Watch the Posting Times

I explained a few posts ago why the posting times of my entries are usually the same time each day. Though the date of the next game night is still in negotiations, the opposing team of the ultra-competitive gaming group is using the post as bulletin board fodder. Their rebuttal goes something like, "Andrew, rest up because you'll have to get up extra early to post your future blogs at 5:30!"

I hereby accept the challenge.

If our team wins the night, then I'll continue to post at 11:49 (or later if we set a new high score). If our team loses the night, I'll post the game low score. Watch the posting times!

p.s. I won't be using 38 anymore since Elliot Sadler announced he won't be driving the #38 Ford Fusion after this season.

Larger Message Files

Since publishing our message audio files to the web, we've worked hard to keep the files small for the segment of our audience without broadband. But in exchange for small file sizes we compromised audio quality.

As an aside, you may have noticed that Podzinger ceased to catalog our messages; after some digging I discovered this was directly linked to the quality of our audio files.

My IT Assistant for the summer, Phil, pointed out the difference in audio quality a few weeks back and I decided to upgrade. It may not be all that noticeable, but our messages are now being produced at a higher quality. Podzinger recognizes them now and should be fully functional.

The downside is it will take a bit longer to download or stream.
Check out our latest message series on the Book of James.

Planning ahead

After completing a course in college late in my Sophomore year, I turned into a planning nut - I wanted to have a clear sense of direction with every detail and every minute of my life channeled to help me reach my final destination. Several years later, with graduation on the horizon, I quickly realized that for all my planning and direction, I had no idea what the future held in store, no leads other than directly to unemployment. And out of the blue, God orchestrated a phone call that lead to a job offer that I hadn't seriously considered. That experience altered my view of planning.

I was involved in a ministry that after years of dreaming of facility expansion, made plans to put shovels in the ground. I've seen ministries with long-range projections which years later (with the benefit of hind-sight) look far-fetched and unrealistic. Those observations again altered my view of planning.

Today, planning to me is focused on trying to discern God's plan. Pastor Scott's blogged about some of the planning process we've been taking in recent weeks and there are several questions I've been asking myself and the staff throughout the process:

Where do we see evidence of God's work?
What ways is God opening up for us to join what He's already doing?

Our purpose, our vision of where we want to be in 10, 20, 30 years, our strategic objectives of how we'll get there and the specific goals all need to be centered on where God's working and the role we can play in His work.

I'm excited because it's a process I've been taught, one I've employed in specific areas under my leadership, but I've never seen it thoroughly put into practice for an entire ministry. Even more, recognizing that it's a real-time, ever-changing process, we plan to get together quarterly to discuss, evaluate, reassess where we see God working and how He wants to utilize us in those areas.

We've come up with our answers to these questions, but we're taking time to pray about them and make sure it's where we think God's at work. After that we'll be reviewing it in a couple of weeks before we start to move forward. Stay tuned.

More facility projects

Recognizing that we don't always look like we're one organization (instead appearing to be separate entities: daycare, school and a church), we're taking steps to create more unity in the building. In addition to the parking lot paving and carpeting I mentioned earlier this week, we hope to commence work on moving from two separate resource/break rooms for our daycare and school ministries into a single, shared resource/break room. We also hope to work out how it can be accessed and used by church ministries on Sunday mornings and possibly Wednesday nights as well.

The plan, approved by the Board of Education and the Elder Board is to remove the wall between rooms 401 and 402 - commonly known as the Home Ec. room and the Teacher's lounge. They're the rooms located across from the Fellowship Hall. We'll remove the wall between the two rooms to create a large room with enough space to store office supplies, an have office work area and a place for employees to take their lunch breaks.

UPDATE (7/21/2006): the wall is down; why didn't we do this several years ago?

It's audit time :)

Every year we have independent accountants come to conduct a financial audit of our financial operations. The accountants will be on site for the next 3-4 days, randomly reviewing our work over the past 12 months to verify that we've accounted for everything appropriately and done everything above board. I view this process as a learning experience as each year I come away with a little more knowledge of how to better lead the finance and accounting aspects of our ministry. It's an intense several days, but the results are worth it!

Upcoming facility projects

Work will be commencing on several facility projects by the end of July...

1. Parking Lot Paving
What is now considered a small soccer field, located on the western side of the 501 W Lincoln property, will be converted into 122 parking spaces. This project was presented to and approved by the congregation in June. The additional spaces will meet our current demand, but still leave little room for growth. Anybody want to car pool?

2. Carpeting
With about half of our building reaching the 15+ year mark, we've been attempting to keep up with key maintenance items. For example, we'll be replacing a lot of the hallway carpets in the next month as they're original to the 1990 addition (making them 16 years old). We'll be doing everything we can to minimize the impact on Sunday morning and Wednesday night ministries.

A Safe Assumption

Assumptions can be dangerous, but there's one assumption I rely upon almost daily... always assume there's something you don't know. I find that making that one assumption helps me keep a balanced approach to the issues I face daily; particularly when it comes to making judgment decisions.

Not to beat a dead horse, but I found a clear example of this while I watched the World Cup Final on Sunday. When I saw Zidane head-butt Materazzi, I quickly went to my assumption, there's something we don't know about the situation. Yes, the head-butt was a deplorable act, but we don't know what traspired to lead up to that point. ESPN2 re-aired the final match on Monday night and I caught parts of the game; it was interesting to watch it through a Zidane-focused lens. The Italians game plan was clear, whenever Zidane touched the ball he was hounded, not just defended, by two, sometimes three players, each harrassing him extra-physically. He was given no space on the pitch. He was roughed up from start to finish, even sustaining some type of shoulder injury late in the second half. In addition to the physical abuse, he was likely getting thrashed verbally as well, though it wasn't as evident from the camera angles. All that to say that in re-watching parts of the game, it was clear there were things we as a world audience didn't know or had forgotten once we saw the head-butt. Does that excuse him? No, but it does give a broader perspective on what happened.

