The question of the day/week - should we combine the church wide picnic and the church wide Street Reach event or put them on different Sundays?
Give your reasons why!
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6 years ago
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Should we?...
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19 comments:
I think they should be different events. The church-wide picnic/fellowship should be just that.. maybe some friends and family of ours, but it should be with us so we could fellowship with "us". If we did the church-wide street-reach, then we could have them come back to the church with us if they wanted and hang out. I think we need to have the fellowship time as a family, and the street-reach could be more evangelistic. It would make a very good event. Maybe, also, if we reversed the order. Instead of having worship in the beginning, have a very small worship/service at the end before we break bread. 8/8:30 would we be out and about doing things in the community. Just my thoughts...
Different events & different dates. Having been involved in the Picnic planning & the day of the event (for the past several yrs), it requires many hands/feet working separately & jointly together, usally many, many hrs prior to the actual "chow" time and activities.
Other feedback on a Sun outreach/St. Reach, this coming from my personal speaking w/ fellow small group mbrs. This idea didn't seem to be heard of yet and/or seemed to of much interest w/ folks who normally attend the 8:30 service. I can also say , some view this as anti- "day of rest" event. Some view doing so on Sat's or week-long event socially / normal, but to do so on a Sunday seems rather indifferent. Perhaps this may be viewed in the community as such too, though MO views it as a Love Outreach. Any way, just giving/sharing different thoughts and what I hear from others. I think regarding any new venture, the question to ask is: Are we attempting to simply seek more #s to fill seats, are we attempting to do things to Make MO "look good/better" than other local churches (out comepting ea other?) or is truly for serving/charing Christ. Just more to think about. In love different views can be expressed.
that could be a long, hot day to combine both esp. with kids.
also, inviting anyone to the picnic we meet at streetreach might be a good idea in theory but often people have plans for the same day and would decline.
2 weeks--one word, exhaustion! Remember, 20% of the people do 80% of the work.
I think we should do something as outrageous as providing our whole church with a way to serve on a Sunday. In order to make sure that there are opportunities for all ages and abilities there will need to be a lot of planning and organization - but there are some of us who relish that sort of challenge.
Let me throw out my initial thoughts to see if that helps people grab the vision for this proposed morning.
During Summer StreetReach we plan to target one of the neighborhoods close to the church - like Pointer Ridge. We will be going out over the next few weeks to leaflet drop the entire neighborhood, and then again during June we intend to leaflet drop the location again. Along with this information sharing we are working on getting some advertising in the Bowie Blade and we have Bowiefest and the memorial Day parade to hand out information. We are also talking with the Baysox about maybe putting a booth on the concourse for one of the home games during June.
With these multiple opportunities of getting the word out that StreetReach is coming, it would be great if the morning we begin (July 12th) we could send out 100+ people into the neighborhood we are targeting, all dressed in the same t-shirts to continue the promotion.
What would we do that Sunday morning?
I do not see a lot of heavy yardwork being accomplished, but small teams of people going door to door talking to residents and lining up work for the team to do later in the week. I see groups of people offering to wash resident's cars or cut their grass. I see teams of people walking through the area praying and asking God to open up homes and lives during the week. I see groups of people walking through this target location picking up trash along the road side. I see teams of people knocking on doors and offering to pray for residents. I see the worship team, travellign through the neighborhood on the back of trailer playing praise and worship music and declaring that 'Greater things are still to be done here...' I see teams of people inviting folks to church for the picnic and inflatable games.
Meanwhile, back at church. I see Babette and her team having the whole gym to do a great children's program, with the numbers swollen from those kids who came to the VBS the week before and have come to church to see what is happening there. I see the picnic preparation team cooking up a storm, setting tables, laying out trays and trays of food. I see the inflatable games being set up in the field, the volleyball net set up, the kickball ready to go. I see a team of people in the upper room, circled together covering everything that is going on in prayer.
I see a church in action. A church who is BEING the church.
We can make this a reality. But we cannot make it a reality unless everyone joins in and plays their part. I am sure there are some who have heard this idea and are already planning what other church they will attend that day. I want to ask you to reconsider that idea, and to decide to join with your leaders and join with your church as we endeavor to reach out to this city with this one day event.
These ideas are not set in stone, but hopefully will allow you to dream a little more and to catch the heartbeat of what could be done through this opportunity.
Keep the comments coming. They are really helpful, whether you think this to be a good or a bad idea, we need to hear from you.
I am going to agree with the others and say two separate days. You don't know what the weather will be like and if it is especially hot or windy, no one is going to want to be out all morning and then come back and be out and about all afternoon. And there are so many people in our church who do not know one another. I only knw about thirty or so people myself and I have been at this church for thirteen years. I feel like the picnic would be a time better spent breaking out of our cliques and getting to know one another, rather than inviting new people into our cliques.
