Specific Places of Service for Every Spiritual Gift in Your Church

It’s common for Christians to get excited about discovering their spiritual gifts, take a test or an online assessment (like spiritualgiftstest.com), and then lose interest because they don’t know a practical way to leverage their spiritual gifts in the local church. We’re called not just to discover our spiritual gifts but to develop them. This list isn’t exhaustive, but here are a few specific places in the local where you can begin to leverage every spiritual gift:

ADMINISTRATION – (The gift of administration is the divine strength or ability to organize multiple tasks and groups of people to accomplish these tasks — 1 Corinthians 12:28.)  Almost any ministry in the church needs some organization behind the scenes. You could volunteer in the church office, manage supplies for the children’s ministry or help check-in students to small groups.

APOSTLESHIP – (The gift of apostleship is the divine strength or ability to pioneer new churches and ministries through planting, overseeing, and training — Ephesians 4:11, 1 Corinthians 12:28.) Apostles are pioneers and are the perfect folks to help get a new ministry or project off the ground. They love a challenge!

DISCERNMENT – (The gift of discernment is the divine strength or ability to spiritually identify falsehoods and to distinguish between right and wrong motives and situations — 1 Corinthians 12:10.) These folks are great for the security team! They can also make a big impact if you have leadership teams that help give oversight to various ministries of the church or teams that minister out in the community such as a benevolence ministry. 

ENCOURAGEMENT – (The gift of encouragement is the divine strength or ability to encourage others through the written or spoken word and Biblical truth — Romans 12:8.) Folks with the gift of encouragement are great just about everywhere, but can make a special impact working on a host team making the first impression for your church. Encouragers can also encourage online through a social media team.

EVANGELISM – (The gift of evangelism is the divine strength or ability to help non-Christians take the necessary steps to becoming a born again Christian – – Ephesians 4:11.) Most folks think door-to-door witnessing but evangelists are also perfect for working with youth, who are often at a critical juncture in their faith.

FAITH – (The gift of faith is the divine strength or ability to believe in God for unseen supernatural results in every arena of life — Romans 12:8.) Like evangelism, people with the gift of faith are great working with teenagers, believing in them when many teenagers don’t believe in themselves. People with the gift of faith are also critically important to any recovery ministry your church might have.

GIVING – (The gift of giving is the divine strength or ability to produce wealth and to give it by tithes and offerings for the purpose of advancing the Kingdom of God on earth — Romans 12:8.) People with the gift of giving are great serving in the community on behalf of the church because their generosity to others beautifully represents the generosity of God. Also if you have any team creating framework or accelerating the giving within the church, people with the gift of giving are naturals here.

KNOWLEDGE – (The gift of knowledge is the divine strength or ability to understand and bring clarity to situations and circumstances often accompanied by a word from God — 1 Corinthians 12:8.) People with knowledge make incredible Bible teachers in small group or classroom settings. Knowledge can also be useful in specific fields such as a medical response team or working with production or audio/visual. 

LEADERSHIP – (The gift of leadership is the divine strength or influence people at their level while directing and focusing them on the big picture, vision, or idea — Romans 12:8.) Like the gift of encouragement leaders are beneficial in every ministry of the church. The key is to identify people with the gift of leadership and give them meaningful opportunities to lead.

MERCY – (The gift of mercy is the divine strength or ability to feel empathy and to care for those who are hurting in any way — Romans 12:8). Folks with the gift of mercy are great working with young children, ministering in the community through outreach, or even working with senior adults, the sick and the elderly.

PASTOR/SHEPHERD – (The gift of pastor/shepherd is the divine strength or ability to care for the personal needs of others by nurturing and mending life issues — Ephesians 4:11.) Pastor/shepherds tend to be your best small group leaders because they truly create a sense of family and community where the body ministers to one another. People with these gifts are also incredible in children’s ministry as they shepherd the next generation.

PROPHECY – (The gift of prophecy is the divine strength or ability to boldly speak and bring clarity to scriptural and doctrinal truth, in some cases foretelling God’s plan — 1 Corinthians 12:10.) People with the gift of prophecy can bring a divine power to a prayer team or prayer ministry. In many cases prophets can be incredible teachers, bringing clarity to issues that seem confusing to most. There is no gray with prophets, only black and white, right and wrong.

SERVICE – (The gift of serving is the divine strength or ability to do small or great tasks in working for the overall good of the body of Christ — Romans 12:7.) Like the gift of leadership those with service are beneficial in every area of the church. The key difference is they want to be behind-the-scenes. If you have a team of folks that sets up or breaks down chairs, does maintenance or small construction projects within the church, operates sound boards or video cameras, basically anything where there is no spotlight, these servants thrive. 

TEACHING – (The gift of teaching is the divine strength or ability to study and learn from the Scriptures primarily to bring understanding and depth to other Christians — Ephesians 4:11.) Teachers obviously make incredible small group leaders and large group teachers and preachers. Any ministry or program where the Bible is taught, you want someone with the gift of teaching to have the microphone in their hand.

WISDOM – (The gift of wisdom is the divine strength or ability to apply the truths of Scripture in a practical way, producing the fruitful outcome and character of Jesus Christ — 1 Corinthians 12:8). Like the gift of discernment, people with wisdom are incredible on leadership teams that give oversight to the church. Whether it’s serving on a board, with a team of elders, on a Personnel Team (or however else you slice it), people with wisdom are the ones you want pointing your church forward into the future.