Zing Zing

We added a new feature to the Grace Church website yesterday, a search box through Podzinger. Podzinger automatically takes our message audio files and allows you to search for specific words in the message and gives you the ability to play the message at the spot(s) where it finds those words.

So if you wanted to find the illustration Pastor Scott used about monkeys and coconuts, you can find it using Podzinger. Search for the word monkey and it finds it in the message.

Granted, Podzinger isn't perfect, but it seemed good enough to put it to use. The search bar is on the Message Series page on the church website.

Mother's Day

How should churches handle non-religious holidays that fall on a Sunday? Take Mother's Day for example. After all a mother was required for us to enter the world and who not better to honor with a special day. Though it does highlight the amount of influence Hallmark and the other card-producers have over our society. Mother's are special.

One dillema for churches is how to honor mothers, especially in the context of how churches honor fathers on Father's Day. I know of a church that one year, mother's received a carnation on Mother's Day and on Father's Day they gave each father a tract on how to be a better father.

While we all came into this world with a mom, there are many who have lost their mom, many who have not been blessed with children, and many who have lost children. For some in these categories, Mother's Day can be especially difficult; some even avoiding church all together because celebrating motherhood reopens too many wounds and excessive pain. Therein lies the dillema, how to honor mothers while being sensitive to and cognizant of those who are in pain.

I've heard of churches who don't give out gifts to mothers, in an attempt give less emphasis to the Mother's Day celebration. After all, it isn't a religious holiday. I've also heard of churches that in recognizing mothers also recognize those who've lost their mother or aren't able to be a mom through a prayer during the worship service.

To be serious about winning as many as possible, churches have to figure out how to navigate this dillema.

More on Route 772 Relocation

I haven't checked the Warwick Twp website in several months, but I just discovered the latest report on the Route 772 Relocation study. I highly recommend that Elizabeth and Warwick Twp residents as well as Lititz Borough residents familiarize themselves with the draft study.

I blogged a while back about the pros and cons of the relocation from a Grace Church perspective, and it appears that the initial recommendation is bringing 772 right by the church.

Why do we use registration cards?

If you've ever attended Grace Church you know that we regularly use registration cards; but have you ever wondered why?

Keeping track of a church congregation has its challenges. A church isn't like a theater which is only concerned about the number of people. In the church context, we're concerned about who was in church and we want to communicate with them. I've visited churches that have approached this using various methods, but each has something designed to try and connect with the congregation.

At Grace we use registration cards in several capacities:

1. It's an attender's way of letting us know they were here. Purposely, the responsibility of communicating that to us is on the onus of the individual. We're here to serve each attender, but they need to let us know who they are in order for us to be able to care for you. As you might imagine, the number of registration cards we received each week relfects about 100 less people than the actual number of people in the Auditorium.

2. We use the address information on the registration card to keep the church database up to date, or at least we try to; there are times when a new address slips by. One misconception is that by marking your new e-mail address on the card, your subscription to the weekly eBulletin and Pastor Scott's weekly e-mail updates will automatically be updated. Since those e-mail list subscriptions are fully automated, they can be updated on the church website.

3. The registration cards can be used to communicate information to the church office, whether it's signing up for an upcoming class or informing the Pastors of an upcoming surgery, a prayer request or other need.

How do we process/utilize the cards?
After an individual/family have attended 4 out of 6 worship services (submitting a registration card at each one) they are entered into the church database as a regular attender. With this designation, they'll be assigned a deacon as part of our deacon/pastoral care ministry. That's where the registration cards become important. It is a real challenge, if impossible, to care for people we about whom we know little.

One day each week, usually on Wednesday, a group of the staff and Pastors gather and pray for the various requests that were written on the registration cards from that Sunday. In addition to praying for the requests, we send encouragement cards to different individuals to let them know we prayed for them.

Hopefully that sheds a little more light on why we ask for the registration cards to be filled out each week.

The Business Mgr and The Prince of Denmark

Based on this article I guess I'm not the only one who has enjoyed Filipino hot wings.

