Volunteer thoughts

As Hillcrest has ventured into her more missional work in the community, there have been some interesting byproducts. One of those byproducts is that we added a new volunteer category, and one that many might not have been participating with before. With a church like Hillcrest continuing to offer programs and ministries for its attenders and also working missionally in the community, you might say that there are two different categories of volunteer opportunities:

• Category 1: Programs and Ministries at Church- this category includes typical church programming: children's ministries (nursery, preschool, elementary, etc), student ministries, worship teams, small group leaders, ushers and greeters, food teams, etc. The distinctive here is that this category directly serves church people.
• Category 2: Community efforts: this category is essentially limitless, but around Hillcrest includes being a reading buddy, a mentor, Wednesday Night Service, the backpack program, foster care, etc. The distinctive here is that this category directly serves the community.

I used to think that was it-just these two categories. But lately I'm thinking that we need to add a third category:

• Category 3: Behind the scenes at Church: this category includes much of the activities in a church that do not bring you into direct contact with church people. This category includes finance people, facilities people, landscaping people, people who sit on ministry teams and departments, etc. Much of their work is behind the scenes- no doubt very important to the ministry of a church- just not as visible (until they stop doing it!).

I do not think (nor am I suggesting) that we do away with any of these three categories. I think knowing that these three categories exist, though, can serve a few purposes:

• For those who recruit: ministry leaders ought to know first, which category they are recruiting for and second, what other categories their prospective volunteer might already be serving in. It might be easy for a ministry like children's to look around and identify all of the non-cat 1 volunteers, but they might not know that many of those folks are already cat 2 and 3 volunteers.
• For those who connect: which category is best for people who are newer to a church? who have been at a church for some time but have yet to serve? who are looking to meet new people? The answers may vary, but having the discussion is a good start.
• For those who lead: for a church that is missionally engaged in serving the communities, again, I don't think categories 1 and 3 should go away. I do believe, though, that the onus in those leaders to connect their ministries with the overall vision of missionally engaging the community. Whether it's Children's Ministries raising money for City Mission, small groups serving at the monthly mission project, facilities inviting more community groups to use our building, the more that category 1 and 3 people connect with category 2, the better.

Land of a Thousand Hills

We introduced Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee yesterday to Hillcresters. Some equipment and existing partnership issues will delay us from being able to brew their coffee during Sunday morning services for a bit, but we gave away sample bags of their coffee to see if our coffee fanatics will like the product. While the coffee is certainly more expensive per pound then our current supplier, doing ministry and business with a company such as Thousand Hills makes sense. The coffee is fair trade, meaning that the Rwandan farmers and communities which produce the coffee are given a fair wage with which to raise their families on. For the Rwandan people, who were decimated by genocide in the early 1990s (i.e. Hotel Rwanda), companies such as Thousand Hills not only provide income, but also hope. Finally, $1 of every 12oz bag one buys from Thousand Hills goes to support microfinance initiatives for Rwandan communities, meaning that the local economy can continue to grow and develop. It's no wonder their slogan is "drink coffee. do good."

Just not that into you

My opinion- a really good post on the busyness that churches sometimes (often?) pass onto their members and attenders in terms of programs and activities; when we consider everything else that people are doing, the church would be better at figuring out how to integrate their 'stuff' in the context of other stuff (peopl's jobs, schools, neighborhoods, etc) rather than continuing to layer church programs and events on top of people's otherwise busy lives.

Like father, like . . .

This is a pic of my son Riley and his buddy at Hillcrest's car wash this past Wednesday. Apparently, Riley's has my curse of perfectly timing the closing of one's eyes during a picture . . .

$1 Car Wash

Last night for Wednesday Night Service we held a $1 car wash on our parking lot. It was a bit of a bait and switch, but in a good way. We had people with signs walking 26th St advertising a $1 car wash (thought being, wow, that's a cheap car wash, I can come in for that!). Once here, we served free root beer floats and mingled with people while their cars were being washed. Once their cars were finished, they would pull out their $1 (and many were prepared to donate more thinking that we were trying to raise money), and instead Pastor Doug would give them a buck! The exchanges that ensued were comical; most folks wanted nothing to do with taking a buck, but Doug would insist, and they left laughing, and we were feeling good about it as well.

