Let me start by saying I write none of this out of arrogance or a 'look-at-us' attitude... I just want to give glory to God and His Holy Spirit for their guidance and patience as we continue to live out our story as the Riverside church of Christ...
- Congregational greeting time - the Riverside family is warm and accepting, so we have a greeting time right smack dab in the middle of 'worship'... quite possibly the most empowering, congregation-changing nuance at Riverside.
- Family news - we don't apologize for the length of our family news (announcements)... they are 'sprinkled' throughout our assembly time. And I believe they are a part of our worship/fellowship experience.
- Kingdom Kids children's worship - simply awesome! We dismiss the children (only for the sermon portion of the adult worship) to the fellowship hall for a Bible lesson on their level... it is not a babysitting service, and it is not play time... it is a very well-prepared time of praise and Bible study - on a kid's level
- Small Groups - perhaps the most important reason for the growth we have been blessed with... and this season, our life groups took a slightly different direction. We are studying 'Outflow' in our Wednesday evening adult class (which serves, incidentally, as the foundation for our Sunday night life group discussion), and have asked each life group to adopt a mindset of serving others to bring them to Christ... each group has ongoing 'projects' which they sponsor and carry out.
- Budgetary focus - we resolved, 6 years ago, that at least 25% of EVERY dollar which is contributed to the Riverside 'coffers' will be used for benevolence and missions. period. And our 'cup' has overflowed ever since!
- oh, yeah, we don't have any full time staff... as we near the 300-on-Sunday-morning mark, that is more and more challenging... and we are continually exploring the possibilities...
These are but a few, and none of them seem earth-shattering to me... but as I travel and worship with other congregations, I am reminded of some of these things... so I wanted to share them... please feel free to list your ideas as you see fit...
Blessings!
2 comments:
Could you elaborate on this:
"a greeting time right smack dab in the middle of 'worship'"
I'm wondering how this is done. Have never seen anything like that.
We typically have a few announcements and words of greeting as we settle in the auditorium for worship... after sharing some family news, we sing a couple praise and worship songs, then have a time of greeting. We announce that the next few minutes are a great time to meet the new faces, invite folks to your life group that night, catch up on what's going on in each others' lives... then, after about 5-10 minutes, we begin singing another song... as we sing, people find their seats again... it is a small and simple thing, but I believe it has been very key to sharing a warm and friendly atmosphere...
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