This time of year is when college students start packing up their things from a summer as camp staff, or a summer working construction, or a summer laying by the pool and begin the process of preparing for back to college. Many athletes will be arriving on campus this week for their fall sports so that they can begin two-a-days before the rest of the student population arrives. With the summer Olympics coming up in Rio, there are numerous international athletes moving into their temporary housing with high hopes for how they will compete in the games.
Thats the way it feels around our church this week as well, with new staff moving into offices that have been vacant for approximately a year. Expectations are high! Hope and enthusiasm seem to be floating all around the facility. So how can you be a part of this exciting season? Let me encourage you to connect. To engage. To take time to meet Mario Delgado and Bryan Long and their beautiful families.
The Bad:
With all the excitement, I want to share with you the dirty little secret that all of us in ministry struggle with. "God, I know you told me to go there, but what if they don't like me?" This is not a new fear, Moses had the same wrestlings within himself. Any time a new pastor or staff member comes into a church, I'll tell you from personal experience, it is a very intimidating place in the early days. It seems like keeping tabs on who people are, how they are connected to one another, and how you fit into the mix is an impossible puzzle to solve. Here are 3 ways to help.
The Response:
1. Greet early. Many times the relationships formed in the first few days are the ones that last forever. Think of how many close friendships are made in college in the freshman orientation. Many stick for a long time.
2. Greet often. Many people are afraid to acknowledge that we forgot each other's names. Just put it out there again. Its always easier to overstate the obvious than it is to try to ignore the fact that we don't what to do now that we just drew a blank on 1 of 100 possible names.
3. Get your hands dirty. Many of the fears involved in coming to a new place with your family, is the possibility that no-one will volunteer to be part of the ministry arena you've been assigned. "What if I have to do all of this work myself?" Be the first to offer assistance. Many hands make light work in every ministry area in the local church.
How about you? How can you engage the new leadership in your context? Ill tell you, I've enjoyed this "move-in" week tremendously. I'm so very happy to have people milling about the office again. God is at work, and the best is yet to come!
Pastor Milo
0 comments:
Post a Comment