My Super Deacon

I never thought my observation skills would become so handy.

Since mid-February my daily commute has increased some 10+ miles as I travel in to East Petersburg and then back to Lititz at the beginning and end of each day. As stated previously here, I know a number of people by the cars they drive, so with this longer commute I've been able to identify who I pass along the road from Grace Church each day. I figured it was worth noting, but had little other value to my daily living. That was until the day the tank ran dry.

As I was approaching East Petersburg coming down Route 72 I sensed the engine was running a little different than normal. I knew I was stretching the run on that tank of gas, but I didn't have money to purchase gas at my first chance, the second chance I passed up because I didn't have time and the third chance I passed up because I figured I'd be okay. So in true NASCAR form, as we passed by McMinn's Paving company, I had pressed my luck too far and the van came to a stop right under the billboard.

As I stepped out of the car quickly gauging how far of I walk I'd have to the nearest gas station and laying my plans, the thought hit me with little time to spare... I knew that I had passed Dave heading North on 72 every morning about that exact time for the past two weeks. Just as I looked at the Northbound traffic, there was his maroon Ford Escape about to pass me by. I called out to him and waved my hand desperately hoping I'd catch his attention.

It worked! He stopped, delayed having breakfast with his wife to help me out and then was on his way. Dave and his wife are our Deacons, but this made them Super Deacons, right there when I needed them.

But most of all, I thank them for so kindly calling ahead to the office to let my staff know that I run out of gas and that I'd be late for work. They really went the extra mile, making sure I'd get a good ribbing when I got to the office. Somehow this violates the Deacon-Congregant privilege, but I haven't been able to find the exact statute.

Thought it doesn't do much for my resume, being extra observant saved me a long walk to the gas station that morning.

A more detailed property update

As I mentioned last week, there's been little news to report on the property across the street, but I realized there is more info I can share. The current crop planted on that land is rye. The rye was chopped late last week and is I guess drying on the field right now (or at least it hasn't been picked up yet). I'm told corn goes in next.

Testing the OpenOffice

I came across OpenOffice.org a few months back. I installed it on our personal computer, but I've been interested to try it at the office. Software licensing costs us a chunk of money each year and while the Microsoft products are generally accepted as the industry standard, they aren't necessarily the best. So to outlay the sums of money we do each year for software that could be better... it just doesn't seem like the wisest stewardship. So I'm embarking on a test beginning this week to see if OpenOffice can adequately replace Microsoft Office for the tasks I do on a regular basis.

My hypothesis is that indeed OpenOffice will serve my needs sufficiently, the challenge will be whether those with whom I exchange files will be able to convert the documents I send them.

I'll keep you posted.

Introducing Grace Church eVites

Sorry for the long hiatus, I suffered a coup d'etat lead by the tyranny of the urgent. Thankfully I survived and control is being restored. It remains to be seen whether I'm still in power or not :)

My co-workers will tell you, when they're away and I fill-in for them, I have a tendency to upset the apple cart and make changes. I'm proud to say that I resisted this temptation last week while I had the opportunity to handle the webpage for the week. I dutifully updated information only and didn't reface the webpage or anything like that.


I did roll out a new piece we've been working on for almost an entire year, the eVite. An eVite is an email message, containing information provided by Grace Church, that you can use to invite people to an upcoming Sunday or message series. Right now, the eVite highlights the Mansion of Prayer message series that kicks off this Sunday. The email message generated by the eVite not only includes information about the message series, but also includes services times, directions and other pertinent information for someone who's never been to Grace before.

Our hope is to roll out a new eVite about 2-3 weeks in advance of the next message series so you can invite people early and often.

Here's a little tip. If you have a real-time internet connection and you don't delete the eVite message, the graphic will update when we change the eVite to the next message series. For example, the eVite highlights Mansion of Prayer right now. Next month, we'll switch to the Raising G-rated Kids in an R-rated World. When we switch, the message sitting in your inbox will change as well.

