Faith in Action Day, this Sunday!

Our first-ever Faith in Action Day is upon us! This Sunday, October 11, we will suspend our regular Bible study classes and worship service so we can participate in a variety of ministry opportunities in our community. Twelve different groups of WBC members and guests will be serving the Lord. Instead of going to church, we’re going to BE the church. Since this is the first time we’ve ever done anything like this, there are still a lot of unanswered questions. So allow me to give you some answers to questions I’ve been hearing lately.

Where should I go for my ministry project, and what time should I be there?

If the leader of your ministry team hasn’t contacted you yet, give them a call today. If you can’t get in touch with your ministry team leader, call the office. Each team will have its own schedule, so make sure you know where to be and when.

I haven't signed up for a ministry project. What can I do?

Most of our ministry projects are full at this time. You can check the website to see which ones still have space. Of course, you can show up at any of the sites to encourage and observe, but there won’t be much for you to do, and it’s probably too late for you to get a T-shirt (although some of you may not mind so much—see below). There is still plenty of room in our prayer meeting, however. We’ll be gathering in the sanctuary at 10:30 to pray for all of our ministry teams, our church, community and nation.

What if we have bad weather?

Right now, the forecast looks excellent: Highs in the mid-70s with only a slight chance of rain. Even if it rains a little, most of our ministry teams will still be able to function. My advice is that, unless we have the mother of all storms Sunday morning, we all show up and see what we can do.

Won't we miss a week's offering?

Yes, we will. Our church budget is an ambitious one, and it will hurt indeed to miss one week’s income. But last year after Hurricane Ike hit, we missed all of one week’s offerings, and most of a second week. Yet the Lord provided amply. We trust that our faithful tithing members will continue to give faithfully, and that we will have all that we need to do what God wants us to do.

Seriously, white T-shirts? What were you thinking?

I get this question from many of our ladies, though they’ve all been much more polite than the question above. I must plead ignorance in this case. White T-shirts were totally my call. I chose them because they were much cheaper. LuAnn Knoblauch, one of our own members, is supplying us these T-shirts at cost, and that is a tremendous blessing. They look great, but I have since learned that many ladies do not feel comfortable wearing white cotton. I’ve learned my lesson.

Do we have to wait until 12:30 to eat lunch?

I get this one mostly from the guys. The short answer is no, we won’t stop you from taking a lunch break at 11, if you need it. But I hope you will all come to our lunch at 12:30 in the gym, either way. We’ll serve until around 1:15, then we’ll have a chance to hear reports from every ministry team. You don’t want to miss that.

What else can I do?

Pray for this day. Pray for good weather and for a great turnout from our people (over 325 WBC members have signed up, which is fantastic!). Pray that God would prepare the hearts of the people we will minister to on Sunday. Pray that He would use our efforts to open doors and establish relationships that lead to new life. Pray that this event would change us as a congregation, making us more concerned about our neighbors, more missional and outreach-focused. Pray that we would know the best way to follow up on what happens this Sunday, that it would not simply be a one-shot event, but the start of something really big.