Yesterday I experienced one of the most satisfying and joyous days at my church. You’ve got to realize that I’m in a tough season at my church. We are coming down the home stretch of a 28 million dollar building project (the plan is to move in debt-free). I make trips out to the new worship center everyday. I have meetings and conferences calls constantly to talk about all the upcoming changes and the huge transition. Next week I fly to Atlanta (again) to meet with ClarkPro Media, so my new Audio Coordinator can get an overview of the entire project and be caught up to speed.
My office is a wreck – with a hardhat on my desk, boots to wear out to the site, blueprints all over my office and a Bill of Materials list as big as a dictionary. Mind you, that’s all on top of my full-time job as the Technical Arts Director and making Sunday happen on the technical side each week.
All that to say, yesterday I had the privilege of meeting with, counseling and praying with one of my tech volunteers for 3 hours. I got to sit and listen, minister and encourage and it was awesome. I’ve been so entrenched with new building stuff that it’s all I can think about. When this team member called and said he needed a pastor (that’s what we are) to talk to and that he wanted it to be me – I was thrilled.
You see, I often tell my entire tech team (via email) that I want them to share prayer requests with me and that it would be my honor to pray for them. Some have taken me up on it and I have enjoyed praying for them and checking in with them from time to time. Many have not taken me up on it – YET, but they will eventually. My team went through 2 other Technical Directors before me in a short period of time and I think they are starting to realize that I’m here and I’m not going anywhere. I love it when they take me up on my offer to pray for them.
So yesterday, as I sat across from one of my tech tech members and listened to him share, I was humbled, honored and excited that he would trust me enough to come to me and share openly and honestly with me about a tough situation he’s going through. The reason I titled this blog simply “Ministry” is because that’s what we are to be about. Too many church staff members would see his coming in as an interruption and a distraction from their job. My heart cries out: this IS my job! He apologized for taking up 3 hours in my day and I told him, “Dude, this is why I’m here. My door is always open.”
I bring this up to encourage, challenge and stretch all of you. Do you see people popping in as distractions and interruptions or as opportunities for ministry? Do you see something like this as keeping you from your job or is this your job?
I’ve got to be real, honest, and bold with my Media Minister/Technical Director friends for a moment: There are far too many techies, gear-heads and button pushers in the Church today. You might be skilled in those areas, but if you’re the leader of your tech team or an area of it, your calling and duty is to lead, shepherd and equip those under your authority. This is the area that the majority of my consulting with churches deals with. More on the “equip” part in a future blog. I’ve preached enough for today. I’m stepping down off my soapbox. 🙂
ON A PERSONAL NOTE:
My sister had her second child yesterday, so I’m an uncle again. All is well with mom and baby. God is good.