Do one thing well

When I was a ministerial student, I was placed for a summer pastorate at a Grace Baptist Church in the village of Harrold, Bedfordshire. The congregation at that time consisted of nine adults.

The members of the congregation wanted to reach out to their community. They looked at what was planned during the summer and identified a gap – there was nothing for the children to do.

The congregation assessed their abilities in terms of time and talent. They concluded that if everyone pitched in they could organise a children’s holiday club for the village. The theme was chosen: “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe”.

Everyone did pitch in and, with the help of a very creative woman (who had been hiding her light a little!) and a very young and inexperienced student pastor, the event was meticulously planned and well executed.

On the first day around 50 children appeared and the event went well. Everybody ended the day tired but encouraged. On day two, the number doubled - as it did on day three.

By the end of the week there were well over 200 children involved in the programme, and still only 10 adults running it (with a little parental help)! Children came from six of the surrounding villages! (This was some 25 years ago - health and safety would preclude such ratios these days.)

On the final night there was a party for the children, and on the following Sunday a service for the parents. The church was packed for the first time in many years, and as a consequence, a new children’s work started with some 30 regular attendees.

It would have been so easy for that little village church to feel defeated and settle for decline. But they chose to do something different. They recognised that with their energy levels and their skill-set, they could run a children’s work for a week. They made sure they did it the best way they knew.

If someone had told them to plan for 200+ attending, they would have paled at the prospect. In the event they rose to the challenge and had a real impact on their community.

We can think that unless we have the resources to do everything a church ‘should’ do, we can do nothing. We can also believe that once something has started, it can’t be stopped. This church closed everything else down, apart from the Sunday service, in order to focus all its resources on one thing.

They found that it was far better to pick one new thing and do it with as much excellence as they could, than a whole litany of things and do them poorly.

Last Updated 30 November 2010