September 2008 Archives
Launch Sunday
Some facts:
5:3oam our trailer was picked up from storage.
6:00am: set-up began and was finished by 7:30am
10am over 120 people shared an expereince together called Kidstuf and learned that: "God knows everything, so we should learn what He says."
At least 4 families came from the surrounding neighborhood in response to post cards that were passed out on Friday and our signs on Sunday morning. And . . . they registered their children for Upstreet.
By noon everything was taken down and loaded into the trailer, while our sound system was tuned for the room.
At 1:30pm I enjoyed lunch with my family.
Great work by an amazing team of people! We are praying that impossible things would happen through River Park Community Church so that there is no mistaking who gets all the glory.
Pictures of this Sunday are soon to follow on our website and facebook group!
Most Valuable Asset
But this Sunday everything changes.
This Sunday, it's not practice. This Sunday, it's not just for a few interested people. This Sunday, it's live and for real.
This Sunday, dozens of families will enter our doors and experience KidStuf for the very first time. This Sunday, moms and dads will be given some tools to help their children grow in the virtue of Knowledge ("learning something new so you can be better at what you do").
This Sunday, people who don't even realize that what they're really looking for is a relationship with God will show up -- kids in tow -- and experience something they never expected: a church that actually wants to help them be better parents. And, in the process, they'll probably begin to discover how different God actually is from the way he's so often portrayed in our culture.
But allow me to say, on behalf of our entire staff, that the most valuable asset River Park has to offer is not a program called KidStuf. It is not the coffee that we'll serve or the songs we'll blast through the speakers we still have yet to buy (our to do list is pretty long right about now!).
The most valuable asset we have is you.
Our volunteers will make our break this Sunday. My money is riding on "make". You will be the ones doing the really heavy lifting this Sunday (and every Sunday, for that matter). You'll do the inviting. You'll do the welcoming. You'll actually create the sticky factor that will make KidStuf a success.
See, there's a false notion that if we just build a fun and exciting environment, people will come and come back. But that's not really true. Sure, they may come once or twice, but eventually they'll stop showing up for the show.
Unless they've made some friends. Unless they've built some real relationships.
So, as you go about your duties this Sunday, as you're summoning all your inner strength to avoid hitting the snooze button at 0-dark-thirty, as you're pouring coffee and smearing cream cheese on bagels, as you're lifting those set pieces and running that sound cable, as your rehearsing your lines and holding those babies, know this: you're not just putting on KidStuf; you're not just helping launch a successful program; you're actually creating an environment where people who are lost and lonely and confused about life can establish relationships with other folks -- some of whom are in the same boat -- some of whom are a little further down the path of life -- all of whom are in desperate need of a deeper and greater relationship with the best Parent of all.