Thrill and Move!

Today Donnie and went to a conference for leaders hosted by a church in a neighboring town. The church is quite weird, as churches go, and isn't really for me. However, we have been taking the kids to some Saturday evening services because some of them work on Sundays and need church, and because our church really doesn't preach to teenager boys, where their church strikes a cord with teen boys. It has been so good for them!
I really wish I could remember it all and put it all out there for everyone, it was really that good!

So much of it was about having a vision, and everyone in the church working toward that vision. We are all told to be disciples, it isn't just the leaderships job, it is the church's job. We, the congregation, need to be out COMPELLING people to come into the church to fill God's house. The church needs to be all about the weekend, getting the lost in those seats and getting them saved, nothing else is as important.

How do you do that? You THRILL your believers with the Word of God and your mission, and MOVE them to bring seekers into the church where they will hear the Word. In order to turn a seeker into a believer who brings in seekers you need to bring them along a path of believing, to being baptised, to learning, to volunteering, to connecting to a small group, and then taking classes to deepen faith.

All believers should be volunteering. Period. Not much more than once a month, in order to not be burned out, and not less than once a month so they feel valued. But it isn't a matter of "do you want to volunteer" it is a matter of WHERE are you going to volunteer? If you aren't going to be a productive member of the congregation, you are taking up a seat that a lost person could be sitting in. (those are the pastor's words, but I agree with him when he says it, haha) We've been saying this in our church recently, but how to implement it?

Mentorship. Apprentices. The thrill of following God's vision! Be enthusiastic! Be united in the vision for your church, and know your target. Who are you trying to reach? Each church has a mission, and you should have a defined mission. Because who have have on that stage is who your church is. If it is all 50 year old people, you are not ministering to 20 year old men, you know?

One of the things that I love about The Crossing is that all the volunteers are enthusiastic. And that is because they know they have value, and their job has value. The parking attendants are the first impression, Preaching begins in the parking lot, and they jump and direct traffic into their parking lot, enthusiastically greet you in the parking lot, walk you in with umbrellas and tell you how excited they are to have you there. It is just amazing!
I'm not saying all churches need to go that far into it, but I am saying that enthusiasm and joy in every job is a huge benefit to the church.
But how do they get their volunteers to be excited and animated while directing traffic in the rain? The train them, encourage them, thank them, praise them, mentor them. It is a fantastic program.

Another major benefit I would love to see instituted in our church is a mentorship/apprentice program. All leaders should have an apprentice, then they can take a break, and we have new leaders trained! If all leaders are there after having been an apprentice, they are well trained in the church's vision and not their own!

I am so super excited about these ideas and would love to see how we can implement some of them in our church. The Crossing did an amazing job of training other churches, they never said we should be like them, they are weird enough, no need for more weirdos, but they want to share what works for them. The bigger ideas, not the exact ideas. They say that God gave us eyes so we could plagiarize, lol. They are more than willing to let you use their ideas to further the kingdom of God.

I'll try to keep posting about what I learned, but the wedding is coming fast, and hopefully the pukies will stay away so we can get the flowers and cake done.