I know after events like this I can immediately evaluate the numbers, and wish that the numbers would have been better:

• if we could have washed more cars,


• if we could have given away more floats,


• if we could have gotten the word out better

But I also know there are other numbers that can help to evaluate the impact of an event such as this:

• number of volunteers who served


• number who served for the first time (or served our neighborhood for the first time)


• number of volunteers who made new connections with each other


• number of conversations that those who got their cars washed will have about their $1 car wash experience

I think it's ok to measure and assess both sets of numbers, realizing that some are legitimate and challenge us to do better, and some we may never know the true results but need to factor into the equation of 'why' we do certain events.

Big does not equal great

Hillcrest isn't a big church. Not at all. No typical church 'scorecard' would indicate that we are a big church. Not our weekly attendance, not our weekly giving, not the size of our budget. I think at times leaders, even church leaders, fall into the trap of thinking that bigger means better. The typical rationale, at least in church world, goes something like "we count people because people count to God" kind of an idea. And there's nothing wrong with that approach. Yet if all we count is the number of people attending a service, or the number of dollars given on Sunday, we are susceptible to the temtpation that bigger is better.

I suppose one could say that if Hillcrest were a bigger church in those kinds of terms, then I wouldn't be writing this post. That if Hillcrest were bigger in those terms, I would be more ok with being big, because I am big. Maybe so. And yet the people we work with in the community are surprised to hear how small of a church we are, thinking that the kinds of things we are doing can only be accomplished by bigger churches. That's not to say that Hillcrest has it figured out or that we at Hillcrest feel we have 'arrived' in terms of what it means to serve our neighbors. Far from it. Yet the freeing thing, the inviting thing, about serving the community, whether at a thrift store, a school, or a soup kitchen, is that any church, any group, can have impact. Size doesn't matter.

Jim Collins writes in How the Mighty Fall "the greatest leaders do seek growth- growth in performance, growth in distinctive impact, growth in creativity, growth in people- but they do not succumb to to growth that undermines long term value. And they certainly do not confuse growth with excellence. Big does not equal great, and great does not equal big" (54).

Dos and Don'ts

I occassionally have the opportunity to interview people for employment. Here is my short list of do's and don'ts for prospective job lookers:

• Don't tell me something great you did 3 years ago (or worse, 4 years ago!). Tell me something great you did this past year (or better, in the last 6 months).
• Don't focus too much on your educational background (most folks have the same educational qualifications as you do); focus more on your experience and ability to work with people.
• Don't flood me with facts, content, and data (those that know me can accuse of being hypocritical here as I love all of those things!). Do tell me stories, stories of how you did something great, stories of how you and your job made a difference, stories of what you hope to contribute here.
• Don't come in with just a love for the job you are applying for (everyone can do that); do come in with a love for the organization you are applying to, because when you love your organization, it is easier to love your job (doesn't work so well in the other direction).

We don't need your help

Here's a statement I'm thinking might become one of those rules or sayings in my life: if you don't need my help, you don't need my money.

Some time ago I was on the phone with the leader of a local non profit ministry who was starting a new ministry. This new ministry was something that some other places are already doing in the community, but with a creative angle, so I was interested in talking to this potential partner. The leader had all of the traditional tools for success- a brochure explaining what they were doing, a prepared presentation with which to present to our church, and press coverage from the radio and the newspaper. The ministry leader's hope was that we'd hear the pitch, see the credibility that the press was giving them, and sign up for financial support.

As we continued to talk, the ministry leader informed that they were going to be launching their ministry on a once a week basis at a certain time and place. I then inquired if I could bring a few people to watch them in action, to get a feel for what they were doing. The leader responded, politely, that it wouldn't be a good idea for us to come down so early on in their launch of the ministry (it will take time to iron out the kinks). Fair enough, I said. I then asked if just I could down some time and watch the operation so I could at least determine if this would be a viable partner or not. Again, I was denied, politely, but denied.

