I can remember when my 11 year-old boy, Joey, finished his first 5k race. He was out of breath. Not only was he out of breath, but he was so out of breath that he wanted nothing to do with me. He ripped the water bottle out of my hand and walked about 100 yards away to simply focus on breathing.
This past Sunday was another such occasion. People were emotionally out of breath. This is the case nearly every year, the Sunday after Christmas. It is more apparent when Christmas Eve lands one or two days before Sunday. The result is that attendance goes down and many of those who do come to worship almost seem to drag themselves into the sanctuary.
How we deal with this annual trend is critical to how the month of January goes for the church. Yes, Joey was tired and needed to recover (wouldn't you?). But what came next was the difference between regression and progression. His first words to me, once he had enough oxygen, were 'That was awesome!'. He immediately wanted to know when the next race would happen.
As a Christian community, we always need to look ahead, even as we are tired from the past. It is the difference between a church that regresses to what use to be and a church that progresses toward what God wants it to be. When we ask, 'what is next', we open the door to a January that is full of hope and dreams instead of a January that is gloomy and gray.
At Emmanuel, you will have plenty encouragement to look ahead. But ultimately it will need to be you to open your mind to the possibilities. I hope you find that your January is even more exciting than your December. May God fill you with hopes and dreams.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Avoiding Burnout
As 2010 comes upon us, one change at Emmanuel is glaring: more intentional ministry! More ministry means more people, more time, more commitments, more resources, more energy. As Emmanuel changes how ministry is dreamed, planned, implemented and evaluated, it will be necessary for some of you to adjust to the changes. I'm specifically speaking to those of you who are use to being active in more than one ministry. Some of you have historically been involved in nearly everything. I'm going to be bold here. Ready? Those days are over.
Burnout is a huge issue in churches that live out God's Call. This is because such churches are super busy and branch out in multiple ways. The danger in this is what we call 'burnout'. Burnout is when you expend so much energy and time for such a long time in multiple ways that you simply run out of steam. A person who experiences burnout throws up their hands and suddenly says, 'I can't do this anymore'. Burned out people become tired, frustrated, cranky and irritated. The church doesn't need those kinds of people. The world has enough of them already.
As your pastor, I have some degree of responsibility to seeing to your spiritual health, especially as it relates to the church. You need to have a balance of being fed and feeding others just as I do. I will be encouraging you to consider the following guidelines to help you meet this balance:
1. Attending worship is necessary as it gives one a sense of community, purpose and inspiration.
2. Clearly Churches have found over the generations that a good, nurturing Small Group does wonders for ministry (just ask John Wesley). It fills your gas tank up and keeps you motivated, supported and encouraged.
3. If you are one more than one of the following ministry teams, then please pick one for 2010. These teams will be the busiest and being on more than one of these teams will test your endurance:
Faith Forming Relationships
Radical Hospitality
Risk-Taking Outreach
Passionate Worship
Trustees
Missions
4. If you are on one of the above teams, you may serve on one of the following teams, but not more than one. If you are not on one of the above teams, you may be able to serve on any 2 of the following:
Staff-Parish Relations
Finance
Compassionate Care
Multi-Media
Lay Ministries (nominations)
5. Emmanuel has a VERY active UMW. If you are heavily involved with UMW, please be aware that any team you are serving on is going to also need your time. Commit accordingly.
6. While some serve on teams, I realize that many of you do not. However, many of you have been willing to help out with the programs associated with the teams. Those who are not on teams can burnout as well if they are helping out with everything under the sun. Find out what God has called you to and go for it. And, no, God hasn't called you to be everything for everybody.
7. While pastors and churches appreciate your willingness to serve, we would prefer to have you as a servant on a long-term basis. Please keep tabs on your spiritual health. We are running a marathon, not a sprint.
I feel that I must add a footnote here. Servanthood is a natural response to God's grace. One serves because they are inspired by God who reaches out to them, embraces them, inspires them and teaches them. Finding a way to serve in the church is a great way to give back to God. If you are not serving in some area, you are encouraged to find a way. Everyone can be a part of expanding God's Kingdom one person at a time.
Burnout is a huge issue in churches that live out God's Call. This is because such churches are super busy and branch out in multiple ways. The danger in this is what we call 'burnout'. Burnout is when you expend so much energy and time for such a long time in multiple ways that you simply run out of steam. A person who experiences burnout throws up their hands and suddenly says, 'I can't do this anymore'. Burned out people become tired, frustrated, cranky and irritated. The church doesn't need those kinds of people. The world has enough of them already.
As your pastor, I have some degree of responsibility to seeing to your spiritual health, especially as it relates to the church. You need to have a balance of being fed and feeding others just as I do. I will be encouraging you to consider the following guidelines to help you meet this balance:
1. Attending worship is necessary as it gives one a sense of community, purpose and inspiration.
2. Clearly Churches have found over the generations that a good, nurturing Small Group does wonders for ministry (just ask John Wesley). It fills your gas tank up and keeps you motivated, supported and encouraged.