Check out the eVites at http://www.lgbc.org/gracechurch/sunday/invitation/evite.htm

We have some additional plans in development to further promote upcoming message series and events. We are becoming more and more cognizant of the people who enter our facility, a captive audience we can target in an attempt to invite us to join on a Sunday morning. Don't for a second think that these methods release us from our responsibility to make personal contacts - a personal invitation will always be the most effective.

Weekend Fragments

Sorry for the black out I suffered a coup de ta by the tyranny of the urgent. To bring you back up to speed here are a few fragments...

1. Did you hear that 18,000 attended last Saturday's Blue/White game at Penn State? Keep in mind the Blue/White game is an intra-squad scrimmage with free admission and that it was raining all day Saturday. I figure if 18,000 are willing to watch a scrimmage game in the rain, then it's another reason we don't need to cancel services due to a few inches of snow.

2. Easter Sunday - What a great day! I was thrilled with all the participants who helped pull the whole day together. Dee Miller did a wonderful job with the continental breakfast, the ushers did a tremendous job getting all 1,856 of the people seated, the worship teams/choir/musicians were good, the greeters did a great job welcoming all the visitors, we had just enough parking, we had seats to spare... all around it was a great team effort and a wonderful celebration.

3. Projector Roulette - Notice anything different with the Auditorium screens lately? We've been playing projector roulette. I admire Tim Reedy's patience; I'd be pulling my hair out by now. First the left projector started fading and we limped with it through the Christmas season. After having it for four weeks, the technicians couldn't conclusively identify the problem. We reinstalled since a limping projector is better than no projector. Then Plan B (replacing the projectors with existing projectors in other parts of the building) was implemented only to discover that their throw distance didn't match, rendering them unusable without physical changes that had other complications. So we went to Plan C, purchasing a replacement projector. The one dillema when you have two projectors is whether to replace both simultaneously; we decided to be frugal and just replace the one which was installed in time for Easter. Now, as luck would have it, the right projector is fading.

4. It's been awhile since there's been any news about the property across the street. Officially, there's been nothing to report; we've been consumed first by Christmas planning followed closely by Easter. As Pastor Scott announced yesterday, we will be forming a Concept Development Team in the coming weeks to get moving on the property once again.

5. Now that I've weathered the coup de ta of the past month, hopefully I'll be able to resume blogging with some frequency. I've been pitching in as a Receptionist the past several weeks as we wanted to have a Receptioninst from 8:30-5 each business day. I've pitched in while we worked on the long-term staffing plan.

The Madness of March

For years, basketball was my favorite sport. While playing in high school I tried to emulate the NCAA stars of the 1980s-1990s. Coverage of NCAA Basketball Championship in those days was limited, even for the US audience. The early round games were broadcast on CATV with only the later rounds picked up by the national network. So for the international viewer, coverage was even spottier. I think the first championship game I remember seeing live was the Michigan/Seton Hall final – I think that was another watching the game between class periods type of a thing (see my Super Bowl post).

Since returning to the US combined with CBS’s broadcasting every game of the entire tournament, the annual March Madness tournament has been one of my most favorite times of the year. My enjoyment reached even higher levels during my years in Princeton, NJ, which happened to coincide with the Princeton University basketball program producing the memorable first-round upset of the defending champion UCLA Bruins. My co-workers will confirm that the Tournament schedule is blocked off on the church master calendar years in advance and I’ve even used vacation days just to be able to watch every minute of action of the first two rounds of the tournament.

But the madness of March hit me in a new way this year. First off, work at the church has been so intense I’ve hardly had time to think about the tournament this year. My engagement level in the tournament is lower than in previous years, though I can still tell you who’s in the Final Four. But when I reflect on what I did during the first weekend of the tournament, you’d think the law of gravity was turned on it’s head.

On the beginning day of the tournament, a day in that past that I’ve devoted solely and completely to watching basketball from 12 noon until 12:30 at night (with about an hour’s break for dinner), this year I instead rented Pride & Prejudice to watch with my wife. GASP!

