One of my high points every year is the VBS program we do at my church called Kidz GiG.  This is the first year that I could sit back and watch as volunteers ran the whole thing from a production  standpoint, and they did an amazing job.  There were a couple times that I had to step in and give them a hand with something they didn’t understand yet, but for the most part I was just an encourager.  I think my favorite volunteer is a production volunteer (not that any one place to serve is better than another).  My reason being is that they are truly unsung heroes.  The only time anyone in the production/tech world gets recognition is if something goes wrong.  They are unnoticed if they do their job well.  So here’s to the volunteers that serve with great hearts in a place where they rarely receive appreciation.

As a part of the production team, you played a significant role in the 55 decisions for Christ that happened this week.  God used your talents to  help create atmospheres where the kids could easily watch, listen to, SEE, and HEAR His Word.  Thank you.  May God’s blessings overflow in your lives.

Below are a few snapshots I took with my iPhone to give you an idea of the large group times from Kidz GiG if you’ve never seen it.

Right now, 17 students and leaders from my church are in Nicaragua, working in the city dump of Managua with the poor and needy.  One of our missionaries has been developing relationships there and later this week, they will be taking a group of kids to a camp in the mountains as a bit of a retreat.  Please be praying for this team and the work they are doing there to further His Kingdom.  Pray for safety, communtiy, growth and most importantly, life change in the people they are serving as well as themselves.

If you’d like to join their journey and stay up to date with the team, check out their blog that they are updating while in Nicaragua.

picture courtesy of Google Maps (TM)

I’ve been traveling around the blogoshere a lot over the past month, jumping in with my own blog around the same time I started reading others.  Some have given me ideas on what to write about while others have just made me think and/or grow in my own personal journey.  Here is a list of the top 5 posts I read this week that I think you should read too.

A River of Information – Some Thoughts about Staying Above Water – John Saddington
Consider the Source – Mark Batterson
How the giants fall – Jay Passavant
My View – Dan Bryan
An open letter to pastors – Geoff Surratt (good for any man to read, not just pastors)

The more I read about Twitter and church, the more I come to see how I would like to see it used (both personally and corporately).  There’s the obvious uses like event communication, driving traffic to blogs and websites and church for that matter, getting feedback, etc.  I think it should be more than that.

Corporately, I think a lot of discussion could happen online and in small groups just by posing a simple question or two regarding the sermon.  I also like the idea of congregants using a specified hashtag when making comments about the service or other aspect of church, making it easy for staff to find these comments and take action where needed.  This doesn’t take the place of face to face conversation, but could bring about a wave of faster responses because there would be less paper “communicator cards” to go through.  I even think a rolling twitter feed during a sermon could be useful if the sermon is aimed to be more conversational.  In a large church it can be overwhelming to share out loud.  This weekend we are doing something similar with text messages in response to a testimony.

On a personal level, twitter could actually help me retain a lot more of the sermon.  I have found that when I have to sit still, I have a difficult time paying attention.  Call it ADD or Kinetic learning if you want, but when I am doing something, I am hearing more.  I’ve tried just taking notes, but I always lose them or leave them under the seat.  With twitter I’m not only taking notes, but I won’t forget them under the seat in front of me.  If there was a way to get the notes (AKA church bulletin) on my iPhone too I wouldn’t forget anything under the seat in front of me.  Anyone make an app for that yet?  You’d make the custodians a lot happier.

In case I lost you in that last paragraph, I did say that Twitter can help the ADD kid pay attention (even if it looks like he’s not).

If you are still not sure how you should personal engage twitter in regards to church, it might not be the right fit for you.  Check out this post from Josh Harris if you are leaning towards not using it, and this post from John Voelz if you are thinking you want to give it a try.  Both are insightful if you are debating whether to use it in corporate worship and/or how.  They come from both sides of the issue, so I encourage you to read both posts.  If you’re still not sure, I say go for it.  Maybe God will move in ways you can’t imagine and/or you’ll learn something you can share with everyone else.  For more practical advice on the subject check out churchtweets.com.