3. If you are one more than one of the following ministry teams, then please pick one for 2010. These teams will be the busiest and being on more than one of these teams will test your endurance:
Faith Forming Relationships
Radical Hospitality
Risk-Taking Outreach
Passionate Worship
Trustees
Missions
4. If you are on one of the above teams, you may serve on one of the following teams, but not more than one. If you are not on one of the above teams, you may be able to serve on any 2 of the following:
Staff-Parish Relations
Finance
Compassionate Care
Multi-Media
Lay Ministries (nominations)
5. Emmanuel has a VERY active UMW. If you are heavily involved with UMW, please be aware that any team you are serving on is going to also need your time. Commit accordingly.
6. While some serve on teams, I realize that many of you do not. However, many of you have been willing to help out with the programs associated with the teams. Those who are not on teams can burnout as well if they are helping out with everything under the sun. Find out what God has called you to and go for it. And, no, God hasn't called you to be everything for everybody.
7. While pastors and churches appreciate your willingness to serve, we would prefer to have you as a servant on a long-term basis. Please keep tabs on your spiritual health. We are running a marathon, not a sprint.
I feel that I must add a footnote here. Servanthood is a natural response to God's grace. One serves because they are inspired by God who reaches out to them, embraces them, inspires them and teaches them. Finding a way to serve in the church is a great way to give back to God. If you are not serving in some area, you are encouraged to find a way. Everyone can be a part of expanding God's Kingdom one person at a time.
Monday, December 7, 2009
As we now have a strong Vision in place for 'making disciples of Jesus Christ', let's turn our attention to considering what is the most crucial Vision component for Emmanuel to improve upon. Certainly there may be many different opinions on this matter, but as I have prayed about this much, one component kept coming back to me.....
Radical Hospitality - what steps can we take to encourage others to feel welcomed and prepare them to encounter God?
As we have started a second service, now we can freely invite, invite and invite without the fear of running out of parking or feeling too crowded. The potential to have a warm, friendly environment is enormous. Emmanuel is already filled with friendly people, but the sacred space of the church is waiting to reflect that friendliness. The Hospitality Team will soon be working on ways to decorate the bare walls of the lobby with an Emmanuel-like theme.
Also, informal conversation has started about finding worship banners for the blank walls of the sanctuary. There are worship banner patterns available for anyone wanting to get involved with this. Not only will banners warm up the sacred space, but it will also help with sound acoustics.
Another aspect of Radical Hospitality is being more intentional about welcoming visitors. Within the next couple of weeks we hope to have a program implented so that every visitor knows they were welcomed and feels as though the church is there for them.
Finally, the challenge of cleaning the church building remains a challenge. So far, the volunteerism looks like this:
W.O.W. has volunteered to keep the upstairs cleaned for the entire year...woohooo!
Joe and Wilma Gamel have volunteered to clean the bathrooms....woohooo!
The Sunday morning Small Group (Kim Royer's group) has volunteered for February..woohoo!
Kathy Bolton has volunteered to help fill in when needed (including December)...woohoo!
As you see, we are making progress, but we are still needing help. What we need is the following:
March-December - groups to commit to one month of cleaning sanctuary and basement levels at least twice during the month.
While the other components of the Vision are equally important, it is my honest opinion the deepest untapped potential of Emmanuel is the Hospitality component. If you feel called or gifted to helping Emmanuel be a more welcoming place, please consider being part of the team and contact Pastor Joe. You can make a serious impact on the Vision that Emmanuel has for the future.
Radical Hospitality - what steps can we take to encourage others to feel welcomed and prepare them to encounter God?
As we have started a second service, now we can freely invite, invite and invite without the fear of running out of parking or feeling too crowded. The potential to have a warm, friendly environment is enormous. Emmanuel is already filled with friendly people, but the sacred space of the church is waiting to reflect that friendliness. The Hospitality Team will soon be working on ways to decorate the bare walls of the lobby with an Emmanuel-like theme.
Also, informal conversation has started about finding worship banners for the blank walls of the sanctuary. There are worship banner patterns available for anyone wanting to get involved with this. Not only will banners warm up the sacred space, but it will also help with sound acoustics.
Another aspect of Radical Hospitality is being more intentional about welcoming visitors. Within the next couple of weeks we hope to have a program implented so that every visitor knows they were welcomed and feels as though the church is there for them.
Finally, the challenge of cleaning the church building remains a challenge. So far, the volunteerism looks like this:
W.O.W. has volunteered to keep the upstairs cleaned for the entire year...woohooo!
Joe and Wilma Gamel have volunteered to clean the bathrooms....woohooo!
The Sunday morning Small Group (Kim Royer's group) has volunteered for February..woohoo!
Kathy Bolton has volunteered to help fill in when needed (including December)...woohoo!
As you see, we are making progress, but we are still needing help. What we need is the following:
March-December - groups to commit to one month of cleaning sanctuary and basement levels at least twice during the month.
While the other components of the Vision are equally important, it is my honest opinion the deepest untapped potential of Emmanuel is the Hospitality component. If you feel called or gifted to helping Emmanuel be a more welcoming place, please consider being part of the team and contact Pastor Joe. You can make a serious impact on the Vision that Emmanuel has for the future.
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