The ministry leader was simply interested in dollars and whether or not we could spare some. I think this is short-sighted. Money is certainly in short supply, especially for non-profit startups. But far better to let someone get a sense of who you are before asking for the support then the other way around. If you don't need my help, you don't need my money.

Tie your shoes

Along with some other Hillcresters, I volunteered at the Volunteers of America Thrift Store this past Wednesday. Since this was my first time at the VOA without my boys, this was my first time being able to work in the wearhouse. The project this night was "brokering shoes", and consisted of sorting donated shoes. The good shoes would eventually go onto the floor for sale; the bad shoes were "brokered", meaning some company eventually purchases them (along with belts, purses, and jeans) and moves them to 3rd world countries. The idea that there was a market for our old shoes- shoes that a thrift store did not even want- struck me. Another one of those "how much I have" kind of moments.

Also, if you ever donate shoes to a non-profit in the future, these two tips will save those of us who sort a ton of time:

• tie your shoes together- this saves us from having to go through the entire box or bag looking for the match
• don't donate just one shoe- seriously, this seems self-explanatory, but donating one shoe without the other is like donating a muffin stump to a soup kitchen. Seriously.

Thank you

One of Hillcrest's neighbors, who participated in last Saturday's community rummage sale, stopped by with a thank you card on Thursday. She and her husband were so grateful for the opportunity that they even donated 10% of their profits back to Hillcrest! Since both of them are currently out of work and looking for jobs, their rummage sale proceeds provided some much needed income.

Help me out!

I have a student from Sioux Falls Seminary doing some intern work for me this summer and one of the areas we are working on is spiritual development. We've created a brief survey here to help us better understand spiritual development in the life of Hillcrest.

If you attend Hillcrest, please participate in the survey!

If you do not attend Hillcret, I'd still be really interested in your feedback, but do me a favor- on the last box of the survey, type "not from Hillcrest", that way we can keep the data as clean as possible!

Thanks a bunch- we'll post results here later this summer.

Teaching a dog new tricks

I recently finished iconoclast, and the author ends the book summarizing two strategies for change to occur (any change- buying a new product, implementing a new technology, changing the pervailing opinion on something):

• target those most receptive to change (if you're not a geek like me, skip to the next bullet: Berns argues that physiologicaly, people under 30, and specifically teenagers, are the most receptive to change due to higher levels of dopamine in the brain)
• make new ideas seem familar (again, geek alert: Berns' studies reveal that older brains are able to learn, especially with confronted with newer ideas, which leads to learning. The more one learns, the more familiar new ideas become).

For churches, the implications are interesting to say the least. So much strife and conflict occurs in church because of change- change in worship, change in leadership, change in programs, change in vision, etc. Many churches have taken (or will take) the first approach and simply target the crowds most receptive to change (see here for one local example). There's nothing wrong with that approach at all. But Churches can also take the second approach, which is probably more of what Hillcrest has done. Before we launched the reveal in 2007 or Wednesday Night Service this past fall, there was much public teaching from the pulpit. Our leaders were reading books and passing those books onto other leaders. Our people were engaged in discussions about what a mission for the community might look like. So when we went public with these things, most already knew because most were part of the process.

Conclusion: any of us dogs can learn new tricks, provided we are either young or wanting to learn. Those of us in the latter group have our work cut out for us.

Hillcrest reads through the Bible

Pastor Doug gave an excellent message Sunday on really the two most important aspects of discipleship: growth in knowledge and growth in service (you can find the message on our web site). For the knowledge piece, he challenged Hillcrest to read through the Bible as a church over the next year. To make it a bit more interactive, as well as add in some accountability, he set up a blog with some brief comments on each day's text. We're only 3 days in, and at least 10 Hillcresters (and I am sure more) are up to the challenge. It's not too late to join- catch up and we'll look forward to seeing you over at the blog.

