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“Each of you should use whatever gifts you have received to serve others” (1 Peter 4:10). Read how WELS lay members use their gifts in ministry work.
Blessed to be involved
“Sometimes I think, How did I ever get lucky enough to get tapped to do all this?”
Mark Schulz, a member at St. Matthew, Janesville, Wis., not only feels lucky but also blessed by the opportunities he has had to use his talents to facilitate ministry work in his local congregation as well as in several WELS international organizations.
A husband, father, lawyer, and judge, Schulz has his hands full with his day-to-day life and activities. But God opened up other doors for him for additional service, starting in his local congregation.
“When I first came to Janesville, I was fresh out of law school and joined the church,” says Schulz. “They got excited and said, ‘Oh, there’s a lawyer in our church. We have to get him involved.’ And then they got me involved. And it proved to be a good thing for me.”
He started out on the Stewardship Committee before progressing to the church council, congregation secretary, and then chairman of the congregation. “It was my first experience with any kind of church work other than just going to church on Sundays,” says Schulz. “I had a lot of good role models in the congregation about lay leadership. To see what these men did and the time they spent and the thought and the effort that they gave to try to make the church and school run—I really respected those men. I was young, and I would often just sit off to the side and watch and listen.”
These lay leaders weren’t Schulz’s only mentors in Christian service. His parents were actively involved inside and outside of their church, especially in areas involving mission work. His parents would often house-sit for missionaries when they went on furlough. His dad, Eugene, was among the first laypeople involved in the development of WELS Kingdom Workers and also the first lay representative in the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference (CELC), serving as the treasurer and photographer of this worldwide fellowship of 34 Lutheran church bodies. “He would ask me to tag along and help him,” says Schulz, regarding taking photos at the CELC’s triennial conventions.
When his dad retired from the position in his 80s, the CELC elected Mark as his replacement. Besides continuing to serve with the CELC, he also is on the boards for World Missions, Kingdom Workers, Grace in Action, and WELS Foundation. While it can be difficult to keep his volunteering, family, and work life in balance, Schulz says he is happy that his work offers him the flexibility to be involved and use his gifts as a lawyer and estate planner to further God’s kingdom. “We need people to get involved in the local church,” he says, “but don’t be afraid to look outside the local congregation and don’t be hesitant because you’re not sure what you’re getting into. You’ll meet great, dedicated Christians.”
He speaks from experience. “I have been so blessed. It’s just remarkable, I think, to see how God is using so many different people from so many walks of life to accomplish things. I run across different people, different Americans who are involved—some visibly, some less visibly—working hard and doing things to help. I’ve been really blessed to worship with people on 5 different continents and in 35 countries. I see people who are well educated, people who are dirt poor, people who are on a subsistence living—all willing to share the fat of their land with us. We are all brothers and sisters in God’s kingdom. It’s just remarkable.”
Finding your yes
Texas, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Arizona, Minnesota.
Brian and Ramona Saatkamp, members at Christ Our Savior, Rockford, Mich., have been busy traveling since they retired, but it’s not only to take leisurely vacations. They also have work to do.
The Saatkamps volunteer with Builders For Christ, a longtime program of Kingdom Workers in which men and women help WELS churches and schools with their building projects. Since they first started volunteering in 2018, the Saatkamps have spent at least two months (and often more) a year at different sites, doing whatever they can to help with the projects.
“You get hooked,” says Ramona. “It’s almost like, is this really serving? Should we be having this much fun?”
Neither Brian nor Ramona was involved in construction as their career. But as a teen, Brian grew up with family friends from church who were do-it-yourselfers. “You learn to become self-sufficient—whether it’s plumbing or carpentry or electrical work or whatever,” says Brian. “I would never say I was good at it, but I enjoyed it.”
As a result, after their move to Michigan in 2017, Ramona encouraged Brian to get involved with Builders For Christ. “We did all our own remodeling projects ourselves,” says Ramona, “so I could tell he would be good at this.”
Soon it was something they were doing together. And they are loving every minute of it. “People were saying, ‘Wow, I can’t believe you’re doing this,’ ” says Ramona. “And we’re like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe everyone isn’t doing this!’ ”
Both of the Saatkamps especially appreciate being part of a close-knit family of believers connected through this way of serving. “We’re not spreading God’s Word directly by what we’re doing, but we’re facilitating others being able to do that work,” says Ramona.
“Your universe expands rather than contracts because of Builders For Christ,” says Brian. “It’s more than just the work. We enjoy giving to God some of our time and talents, and meeting new people is one of the highlights for all of us.”
Besides traveling to construction sites around the country, the Saatkamps help with church upkeep at home, with Ramona working on landscaping and Brian helping with various maintenance projects.
While the Saatkamps seem to have it all figured out, Ramona says it has been a journey to find a balance and learn how to gently say no to some requests. “There are so many ways I want to serve, but I have to not say yes to all of them,” she says. “If I do too much, I can’t do what I’m doing well.”
She offers this encouragement to people as they consider how they want to serve through different stages of their lives: “Follow your passion. If you’re not really passionate about something, then maybe that’s the thing that you are best not to say yes to. . . . But there can’t be only noes. So find your yes.”
Learn more about Builders For Christ at kingdomworkers.com.
Author: Julie Wietzke
Volume 111, Number 10
Issue: October 2024
- Free in Christ: Personal offerings
- Free in Christ: Use of property
- Free in Christ: Stewardship of time and talents
- Free in Christ: Congregational staffing
- Free in Christ: Individual prayer
