Feeling closer to God

Matthew Wallace, of New Laigh Kirk in Kilmarnock, describes finding his purpose in Church.

I HAVE always been fascinated with how a church runs. It is like a finely tuned watch with so many people within the congregation representing cogs, springs and dials, all resulting in a magnificent creation that has a purpose.

In this case, the purpose of the church is to create an environment where everyone can come and feel God’s presence and be part of a community which worships His word and realise the ways He can positively impact our lives. This community is created by everyone in this congregation, from the minister to the session clerk to the volunteers that open the doors to the many people who help in the Sunday school who brought people up like myself to understand and use God’s teachings in everyday life.

In my time at church, I have learned that everyone can have a role to play and I was lucky enough to find my role a year ago when I was asked to be an accompanist for my church’s youth praise band. I was very excited and happy to be given the opportunity to help and develop the faith and skills of the next generation of the church.

In my role I play piano and accompany the band during rehearsals and performances, both in church and at worship events the church organises seasonally. The most recent performance we worked towards was in front of the whole congregation at the Sunday school prizegiving service at the start of June. It was a really good day as all year we had been working towards this goal and it turned out very well and was amazingly received by the congregation.

“ I was very excited and happy to be given the opportunity to help and develop the faith and skills of the next generation of the church.

Throughout this year I have seen the band very enthusiastic and eager to play and learn, which has been a joy to see. I have greatly enjoyed being a part of helping them develop and advance their faith and other life skills like teamwork and coordination. A moment I would like to draw on for this piece is when we were doing final rehearsals for a performance, and we had just played through the first piece we learned together as a band correctly. The moment of that was extremely memorable as I turned around from my music to see everyone smiling and happy that something they had been working so hard on for a month had come to fruition and was ready for a proper performance.

And while I hope I have been a small part of this wonderful group of people’s development of faith it has also really helped me develop my own. I have found that expressing my faith through worshipping through music is a way I can feel closer to God and have a connection to him that I never had before. Since I have found this connection, I have been very diligent in trying to implement the spirit of community of the church and Christian values into my daily life and hoping it makes a difference, even a small one, to someone at some point.

Overall finding my role in my church has taught me more about what it means to be part of a church. It isn’t just about yourself, it’s how everyone, no matter age or background, can come together and be the cogs, springs and dials that keeps the watch of the church ticking on with purpose.