My wife is a Jane Austen fan, among other authors. We have a BBC version of Pride & Prejudice, a two-tape set that is several hours in length. She’s watched it numerous times and I’ve endured it a few myself. So it’s not as if we didn’t know the story. But recently, Hollywood released another rendition of the classic and we missed it in the theaters. It was released on video in late February, but every time we were at Blockbuster, all of the copies were rented out. As fortune would have it, when I stopped at Blockbuster on the beginning day of the tournament, one copy was available. Without hesitation, I grabbed it and went on my way, thinking of the ramifications of my actions only after I had picked it up and headed for the counter.

And so, while the results of the first round were being decided on the court (mind you, I don’t think I missed any of the big upsets), my wife and I enjoyed an evening together with Mr. Darcy, Liza Bennet and the rest of the Bennet clan. Yes, the title March Madness really is apropos.

Health Care: I experienced it personally

I was accustomed to HMO-based health coverage, as long as I called the family doctor first, I could go to the ER and get whatever I needed for a relatively small fee (maybe $50 max). This plan was available to employees for free, no employee contributions. Fortunately, I didn't have to make much use of the plan, I was healthy. But if I had, pay the few bucks, go to the doctor or hospital, follow their orders and get the care I need, or at least the care the doctor thought I needed.

Now we have a deductible based HMO plan. It's still a great plan, the health care available to me is better than the mercuricrome dispensing clinics I grew up with in the remote towns of the Philippines. They would put mercuricrome on anything: broken arm, laceration or headache. Under the new plan, we pay out of pocket to a certain threshold. Beyond that expenses are split between my pocket and the health insurance company's pocket.

So a recent hospital visit went quite differently. As soon as we passed through the doors of the hospital it was as if we'd gotten into a cab and the driver had turned the meter on. With each check by a nurse, each visit of a doctor, the meter was running.

“"We need to send you to get CAT scan”", cha-ching.

"You'll be getting an MRI and an MRA tomorrow"”, cha-ching, cha-ching.

"“We think you should be admitted, but the choice is yours"”, hmmm, that'll be xxx dollars, how much do we have in our account?

I had a difficult time separating decisions that should have been care-need based from being cash-available based. I was viewing everything through a pair of dollar-filtered glasses, viewing everything with the same skepticism I have for the snacks in fancy hotel rooms, food at the ballpark and popcorn at the movies. I guess that's the world we live in right now, though I don't like it. I don't eat the snacks in hotel rooms, rarely eat at the ballpark and my movies are without popcorn.

I've had the opportunity to view health care from multiple angles: as the finance guy, as the head of Human Resources, as a patient with health insurance, and as a relative of someone without insurance. The health care challenges of today are uber-complex, but my resolve remains the same:

To provide our employees with the best plan(s) available and to make sure each and every one of them knows the benefits with which we provide them.

Health Care: I take it personally

One area of my responsibilities doesn't lend itself well to publishing - human resources - because it often involves information not appropriate for posting in a public forum. But recent events have provided an opportunity to open those doors, if for just a few posts.

I've taken a personal interest in health care since my first weeks in church ministry. I was months out of college having started as the Administrator of a local church. In my second week on the job I was running behind deadline producing the weekly bulletin. As the hour passed by 6 and 7 p.m., the tightness and pressure on my chest increased to proportions I had never experienced before. It was as if an 18-wheeler had pulled right into my office and parked itself in such a way that the maximum force of it's gross weight was aimed directly at my upper body. Being around 22 at the time I went home to my apartment instead of going to the hospital. I went to the ER the next day and went through the normal round of tests. The doctors called all I've just described as musculoskeletal chest pain. I recovered fine and the EKG-induced hairless patches on my legs eventually grew back. But those few days probably impacted me for life, if at least for the last eight years.

See, I went to the ER not having any understanding of the health care system or the coverage offered by my employer. As the person responsible for handling the benefits of our employees, I've made it a personal mission of mine to do everything I can to educate our employees on their benefits.