Just remember that eveyone is different and every congregation is different.  Twitter might work in one church and bomb in the church next door.  All this to say that there’s no right or wrong answer to “Should we tweet in church?”  I personally lean towards yes.

Over the past few weeks I have seen a growing number of blogposts about Twitter, specifically in regards to its relation to the church.  I am excited to see so much interest from the church in something that is still in it’s infancy.  Even between last week and this morning I have seen a number of new posts that have helped me get a better grip on how we can leverage Twitter in church.

With anything new, there is always push back.  I didn’t sense any from my leaders, but I did notice a lot mixed in among the blogs I have been reading.  I know that there are fears that older members won’t like it or will be alienated because they are not online.  People said the same thing about using guitars in worship, wearing jeans to church, and having imag (image magnification) on the screens during worship.  Cultural norms are always shifting and for a long time, the church has been behind the curve.  It’s time to step up to the plate.  As William Vanderbloemen puts it, there is a breakthrough coming in The Kingdom through communication.

Today, we’re standing on the brink of arguably [the] greatest communication breakthrough in history. Something’s gonna break through for the Kingdom, and I believe that those who strategically leverage our new electronic world will help usher in a brave new world for the Church.

There is a number of ways to use new technology.  Understanding that is the first step in leveraging it and making it your own.  It’s not a question of should you, it’s a question of how you’re going to do it.  Even small churches can see exponential growth in their realm of influence with something as simple as Twitter.  How will you leverage things like Twitter and other new technologies for The Kingdom?

Updated: helpful links:
4 reasons to worry about something other than whether to stop twittering
Time Article on Westwinds Church and Twitter
John Voelz’s blog on Westwinds and Twitter
Small church grows exponentially through Twitter

Is there a church out there that does not depend on volunteers to function?  I don’t know of any.  I work at a large, multi-site church based just north of Pittsburgh.  Our paid staff is probably about the average of other churches our size, and the volunteers that help run the church largely out number the paid staff.  Most of these volunteers work 40-50 hour per week and then devote 5-20 more hours to volunteering.  Doing something for the church off the books is often one of the last things on my mind after spending 50 hours working on projects and connecting with people, but these volunteers do it with a joyful heart.

Why does it become harder to volunteer when you work at a church?  Everyone has the same 168 hours each week. Let’s say 50 of those hours are work or work related (ie. commuting, lunch meetings, etc).  Another 50 hours you are asleep (on a good week).  That leaves you with 68 hours of flexibility of which about 20 hours are probably spent on-line and/or watching TV.  What are we doing with the other 48 hours?  Family time, while important, does not use up all of that time, so what else is there?

I am a strong believer that you should not be asking people to do what you are not willing to do yourself.  I volunteer with the student ministry at my church and also help with a family production that happens once a month.  The IT director here volunteers with me on the weekends, running lights.  The volunteers that I have serving along side of me spend an average of 9 hours serving on the weeks they are scheduled.  Compare that to service at a restaurant.  It’s like they are giving God an 18% tip on the time that He gave them at work.  Even if you don’t like your job, it is a blessing to have it (especially in the state of our economy).  Even if you’re disappointed with your food, you tip a good waitress because she took care of you.  Some church employees might argue that they are already giving 50 hours to God working at a church, but I would argue that God is giving them 50 hours of work at a church to provide for them.  If you are having  a tough time recruiting volunteers, ask yourself where you are volunteering and you might find an answer to your problem.

I became frustrated when I found that I would not be paid for an event outside of my normal routine.  After I went through the rehearsals, I realized I had the wrong attitude.  This morning at our staff devotional, I mentioned how our IT director is volunteering.  Afterward someone mentioned to me that we should all be volunteering just like we are asking our congregation to do.  It’s funny how God continues to bring things into light that needs our attention.