Executive Pastor Online - July 2008

Ground Breaking Ceremony

kevin@moviechurch.com — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 05:00:00 +0100

That's right! This coming Sunday (7/27/08) we will be hosting a Ground Breaking Ceremony as we approach the beginning of construction on our new Student Ministries building!

The ceremony will start shortly after 1 p.m. that afternoon.

Be there!

Kids' Camp BIG TOP 2008 - Highlight Video!

kevin@moviechurch.com — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 05:00:00 +0100

The final stats are in. Kids' Camp BIG TOP was our largest camp ever! We had 959 children and more than 300 adult volunteers. Amazing!

Our Kids' Camp BIG TOP highlight video is now available. Check it out ...

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWDbWGsERCA 425x344]

Kids� Camp 2008 � A Logistical Challenge!

kevin@moviechurch.com — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 05:00:00 +0100

We kicked off our annual Kids' Camp event on Wednesday morning (7/16/08) at 9 a.m. with more than 500 vehicles dropping off over 800 "campers." It was pretty amazing! It was the awesome experience we have come to expect around here. Of course I didn't mention the more than 350 adult volunteers who showed up an hour before.

I remember when the logistical challenge of pulling off a camp this extensive first hit me. It was before I came on staff here at CCV. We were hosting Kids' Camp Splashdown in 2003. I was volunteering as the tech team leader. The amount of stuff that had to be done and the coordination required rivaled any project I had ever been involved in before. (And, I've managed some pretty large projects over the years!)

We formed the Logistics Team as a key part of making our Kids' Camp a success in 2004 with Kids' Camp Rocks! The team wore a different color t-shirt (blue) than everyone else to make them easy to identify in any situation. From parking cars and managing "people traffic" to executing an organized search in the event a child gets separated from his/her team, the Logistics Team was a big success. From there, a similar team was formed to serve on Sunday mornings. The Logistics Team is now a normal part of our ministry.

Kids' Camp BIG TOP wrapped yesterday at noon. This morning, reflecting on the experience, I'm really amazed about what was accomplished over the 3 day camp. Every plan and all the preparation really paid off. The logistical challenge of making Kids' Camp happen has been met again this year thanks, in part, to the efforts of the "blue shirts." Great job!

STRETCH Full Circle 2008 - Highlight Video

kevin@moviechurch.com — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 05:00:00 +0100

Our STRETCH Full Circle highlight video is now available. Check it out ...

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkV-yX1BcEY 425x344]

STRETCH Sunday!

kevin@moviechurch.com — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 05:00:00 +0100

Over the past 3 nights (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday) we hosted our 3rd annual STRETCH event. The theme this year was STRETCH Full Circle.

We had more than 225 middle school students come and check us out for the fun, games, and learning! It was a blast! I'll be posting the highlight video here on Tuesday or Wednesday. Stay tuned ...

This morning we're treating the congregation to a piece of what the students experienced at STRETCH. The auditorium is equipped with extra staging, moving lights, and a haze machine. Awesome! They are also being treated to the "hot off the press" highlights video that took 2 video editors all night last night to finish!

Thanks to the more than 60 different volunteers who served to make the event a HUGE success. From production and relational leadership to food, games and logistics and security, adult volunteers were here all 3 nights from 4 p.m. until almost midnight to make it happen.

I can hardly wait until next year!

Volunteer Recruitment

kevin@moviechurch.com — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:00:00 +0100

As you know by now, one of the most challenging things about ministry is "keeping the fire hot" when it comes to getting people interested in serving. Consequently, we're always on the lookout for new ways to recruit volunteers.

This past weekend, we dedicated our 5 Minute Window to recruiting Arts team volunteers. Check it out ...

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGx7Z0oK-tE 425x344]

Kids' Camp BIG TOP - 2008

kevin@moviechurch.com — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:00:00 +0100

It's that time of the year! Each year we plan and execute a major camp for kids age 4 through going into the 5th grade. It's called Kids' Camp.

Every year we have a new theme. This year it's BIG TOP. We will have more than 800 kids this year and at least 350 volunteers.

We get more creative every year with our volunteer recruitment. Check this video out from this past Sunday ...

[video::http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QU5x_UaDVM 425x344]

Awesome!

The Responsibilities of Leadership

kevin@moviechurch.com — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:00:00 +0100

I remember working with a group of employees on the manufacturing floor (many years ago) in an attempt to improve efficiency through a better layout and organization of the workspace. I made a very interesting observation that, I believe, illustrates the significance of our responsibility to our staffs and organizations as leaders.

I spent a week "observing" a small group of production employees doing assembly and testing of one of our products. There were a number of "operations" involved in the assembly and test, all located in a small area we had defined as a "work cell." Anyway, during the week I had observed all of the employees walking around this small table that was kind of centrally located in the work cell. Can you picture it? I never saw anyone actually use the table for anything, though. It was just there. In fact, it was in the way, causing everyone to have to walk around it. I even witnessed 1 or 2 of them accidently bump into the table.

At the end of the week, I got all of the employees together to discuss my observations. During the meeting I asked, "Can anyone tell me why that table is there?" They all looked at each other and me and finally concluded that nobody really knew. "It's just always been there." they said. I told them what I had observed and they all agreed that it was in the way. I then said, "I have an idea ... let's move it out of the way." They all agreed and we made it so.

What's the moral of the story? As a leader I've seen it over and over. The people "in our charge" will work around any obstacle we put in their path to get the job done. No matter how many "barriers" we place in front of them, they will find a way around them. Unfortunately, we often don't like the method they are using to get it done, not realizing that something we did, didn't recognize, or otherwise are responsible for (as leaders) is the cause.

As leaders we need to recognize this and at a minimum empower our staffs to make decisions about the things that affect them. We need to teach them this concept and make sure they know that they are empowered to remove the obstacles/barriers to getting the job done.