2nd Saturday: The Tsunami Cometh!

Crew! If you recall at our "kick off" dinner last year (Feb 2005), we talked about the inevitable and impending "tsunami" of volunteers that we would likely be experiencing in our missions ministries as our church body continues to grow. As you know, we have a "target metric" in our department of engaging a minimum of 25% of the "total attendance" of the church in missions or mission-related activities at any given time, and typically, we knock this % out of the proverbial park whenever we are asked to give account (our 2005 figures were more in the 52% range... Praise God!!!).

However, as the real goal isn't really 25%, but rather 100%, the SMT (Senior Management Team) recently outlined a series of "wins" that they wanted everyone to begin to work toward for 2006 so that we could begin to measure our effectiveness in not only transforming but helping people to grow in their walks with Christ. Those 5 "wins" are as follows:

• Take your next step
• Invest and invite a person to participate (weekend service, access ministry, etc.)
• Have a friend/be a friend (develop a group of meaningful friends/frienships)
• Read your Bible
• Serve once a month
  

Now, as ministry leaders, you're probably already doing all of these, but for the bulk of the people in our body, this will be a buffer-blower. And just think, as Mark and the teaching pastor crews get to the "serve once a month" part over the next few months as they introduce these 5 wins repeatedly... well... where do you think all those people who are currently NOT serving will serve? With YOU guys, of course!!! Yep, there are only about 500 "jobs" that people can do here on campus for weekend services and such, so that leaves more than 75% of the people who attend GCC needing to access something outside of the 4 walls of the church!!!

But don't freak! Really! I can tell some of you are seeing the tsunami of people heading toward your ministry and you're saying "Whoa! Our ministry is great with 50 people, but we're not ready to handle 500!!! We're going to drown!!!" But don't worry... we're working on some "tsunami-proof solutions", and are already in the process of testing it out "under the radar".

Tell you more? I'm so glad you asked!!! Let me introduce you to your new friend... his name is: Second Saturday!

What is Second Saturday? Why, it's just like it sounds. On the Second Saturday of every month, we're going to provide a massive "Food Drop scale" opportunity for people to serve. It will be easy, short, and "no strings attached". We've actually also spoken about it before (see prior article here if you would like to read more). Here are some basic "at a glance" details that should give you a glimpse of what's coming:

• Each 2nd Saturday will run from 8:30 am to noon (travel time included).
• People will come to GCC and board buses bound for one of 4 destinations.
• Each destination will provide an easy-to-serve opportunity that can accomodate up to 100 people in the ministry context.
  
• GCC missions ministries will be "rotated" so that no ministry is having to host a 2nd Saturday event "all the time". At this point, we're trying to keep it quarterly or less.
• When people arrive on-site, they will engage for 2 hours, then board their bus at 11:30 to make it back to church by noon.
  
• People who are interested in the ministry they engaged will be given basic information about engaging further.

While the purpose of 2nd Saturday is not be a "recruiting engine" for teams or ministries, we are anticipating that such will naturally result. We will handle the contact and filter mechanisms, so that all you'll need to do is provide the opportunity, and we'll help you build systems for contact and follow-up as well.

Now, we're going to be giving you LOTS more information about Second Saturday, so don't feel like "this isn't enough!!!"... because it's not, but it's not meant to either. Stay tuned and watch your mail. We're going to try to do some cool DVD tutorial action to give you more info. And then, if after you've seen everything and engaged all that we have, you're still afraid of drowning... well... we'll make sure that you have a life preserver. :-)

Thanks for all that you do! Can't imagine doing this without you guys, and it is a privilege to continue to serve you!

Shinken!
-samurai jack