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Reach Out: team member reflects on a year of service

By Matt Kruse '07
Our Savior's Lutheran Church - Jackson, MN

Little did I know when I began my college education at Augustana College, some of the most memorable and influential moments of my freshman year would be directly related to my Augustana Outreach experience. Looking back on my freshman year, serving on the Sweet Fellowship Outreach Team provided me a number of close friends, lasting memories, and the love shared between our group members as we united together in service to churches throughout South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa.

Serving on a worship outreach team, I was amazed at the way our 12-15 group members, all coming from different backgrounds of faith, were able to unite together in a common Christian faith to not only plan but most importantly, patrticipate in Christian worship. Catholic, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Baptist, or non-denominational, it does not matter. Outreach opened my eyes to see how the love of Christ exceeds and surpasses the boundaries of denomination, and how backgrounds set aside, college students who have strong faiths can work together to lead others in the worship of God.

As an individual who is considering the ministry, Outreach helped me along my spiritual journey by offering not only the opportunity to assist in leading a worship service, but also allowing me to see more clearly the amount of work, planning, and coordination it takes to put on a worship service. There is more to a church service than the hymns and the sermon. Planning music, scripture, liturgy, worship order, and a themed message all play an important role in worship. Working together with my friends (also my fellow team members) to plan a worship service, I was able to personally realize that Outreach was not all about the logistics of the service, the perfect layout of a bulletin, or the length of the sermon, but rather, serving on an outreach team was indeed about service: service to the congregations we visit, to the faiths of those to whom we minister, and to ourselves, as we grow together in community and faith through the service we share through planning and sharing in worship.

Some of the greatest joys in my outreach experience come from the experience of worshipping with (emphasis) the different congregations. Often times, a parishioner will come up to someone after the service, thanking us for enriching the worship component of their faith. I can honestly say that for the outreach team members, our faiths are also enriched through our worship with each individual congregation. Our leader often said we came to some churches in order to "spice up" their weekly worship. By adding spice to the worship of a congregation, as a team member, seeing the smile of a member as they thank us for our work also allows the fire of the Holy Spirit to grow within me as well, showing a purpose for the work we all share in leading worship. As college students who interact with a group of peers mainly dominated by 18-25 year olds for a majority of the week, serving in congregations also allowed me to enjoy the age diversity of worshippers. Whether watching the intent eyes of children as they stare at the presenter during the children's message or by watching an elderly person's eyes light up when we start to sing their favorite hymn, worshipping in different communities and watching the love of Christ work in all generations gives me true delight.

Personally, Outreach was the best part of my first-year experience at Augustana. Serving on an outreach team taught me a lot about service, trust, cooperation, teamwork, and love, but most importantly, a lot about myself. My faith grew because I was able to share my personal faith with my team members and with the congregations I visited, but even more important to the growth of my own faith was being able to see the faiths of my fellow team members. The Holy Spirit is most definitely at work within my team and other teams on campus, as we share together in God's love to go and spread the Good News we share as believers in Christ.

Love and acceptance are vital to the human experience. Outreach has offered me both. Each of our meetings ends with a sharing of the peace and hugs. I knew Outreach was one of the most important parts of my life after our last meeting, when a majority of our team members began to cry when reflecting on the experiences of the past year. Meetings and worship outings become a sort of tradition, and have led me to feel a great deal of love from my team members,Friends, but also the acceptance of open minds, loving hearts, and souls on fire with the Holy Spirit, accepting each other as we work through Him and with Him to share the sweetness of life offered by the fellowship Outreach experiences offer team members, leaders, and congregations who choose to bring us to their community. An experience like no other, Outreach is a vital part of my life and my faith, and I look forward to sharing in the fellowship of believers again next year. "Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation in love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose." Philippians 2:1-2