From the inquiries I've made, there are a couple of assumptions made among religious non-profit organizations:

• Church and School staffs are paid less than they could make from other organizations
• Those same organizations offer 100% health coverage (often because they figure they pay their employees less in compensation).

Economic shifts in recent years, have and continue to challenge these assumptions. At Grace, we identified several years ago that the road ahead was clear - health care costs would increase at rates exceeding the cost-of-living increase and just about any other reasonable measure - ultimately resulting in every organization having to come to grips with a new ballgame. We made the difficult decision to begin the change when we would be able to do so based on core principles, laying a foundation for how we would navigate future challenges.

• We want health coverage available to our employees when they need it
• We want our employees to have the best care available when they need it
• In an effort to make sure they need it, employees have to participate through contributions and/or deductibles

We put a lot of thought and sincere concern into how these changes would affect our employees and us for that matter. They weren't easy decisions. All of this made a recent hospital visit a fascinating study of the contrasts between the old and new systems - to be explored tomorrow.

Starting a Ministry - Step 7

Staff Review

Having worked through steps 1-6, the individuals who are looking to start a ministry should submit the information they've prepared to Pastor Scott or myself. From there we'll assess the proposed ministry based on steps 1-6. We'll spend time praying about whether we see God working in the particular area and sense Him opening opportunities for us to join Him in His work. We'll identify what paid staff person would best be responsible for the ministry and talk with them about their passion and interest for the proposed ministry. We'll weigh whether we have the resources, both financial and facility to launch this new effort. All of these factors will help us to determine if it is the right decision and the right time to start the proposed ministry. If we do decide to move forward with the proposal, ministries will be started on a trial basis for a duration to be set by the paid staff. This will give new ministries an incubation period to allow for further affirmation that it is indeed the right decision and the right time.

Hopefully, my explaining this 7-step process will be helpful in guiding those who have a desire to see us minister in ways we currently aren't ministering. Let's always be asking God to open our eyes so we can see where He is working and asking Him to show us how and where He would like us to join Him in His work!

Starting a Ministry - Step 6

Facility Resources

What facility resources (rooms, equipment) will be needed regularly for the ministry to operate?

Starting a Ministry - Step 5

Money

Each ministry needs to project how much money they need to carry out their activities in a given year.

Starting a Ministry - Step 4

Leadership/Followership

Ministries come and go with the needs of the people they serve and the passions of those serving. Thus, the church cannot commit to sustaining every ministry. Each ministry needs to identify a ministry leader. In addition, each ministry is responsible for developing and training future leaders if they desire to sustain themselves over time. With this responsibility resting on each individual ministry (as opposed to being the responsibility of the church staff), those who are passionate about the ministry will find new leaders who share the same passion.

In addition to having a passionate leader, the ministry needs to have people who are equally passionate about the ministry, but willing and committed to following the leader.

Starting a Ministry - Step 3

Using the Six Levels of Outreach, each ministry needs to clarify its target audience. Is it primarily an outreach ministry that targets the community and the crowd? Is it a ministry that will have different activities each targeting one of the six levels? We want to know the target audience.

The COMMUNITY: Those who live within driving distance of Grace Church but have no connection at all with Grace Church or with Jesus Christ. Demographic studies tell us that there are 250,000 people that live within 10 miles of Grace Church. Our goal is to have events and activities which break down all barriers and allow people to have a very enjoyable time and to gain a positive perspective of Grace Church.

The CROWD: Those who have had very limited contact with Grace Church but have no real connection with Grace Church or with Jesus Christ. Perhaps they come to the church to vote or their kids have attended Bible School. They have had some good contact with us but nothing regularly. Our goal here is to have events or activities which are fun and exciting but which also present the Gospel in a non-threatening way.

The CURIOUS: Those who have a more regular contact with Grace Church but have made no commitment to Grace Church or to Jesus Christ. Perhaps they attend our special events regularly and maybe even attend our Sunday Worship services occasionally. Our goal is to have events or activities that are not only exciting and present the Gospel, but which also gives the opportunity for individuals to respond to the Gospel invitation.

