Team Effort

For years it has been reported that in most churches 80% of the work is carried on the backs of 20% of the people. In truth, this could be more optimistic than reality (some suggesting that it is more like 90/10).

Why this is true cannot be reduced to one single issue. Reasons range from a person diffusing responsibility to others around them to the selfish pleasure of merely seeing church for what one gets rather than what one can give.

Individuals sometimes do not volunteer because they got "burned out" trying to do too much or because they don't like the way things are being done. Others have so flooded their schedules and the schedules of their family that they simply do not believe they have the time to give. Still others simply have never come to realize that God has gifted them for the benefit of His church and the advancement of His mission.

The beauty at Refuge Church, since we are a church plant and have known from the beginning this is a team effort, is that we are certainly above the 80/20 margin. Even so there are still areas where volunteers are needed, still individuals who haven't yet connected in an area of serving, and still blessings individuals are missing out on until they choose to take the next step of volunteering/serving.

These are specific areas where you can connect and be blessed in serving at Refuge Church, as well as meet needs as we serve together to fulfill our mission.

Kids Ministry
We believe at Refuge Church that no one is too young to begin hearing and learning about God's love and encountering Jesus personally. Our youngest ones at Refuge Church aren't just tagging along with adults, they are here for us to display the gospel and declare the hope of Jesus Christ.

Areas to Serve: Early Childhood on Sundays or in our Kids Worship on Sundays.

Set-up and Take Down
Sometimes being a portable church we get a sense of what the Israelites experienced in the wilderness. Each week we set-up our worship, kids, guest services, and next steps areas.

Areas to Serve: Set-up Team or Take Down Team.

Guest Services
Every week we typically have first time guests. We strive hard to think about the guest experience from the moment they pull into the entrance till the moment they leave the campus. Reports show that 87% of guests do not return for a second time. When a guest returns for a second time they are significantly more likely to continue coming. Guest services focuses on first impressions, greeting, and assisting guests who are unfamiliar with things we take for granted (where are the bathrooms, where do my kids go, where is the worship area).

Areas to Serve: Guest Services Set-up, Guest Services Greeting/Guest Reception

Worship
We were made to worship and worship is the most important aspect of who we are individually and at Refuge Church. We want to continually create an atmosphere of worship and lead individuals to behold and worship Christ.

Areas to Serve: A/V Team, Worship Team, Creative Team (for worship and message series)

Connections
We want to strive to create better connecting points for guests and regular attendees at Refuge Church. 
The primary way for individuals to connect and belong in community is Refuge Life Groups. Additionally, we want to create periodic times in 2014 for connection among different Life Groups and for connection among all Refuge Church. We hope to have quarterly men and women's connection times, along with periodic lunches following our worship gatherings.

Areas to Serve: Life Group Leader, Life Group Host, Connections Coordinator (men and/or women)

Ministry and Administrative Assistance
As resources allow, our goal will be to have a ministry and administrative staff assistant. In the meantime, volunteers who have interest in taking tasks that arise would free pastoral staff to focus on primary areas of responsibility.

Areas to Serve: Office tasks, data entry, ministry projects, local mission partnership outreach/planning


As we advance forward, there will be other needs that arise. But when everyone sees the work and mission of Refuge Church as his or her work and mission, everyone will find his or her place of volunteering and we will see the beauty and power of God working through a team (body).

If you are not currently volunteering and would like to be connected with the Ministry Team Leader of any of these areas, please email me at Justin@refugenc.org or Chris Leader at Chris@refugenc.org.

Ten Awkward Minutes

Last week we looked at the Ten Most Important Minutes for a guest at church. Today we talk about another ten very important minutes for a guest in many churches--the Awkward Minutes.

The Ten Most Awkward Minutes for a guest at a new church are the five minutes before the service begins and the five minutes after the service ends.

Before the service begins, guests make their way into the worship center, find their seat and sit down.  As they wait for the service to start, in many churches, no one speaks to them.  It is awkward. Often they sense others looking at them and trying to figure out who they are, what their connect might be to the church, and if they have visited another Sunday previously. Yet the guests are simply there and no one speaks.

When the service ends, these same guests collect their belongings and make their way to the exit and often find no one speaking to them on the back end of the service either.  

In the days of traditional buildings and traditional practice (like the church of 66 in regular attendance I spent the first 14 years of my life in), the service would close with one last song, long enough for the pastor (and his wife) to walk down the center aisle to the back doors (or are they the front doors), where they would greet everyone (but rarely a guest cause guests were rare) on the way out.

Don't get me wrong.  The pastor should have a personality better than shoe leather.  He should show care and compassion, be neighborly and kind.  But the pastor alone doesn't create an inviting environment and neither do a select few.  Rather, the people as a whole must prioritize making an inviting environment.  This means making a great first impression in a guest's first ten minutes and eliminating the awkward ten minutes when a guest wonders why everyone was so friendly when they arrived but seemed to drop them like they were hot once in the facility.

Next time you happen to be a first time guest at a new church, take notice of those Ten Most Important Minutes and Ten Most Awkward Minutes, while vowing to never lose the guest mentality.

The Most Important Ten Minutes

The most important ten minutes for a guest are the first ten minutes.

Start the clock from the time a guest pulls up to the church.  Will Mancini and other church growth experts note that guests decide in the first ten minutes whether they will return for a second visit.

What is so important about the first ten minutes?

When was the last time you decided to visit another church you previously never attended?  A guest is asking all sorts of questions. Where do we park? Are there signs that direct us? Which door do we enter? Where do our children go? Can anyone tell me where the restroom is located? Are we greeted genuinely and promptly? Does it seem as though the people were prepared for guests to come? 

Consciously and subconsciously a lot goes on in the heart and mind of a guest.  Most guests make up their mind about whether they will return before they ever reach the worship center. Most have already drawn conclusions about the church and if it deserves a second look before the first chord of the first song, the first word of the sermon, the first clip of the awesome video, or even the first sip of our gourmet coffee.

How should knowing this guide us?

The preaching of God's truth is extremely important and must not be compromised.  The leading of worship through music should exude excellence and genuineness and be strategic in leading people to worship.  However, when it comes to a guest's first impression and decision to return, these two elements haven't even come into play in the first ten minutes.

What is most important are the people of the church!

We have all been to churches where the sign says "A Friendly Church" but the people communicate "Outsiders Aren't Welcome."

Every person, not just the First Impressions Team, should aim to create an inviting environment that makes those who arrive feeling like outsiders quickly feel like an insider.  Every person can be involved in creating a church atmosphere where guests don't feel like an afterthought but rather feel like a VIP.

This requires adopting the thinking of a guest to anticipate needs and questions that guests have and ask. It also means removing the obstacles that clutter the path for guests to hear the gospel or return for a second time.

Don't Miss the Principle

People matter to God and they must matter to us. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the only hope of the world, but it is an offense to those who are perishing.  There are a lot of things we can do to offend guests and one another.  There are scores of things we can erect to make it difficult for someone to hear and respond to the gospel.

Creating an inviting environment that welcomes in all people is for the purpose that the gospel be proclaimed, received, and believed.