Wild Ride
I'm starting to get a little stressed about the upcoming Christmas Festival. I don't think I've done enough promotion to get community families to come, and this has me worried. I'm still not exactly sure how things are going to be set up, or what volunteers I'm going to have. And I have no idea if the number of children who show up will be 3 or 30.
Yesterday afternoon, I did receive one phone call that let me know that someone, at least, noticed the ad we placed in the local paper.
It was the local paper.
They want to send out a photographer, and do a story about the event. It will appear the last week of December in a newspaper that is delivered for free to all the homes in Plumas Lake, the brand new super-development just five miles away from our rural country church.
So now, the pressure is really on. I want a good, quality event for those who attend, but also for those who may hear about our church for the first time from the article that will appear in the paper. Thousands of commuters drive down the highway that I can see in the distance, across the rice field, yet they don't even know that there is a church here.
Is this what it's going to be like from now on? This fall (it is still fall, despite the frost we've had every morning for the past two weeks), I've realized that in order to transform this congregation, I need to start thinking like a "new church pastor." I need to think outside the box when it comes to ministry. And I need to be prepared for what may at times be a wild ride.
I think that ride is about to begin. I just need to remember: it's not me, it's God.
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1 comment:
Oh, I think I know exactly how you feel. Our church just did two big events - the first was the "Boo Bash" where we invited the entire community to bring their kids in for a night of Halloween fun (over 1600 people showed up!) and the other event was our "Garage Sale for Jesus" in which our entire congregation brought in their possessions and we sold them in one day to the public.
I thought our outreach and hospitality pastor was going to collapse from sheer exhaustion by the time the second event in two months was finished!
One thing we did do was to make little door knockers and place them on the front doors throughout the five miles surrounding our church. That brought in LOTS of people. We also put up signs along the road drawing people in. If you want some more ideas, I'd be happy to help you out or hook you up with my pastor friend who was in charge of these fantastic events. You can email me at Heyjules@att.net if you like!
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