.Real.Greg.Lee.

Do you love staff meetings at your job?  Mostly I hear people complain about them. (This bingo game is hilarious for anyone who has had brutal corporate staff meetings.)

We had our monthly all-staff meeting today.

Yes, we have to cover some of the same mundane stuff any team does. On Today’s agenda were watching our postage costs, limiting copier use on Thursdays, cuts we made in the 2011 budget, and a reminder about the staff Christmas party – which actually comes after the first of the year when we all can breathe again!  Those things aren’t exciting, but as I tell our team it is important to “Respect the systems” that help us function well together.

And most of it isn’t mundane. We celebrate birthdays (this month…Kay and Diane!).  We worship (thanks for leading well today Nash!).  We talk about not burning out volunteers who give and give and give (Jeff, Charlie, Gail, Beth, and Larry came up in our conversation today).

The best part? We catch each other up on stuff we missed over the last month.   Today we heard about:

1.  Children’s Ministry had a an outreach event to make gingerbread houses Friday evening.  We had 100 RSVP’s and 180 showed up. (Suncrest people have a long history of a disease that apparently doesn’t allow them to RSVP!) 🙂  Our team loved every minute of it!

2.  Our first Thanksgiving Dinner was marked with INCREDIBLE generosity and an out-pouring of help.  We had so much stuff that one of the volunteers decided she would just take some meals into the city to share with some who are homeless and gather under a bridge she knows.  Amazing.  And, we are bouncing around the idea of doing it in Hobart next year instead of St. John.  Perhaps we could meet an even deeper need there with this building that has been given to us.  The best part was that this was entirely volunteer-led (Thanks Marlena!).

3.  The Walkerton Campus is only a couple of months old, but about 800 people came through a Community Christmas Walk and our campus there got to host the stop at the Library with cookies, a Santa visit, and giving away pictures.  I love it when our campuses integrate themselves into the life of the community.

4.  I found out that “Morning Grace” women’s groups adopted single moms/their kids at Suncrest for Christmas.  And they poured their heart into it, including at least one group who hosted a party in one of their homes for one of the families.

5.  And, of course, we stopped to thank God for what happened Sunday (See yesterday’s post).

If your staff meeting isn’t as fun as mine…change it!  I know you might not be in charge, but you could probably find a story that let’s the team celebrate why you do what you do!  You’ll be amazed at the energy (and enjoyment) it brings to a room.

~ by Greg Lee on December 7, 2010.

Posted in Suncrest