Serve by Design

Have you ever said, “I don’t feel that old?” and then looked into the nearest mirror and thought differently! Allow me to briefly do my life by the numbers: 73 years of age, 52 years of marriage, and now, 55 years since my high school graduation. By any modest evaluation, I am older than I feel! Last Saturday evening’s class reunion was just another reminder that I am not alone! As I entered the Country Club’s great room, I looked up and could have declared, “Who are all of these old people?” But I quickly checked myself and acknowledged instead, “These are my classmates and peers! Let the stories begin!”😆 Just a few of us! Regrettably, due to living out-of-state and some conflicts with our schedules, I have only been able to attend a half dozen or so of all the reunions. It’s a shame that some of our number bid farewell to Vandalia Community High School after graduation and have never returned for a single class reunion! Our planning team knows how difficult it has been to keep up ...

Our church is getting ready to begin a new season of leader enlistment and development. We plan once again this spring to conduct a workshop called Design 1.2.3. This involves matching the gifts of potential leaders with a place of meaningful service. Letters are sent out to several individuals that the Nominating Team may consider new to the church, on the fringe of involvement, or otherwise underutilized. In many instances, these individuals are ready and even eager to serve the church in some capacity, but have not been asked and trained for service. Design 1.2.3. is simply the first step in the process of ministry deployment. In the invitation letter to these potential servant leaders or mentees, we indicate what we plan to accomplish during a couple of hours on a selected Saturday morning. In the first hour, we give out a self-scoring gift inventory that identifies what the individual is interested in as well as any demonstrated skills that could match with a particular area of ...