I am writing this ahead of time….with anticipation of showing appreciation.
For the past 4 or 5 years the staff (Diana, Ryan and I) have shown our appreciation for our volunteers of the past year by having a celebration in their honor. Our modus operandi has been to have a catered meal; an evening of fun and hilarity; I walk around during the meal telling each volunteer how much they are appreciated; give away door prizes; and just have a general evening of fun and relaxation. Our volunteers are honored.
So this year we have decided to mix things up a bit. No catered meal. No church building. The rest will stay the same. We decided to go to our local theater for our appreciation night. We will still have the door prizes and giveaways…with a twist. We will be showing a movie: The Incredibles. Why? Because we think our volunteers are incredible! The best on the planet! Instead of a catered meal we are providing every person a ticket for a free popcorn and soda. As I mentioned we will still have the door prizes and giveaways, but as they leave they will receive one more thing of appreciation. I can tell what it is since it is a surprise, but I’m not posting this until the night starts. It is a specially baked cookie of The Incredibles logo. Just one last thing to remember the evening by.
Every organization, especially every church, relies on volunteers to get things done. I guarantee the things which get done around here would not get done if it were not for our volunteers. It is so much bigger than any 3 people co0uld pull off. So, if you are reading this as part of OVCF, thanks for volunteering. If you are reading this from elsewhere, I thank you for volunteering in your church or organization.
How do you volunteer?
From Gail: There are churches, then there are Godly churches.
I believe everyone of our parishioners are truely greatful for our church. I have never seen anyone dress up and come to this church because it’s what people do on Sunday, something i call “churchianity”. I have been to many of those kinds of churches, they are cold and unfeeling. I had prayed for a church that i could be fed & where he could use me. I met someone at the YMCA several years ago & we became fast friends. Anytime we met to go anywhere she would say lets meet at my church & i would pick her up there. That church turned out be OVCF. Anne invited us to come several times, but i held off not wanting to fall into a dead church. Well 1 Sunday we went & i knew as soon as we walked in the door we were “home” where GOD wanted us to be. It doesn’t matter where you are on your journey,
we all “fit” together.
Thank You Bill Grandi for being our Shepherd, our glue & most importantly our teacher.
God Bless you & OVCF.
You humble me Gail. I am so blessed to be the pastor of OVCF and shepherd people like you and Jerry and the countless others. I have grown to love so many and feel like I have my “dream” job. Thanks for your kind words. And I’m grateful for the Y. 🙂
What a great thing you all are doing for your volunteers, Bill! Yes, they are all important to keeping a church alive and working for the Lord. Danny is currently the head of our church’s Board of Trustees. Quite a lot of work comes with that, as you can imagine, but he is so glad to serve in some capacity since we no longer do the praise service. I still need to find my niche, but it will come.
Blessings!
Great idea Bill. Your volunteers will appreciate you and the rest of staff.