried to get to know him, the less he would converse.  He refused to
give me his phone number and when I gave him mine, he never would call.  So,
the answer has got to be on a case by case bases I would suppose.  Just
think how Greg would feel if I walked in your church one day and on the
first Sunday suggested he allow me to become involved.  As a pastor even
now, I would still want to see a track record of sorts I think regardless of
who it was.  It reminds me of a church I was in years ago as the assistant
pastor.  The pastor let a man, who just started coming, to sing one Sunday
night because he said he could play the guitar.  He played, not one, but two
Elvis Presley songs.

Phil.



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