The way of the dinosaur

My son Riley completed kindergarten this past year. He improved in many of the areas and his teachers did a great job. An area that he struggled in was penmanship; this is really no surprise as I have terrible penmanship. I once sent a thank you card to a volunteer who emailed me to thank me for the card, but asked if I would just send a 'thank you email' next time because he couldn't read my writing! After the conference in which we discussed Riley's penmanship with his teacher, I remarked to Tarina that I wasn't too worried about it because penmanship really isn't going to be around too much longer. She gave me kind of bewildered look and said that mastering penmanship is important, because if he can't write now, he will have a terrible time with cursive writing (what she used to teach when she taught 3rd grade). My reply was that cursive writing was certainly no longer a necessary skill, either (seriously, when is the last time you wrote in cursive?). After close to 10 years of marriage, she's become used to my debative thoughts!

And now this, from the author of iconoclast (someone much smarter than me): "aprat from the occasional holiday card, written mail has ceased to be a useful form of correspondence. Every technology, even one that has been around for millenia, such as written correspondence, will eventually be replaced by something that is more efficient" (143).

Committed to . . . ?

One of the more ineresting thoughts from McNeal's Missional Renaissance is how followers of Jesus may 'jump around' in terms of their participation with a local church. They may attend church A for their worship service, go to a small group at church B, and serve with a minsitry from church C. This kind of behavior will drive those who lead institutional churches crazy!

I began to see this trend several years ago in youth ministry. I'd have students who would attend our Wednesday evening programming, but might attend church somewhere else. I'd have volunteers who served with us on a Wednesday night, but might be in a small group from a different church. And as this pattern was developing, I remember having some conversations with some folks, and even other church leaders, over the idea of commitment. Why can't I go to this small group at a different church? I'd say you could, so long as you committed to that church. Why can't Joey come to our youth group? He can, but if he's from a different church, I'd prefer he attend there. Why can't I attend the special worship service with my friends at a different church? You can, but then I'd prefer you serve there too.

These kinds of conversations make sense for instiutional churches, where scorecards track attendance: attendance at weekly services, children's and youth programs, and small groups and bible studies. When we track (only) these kinds of numbers, it becomes highly important that people commit to one local church, so we can count that person. But if Joey attends somewhere else on a Sunday morning (but he's in my youth ministry), I can't count Joey, and this is rather bothersome. The irony might just be that Joey is growing as close to God as he has ever been, and instead of encouraging that relationship wherever it may take place at, we spend our energy trying to convince Joey that he needs to commit to one church. For Joey, that's about as absurd as saying "every time you go out to eat, it has to be at McDonald's, because you need to make a commitment to them".

Our focus needs to be on helping people grow in their commitment to Christ, not a local church.

One man's trash is another man's treasure

I spent a couple of hours yesterday volunteering at a rummage sale on Hillcrest's parking lot. We invited our neighbors to use our parking lot for their rummage sales. Hillcresters did all of the set up and tear down, advertising, and even provided free food. The thought was that since 20,000 or so cars pass by Hillcrest each day, our parking lot provides a highly visible location for them to move their stuff. The event wasn't terribly busy, but our neighbors were able to sell most of their stuff and they hoped we would make it available to them next year. If we were able to help our neighbors in a meaninful way, that makes it an event worth doing.

Ace is the Place

I went to my local Ace the other day looking for a replacement spool for my weed trimmer. The thing that immediately impressed me about Ace was how helpful their people were. Within the first few seconds of being there, a young woman asked me if she could help me find something. She then showed me where the replacement spools were and returned to her post. While Ace isn't the biggest store, her service saved me some time and got me to where I needed to go quickly. I found what I needed and I found it fast and then proceeded to checkout. At the checkout, the cashier asked if I had an Ace card (I didn't). An Ace card is simply a free rewards card; there is no credit attached to it. If you shop at Ace a lot, it can save you some bucks. For Ace, the card is a 'next step' of committment for their customers. The cashier then asked if I wanted one (I didn't). The point here isn't that I didn't sign up for an Ace card, what impressed me is how casually and friendly the cashier asked me, and that she asked me for this next step.

