Youth: Saturday Night Movie Social
Filtering by Category: Organizational structure,Youth
Sunday Happenings!
Here are some of the cool things happening the next few Sundays here at DBCC:
Jan. 29: Fiesta Dinner
- Come join us in the Robsion Family Life Center for a Mexican Fiesta meal! We'll have all sorts of Hispanic-inspired cultural dishes. All donations from the meal will be attributed to our Mission Trip Fund!
Feb. 5: Super Bowl Party!
- If you haven't already bought your catered tray of hot wings, come on down to the church and hang out with us for Super Bowl XLVI! Whether you are a die-hard football fan, or prefer to partake of snacks and non-sports related conversation, please feel free to join us. We will also be visited by our friends from the Grace and Freedom House.
Feb. 12: Planning Meeting Follow-up
- Join us for a follow-up to our January 7th Event Planning Meeting to dine and discuss the progress of our 2012 events and ministries. As well as discussing plans in greater detail, we will also be giving dates to those events who have progressed to a hard date. This is also a great chance for those who couldn't attend the Jan. 7th meeting to offer their support and assistance for one or more of these initiatives.
Feb. 19: DBCC Dessert Auction
- To raise money for the Mission Trip, some of the members have donated some of the fabulous desserts for auction. Bring your sweet tooth, wallet, and your bargaining edge. These deserts will be in high demand!
Breakfast Success!
Thank you to everyone who made our first annual Breakfast with Santa a huge success! The profits accrued have already been added to our Mission Trip Fund. We hope everyone had a great time and hope to see all the new faces at our upcoming events to be announced.
Everyone who had a picture taken with Santa has been sent an email with a link that will take you to the site from which you can download your own copy of you or your child's picture with St. Nick. If you haven't received your email by Wednesday, Dec. 21st please contact us via email or telephone.
We hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday Season! Thank you for sharing it with us. Merry Christmas!
Trunk r' Treat!
The Youth are planning to help sponsor a Trunk r’ Treat here at the church on this coming Halloween Weekend, the 29th of October. Our hope is to create yet another chance for outreach in our Highlands Community. There will be lots of candy to be had, as well as chili and some interesting costumes to behold. However, we CANNOT do this on our own! Being that none of our students actually have their own trunk, we’ll need some of you to lend yours. If you know any children who would like to make a stop on the Trick r’ Treat trail on Saturday night, send them over! If you know any youth who would like to participate in this event, direct them to us and we will certainly appreciate the helping hand.
If you would prefer not to decorate your own trunk, the students have said they would be happy to help decorate your trunk on the day of (or the day before) the Trunk r’ Treat. To make sure we have a student decorator available, please contact Jennifer or myself.
With so many wonderful bakers in our congregation, the students have decided that this year’s Trunk r’ Treat should include a cakewalk. We have already been rallying for pledges of cakes and deserts. If you would like to pledge a cake for the cakewalk, we’d be more than happy to accept. There is no such thing as too many cakes, after all. We are also still taking pledges for chili. We’ll accept all kinds!
If anyone would like to sign-up for a trunk, or pledge cake, chili, or candy, contact our Secretary, Jennifer Vandiver, or our Youth Minister, Geoff Wallace to set you up!
The Shape of Ministry
(Adapted from The Art of Getting Things Done by David Allen)
1. Defining Purpose and Principles
a. This is the “why” question.
b. Why are we doing this ministry?
c. Why, specifically as Christians, do we care if this ministry gets done?
d. What are the theological consequences of failing to do it? The practical consequences?
Note: The theological/practical questions must always be asked in this order—this differentiates ministry from management. We have a primary stake in the first, and secondary stake in the other.
· This helps us define what success will look like.
· It helps to set the parameters for the resources necessary.
· It clarifies focus.
e. What standards and values do we operate under?
· What behavior or approach might undermine what we are trying to accomplish?
2. Outcome Visioning
a. This is the “what” question that defines success for this ministry.
b. What would success look like?
c. How will we know we’ve done what we set out to do?
d. Envision “WILD SUCCESS.”
3. Brainstorming
a. This is the “how.”
b. Capture as many ideas as possible without editing.
c. Write them down—get them onto something (paper, whiteboard, etc.).
4. Organizing
a. This is where ministry begins to take shape.
b. Begin to notice natural relationships.
c. Now, begin to sort by:
· Sequence, date
· Like directions
d. Begin to narrow down options.
· Set priorities (What’s most important? What can we put on the back burner?)
5. Identifying Next Actions
a. This is where the rubber meets the road.
· Decide on next actions for all moving parts.
· Next actions—literally. What is the next physical activity that needs to be done to move the action forward? Place a call? Write an email? Approach someone to solicit help or resources?
· Decide who is going to be responsible for each next action, and how that person will report on its completion or lack of completion.
· Are there some things on which you must wait? What are they? How long should you wait?
· Is another meeting necessary?
· Set the date and time before leaving.
Some Thoughts:
· If what is needed is greater clarity, then move further up the scale (Purpose and Principles, Outcomes, Brainstorming). The less clarity, the higher up the chain. Revisiting Purpose and Principles regularly is an important practice. If you don’t know why you’re doing anything, then it doesn’t matter what you do.
· If, on the other hand, there’s too much spinning of wheels, move down the scale (Organizing and Next Actions). If you know what needs to be done but are spending too much time talking about it and not doing it, identify next actions. As Will Rogers said, “Plans get you into things but you’ve got to work your way out.”
A Reminder about the New Structure
New Terms:
- Leadership Coordination Ministry—formerly “Leadership Team”
- Ministry—(e.g., Worship Ministry, Nurture Ministry, etc.) formerly “Committees”
Purpose: Renaming organizational bodies ministries reorients the focus from organizational structure to ministry. Seen this way, the organizational structure exists to provide resources for ministry, rather than as an end in itself. Moreover, the Leadership Coordination Ministry exists to coordinate the ministries of the church, rather than to be responsible for initiating them.
Organizational Focus: Under the new by-laws adopted in Spring 2009, DBCC has organized itself with its chief focus on facilitating ministry. To do this the emphasis has shifted from organizational maintenance to ministry. We have put in place an organizational model that is responsive to the vision DBCC has for ministry—a model not concerned with filling spaces on the organizational chart, but with correctly discerning people’s gifts and providing the organizational structure to free them up to do ministry. The primary orientation, then, will be to seek ways to support and encourage ministry, rather than to put up roadblocks to it. Organizational structure seen in this light is to support the body just like a skeletal structure. It is vitally important, but it ought to be as imperceptible and unobtrusive as possible. It simply supports our mission; it is not the mission.