One of the things about serving and being a part of a growing church is change.  As God continues to blow us away with incredible growth, multiple ministry opportunities and a diverse community we have found ourselves in a culture of extreme change.  The change has been born out of necessity, in order to create more space for the growing number of people attending every weekend in both the adult venues and in the children and student venues.  As we like to say around here, “it’s a problem, but it’s a good problem to have!”

In the last four years we have grown by about 650%, which not only affects the space issue, but also capacity and sustainability for staff members and volunteers.  Here are some thoughts about capacity and sustainability I’ve learned over the last year:

1. The bigger an organization gets, the larger the scope of care and responsibility gets.  You will find yourself working more and more hours to simply sustain the minimum duties.  Work smart, stay focused during working hours, “chunk” your time for efficiency (focus for 2-3 hours at a time, then take a short break to re-focus and refuel), recruit more high-capacity volunteers, delegate and finally champion for specialized staff hires.
2. Keep and honor clearly defined boundaries for your quiet time, family time and personal time.  Nehemiah traveled approximately four months to get to Jerusalem to fulfill the call on his life to re-build the wall surrounding his precious city, but as excited as he was to get there, assess the need and get working, the Bible says after getting there he, “stayed there three days…” (Neh. 2:11), then he went out and started to work.  He understood the need for rest, rejuvenation and refueling.  Part of this “rest” cycle for us MUST include times of stillness with our Father.  We can’t lead if we’re not being led.
3. Listen to the wise counsel of those over you in leadership.  1 Thessalonians 5:12 hits it square in the face:  “An now, friends, we ask you to honor those leaders who work so hard for you, who have been given the responsibility of urging and guiding you along in your obedience.” MSG.  Sometimes decisions will be made for your good that you initially might not understand or necessarily agree with, but trust and respect the godly leaders God has placed in your life and welcome the change as a growth experience meant to refine you to be who God original created you to be.

Change isn’t easy~ nobody really enjoys change, but here’s what God has revealed to me recently; He loves me so much and with such passion He’s not willing to allow me to be stuck.  Change when welcomed, will refine, smooth, cleanse and keep us out of the rut of mediocrity.  Man, I love the way He loves me!