CHRISTIAN SERVICE PAPER: HELPFUL HINTS
1. Read this sheet. Seriously.
2. Read the Christian Service Paper guidelines (Duh!). We grade based on those expectations, so pay attention!
3. If you have questions about your paper, ask your Peace & Justice teacher, Mr. Powers, or Ms. Casey! We are
here to help.
4. DO NOT, under any circumstances, think that the paper reflection questions on the back of this paper will write
your paper for you. The worst papers are those that answer those questions and stick all the answers together.
The questions are merely ways to get your reflection STARTED, not a means to an end. Use a strong thesis
statement to organize your paper instead.
5. Speaking of what not to do. DO NOT use clichés. Especially in your thesis statement! True, “Don’t judge a
book by its cover” is a very important lesson, but didn’t you already know that before your service? In 65
hours, that’s what you took away? Stretch yourself to identify a more specific lesson.
6. Okay, scripture quotes – part of the spiritual reflection section. A few things here:
A) Use the “Scripture Guide to Justice” sheet (found on the wall right outside the Christian Service Office, on
Canvas, or on the JHS web page) to help you RESEARCH. The Scripture quote is supposed to connect
your experience to the wider Catholic Christian faith. You must put some thought into that connection. Our
guide will give you a good starting point for finding a quote that fits your service experience well, but keep
in mind that it just summarizes the quote. To finish the research, you have to track down the quote in the
Bible, and cite it from there.
B) If you work with children and take the quote from Matthew (“let the children come to me”) straight out of
the journal, don’t think that counts as RESEARCHING a scripture quote, because it doesn’t.
C) EMBED YOUR QUOTES! Please don’t jump right into the quote without first providing context – briefly
tell how the quote relates to your experience and paper before you use it.
7. Tell stories about specific people that you worked with as illustrations for your main points in the educational
and spiritual reflections. Christian Service is all about getting to know people you might not otherwise
experience. So, who did you meet? What did you learn from them?
8. Proofread, proofread, proofread! Give your paper to someone else to edit. Eliminate all typos and grammatical
errors– these are signs of sloppiness and little effort.
9. Be creative! Make us laugh! Above all, BE HONEST about your experience. At the same time, starting your
paper by criticizing the Christian Service Program is probably not the best way to go. Chances are it will just
make you look embittered and immature.
10. The main purpose of the paper is for you to write about what you learned, and how you apply that new
information to your life today, now. Don’t forget to do some significant reflection on this.
11. Remember the length guidelines: your paper should be at least five full pages and no longer than nine. Writing =
thinking. So, a four page paper reflects minimal thought. You do have 65+ hours of experience to reflect
upon!
12. Finally, remember that if you turn your paper in at least a week before the final due date, you can rewrite it for a
better grade. This is a great deal, so plan ahead and take advantage of it!
*SOME HELPFUL REFLECTION QUESTIONS TO GET YOU GOING…
This paper requires you to examine your service and how you have changed. Answer as many questions that apply to your service
experience. Do not answer these questions in list form, and do not limit your reflection to these questions. Be sure to support
your statements with examples or stories of the experiences that impacted you.
Educational Level: What did I learn? What did my experience mean to my life? How have I made it a part of me?
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How did I view the people I was serving and/or the placement before I began this service project? How can I prove that my
view has changed or has stayed the same? What did I learn about them?
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What are some important things the people I served taught me? Most importantly, how or from whom did I learn this? (Use
stories or experiences to show how they taught me something about myself or my life.)
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Have I changed, or have I seen ways in my life that I could make changes in the way I relate to the people with whom I
worked? What influence might I have over the way others around me relate to these people?
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What new attitudes or talents have developed in me? Can the things that I learned be applied to other parts of my life such as
family or friend relationships, school, future career, further service, etc.?
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What have been my biggest struggles during my service, and what can I learn from those struggles?
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What are the greatest gifts I have been given because of my involvement with the people with whom I worked? How might I
use those gifts in my life to help others?
Theological Level: Where did I notice God? Where was love? How did my work respond to "what it means to be Christian"?
Connect your service both to your own spirituality and to the wider shared faith of Christians. How did your work respond to
Christianity’s “call to service.” To illustrate this, research a scripture quote or a quote from a church document which relates to
your service work (reference sheets are in the CS office.) Explain why you chose the quote, quote it in your paper (cite bible passage
or source) and show the connection between your work and the Church’s work for social justice. In addition to the researched quote,
you should use the following questions to help you reflect on how your faith was affected by your service work. If you are not
Christian, you must still approach this section academically or intellectually, stating how it relates to what you know about
Christianity. You should still relate it to your personal faith perspective or spirituality as well, whatever that perspective may be.
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What is "the good" of service for us? In other words, why does the church call Christians to serve others?
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(For use with scripture quote) Why did I choose this quote and how does the quote show a relationship between my work and
our call to service? Does this quote relate to my thesis?
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How is God present in the people I worked with? Did I notice places where God might have been present? Can I see God any
differently after this experience with people who know what it means to be excluded?
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How has this experience challenged my faith? Strengthened it? Where have I seen God at work during my service?
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Do I see Jesus differently after meeting these people? Has my view of the Church changed in any way? Discuss my
perspective before and how it may or may not have changed.
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Catholic Social Teaching is essentially concerned about people and their condition in life so that all may live with their basic
rights and dignity. How do I understand this teaching in light of my service work? Give examples.