A couple of takeaways for churches from my visit to Ace:

• Greeting vs helping- I think many churches have the greeting thing down (Hi! Good morning! Welcome to Hillcrest!). But greeting isn't the same thing as helping. I get greeted at Wal Mart and Sam's Club, but their level of service fails miserably when matched against Ace. Churches win when their people are helpful, not just friendly (can I show you where the nursery is? How many chairs do you need?).
• Casual next step- churches have their own version of an Ace card or next step of commitment. Could be a small group, a membership class, a serving opportunity, or even simply going out to lunch after a worship service. Sometimes we fail to remember how important the personal ask can be for these next steps, instead hoping that an announcement or something in the bulletin will do the trick. But imagine if you asked someone to come to something or join you for lunch after the service. It's casual, it's low key, and while the person may decline your invite, you've no doubt left a good impression.

I think Ace is going to be ok, so long as they keep service core to their business. The same holds true for churches.

Too much of a good thing

Here's an equation I come across frequently in my ministry here at Hillcrest:



Ministry people (outside of Hillcrest) with good intentions + a poor or confusing product/ministry/event = an awkward conversation



Much like some businesses are still convinced that television advertising is the way to go, some ministries are holding firm to the belief that the poster (or its less glamorous cousin, the newsletter) is the supreme communication tool for getting the word out about an event. These folks, who by the way I believe are good people whose only intention is to get the word out about their event, will drop by Hillcrest from time to time asking us to hang their poster about their concert/music festival/seminar/high school spring play/pancake fundraiser/cantata/singing Christmas tree/live nativity type of event.

The problem for me comes not with this person's event- by most means it is a fine event- the problem comes with the quantity of events that are out there. So one is faced with two options: you either say yes to everything and make ministry leader happy but turn your church wall into something that looks like this (and with this much on one board, how will anyone find out about you event?)





or you say no to most of the requests that come your way and end up looking like a jerk. Here are some real conversation excerpts I've had with well intentioned ministry leaders:

• "I don't understand why you wouldn't put out this newsletter" (this came after I told the gentlemen that I would take his publication, but that our church probably wouldn't use it and I probably wouldn't display it).
• "Um, ok, thanks for your time" (you could tell that this person really didn't know what to do with me telling them we wouldn't hang their concert poster).
• "we'd really like you to display (our thing) in a more prominent spot than underneath your welcome center" (this gentlemen was really nice, but a little peturbed to learn that we kept most of his materials buried underneath our welcome center).
• "they don't like us" (this was the comment made by the two people leaving my office after I said we wouldn't hang their music festival poster).

Again, the problem isn't the event or the program or the ministry. The problem is that when everything gets communicated (and more specifically, when everything gets communicated in the same way), nothing gets communicated.

Jubilee in the News

After yesterday's post, some will say this one is blatantly hyporcritcal. Yet, full disclosure: KELO contacted Hillcrest after hearing of the Jubilee, not the other way around. Check out the story here.

Marketing the Church

The Argus ran an article this past Sunday about some churches' marketing campaigns to boost attendance as recent studies (one here) suggest that church attendance is down.

I've begun reading Reggie McNeal's new book, Missional Renaissance, which came out in January. Almost anticipating this news, McNeal writes:

"the way forward for churches that want to redefine their position in the community will be through service and sacrifice" (7).

To be fair, the Argus article cites the ad campaigns of the ELCA and the United Methodists, two denominations who have been light years ahead of most evangelical churches when it comes to serving their communitities. But it's interesting that (one of) our response to reports like this is advertising.

• Planting a church? Do a commerical


• Attendance down? Do a provocative sermon series and send postcards to your neighborhood

Full disclosure: Hillcrest has certainly received some share of press the last year or so, and we've done our share of marketing tools in the past to generate interest in our church. But what I've liked is that Hillcrest hasn't intentionally sought out any press. When we've done things, whether it was computers at Cleveland or the recent Jubilee giveaway, we haven't called TV or the newspaper and 'tip' them off. It's funny- I'll run into people who have heard of some of the things we've done and some will say that it was done to make a big splash or to garner attention or press (as in sure you did this good thing for others but in some way it's still about you). Their perception is their perception, but we honestly haven't sought out any attention. Sure, we've been tempted to, but I sometimes think our enteraining of the temptation was so that our community efforts could generate more results on the typical church scorecards- atendance, giving, etc.

Church attendance will probably continue to be a headline worthy article for a few years. But as McNeal and others are arguing, it's the wrong question to be asking.

