Volunteer activities abound at TBC. The Hebrews ministry (Sunday morning coffee) offers a low-threat way to serve while meeting many of the regulars. Door greeters are always needed for both services on a Sunday. The Youth Group needs people to provide all that free food on Wednesday nights; the Facilities Committee is usually looking for people to help fix squeaky doors; a seasonal men’s chorus or mixed choir is available for the musically inclined; the Community Garden needs sowers, weeders, waterers and harvesters.
On a serious note, a robust Grief Ministry needs those who can assist with funerals or home visits during times of great loss. Our church is quite visible from Highway 254 and is ideally located for hosting large funerals. Since 2007, we have been able to host funerals about twice a year for families who either had no church home, or needed much more space for the size crowd anticipated. This has been the case for a few Circle High School students, where very large assemblies of friends and family were invited to hold services at our location.
A Hunter Safety class is offered annually in the fall. We live in a rural community in the Midwest; regardless of your view on the gun thing (and like any group, we have a large variety of dissimilar opinions on that subject) we believe it is important to offer the opportunity to be instructed on safe gun handling. At some point in your child’s life, he or she will probably be exposed to a firearm at a time when you are not present. Best to understand the fundamentals ahead of time.
And for the truly athletic minded, we have basketball for the grownups every Sunday evening. This is not exactly Bible Study (far from it), but is quite useful for reaching out to friends, neighbors or co-workers. Those who are perhaps unaccustomed to a church environment can develop a level of comfort with the building and the people during a fast-paced game of hoops.
TBC has a high profile in the community. We host a Marketplace during the annual Benton Day in April; our building is the polling station in Benton; the local public schools have designated the church a rally point in the event of evacuation; our lay people assist with student-led Bible Study at the local middle school; we are a crisis response center during storms or power outages.