Though in very different contexts, assuming that there's always something I don't know makes me dig deeper into the situations that come my way, to seek additional information before making a decision.

European Football

I'm not sure I've documented my enjoyment of European Football, but for the past month, the majority of the world has been fixated on the matches unfolding in Germany - aka the World Cup. And today, much of the world is focused on the final moments of the career of one Zinedine Zidane who in one moment was being referred to in the circles of John Elway and Bill Russell, sportsmen who ended at the top of their sports in the US and mentioning him in the same sentence as world-football greats, Pele and Maradona. And then in an instant, Zidane is relegated to the realms of Mike Tyson (who bit off part of the ear of Evander Holyfield) and other disgraced athletes. Of all the commentary I've seen, I've found the following article the most insightful.

As I told someone several years ago, but for the grace of God I am just as capable of such horrific and destructive acts, for I too am a sinner.

All said, it was indeed a shame.

Important Patriotic Service Info

If you're planning to join us Sunday morning at 10 a.m. in Lititz Springs Park for our Patriotic Service, in light of this week's flooding, please pay special attention to the following instructions...

It will be our privilege to be at Lititz Springs Park this weekend for our Patriotic Event. In many respects, we have the opportunity to "set the tone" for the rest of the park events. Even with the flooding at the park this week, the park assured us that they will have it ready by our event. However, the park has requested us to make an attempt to alleviate continued flooding damage with some simple steps we can take as entire church.

As a church when we arrive at Lititz Springs Park, please park at the Warwick High School (located behind the park). Please avoid cutting through the grass but use the paved macadam walk-ways to get to the band-shell area. Please fill up the bleachers and use lawn chairs on the blacktop walk-ways first…use grass areas for seating after these areas have filled up. While we realize with 2,000+ people coming to the park that people will most likely be sitting on the grass, we hope to leave the park with as minimal damage to the grounds as possible.

For participants in the Patriotic event, when unloading and loading equipment, there will be no parking on the grass next to the band shell. Vehicles on the grass will create ruts at this point. If you need to drop off equipment, please do so on the blacktop drive closest to the band shell and walk it across the grass to the band shell.

Church watching

I recently had the opportunity to visit a church facility for a community program - a facility I had never been to before. I enjoy such experiences, making observations of people, places and things to which I am a stranger.

First off, I apparently didn't follow my Google Maps directions accurately though I wouldn't say I was lost. But it did lead into another Norton tour - infamous for finding obscure points which aren't usually highlighted on the tourist brochures. In this case, I passed the former home of a U.S. President. I eventually found the location without too much difficulty.

From the outside, the facility looked something akin to a spaceship or a large egg standing on end - not a structure that would be immediately recognizable as a church. And whether coincidence or not, many of the cars in the parking lot had the same bumper stickers, "God Bless the Whole World with No Exceptions".

Inside the egg, the accoustics were good. Being an egg, the ceiling was huge and the room was surrounded by stained glass. It's interesting to contrast such an auditorium with our square windowless box. I guess many churches sacrifice accoustics and aesthetics in exchange for maximizing space to accomodate more people.

Beyond the physical characteristics and layout, I get a kick checking out what's in the pew racks of the churches I visit. Does the church utilize pew Bibles and what version do they use? Do they use giving envelopes and how many funds do they have? Do they use a registration/response card and what information to they solicit?

I learn a lot about a church from just these simple observations.

Numerology

Someone observantly noticed that I tend to publish my entries at the same time each day I publish. Here's why...

38 - thirty-eight is the number of my favorite NASCAR driver, Elliot Sadler. I like Elliot because he's a pretty good guy and he's sponsored by companies like M&Ms. Thirty-eight is also the number worn by Curt Schilling, but that's an ancillary reason as to why I like the number.

1149 - one thousand, one-hundred and forty-nine, which is usually represented in the blog as 11:49, is a number I recently came upon. My wife and I were recently invited to join a group that gathers for some regular game nights - and a very competitive group I might add. The last time we had a game night the men's team was in a groove and we put up 1,149 points.

Automatic Alarms

I believe it was the building codes at the time that required our facility to be equipped with an automatic, monitored fire alarm system - I wasn't here in 1990 when it was built, but I'm guessing that's why our building has such a system. Automatic alarm systems could almost be renamed Cry Wolf systems as they are notorious for false alarms. False alarms occur so frequently that everyone drops their guard a bit when an alarm sounds.

Recognizing that mind set, I've insisted that anytime the alarms in our building sound, that everyone be trained to habitually evacuate the building, not to return without receiving an all clear signal. I've been a pain in the neck in this area when it's been freezing outside and not letting anyone back into the building until we had an all clear. I have to admit that after eight years of numerous false alarms, I was beginning to question whether it was worth all the hassle, the alarm was more of a nuisance than anything else.

That all changed last night as the automatic alarm sniffed out a fire in our building, directing one of our staff to the specific location so he could contain it. In an instant all the nuisances of false alarms passed faded in comparison to the millions of dollars saved. Unfortunately for some, this only renews my insistence on regular fire drills and treating every alarm as the real thing.

I'm thankful we have the ultimate insurance agent who clearly was working in our midst.

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.