Passion vs Conviction

Some time ago I heard a presentation from someone who directs a non-profit. This director's organization provides a valuable work in their community, seems to be a trusted partner, and makes a real difference. The problem is that the presentation was boring. The director seems to be a nice enough person, but the presentation lacked passion, even as the director told the 'heart string' stories designed to evoke the audience's emotion.

I think each of us tends to favor either passion or knowledge. Those of us who favor passion get wrapped into the story, can paint the picture of how project XYZ will change lives and make differences, and can connect with people in such a way that leaves them having to work on project XYZ. Those of us who favor knowledge get wrapped into the data and the facts, define goals and objectives for project XYZ, and connect with people in such a way that leaves them thinking that project XYZ is sensible and makes sense. The question is, do we favor passion over knowledge? Or does knowledge trump passion? Is it possible to have or do both?

The author of Iconoclast quotes Jim Lavoie, CEO of Rite-Solutions, a software company from Rhode Island as saying this: “I made it to executive VP not by being bright, but by being theatrical. By being passionate. You can fake passion. And the better ideas were being shot down because the other guy didn’t do theater as well” (72-73).

Reading this, and thinking back to the presentation I heard, I realized I discounted the director's presentation because it lacked the theatre. The organization was still excellent, and the work being done really is quite good, but I snubbed it down because there was no passion. Sometimes, substance ought to trump style.

What I Learned at a Community Meeting

A few weeks ago I attended a community meeting at the elementary school. The city invited our neighborhood to attend this meeting to discuss community issues with city representatives such as police, fire, health, zoning, etc. As someone who has a vested interest in the community, and also since our church does so much work within this community, I thought I'd take it in and see what inside information I could get on our piece of Sioux Falls. Take the following quiz and see what I learned:

1) How many people attend a community meeting?
a) 75-100
b) 50-74
c) 25-49
d) less than 8

Score 1 point if you answered "d". Also, bonus point if you guessed that the median age of those in attendance was 96.

2) When asked what type of crime is occuring in our community, the police officer
a) stares blankly at you
b) says "it's not as bad as Omaha!"
c) gives you the detailed information you were looking for
d) gives you detailed information about a neighborhood 5 miles away from yours

Score 1 point if you answered "d" (might as well have been "a"!). Seriously, the officer gave good information, but it was miles away from our neighborhood. Fun fact though: apparently, there is a connection between disc golf and marijuana use (who knew?!?).

3) When a conflict occurs on a city ordinance between the city attorny and a police officer,
a) the police officer wins, because he has a gun
b) the police officer wins, because he can arrest the attorney
c) the police officer wins, because he can beat up the attorney
d) the attorney wins, because they can say "don't tell me what I know and don't know, I know the law!"

Score 1 point if you answered "d".

4) Outdoor fire pits (the kind you buy at any Wal Mart or comparable store) must be a minimum of how many feet away from your home?
a) there is no ordiance governing this
b) 5 feet
c) 10 feet
d) 25 feet

Score 1 point if you answered "d". At 25 feet, my fire pit, like most everyone else in my neighborhood, would be in my neighbor's backyard!

5) The purpose of the community meeting is
a) to organize a neighborhood watch
b) to get tips on having a good block party
c) to connect with other like minded neighbors
d) to find out all the ways you can narc on your neighbor without actually talking to them

Score 1 point if you answered "d", though answers a-c seem like a far more valuable use of time. Our city leaders were more than happy to spend time letting us know all of the various the ways in which you can report someone for violations such as under inflated trailer tires, unkept lawns, and fire pits. By the way, if you get something from the health department, take action, they may be the most powerful department in our city!

Seriously though, I was disappointed (to say the least) with the meeting. I learned nothing, and felt angry that our city's time and energy was spent on empowering neighbors to work against each other rather than on organizing neighbors to work together. Guess we'll have to take that up at the block party.

Costcutter

Dr. McNamara, the principal over at Cleveland Elementary, sent me this picture of Hillcrest's Dawn VandeVoort, who volunteered a couple hours each Monday during this past school year to provide hair cuts for students who needed them. Dawn is a true costcutter and servant, providing a valuable service to children who needed it.