Putting them on different Sundays will allow us to have the maximum exposure and to be most effective in reaching out to the community.
Buddy had a good idea with placing worship at the end of the event to get a better "jump" on the day. I think doing street reach on the first Sunday would enable us to pass the word to those we see in the community as we serve, and can give us a better chance at getting more people to attend the picnic.
IMHO
What a wonderful way to express God's love to our local community.We have such wonderful people at Mt.Oak who always seem to pull together despite our different ideas and rise to be the hands, feet and voice for Jesus.
What an amazing opportunity to serve together and let every part of the body be included. Whether we have it on the same day or a different day then the Church wide picnic i am sure we will pull together and do everything as unto the lord because thats what He asks us to do. Praise God that we are in a position and have the ability to serve is such an amazing way. IT'S SO EXCITING.
First, excuse me for not getting all the comments up yesterday in a timely fashion. It was Mother's Day and I was out of the house all day. I was posting from my BlackBerry and some of the comments must have been overlooked in the number of e-mails I got during the day. As I work from home this morning, all comments have been posted.
After reading them all I am not surprised by some of the reactions or comments I have read. Doing StreetReach Sunday and the Annual Picnic on the same day is an awesome undertaking. Placing it in the middle of Vacation Bible School and StreetReach week seems insane for some for sure.
If we only tackle what we think we can handle, where is there room for God?
--For those who have been part of the 20% doing 80% of the work it seems like we are asking them to do the impossible - two major events smack inside of two other major events (Vacation Bible School - Annual Picnic & StreetReach Sunday - StreetReach week).
It is a demanding two week schedule for sure. But recently I heard this saying - "to reach those no one else is reaching, you must do what no one else is doing".Part of yesterday's message was to excite the body at Mt. Oak to do more than they have been doing for the Lord. It was about exciting us to want to serve - maybe in ways that we hadn't thought of before. The definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.
--I believe these four events are each powerful in themselves and will bring God glory. Even if we did them all as separate events, if we do not do them as a whole church family, the 20% that do 80% of the work will be burned out in short order. If we only have the 20% helping, we will not be able to pull these four events off well. And that will reflect upon Jesus!
Vacation Bible School had to choose the week they did (July 6-10) because that is when the volunteers that organize it were available. (Their original date chosen was the same week as StreetReach)
StreetReach has had their week picked for several months (July 12-18).
The "usual" date for the Annual Picnic is the first Sunday of July (July 5).
The date that seems best suited for the StreetReach Sunday is the kickoff Sunday for the week (July 12).
A question that arose - and was posed - to the person that organizes the picnic - would it be possible to have two picnics on back to back Sundays or would it be better to move the Annual picnic from July 5 to July 12? The men's ministry leadership was to meet last night to see if this was possible among those who have been responsible in the past.
Tonight I am meeting with a group and will bring all of the thoughts and ideas we have heard.
--Should we have StreetReach Sunday?
--Should the Annual Picnic and StreetReach Sunday be on the same or different days?
--How do we get increased volunteers to work all four of these major events?
--Do all four of these events bring glory to God and fit our Vision as a church?
I am not suggesting doing these four events, and doing them well to God's glory, will be easy. And they will not be done well if we are counting on George (the 20%) to do them. They will only reflect the glory of God if we, the whole of the church called Mt. Oak, steps up and gives our all to Jesus during a two week period of our summers.
But dream of the impact on Bowie/Mitchellville if we drew in hundreds and hundreds of children to the VBS program because we had 300-400 people working to make it the best it could be!
Dream of the impact of 150-300 men, women and children hitting the streets of Bowie to pick up trash, share the love of Christ, do some minor chores, and just being the church to the community around us - while another 100-200 or so stayed at the church praying for the others, working with the youngest children, preparing for the great feast when the others returned.
Does anyone get excited about these opportunities? Can anyone even see how we would need God to work in us, through us and in spite of us to share these events? It excites me when we dream dreams bigger than we can handle because that is when we must turn to God for the success of the event.
If we only tackle what we think we can handle, where is there room for God?
I will also vote for the service project and picnic to be on separate Sundays. We usually spend all afternoon at the picnic, so we would be shortchanging either event by limiting its time frame.
I appreciate that plans are already in consideration for children on the service project Sunday -- that was a big concern for us. Our 10-year-olds could be helpful, but the 6-year-olds not so much. Without childcare, only one of us would participate in the project.
Thank you for your vision in challenging us to greater service and outreach. We do need to come out of our shell more.
