"the best day of the year (part three): the value in a Christmas party"
Sunday, December 30, 2007 Filed in: my life
so, after the early
Christmas and the hanging of my new light, Stacy and
i had one more thing to do on Thursday, December
13th. we had to attend the Leadership Christmas Party
at ROCKHARBOR
that night.
i don't think that either of us was especially looking forward to this. it seems like every time i'm invited to something that is supposed to be about appreciation at church, there is usually some sort of ulterior motive ("thank you so much for your help, but... we need more!" or something like that). either that or it just is boring and comes off feeling like someone is just fulfilling an obligation. this, of course, doesn't actually end up making you feel very appreciated or valued. anyway, it turns out, this was not the case that night.
i should have known better. i mean, if i could say one thing about ROCKHARBOR, it would be that they make sure that their people know that they are valued. the importance of genuinely valuing people and making sure that they know it is something we talk about a great deal in my Org. Leadership program. it's also something that, in so many areas of my life, i haven't experienced in the past. so, for me, this is a hugely important.
anyway, even as i walk onto the patio that night i can tell that a lot of effort went into this party.
the patio and
entry area have been decorated really well and there
are tables set up in the entry with TONS of great
food on them. before the doors to The Centre (the
worship center) open, tons of people are standing
around, talking and eating Christmas foods and
drinks. it was fun to see everyone, but i was still a
bit skeptical of the evening.
then we went inside. they had completely redecorated the entire Centre for this one night. backdrop, lighting, decorations... everything was different than it had been the day before.
(and different
than it would be the day after. the staff all came
early to set it up and stayed late to put it back the
way it was.) all the seats had been removed and
nicely decorated tables with chairs replaced them. a
dance floor was in the middle of the room. yes... a
dance floor at church. this, of course, piqued my
curiosity. at this point, about 500 people made their
ways in and sat down at the tables.
then the fun began. our Teaching Pastor, Mike Erre took the stage as Santa Clause and got the evening going. i don't think i've laughed so hard in a long time. first, Kit and Tommy led the whole place in a "gameshow" called "So You Think You Can Carol." five of us were chosen to go up on stage and finish the lyrics to Christmas carols. i lost. (i said it was "join the ancient yule tide carol" and it's freakin' "TROLL the ancient yule tide carol." honestly... who trolls?) after that (and this is where i laughed the hardest) Mike (Santa) got up on stage and had the entire room break into groups by their months of birth. then each group was assigned a "day" (as in "The 12 Days of Christmas") and had to come up with an action to along with their day.
then he led the
whole group in the song. there's no way i can do
justice to the hilariousness of how this turned out,
but it was really, really, really funny.
then Todd (our Lead Pastor) took the stage to talk about why we were here and how ROCKHARBOR owed so much to its leaders and how we were the real ministers of the church. he thanked us for all that we've done and are continuing to do. and then he invited the staff members to come up to the mic if they wanted to so that they could specifically point out volunteers who had gone above and beyond. over the next 1/2 hour or so, staff member after staff member came up to the mic and sang the praises of specific volunteer leaders or groups of leaders who had made an impact. it was incredible. even people who weren't specifically mentioned got it. we really are valued. what we do is noticed and it is important and it isn't taken for granted. it was pretty amazing and you could see it on the faces of the people sitting around. then, Michelle Anthony, who is literally over 200+ volunteers, got up to speak and she talked about me! this isn't even the person i work for. this is the person who the people i work for work for. that someone at that level would take notice of what a volunteer leader was doing is pretty impressive. (at this point, i wasn't surprised that that Michelle knew me. she had sought me out months before to get to know me because she had noticed what i was doing and had already approached me about a job. but for her to get up and talk about me in front of 500 people was unnecessarily nice.)
anyway, after everyone felt properly valued and thanked, Todd brought the program to an end with some Christmas carols. and then... the real party began. they had hired a DJ. the music started and everyone took to the dance floor. the dance floor located right in the middle of our worship center. it was pretty awesome. (as the pictures of Mike (Santa) dancing with his wife clearly show!)
we danced for
about an hour. it was pretty amazing. (you don't see
that at a church very often!)
now, as much of a fun party as it was, i don't tell this story because of that. i tell it because it was the first time in my experience that a corporate event of any kind (church, work, school... whatever) actually succeeded in appreciating people the way they should be appreciated without any ulterior motives or agendas. because of that, people want to continue to be apart of what's going on there. they want to serve and do it excitedly. people felt like they were a valued part of a team. actually, no. it was more than that. they knew that they were a valued part of a team.
of course, as an extension of this, the process continued the next week when Michelle offered me a job partnering with her in the running of Family Ministries. this, of course, makes me really excited to join the RH staff team and bring what i have to make a difference there.
like i said, ROCKHARBOR gets what so many other organizations don't. they take the time to make sure their staff and volunteer leaders don't just feel like they're valued, but actually know that they are. this makes us want to work even harder for the good of the whole. and it really does work just like that.
well, that was the end of the best day of the year for me. from Stacy's beachcruiser to Segway tours to hanging lights and dancing with Santa, it was a pretty freakin' good day.
anyway, happy new year! i pray that you feel valued and important in 2008.
