23 Apr “When the Best Laid Plans Change” by Pastor Jay Coleman
What do you do when ministry doesn’t turn out the way that you figured it would? I’m not talking about burnout, failure or any of the other issues that we read about in ministry magazines. What I’m referring to is when we have an outreach, event or big service planned out or invested in that the weather or other circumstances hinders.
This is exactly what our Serve Team faced Easter 2018 with our community outreach called The Great Egg Hunt. With saturating rains two days before the event we’ve hosted for 10 years, we faced a decision that was very difficult. Standing in front of our congregation, I asked the question, “What do you do when life hands you lemons?” Enthusiastically everyone shouted, “Make lemonade!” and then laughed when I said “No, you make lemon meringue pie because that is so much better!”
As I shared the news of our impending decision to cancel the event, everyone sat in complete silence as their excitement for The Great Egg Hunt was suddenly deflated. However, as I began to share our plan to still show the love of Christ to our community and get rid of 100,000 candy-filled eggs, the mood began to build once again.
We explained that instead of a community event we would now prepare 2,000 The Great Egg Hunt Home Kits complete with instructions, candy and an invite card for our Easter services. The positive energy was amazing as we worshipped the Lord together. We then worked to prepare for our renewed outreach.
Our Serve Team personally visited with approximately 2,000 families! As they handed them a home kit, the feeling of appreciation was tangible. Talk about turning lemons into lemon meringue pie (by the way someone made me a home-made pie, but that is another story for another time) on an event that our community loves.
It is wonderful to see that our Serve Team loved the outcome and the community enjoyed the outreach. As a great result, we had many families attend Easter services for the first time and hear about the redeeming power of Jesus Christ.