SUMMARY: As we move into summer, we’re working toward clearer and kinder serving rhythms together. Please take a few minutes this week to update your blockout dates and summer availability in Church Center. This is a tool that supports our very human mutual ministry as the local church.
Hello Vine!
We are about to turn a particularly rich corner in the liturgical calendar: Ascension, Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, and then the long green stretch of Ordinary Time (see the button below). Together, these weeks tell the story of Christ handing his mission to his people, the Spirit empowering them to carry it, and the Church learning to live together in the life of God.
This is part of what we mean when we talk about leitourgía—the Greek word for "liturgy," which means the work of the people.
Not the work of the clergy.
Not the work of the staff.
The work of all the people. Together.
This is also what we mean at The Vine when I’ve talked recently about mutual ministry. Yes, we invest in training and equipping particular leaders, but Paul's letter to the Ephesians reminds us that leaders exist to “equip the saints for the work of ministry.”(Ephesians 4.11-12) The church does the work of the church together.
You’ve probably heard the statistic that in many churches: 20% of people do 80% of the work. The result is often a faithful few quietly burning out while others never discover the joy of adding their gifts and personality to the work of the people. The Vine is an engaged church, and we're committed to remaining and growing in that. When everyone carries a little (or even a little more), no one has to carry too much. The sharing of this mutual ministry becomes a healthy marker to a burning out and/or apathetic world.
Part of that shared work is simply creating clearer and kinder rhythms together. Over the past couple of years, we’ve gradually been refining how we use Church Center (also called "Planning Center" behind the scenes) to help make serving more sustainable, predictable, and flexible for volunteers and coordinators alike.
So as we move into summer, we’ve “opened” every week through August for viewing, blocking out, or signing up. This will be our quarterly rhythm in the future. If you’re already serving on a team, you can support our kinder and clearer rhythms in these ways:
This is only a tool, but a pretty good one – and it practically supports our very human engagement in this mutual ministry, including welcoming new folks into the fold. Thank you for your quiet faithfulness on your team(s), which matters more than you probably realize.
If you’re not a part of a team, there’s a place for you here (see serving page below). If you are part of this church, you are already part of this leitourgía — this shared work of worship, hospitality, prayer, care, and ministry together.
This is how we do church at The Vine, and we’re glad you’re here.
God’s peace,
Michael+
