Consuming Worship

This was supposed to be a Creative Chaos entry for Ragamuffin Soul, but Los changed the rules this week. I’m going to post it anyway.

Sometimes the best ideas are simple ideas, and maybe even old ideas repurposed for a different goal.

Remember in college seeing the bulletin board in your college dorm or student center will all the pieces of paper advertising odd jobs, books for sale, and missing stuff?

We’re in the middle of our iLife series on spiritual disciplines at New Hope, and we’ll be hitting the disciplines of submission and service over the next three Sundays. In an effort to get our people more involved in service, not only in the church, but outside the church walls in the community at large, we will be presenting them with a new “Ministry Board.” Here’s the mock-up, then I’ll give a bit of explanation.

You see the four colors of rectangles? They represent colored index cards you can pick up at your local office supply store. Each color represents a different type of ministry opportunity. Across the top are four larger example cards showing what information is needed on each card filled out.

• WHITE: Community Ministry Needs = Our people will be encouraged to post people’s needs, both inside and outside the church walls. This could be anything from a shut-in who needs their lawn mowed, a single mom who needs car repair and can’t afford the fix, a friend who needs a geek to come by and set up their wifi, and so on. Any need from anyone in the community can be posted here. Some may be posted “anonymously,” where the poster puts themselves down as the contact and works as an intermediary. As members see needs on the board they can help with, they take the card and fulfill the need.
• BLUE: You Want It, Take It = I don’t know if that’s what we’ll call this category, but that’s the basic idea. We want to encourage our people to give things away they no longer need rather than selling or throwing them away. That junky 70s style lamp you don’t want anymore may be just what some kid needs on his desk to help him get his homework done. A couch or bed can go to a needy family, or giving away one of your fifteen guitars might inspire the next generation worship leader. Simplify your life and see what you don’t need, what’s in your way, and give it away. When members see something posted they have a use for, they take the card and contact the giver.
• YELLOW: Ministry Openings = Current holes that need to be filled in the ministry of the church. You know the idea, nursery workers, Bible study leaders, audio/video volunteers, etc. Obviously, this is somewhat dynamic in nature. One of the exciting things about this category to me, is not only the opportunity for people to see needs in existing ministries, but to dream up ideas for ministry opportunities and see who bites. When people see an opportunity they want to volunteer for, they’ll take the card and contact the appropriate leadership.
• RED: Maintenence Needs = As with any church with buildings to maintain, it can be hard to keep track of what needs to be fixed. We are not yet at the point where we have hired part or full time maintenence staff, so we have a building and grounds committee. This group is responsible for maintaining and repairing our facilities, but often don’t have their eyes to the ground enough to know what needs to be fixed. As people around the building see stuff that needs to be done, they’ll fill out a card and post it, and a committee member will take a card and complete the task.

As a side note, we are thinking about incorporating some visual symbols akin to what John Voelz blogged about on Westwind’s Causemology Wall. A simple way to let people quickly see the amount of time involved and how “large” a public space the opportunity takes place within.

Understandably, this may or may not work in a larger church seeing, but an online version could be developed. We thought about an online version, but determined we wanted the “personal touch” of community.

This is an entry for Creative Chaos at Ragamuffin Soul.

Technorati Tags: community, index card, job board, maintenence, ministry, ministry board, servanthood, service, spiritual disciplines

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