- barnes
i don't think that either of us was especially looking forward to this. it seems like every time i'm invited to something that is supposed to be about appreciation at church, there is usually some sort of ulterior motive ("thank you so much for your help, but... we need more!" or something like that). either that or it just is boring and comes off feeling like someone is just fulfilling an obligation. this, of course, doesn't actually end up making you feel very appreciated or valued. anyway, it turns out, this was not the case that night.
i should have known better. i mean, if i could say one thing about ROCKHARBOR, it would be that they make sure that their people know that they are valued. the importance of genuinely valuing people and making sure that they know it is something we talk about a great deal in my Org. Leadership program. it's also something that, in so many areas of my life, i haven't experienced in the past. so, for me, this is a hugely important.
anyway, even as i walk onto the patio that night i can tell that a lot of effort went into this party.
then we went inside. they had completely redecorated the entire Centre for this one night. backdrop, lighting, decorations... everything was different than it had been the day before.
then the fun began. our Teaching Pastor, Mike Erre took the stage as Santa Clause and got the evening going. i don't think i've laughed so hard in a long time. first, Kit and Tommy led the whole place in a "gameshow" called "So You Think You Can Carol." five of us were chosen to go up on stage and finish the lyrics to Christmas carols. i lost. (i said it was "join the ancient yule tide carol" and it's freakin' "TROLL the ancient yule tide carol." honestly... who trolls?) after that (and this is where i laughed the hardest) Mike (Santa) got up on stage and had the entire room break into groups by their months of birth. then each group was assigned a "day" (as in "The 12 Days of Christmas") and had to come up with an action to along with their day.
then Todd (our Lead Pastor) took the stage to talk about why we were here and how ROCKHARBOR owed so much to its leaders and how we were the real ministers of the church. he thanked us for all that we've done and are continuing to do. and then he invited the staff members to come up to the mic if they wanted to so that they could specifically point out volunteers who had gone above and beyond. over the next 1/2 hour or so, staff member after staff member came up to the mic and sang the praises of specific volunteer leaders or groups of leaders who had made an impact. it was incredible. even people who weren't specifically mentioned got it. we really are valued. what we do is noticed and it is important and it isn't taken for granted. it was pretty amazing and you could see it on the faces of the people sitting around. then, Michelle Anthony, who is literally over 200+ volunteers, got up to speak and she talked about me! this isn't even the person i work for. this is the person who the people i work for work for. that someone at that level would take notice of what a volunteer leader was doing is pretty impressive. (at this point, i wasn't surprised that that Michelle knew me. she had sought me out months before to get to know me because she had noticed what i was doing and had already approached me about a job. but for her to get up and talk about me in front of 500 people was unnecessarily nice.)
anyway, after everyone felt properly valued and thanked, Todd brought the program to an end with some Christmas carols. and then... the real party began. they had hired a DJ. the music started and everyone took to the dance floor. the dance floor located right in the middle of our worship center. it was pretty awesome. (as the pictures of Mike (Santa) dancing with his wife clearly show!)
now, as much of a fun party as it was, i don't tell this story because of that. i tell it because it was the first time in my experience that a corporate event of any kind (church, work, school... whatever) actually succeeded in appreciating people the way they should be appreciated without any ulterior motives or agendas. because of that, people want to continue to be apart of what's going on there. they want to serve and do it excitedly. people felt like they were a valued part of a team. actually, no. it was more than that. they knew that they were a valued part of a team.
of course, as an extension of this, the process continued the next week when Michelle offered me a job partnering with her in the running of Family Ministries. this, of course, makes me really excited to join the RH staff team and bring what i have to make a difference there.
like i said, ROCKHARBOR gets what so many other organizations don't. they take the time to make sure their staff and volunteer leaders don't just feel like they're valued, but actually know that they are. this makes us want to work even harder for the good of the whole. and it really does work just like that.
well, that was the end of the best day of the year for me. from Stacy's beachcruiser to Segway tours to hanging lights and dancing with Santa, it was a pretty freakin' good day.
anyway, happy new year! i pray that you feel valued and important in 2008.
- barnes