The CONVINCED: Those who have made a decision to give their life to Jesus and now need to grow in their faith. Our goal is to have events or activities which allow those who have made a decision for Christ to grow in their faith and get grounded in the Word.

The COMMITTED: Those who have learned the basics of the faith and are now ready to dig deeper into the meat of God’s Word. Our goal is to have events or activities which allow those grounded in their faith to learn and apply the deeper truths of God’s Word.

The CORE: Those who are ready to lead ministries within the church and who are spiritually reproducing themselves in others. Our goal is to allow mature believers to take on positions of leadership and invest in the lives of others in the levels below.

Starting a Ministry - Step 2

Step 2 in Starting a Ministry at Grace - Core Values

Each ministry needs to explain how it will instill the core values of GRACE in every aspect of its activities, answering the questions:

How is it going to Glorify God?

How is it going to Reach People?

How do you plan to Achieve Excellence?

What is in place so that those in the ministry will Continually Pray?

How is it going to Edify the Team?

Core values aren't something we've emphasized until recently at Grace. But we are gradually injecting them into every level and aspect of everything we do. They are guiding principles, a gut-check per se, to make sure we are on track. Everything we do at Grace should cover or be done in such a way that they hit each of the core values... everything!

Everything we do should be done to Glorify God. If it doesn't, we shouldn't be doing it.
Reaching People is what we are about. If we aren't reaching people we fail to follow Christ's command to make disciples.
If we aren't striving to achieve excellence, we're settling for mediocrity.
We have to immerse every activity, our priorities, our daily task lists, and everything else under the sun in continual prayer. This isn't our deal, it's God's and we have to submit to His leadership in everything.
And finally, we are a team. We are in this together and when we function as the God-designed body of Christ, He can do immeasurably more than we ever imagine.

How to start a ministry at Grace

I’ve shared some of the past, present and future shifts I’ve identified at Grace in some of my posts and here’s another to add to the list. For most of my time here, the ministries of the church have been staff-dictated. Most ministries may have included volunteer ministry leaders, but they were handed little authority and ownership over the ministry. Gradually, there a shift taking place in that regard. There are key ministry leaders bubbling to the top of several ministries whom we are preparing to utilize extensively as volunteer leaders. Individuals whom we want to give authority to lead the ministry. I’m excited about this shift. I see paid staff as trainers, equippers, and overseers with volunteers performing most of the doing. Being a body of believers, the ministries of a local church need to be aligned with the passions of the local body. That can only happen when those who are a part of the local body are involved in the planning, leading and execution of the ministries. As people have ideas for new ministries or passions for existing ones we want to, as God enables, pursue them. In the coming days I want to lay out a multi-step process as to how we’ll do that to keep things organized.

Step 1 – The Purpose

Any ministry at Grace has to have a specific purpose that answers this question, why does the ministry exist? The purpose of each ministry needs to fit into the purpose of Grace Church,

Depending on the Lord Jesus Christ, we will build a church that honors Him through preaching the Word, sharing the faith and walking together in love.

It’s important that everything fits within the purpose of Grace Church, because otherwise, our ministries won’t be helping us accomplish our main reason for existence. Each ministry should be either helping to build the church, preach the Word, share the faith or walk together in love.

If you have a passion for a ministry area that we aren’t targeting/reaching currently, pray about and think about what the purpose of that ministry would be and boil it down to a sentence or two.

If you are in an existing ministry, pray about and think about why the ministry exists and quantify it in a sentence or two.

On the other hand, maybe, your ministry already has a purpose statement, take some time to review it. Is there still a need for it to exist or has it changed? Ministries come and go as part of a natural ministry life cycle. Likewise, as changes occur in our culture, ministries need to adapt. If your ministry has a purpose statement, take time to evaluate it.

The purpose statement identifies the reason for existence. Next, are the core values.