Molly Holloway
OK I read them all and I have to say "Why are we the Church" we are the church to be the light to the world as Ray said Sunday. A Street Reach Sunday would not be about look at MO or the numbers. It would be just what it says, getting in the streets and reaching the people. Doing the picnic and a Street Reach Sunday on the same day is a great idea. It is killing two birds with one stone. We can go out and make the church known that we are here for the community, we are a church that wants to reach and serve our community, and we are a church that is relational (and likes to eat!).
Every one would have a role. EVERYONE!!! It would be up to you as a person and family to say I choose not to have a role for what ever reason and thats OK. We know that not everyone will be able to or is going to do SRS (Street Reach Sunday) or the Picnic.
Just imagine the Kingdom impact we could have by the WHOLE CHURCH getting out side the MO walls and reaching out as a WHOLE CHURCH AT THE SAME TIME! It is and would be about serving the Lord, bringing him glory, reaching the people for His and their sake, being Christ to those AROUND US, and just being the church.
In my mind, yes it will be a lot of work. Yes it will be hot. Yes it will take great organization. BUT YES IT IS ALL WORTH IT. Think of the great celebration we could have. Thing of the presents we would have beside being the white brick church on the corner. Think of the glory we will be giving to God as long as our heart, soul, and minds and in the right place.
I believe it is time to be more for our community that surrounds us, to be a better church to our selves and the community around us, to do what we can, to Be all God called us to be, and that is to live as disciples of Jesus Christ and to do the mission that is set before us:
Introducing people to Jesus Christ
Developing relationships in Jesus Christ
Making mature disciples of Jesus Christ
Yes it would be hard. Yes there are obstacles to hurdle or to overcome. But ask yourself this....What can I do to make this happen? What could my role be in seeing this vision and plan happen with excellence? I know we can do it and I believe we should do it. I believe this would be one of the best things the church could do!
OK - for the sake of discussion - let's assume we do the Annual Picnic on July 5 and the StreetReach Sunday on July 12 -
How could you help to make the following excellent?
What could you offer to serve your Lord during these amazing opportunities to serve our Lord and the community?
July 5- Annual Picnic
July 6-10 - 6-9 pm - VBS (Vacation Bible School)
July 12 - StreetReach Sunday
July 12-18 - StreetReach Week
Don't say what couldn't happen - say what you would be willing to do to serve your Lord during these two weeks!
Gale TeSelle said ... one picnic with the focus on the Mt. Oak family and our outreach to the community. I think it would be more beneficial to link the picnic at the close of Street Reach rather than the beginning. Have it more of a celebration of the week. During the week, the Street Reach participates could be inviting Bowie residents to the Sunday picnic on July 19 and enjoy all the free food and fun inflatables and games for the kids. This would be free to guests although I would have them RSVP by phone so we have their contact information and get an estimate for additional food. This also gives them a chance to plan on coming as opposed to a last minute decision on Sunday morning. We can do an all church Sunday "Gone Serving" outreach on July 12, just hold the picnic the following week.
Two separate days would be the best option. Think of the hot, sweltering weather, being in close proximity with church members who are working hard in yards, then with kids who are playing hard at the picnic. Also, I think participation would be much greater if you do it across two days - possibly StreetReach on Saturday, followed by worship and the cookout on Sunday.
I'm working on a proposal that will address most thoughts and concerns about the Picnic, StreetReach, VBS and more... stay tuned!
I think that having both events on the same day would be counterproductive for BOTH events. One might be burned out from the first event to the point that being a part of the second would not be an option. Focus attention on one outreach and be prepared and rested for the next.
Before too many folks sign in with their thoughts - we are preparing a proposal trying to take as many suggestions as possible into account.
It should be out by Wednesday or Thursday. Thanks for all of the comments and ideas - you guys are amazing...
I think it should be 2 different days and 2 different events. If Sunday is "the LORD'S day" and we are supposed to treat Sunday different than any other day of the week, why do I want to go to other's yard's and do what I won't do in my own--work!
I would prefer to work on Sat. and invite them to worship and the picnic the following day.
As far as Babette keeping all the kids, aren't you asking a lot of her? Kids will get fussy and want "Mommy" and she won't be there. Plus, there will be a wide range of ages for her to deal with--from infants up....
That's my 2 cents! :)
Babette is not watching all the children - as the Children's Director she will find volunteers to work with the children. She actually would like to be out in the streets.
What is the difference between working hours and hours preparing the picnic and picking up some trash and passing out flyers? WE ARE NOT going to do the work of StreetReach week!
A clear letter of the two weeks will come out soon. People are assuming too much - and making comments on those assumptions. Give us a couple of days to get the plan out to everyone, please.
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