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A Little Story About a Volunteer!
Thought I would share a little story about a volunteer in my ministry named Dori. Dori is in her mid 50’s, married and has three children. She worked for over 20 years at a local brick manufacturer and was let go last year because of Covid. Actually, she lost her job because the government actually paid the brick manufacturer’s hourly workers more to stay at home and be unemployed. The problem with that is that Dori was in administrator for those workers and if she has no workers to oversee, then she was left without a job. Doesn’t seem right to me but to some in DC, that kind of…
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Sudden Change AND The Aftermath
Much has been written about Hurricane Harvey that made landfall near Corpus Christi, Texas on Friday evening August 25. The devastation it caused and the suddenness in which it arrived with only a few days warning brought abrupt change. People in the predicted landfall areas were left anticipating, wondering if it would impact them, their home, their pets and their friends. Even the preparedness and investment of special hurricane windows and exact sized plywood to cover and protect all the openings in the house of our friend in Port Aransas did not abate the fierce wind that blew water right on past those carefully planned barriers. Water so basic to…
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Responding to the South Carolina Flood
The rains from Hurricane Joaquin wreaked catastrophic damage on South Carolina and its residents earlier this week. 771 trillion cubic inches of water have fallen within its borders. That translates to 12 trillion liters, or 21 trillion 20-ounce bottles such as the ones people drink from every day. That’s an epic amount of water to fall in about three days over just 32,000 square miles. The description “of biblical proportions” has been used by media to help viewers and readers get a sense of the scope of this disaster. But even as the floodwaters recede, the heartbreak continues and the danger increases. Homes destroyed, people killed, and dams on the…
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To Pay or Not to Pay, That is the Question
Whether or not to pay nursery workers to work on Sunday mornings is a minor controversy in children’s ministry. Many children’s ministries have volunteers working on Sunday mornings (and many of them struggle with having consistent volunteers). I have worked as both a paid nursery worker and an unpaid volunteer, so I believe I have some perspective from both ends. I’ll briefly review the pros and cons to each approach. The Church Nursery is Staffed by Volunteers Pros One less expense for the church, many are struggling. Gives believers in a local congregation an opportunity to serve in ministry Parents are more likely to know the workers, especially in a…
