Several years ago our church started a new ‘contemporary’ service designed to reach out to newcomers. We determined that folks who had never been to church were more likely to come to a neutral site instead of a sanctuary. Fortunately there was a large room directly across the street from the church. We negotiated with the owners to rent that facility every Sunday morning for our service. The room was often rented out for Saturday parties and receptions. Their custodial staff was not available late on Saturdays. So the agreement we came to was that we would clean the facility before we used it. We really did not have any idea of what we were getting in to. Each week a group of volunteers would arrive, often before the sun was up, to haul the needed equipment across the street, set up chairs and clean up. It took 150 volunteers each month. Continue reading
Russ Ritchel 