Congratulations also to Dr. McNamara, who was named South Dakota's Distinguished Principal of the Year!

Why you gotta be like that?

I went to mow Lorna's lawn the other day. The past couple Wednesday nights I've been mowing Lorna's lawn on Wednesday evenings before moving onto one of our options. Lorna, who is elderly and disabled, lives in a trailer park and right across from her spot is a swing set, so I'd bring my two older sons to play while cutting the grass. Since we were out of town most of last week, I had to mow her lawn during the day. I brought the boys, sent them to play, and no sooner then I had unloaded my mower did the trailer park manager, a grumpy older man we'll call Grouchy, come and inform me of the policy that children couldn't play in the part without adult supervision. To be fair to Grouchy, the policy is clearly stated on a sign right by the park. I'm typically a rule follower, but I had to barter with Grouchy a bit on this. I explained that I'd be right across the street (literally, right across it), that the boys would be in my sight the entire time, and that we were here for a short time so that I could mow Lorna's lawn. Grouchy didn't bite. He explained that unattended children were responsible for over $1200 damage to the play set. As much as I wanted to contest that piece of information (really, $1200?!? With that kind of damage, this playset shouldn't be operational, except that it was in fine condition), but I stuck to "I am just across the street, I can see the boys, and I am helping someone out". Grouchy also stuck to his script and said no. I muttered "well, that's too bad" and beckoned the boys to follow me across the street. Grouchy (wisely) went inside so he couldn't hear the boys wailing and pleading with their dad to stay at the play set. In the end, Lorna ended up watching the boys while I mowed. But grouchy stuck with me the whole day, and my only thought was "why you gotta be like that?". Judging by how quick he pounced on us, there was nothing else going on in trailer park rentals to do- no other maitenance issues, no delinquent rent, no tenant complaints, the item of the day was insuring that a 6 and 4 year old didn't cause thousands of dollars a damage from going down a slide.

I don't know why Grouchy felt led to act that way. And perhaps I am in the wrong (still) for feeling how I feel (I did buck the policy after all). But I kind of would think that a manager would welcome someone hellping to maintain one of his tenant's properties, not make it more difficult. And yet I also wonder about when I too rigidly stick to policy, when I too fail to factor in human considerations, and when I too make it more difficult for someone to do something.

Millions of people astray

I received a mass email from a ministry organization (apparently Christian organizations aren't immune from trying spam email tactics) essentially inviting me (along with countless other people) to come onto a web radio show and talk about the end times, and then listen to the teaching of a pastor who (of course) would set all of us straight on end times theology, as, and this is from the email, we might be leading millions of people astray with our teaching on the end times (they assume it doesn't match theirs).

We get several of these kinds of things each year. An invitation to a conference or seminar on the correct end times theology. A letter written from John from Connecticut (or Vermont, I can't remember) who mails out a letter (seriously, he will actually pay the postage and send these things out to countless churches). A phone call asking what our doctrine is and might we consider if Pastor A could come and hold a meeting or series of meetings on the issues.

The end of time is a fascinating issue, though I must admit that I am not much of a Revelation person. I never have been. At my ordination, I was asked what my view on the end times were, and specifically which position I held to, and in essence I gave a long answer that essentially said “I don’t know”, because honestly I don't. I just finished reading through Revelation this morning and I am still amazed at the book's imagery, its content, and its complexity. I realize there’s a lot of prophecy in Revelation, and that different generations seem to look at certain events or scriptures and then interpret the book out of that lens. I think that’s ok to do- I certainly don’t think it’s wrong to ponder whether or not these are the end times- but I also remind myself that John wrote Revelation over 1900 years ago, to a specific group of people for a specific purpose. I understand that he coded much of his writing so that it could go underground and not be detected by the Roman government (why else would he talk about Babylon, a civilization that at the time the people would have read Revelation, would have been extinct for several hundred years?). I do think that not knowing what the future looks like (other than that Jesus is coming back) is an ok perspective to have. Getting too fixated on reading the tea leaves of the times (does this war mean the end is near? what about this earthquake?) may mean we actually miss out on the grander mission of Jesus, and missing out on Jesus' grander mission could also lead millions of people astray.

