What's Going On @RBCC?

People frequently ask me what is going on at church.  It's a great question and a BIG one too.  Here's a few things that are currently underway.

WEB SITE OVERHAUL: Our current website was not designed for a multi-site church and we've had some reliability issues.  So we're in a process to upgrade, overhaul, and redesign our site.  Expect it to be more user-friendly, cover all 3 campuses, and look great!

JOEL TEAM II: 3 years ago a team of staff members, Elders, and church members developed a strategic plan identifying facility needs, ministry opportunities, and staffing needs.  This team's work laid the foundation for our multi-site strategy, new facilities in Dalton, and several critical staffing positions.  Recently, the Elders commissioned a second Joel Team (from Joel 2:28) to look at our staffing & structure, ministries, and overall operations & leadership.  This team's work will be critical in laying the foundation for our future.  One thing I have learned is that "what got you here (one place) won't get you there (the next place)." We have to keep evaluating, keep learning, and keep working to be the church God wants us to be.  This team's work ensures we are thinking and moving in the right direction.  Their work kicked off this past week.

MISSIONS: Last year our Elders approved a plan to make our church more "missional".  Part of this plan is to triple our missions budget over the next 3-4 years.  A second part is to begin partnering overseas for mission work.  Our first team heads to Haiti in April to look for ways we can partner and do Kingdom work in that nation.  We hope this leads to a long term relationships in that country.  Additionally, we will be working with Living Water International to build wells in areas where access to clean drinking water is limited.  We hope to take a trip with them in 2011 to build a well.

PROCEDURES & CHECKLISTS: We discovered a few weeks ago that many of our procedures were out-of-date and ineffective for where our church is.  Our staff is working to revise and upgrade many of the checklists, procedures, and guidelines for how we operate our church and ministries.  For example, getting ready for a worship service is an extensive process that involves everything from children's safety to having charged batteries in microphones to signs and campus security.  One Sunday after numerous oversights we had each department develop a checklist to ensure that everything that needed to happen actually happened to ensure our services were executed properly.  This simple but long checklist keeps us on our toes, eliminates people "assuming" things have been done, and brings level of consistency to how we get things done.  {An excellent book called The Checklist Manifesto describes how check-list are simple but crucial to enhancing the quality of work while eliminating "preventable" mistakes ... great read for managers and leaders!!}

There are a lot more things "going on" but those are some of the "biggies" that I think will make us a healthier church that is more prepared for what God has planned!