October 23, 2007

Wanna hear something funny? I had a doctor's appointment today to go over some blood work I had done. Turns out that other than one thing, my blood is great. That one thing: I don't have enough cholesterol. Yup, my good cholesterol is too low and so I have in my pocket as I type a prescription for Salmon, Olive oil, and flax seed. Funny stuff.

Wow! That's all I can say. I was blown away by how smoothly Sunday went considering it was our first one. There are definitely a few things to tighten up and smooth out but we are in good shape moving forward. Speaking of things to iron out - if there were things you noticed that you think would be helpful feedback for us all to have that you didn't get a chance to mention on Sunday feel free to email me. Great job team! Let's do at again this week.

As we are getting clearer picture of what set up is going to look like each week I've put together a schedule for the morning to help you know when to arrive. This is a basic guideline for how the mornings will flow (unless and until we find a better system or you are otherwise directed by your ministry leader).

• 8:30 - Band and Set-up team arrives
• 8:30 - 9:00 - Set up sound system and instruments
• 9:00 - 9:50 - Band Practices
• 9:00 - 9:30 - Set up team delivers equipment to various ministry areas
• 9:30 - 10:00 - Ministry teams set up their areas*
• 10:00 - All remaining Launch team members arrive
• 10:00 - 10:10 - Prayer
• 10:10 - 10:30 - Shake hands, welcome people, make friends
• 10:30 - 11:45 - Worship Gathering
• 11:45 - 12:00 - Hang out and refreshment
• 12:00 - 12:30 - Tear Down - Ministry teams and set-up crew, (and anyone else)

You are welcome to show up any time after 8:30 but please don't be late. If you need clarification on this feel free to contact me. *i.e. Nursery workers set up nursery, refreshment staff set up welcome center, connection people put up signage, etc.) Some People You Should Know

Jennifer van Gennip is our Worship Gathering Administrator which means she puts all the different schedules together (10 with 37 positions) and makes them not conflict. You can download a copy of the Worship Gathering schedule. If you have a scheduling issue where your commitments in a given week conflict contact her. If you can't make given week and need someone to cover for you contact the person in charge of your ministry area not Jennifer. She will also be keeping our creative team on track with some cool ways to communicate the message each Sunday.

Andrew Pepper is our set-up team leader, he will be making sure your stuff makes it to your ministry areas by 9:30. If you can't find your supplies or have other set-up related questions he's your man. If you are serving on the set-up team he will be showing you the ropes.

Bryan Wiens doesn't have a title yet but I'll make one up someday. Basically Bryan is my number 2 on Sunday mornings. Oh oh - got it - First Mate! You can call him that and salute if you want, with any luck it will drive him up the wall and we will all get a good laugh out of it. He will be overseeing stuff, solving problems, giving assistance, and making decisions while I am in with the band. If there are questions or issues that arise on Sunday morning that need to be addressed by the leadership of the church Bryan is the go-to guy, especially when I am not available. He will be drifting around making sure things are going well and maybe giving the odd suggestion, you will want to take them; he is a pretty smart guy.

Compassionate Ministries - Isaiah 58

Operation Christmas Child - Get your shoebox and fill it to make a child in a developing country's Christmas filled with love. Bring along a friend as you shop and use this as an opportunity to introduce what God's doing within Deep Water. On Thursday, November 1 we're meeting at 7:30pm at Hillside (Edge Room) to pack the boxes as a group activity. Please email Bryan to let him know if you're planning to be there and how many friends you're bringing. There will be some snacks.

We'll be dedicating the boxes in the service on November 4, so make sure you have them to Bryan no later than that day.

November 4th is coming and I'm stoked. Let's all be inviting everyone we can. We should have the invites ready to go on Sunday so make sure to pick up yours. It would be great to have the entire team there that days so if you can at all help it be there to witness the birth of Deep Water. I would also ask that for that week only everyone arrive by 9:30 so that we can have a good time of prayer together and make sure any last minute ducks are in a row.

We are still working out the details here but please leave your afternoon open on Sunday Nov 4th for a celebration with the launch team. We are going to take some time to enjoy each others company, eat some food, celebrate this milestone, and thank God for all he has done. It's gonna be good. I'll send you full details as soon as I have them. Let's continue to pray our heart out for launch Sunday and for the lost people of Halifax we have been called to. May God see fit to use us to make disciples here in Halifax.

17 "O our God, hear your servant's prayer! Listen as I plead. For your own sake, Lord, smile again on your desolate sanctuary. 18 "O my God, lean down and listen to me. Open your eyes and see our despair. See how your city - the city that bears your name - lies in ruins. We make this plea, not because we deserve help, but because of your mercy. 19 "O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. O Lord, listen and act! For your own sake, do not delay, O my God, for your people and your city bear your name."

And now you're in the loop.

AJ

AJ Thomas
Lead Pastor - Deep Water Church