Fresh back
from holiday and one of my first tasks was to meet up with the Intern ‘gifted’
to AFC by Chiltern Youth Projects for the next year.
Rylie, from 1st Baptist, Dallas, will be at LunchBreak most weeks and sharing Morning Worship alongside us every other week.
So, our first encounter was basically a briefing meeting. Rylie needed to know when to arrive every Tuesday and what has to be done. With the full authority of my office (!!) I said: ‘Oh, just be available at noon’ – that’s a mere fifteen minutes before I normally breeze in most weeks.
I then asked the LunchBreak organisers to join us and fill in the gaps I might have left out of her ‘job description’ – and that’s where the fun started and when the slight smiles and raised eyebrows began!
They told her to arrive at 9.30am because it usually takes a full two and a half hours to get the show on the road!
You know often us ministers have a habit of turning up when the work is basically three quarters done. The buffet has been prepared, the chairs and tables laid out, the service sheets printed, the choir rehearsed and the heating programmed.
In almost four years here I have never realised that LunchBreak basically takes all morning to get ready – and it is got ready fifty two weeks of the year – unless Christmas and New Year’s Day falls on a Tuesday!
I can only admire and applaud such ‘behind the scenes’ faithfulness and dedication and, of course, this scenario is replicated in so many areas of church life.
So as we enter the autumn and a new season of service I take my hat off to everyone in my own faith community who works away from the limelight. You are the unsung heroes of our church and we simply couldn’t do without you.
And next time I breeze in at 12.20pm on a Tuesday I promise to express my thanks to those who have been standing the other side of the counter since just after breakfast!
Best wishes,
Rylie, from 1st Baptist, Dallas, will be at LunchBreak most weeks and sharing Morning Worship alongside us every other week.
So, our first encounter was basically a briefing meeting. Rylie needed to know when to arrive every Tuesday and what has to be done. With the full authority of my office (!!) I said: ‘Oh, just be available at noon’ – that’s a mere fifteen minutes before I normally breeze in most weeks.
I then asked the LunchBreak organisers to join us and fill in the gaps I might have left out of her ‘job description’ – and that’s where the fun started and when the slight smiles and raised eyebrows began!
They told her to arrive at 9.30am because it usually takes a full two and a half hours to get the show on the road!
You know often us ministers have a habit of turning up when the work is basically three quarters done. The buffet has been prepared, the chairs and tables laid out, the service sheets printed, the choir rehearsed and the heating programmed.
In almost four years here I have never realised that LunchBreak basically takes all morning to get ready – and it is got ready fifty two weeks of the year – unless Christmas and New Year’s Day falls on a Tuesday!
I can only admire and applaud such ‘behind the scenes’ faithfulness and dedication and, of course, this scenario is replicated in so many areas of church life.
So as we enter the autumn and a new season of service I take my hat off to everyone in my own faith community who works away from the limelight. You are the unsung heroes of our church and we simply couldn’t do without you.
And next time I breeze in at 12.20pm on a Tuesday I promise to express my thanks to those who have been standing the other side of the counter since just after breakfast!
Best wishes,
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