Posted By allen on March 2, 2010

Several years ago I had the privilege of attending the pastor’s school at First Assembly of God in Phoenix, Arizona. It was an inspiring experience that I will remember for many more years.

First Assembly in Phoenix is a BIG church with an equally big campus. The church is known for having a large number of outreach programs and many special events. The pastor’s school was a three day (if I remember correctly) event held at the church where thousands of pastors and lay leaders met for inspiration and training. During these few short days, there were numerous classes that showed the attendees how many of the outreaches were done.

All the Phoenix First outreaches and events are produced on a “Hollywood level”. Everything from the Sunday services to multiday events are planned in great detail and carried out with great precision by very talented people. In talking with several of the members of that church that worked with their events, I was told that NOTHING was just thrown together.

As I was putting some thought into an upcoming outreach for our small church (about 25 people), a statement made several times during the pastor’s school came to mind – “Every outreach and service is a MAJOR EVENT”. When I shared this thought Sunday morning with the person putting together the bulletin for that morning, he included the quote in the bulletin and added “prepare accordingly”.

How often do we say “it is just a Sunday service” or “just a small gathering”? I definitely do not have the money or manpower to do events like First AG in Phoenix does, but I can use the resources that I do have to make each event a major event.

We should give nothing less than the best when we are telling people about Jesus!

Note: I checked the website for Phoenix First (http://www.phoenixfirst.org/ ), but could not find any information on the pastor’s school. If they still have it, I strongly encourage churches to send their pastors and ministry leaders. It may change the way they do their ministry.

Categories: General
Tags: excellence, outreach