Again . . . another series of random reflections on yesterday at Connexus. What was your reflection? How was your day?
- Sunday started Saturday night as I started to field calls from a handful of our incredible teams members. People wondering about the snow the next day and if we were going to be hosting services. One of the fun calls with a Dave from Muskoka – he was coming back from somewhere south of Barrie and got stuck in a hotel. He was slotted to play bass on Sunday morning in Orillia and wanted to make sure he got there! Way to go Dave!
- The morning stared somewhere around 4 am with calls with Brian and our drive team. The roads where open and seemed pretty clear so we were go for the morning and where going to host church. I had a little nap but then got a call from Brian. As they arrived at the self storage lot it wasn't plowed yet and was passable for our truck team. He made some calls and the snow plow finally showed up. Would you believe it – the snow plow got stuck! Brian continued to work with the teams and got all the trailers to the theater for the Eteam to start setting up the service!
- I have a Sunday morning routine of dropping off material at both of our locations. I arrive at our Orillia campus shortly after 6 am. The parking lot was almost empty. Just a snow plow, the theatre managers car, and Rob Meeder. Not a great sign – usually our trailers are here at this point and some of our Eteam are pulling in. I helped Rob shovel some of the entrances. I am so thankful for Rob and Rose – they are real backbones to Connexus. They host for us in Orillia. Provide great leadership within our Groups Ministry. And were some of the first people to invite Christine and I over to their place when we first arrived. Our church is a better place because of the Meeders.
- I eventually make it down to Barrie. We were behind the eight ball on set up. The perfect storm of March Break, time change and crazy weather meant our ETeam numbers were down a little. All I have to say is WOW! Some sort crazy miracle happened. We were ready to go at 8:30! We delayed a little bit to see if a few more people would come in. We hosted the service. Great message from Andy. I'm lovin' this series.
- Andy and Mike Walker led us in a really great acoustic set. The other half of the band couldn't make it – due to the snow. If you missed the version of U2's "Yahweh" that they did. . . you missed something pretty special!
- It won't be a shock that our attendance numbers were way down. (And by "way" . . . I mean "really really low".) Our friends from Global were with us again shooting for their documentary. I felt bad for them that the people they were hopeing to interview got snowed in and couldn't make it out! They ended up going to see them in the afternoon and got some good stuff of them accessing our content online – so it worked out in the end. Always a pleasure to work with members of the media – I've always been struck by the insight and thoughtfulness of producer-types I've run into over the years. Karen is no exception – she has a good handle on the topic she is covering for this documentary.
- Finished the morning up . . . we had a few new people help us with tear down – thanks! It ended up being an incredibly sunny day – it's always fun coming out of a theatre after hours in the low light into the sunshine!
- As I drove home yesterday I was thankful for the many people who are making Connexus a reality. I also was a little bit concerned about the financial implications of such a low Sunday. The vast majority of our expenses at Connexus are fixed (staff, rent, etc.) and don't scale down when we have low attendance day like yesterday. But our offering does scale down on day like that. God has been very good to us in the short life of our church on the financial side – so another chance for us to be in active prayer and to manage the resources that people have so generously given!
Thanks for letting me dump some thoughts here. . . If you were at one of campuses yesterday – what was your reflection? If you were unable to make – do you have a great snow story?
Rich Birch
[email protected]
Executive Director of Operations
Connexus Community Church
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