Shout Outs
It's no secret that we've had some "communication issues" at College for a while. Too many people don't know what's going on when it's going on, or even after it's already happened! I don't have nearly as much of a problem with the communication issue as I do with the problem of placing blame. And my problem there is not with who ends up taking the blame, but with the felt need to place blame at all.The truth is, our poor (but improving) communication is nobody's fault...and everybody's fault!
Just as our elders, deacons, ministers, and ministry leaders could all do a better job of getting the word out about church activities, the church itself could do a much better job of paying attention to bulletins, e-mails, announcements, PowerPoint slides, and so on. We could all do a better job of asking questions and staying involved with churchwide activity and not just our own personal areas of interest.
I had a conversation about a week ago with one of our Children's Education leaders (whose name is Tannon, and whose blog needs some serious work) that led me to a real eye-opener. I believe the main reason these communication issues exist at all is that so many different people are doing so many different things! Now, I gotta be honest, I can't see any way that that is a bad thing! The College Church has always had a high percentage of real involvement and, despite great efforts, people will often not know everything that is going on because so much is going on! And if you don't think I'm excited about that, just look at all the italics I've already used! Not to mention exclamation points!!!
So today I wanted to give a few shout outs to some people who are doing amazing things. This will be the tiptop of the tip of the iceberg.
Our new Youth Ministers, Brandon and Melissa have hit the ground sprinting. I think that anytime a new minister comes into a church there is an automatic energy and excitement. These two servants have taken that freshness and raised it to the power of...y'know...some really big number. And if the growth of the youth group wasn't enough reason to be excited, you should have heard Brandon beat box during worship yesterday. I stood there, beaming, thinking to myself, "A C of C that will put a beat boxer up with the praise team on Sunday morning will do anything to bring the world to Jesus and Jesus to the world." I've never felt more firmly that our traditions are waaaaaayyyyy down on the priority list where they belong...and Christ is occupying the number one spot.
The church website has just gotten a makeover and our dear, sweet Robin has been working hard to make it look great and be incredibly user-friendly and functional. Too few people know about it yet, or visit it regularly, but we're working on that. I truly believe that our servants that put together bulletins, websites, communion trays, and so on cannot receive enough praise.
I had an exhilarating meeting (I know, I know, oxymoron) Saturday morning with an elder, a minister, and a leader of our Children's Education ministry. Wonder of wonders, four men came together and agreed that loving God, loving our neighbors, and bringing the message of Jesus to a lost and broken world ought to be the primary concern of the church! The Children's Ed representative, Shawn, is another great example of a servant. Here is a man with such a heart for children, with such a desire to teach them about Jesus, that he is willing to give up evenings and weekends during a hectic schedule (with a sore neck to boot!) to walk through the doors that God has opened. I am honored to see his example and call him friend.
There are three examples out of...who knows? Let's all fix our eyes on Jesus, encourage each other, and focus on the positive ways our church represents Christ in this world. Let's leave the negatives by the wayside and come alongside each other, showing people what a united body looks like as we do the will and the work of our loving Lord.
posted by Thurman8er @ 8:02 AM
7 Comments:
I love our church! Don't know what a beat box is, though.
I don't know, maybe it's just me, but it sounds like you're excited!! ..........and you've started a 1000 points of light, too! :) God bless.
Someone came to out class a couple of weeks ago asking for old jeans...anything denim for the women's retreat. I did not catch all the particulars. By the time I found my denim 'cache" and had washed them and put them in a bag, I tried to take them to the church office...it wasnt't open when I got off work, and I forgot who it was I should have contacted. I called the office and left a message...no reponse. I went again, and no one knew anything about it! I prepared 20 pairs of denim clothing, but had no place to take them. (It's hard to catch people when one works 7am - 4pm or later) A nice blurb in the newsletter would have been nice. THIS is communication I needed. I tried...
Brady stole my thunder and question. What is a beat box. Would that be a slang term used in football to describe the area that Tom Brady occupied during the Super Bowl as he was introduced over and over to the NY Giants Defense?
Every church needs periodic shout outs for folks such as the ones that you described. If you were close enough I would give you a "Press Box Shout Out" at tonight's game.
Here's a shout-out to you and the College Church. In many ways we sound like kindred spirits.
OK, you boomers, a "Beat Box" is someone doing vocal percussion etc. Usually "bm bm bm" and the like.
Great words of encouragement.
The communication card is usually played when someone doesn't like what is being communicated.
Great post brother.
I want to thank you for sharing this with us.
Keep up the great blogging.
I hope you have a great weekend.
In Him,
Kinney Mabry
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