Rev Sam Pullenger’s installation as St John’s Church vicar took place recently. Photo: Viv Posselt
The Te Awamutu News ran an article last week that focused on two people who had spent over 50 years volunteering in some capacity within the community.
Samuel Pullenger
This commitment to serving the local community is not something we see every day. What struck me was how normal it seemed for these two to offer such a large amount of their time to further the community.
In our current culture the community does not hold as much importance as it has historically. Historically, the community was of the utmost importance; a person’s quality of life was dependent on whether or not they were part of the community. To be part of the community meant that you volunteered much of your time to whatever was needed in that community.
Today, we do not usually see the need for community. We have our own houses, vehicles, jobs, families and our own lives. What we don’t often see is all those people who continue to give, to offer their time, to enable communities to thrive. Te Awamutu is full of volunteers who work, often behind the scenes, to prop up the community – whether it be those who drive for CommSafe, for the Wheelchair Wagon, the health shuttle, those who serve in Kainga Aroha, foodbanks, opshops and many other areas. Te Awamutu needs and is better off because of those who volunteer within the community.
In the Bible the first church community that began was a group of people who lived in Jerusalem, who chose to follow Jesus. Within this group of people, it is mentioned several times that there was not a needy person among them, because they all gave to whomever had need. They all offered their services and skills whatever they could and formed a loving community.
In Roman society ruling over Israel, those who could not fend for themselves were often left out on the street to become beggars or were enslaved. Even within Israelite society, those who were unwell for long periods of time or were seen as unclean were marginalised. Throughout the Gospels Jesus can be seen interacting, speaking with, and even touching those who were deemed not acceptable to be part of society.
One of the purposes for doing this was to show a different kind of community Jesus came to set up. A community which actively went to the margins to care for and to love those who were unloved or viewed as unlovable. Due to this radical difference in what it looked like to be a community, this church grew quickly. Volunteering 2000 years ago was a call to serve the community in order that all people would be seen and enabled to flourish.
As we celebrate the long-term volunteering of Alan Sharp and Neil Quinlan, may we be encouraged to thank all those volunteers we come into contact with, throughout the community.
And may we be challenged to find ways to participate in serving our local community.
Read: A convenient helper
Alan Sharp and his right-hand man Neil Quinlan have volunteered together since 1986. Photo: Jesse Wood
