Someone gets it!
I received a call from an RCCer who won't be there on Sunday. They wanted to call and let me know they wouldn't be there.
This might seem like a tiny thing. Like something that is done as an afterthought. It isn't. This is big.
You see, in our old church if people were not going to show up, a lot of people didn't think they really mattered anyway. They made that a self-fulfilling prophecy. They just would not show up and we would muddle through without them. It got so that if they showed up, we were more flustered than if they just forgot or got too busy.
But now, people are beginning to understand this is not a place that the pastors do everything, but rather the people doing the work are important and need to take responsibility for their positions. Every RCCer has an opportunity to be a part of God's plan for their lives and RCC. This has been the message delivered for years and years and years, but now it seems it is coming true.
It's probably a combination of the message finally getting through and allowing things to not get done. You see if somebody doesn't show up on a Sunday and doesn't call and their job just gets done without them, the message they receive is they are not important and their position does not matter and we really didn't need them on a Sunday, but it's nice when they are there.
Now each volunteer first gets the talk prior to being trusted in their position. This is just basically my time when I let them know that this is a job they are doing not volunteer work that can be done or not as their mood changes. If people are sick or taking vacation, they need to tell their team lead and if they don't like the work any longer, that is okay, but give us two weeks' notice like at a job. Then if there is a problem that comes up, since the expectations have been laid out, it is okay to chew them out a bit...and I have.
So nowdays if somebody doesn't show up to do their job on a Sunday and their team lead doesn't know about it, we are hurting. They are expected and trusted to be there and if they are not, it causes more work for others and they will be spoken to about not being there. Fortunately, it has not had to go beyond that initial talk with anybody. The fun thing is people are beginning to understand they are not working for me or Pastor Dean or RCC but rather we are partnering with them to provide an opportunity to do some work for God.
This might seem like a tiny thing. Like something that is done as an afterthought. It isn't. This is big.
You see, in our old church if people were not going to show up, a lot of people didn't think they really mattered anyway. They made that a self-fulfilling prophecy. They just would not show up and we would muddle through without them. It got so that if they showed up, we were more flustered than if they just forgot or got too busy.
But now, people are beginning to understand this is not a place that the pastors do everything, but rather the people doing the work are important and need to take responsibility for their positions. Every RCCer has an opportunity to be a part of God's plan for their lives and RCC. This has been the message delivered for years and years and years, but now it seems it is coming true.
It's probably a combination of the message finally getting through and allowing things to not get done. You see if somebody doesn't show up on a Sunday and doesn't call and their job just gets done without them, the message they receive is they are not important and their position does not matter and we really didn't need them on a Sunday, but it's nice when they are there.
Now each volunteer first gets the talk prior to being trusted in their position. This is just basically my time when I let them know that this is a job they are doing not volunteer work that can be done or not as their mood changes. If people are sick or taking vacation, they need to tell their team lead and if they don't like the work any longer, that is okay, but give us two weeks' notice like at a job. Then if there is a problem that comes up, since the expectations have been laid out, it is okay to chew them out a bit...and I have.
So nowdays if somebody doesn't show up to do their job on a Sunday and their team lead doesn't know about it, we are hurting. They are expected and trusted to be there and if they are not, it causes more work for others and they will be spoken to about not being there. Fortunately, it has not had to go beyond that initial talk with anybody. The fun thing is people are beginning to understand they are not working for me or Pastor Dean or RCC but rather we are partnering with them to provide an opportunity to do some work for God.
posted by Pastor Tom at 9:57 PM
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