Turn to serve
Sunday, August 16, 2009 at 10:18PM After 8 years in churchlife, I have now come to see that seasons are very important. As an organic body with no formally assigned leadership, ideas and creativity can (at times) come spewing forth. The result is that we are rarely doing the same thing for a long stretch of time.
Recently, Michael suggested that we have two families team up to coordinate meetings for the church for two months. Then, after the two months, the coordination moves to a new set of people (or at least partially new). The idea is to entrust a small, manageable group to do the intense work required to plan the schedule and the logistics, while leaving the time period long enough to make the work worth it but not so long as to burn anyone out.
We are now in Round 2, and I'm up.
For the first round, it was Michael, Kim, Greg, and Vena. I could tell, even from the outside looking in, that the work was hard. Everyone has opinions, and you just cannot satisfy them all. But that's part of the point: put up or shut up (in other words, these four were kind enough to serve in this way, so give them some respect). They will be the first to say they did not do things perfectly, but they were fervent with their service and patient and gracious when others gave constructive feedback.
The call went out for volunteers for Round 2: the months of September and October. I nudged Amanda and convinced her that we should serve in this capacity. I have been desiring to serve the church in a more serious manner, and though I could have given valid reasons for being too busy, part of me felt like I will always "be too busy" to do this kind of thing. So we took the plunge.
There were not exactly a flood of volunteers for this next time around, so Greg and Vena volunteered to do it again with us. We were excited to serve with them and we knew their experience doing it in July and August would only benefit us.
The four of us got together Saturday night to pray and discuss the schedule. The kids never distracted us. We were all on the same page. Things just flowed naturally. The whole thing took something like 14 minutes.
Not really.
Kids were in and out playing, but we managed. Greg asked that we spend time praying first, and I was so glad he did. I was amazed that, although we really were all on a similar page, the meeting lasted three hours. THREE HOURS, and all we did was talk about what kinds of meetings would go on what dates. We did nothing regarding all the logistics necessary to actually make the meetings happen.
But it was so fun. Okay, and at times frustrating. But the Lord gave us some great ideas, and we really sought Him for creativity. Coordinating meetings is hard! Yet, despite the work required, it is amazing to think about how different kinds of meetings might fit together for the benefit of the church.
Formal, planned, structured meetings should not constitute the majority of churchlife, in my opinion. Instead, they should compliment life together. But that doesn't mean organized meetings are not important. They have a vital role, and I feel privileged to be able to help plan them.
At least, I feel privileged while it's still August.
Reader Comments (2)
Nice teaser post. :)
Actually, very well said. Our family is appreciative of all that have served, and will serve in this capacity.
I am thrilled with the way this is working out so far. I think it's great to have the planning done this way, and I've really enjoyed the variety of times together that we've had. That variety alone has fed a part of me that craves creativity. I really look forward to seeing what's on the schedule next, and doing it! Oh, this season is so much more rewarding for me and mine than the previous one.