Link Love

Some blogs I've found worth checking out recently:

• An article connecting volunteering with being good for your resume
• Pastor Richie making some good commentary on the book of Isaiah
• And two new bloggers from Hillcrest, Jessi detailing life as a missionary in Detroit and Joylynn living the good life down under

Wednesday Night Service Feedback

Hillcrest is currently taking a couple weeks off from Wednesday Night Service before we resume it for the summer on Wednesday, June 10th. Here's a recap of the past 10 months:

• There were over 40 different opportunities offered on Wednesday Nights
• Over 150 Hillcresters participated in at least one project on a Wednesday Night over the past 10 months; an average of 120 Hillcresters participated on a Wednesday Night at least once a month
• We served over 15 meals at the St Francis House
• We delivered furniture for the Furniture Mission 10 times
• We helped pack over 10,000 backpacks for the Food Bank over the 10 months
• We cooked countless meals that have been given to families going to families in need
• We sorted countless shoes (and countless other items!) at the VOA Thrift Store
• We sang songs at the Good Samaritan Center

We've heard from the organizations the impact Hillcrest has had and is having (one agency emailed me yesterday and said this- please tell your group thank you for all the work they do for our clients). But the thing for me is the impact on us as the servers and how we've gotten to tangibly serve and make small differences.

As we discuss what Wednesday Night Service looks like going forward for the upcoming school year, I'd like your feedback and perspective on Wednesday Night Service. What worked well? What can we change? What was your highlight? What would you like to see happen this coming year? Leave a comment after this post; I appreciate the feedback and look forward to your perspectives.

What's the Point?

From Alan Weber's Rules of Thumb:



Ask what’s the point of this exercise? It’s the most clarifying question you can ask. It’s the best thing you can do for yourself or anyone asking for advice. If you don’t know what the point of the exercise is, honestly, accurately, and crisply, then you’re going to wander a lot, wasting your time and energy on something you don’t really understand (11).



This little exercise certainly allows a person or an organization to find clarity amidst all of its activities and programs. When I think of church life, typical answers to this question might include the following:

• Tradition (or we've always done it)- now this isn't a terrible answer to this question, as most things get started with a good answer to the "what's the point" question. But as time goes on, we get less clear on what that original answer was.
• Confused purpose (or I think the point is this when we really do it for this)- several years ago when Hillcrest stopped doing Sunday School, much of the argument against stopping Sunday School focused on a missing discipleship opportunity. But when I'd actually talk to people about what they missed about Sunday School, their reasons were ones of relationships or fellowship (I'll miss seeing so and so, it's the only place I connect, etc) then they were of content and discipleship. When we're unclear on the point, the misunderstandings can be significant.

I think over the last few years at Hillcrest and the times that we have either moved away from certain programs or altered different programs, this question and our answer(s) to it really drove much of the momentum and change.

Church Directories

Hillcrest recently rolled out our newest church directory. It of course has updated pictures of families who have been here for awhile, pictures of those who are newer to Hillcrest and not in our last directory, and contact information. One of the more interesting parts (I find) of any directory is the 'candid shots' section in which churches are allowed to submit a few photos to show what their church is like. In the past, Hillcrest would submit the typical photos: youth ministry, children's ministry, women's ministry, and maybe a shot or two of a Sunday morning (baptism, etc). This year, we shook it up a bit and wanted to include photos that better depicted our church's mission. So we included photos from the previous summer's South Africa trip, serving pizza and cleaning tables at Children's Home Society, and wrapping presents at the mall for Children's Inn. We also included a 'typical' children's ministry photo as well as one of Pastor Doug looking like a hippie (you'll have to comment or ask me to get the story on that one!).

But the one that perhaps got the most comments is one with a group of Hillcresters with South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson after his meeting with them about adoption. At first, it seems strange to include this photo in our directory as the Senator doesn't attend Hillcrest, and he might never be back. But the photo tells a story, a story of Hillcrest's work with adoption and a story of a group of people, all at various stages in the adoption process, who got to meet with him as a result of Hillcrest's work. If a directory tells a story about a place, then that includes the 'candid shots', Senators and hippie pastors.