-by Rev. Jeff Gannon
The 10 Things We Must Do to Realize our Redemptive Potential
- The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.
- Chapel Hill has a strong mission of welcoming all people to experience and share the extraordinary grace and love of Jesus Christ!
- The values cannot be forgotten.
- Chapel Hill must become more “Methodist” and Wesleyan without becoming more denominational.
- Infrastructure that will support growth.
- Simple Church.
- Creating a culture of invitation.
- Spend 25% of our budget on marketing/advertising.
- Creating a culture of participation.
I am strongly of the opinion people want to engage in meaningful, significant ways which lead to making a difference! So, why do we have the challenge of 20% of the people doing 80% of the work?
Howard Hendricks, a retired seminary professor once said our challenge in the church is similar to a challenge at a football game. You have 22 people on the field desperately in need of rest and 80,000 people in the stands desperately in need of exercise.
I believe there are several reasons why we have this challenge of “not enough sharing the load.”
First, we have chosen to not use the word, “volunteer.” There are many reasons, all of which are rooted in the witness of Scripture.
- The Biblical call is to serve and to follow Jesus with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength is to serve Christ and his people. Christianity as I often say is personal but never private.
- We have chosen servant ministers because we are serving and ministering and by virtue of our baptism, all of us are called to serve and minister in Christ’s name.
- We are born with talents. God gifts us with spiritual abilities and gifts for the common good. All of this is the work of the Holy Spirit. Our challenge is to be open and receptive.
Secondly, we have to keep the strategy in front of us. The strategy of fulfilling the mission of welcoming all persons to experience and share the extraordinary grace and love of Jesus Christ is to practice Worship Plus 2.
- Worship is at the center of our life together. We make a priority to worship each week and to receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion for grace and energy to live in Christ’s presence and peace.
- Outside of worship, each of us does one thing to be fed spiritually. i.e. Bible study, take a class on a spiritual subject, etc.
- Outside of worship, each of us does one thing to feed others spiritually. i.e. serve at the Lord’s Diner, sing in the choir, ushering, greeting, cooking, etc.
Thirdly, in 2015, we are going to re-emphasize and re-tool Leadership Chapel Hill. I firmly believe persons want to know how God has gifted them for ministry. So, we need to provide opportunity for persons to discover, develop, and deploy their spiritual gifts for ministry. More specifically, we need to equip the people of God to serve. We do that best when we equip each one to know the following:
- Passion – determines where I serve i.e. age group, special needs group, etc. Are you aware about the place you are most passionate to serve?
- Spiritual Gifts – determine what I do in that place where I serve – i.e. there are 4 major sections of Scripture which outline the Spiritual Gifts God gives. Are you aware of your spiritual gifts?
- Personal Style – determines how we use our personality and preferences to serve. i.e. if you are extroverted, being a greeter comes naturally. If you are more introverted, serving behind the scenes may be more comfortable. This is about becoming more aware of how God has uniquely wired you to make a difference.
I am absolutely certain God has provided the persons to do the work God has called us to do. We do not lack resources. We lack distribution of those resources. Are you willing to become more available for the purposes of God within Chapel Hill and in our community and world?
I am. I hope you are too.