- Okay, seriously...no idea where to start tonight, but here goes!
- Today was definitely one of the top 3 Sundays ever at BridgeWay.
- If I had to rank them, I'd go:
- Grand Opening Sunday - Winter '05
- Party in the Park - Fall '08
- Operation Egg Drop - Easter '08
- A HUGE shout out to every single volunteer that made Party in the Park such an amazing day!
- I believe that we had between 80-90 volunteers serving in some capacity to make today happen...no wonder it was so great.
- Mad props to Michael Dorsey who sat out with the pool and stage all night in the park to make sure no one vandalized our gear...that dude is an animal.
- Could we have had any better weather for today? They were calling for rain between 9am and 12pm, but we had clear skies all day and 81 degrees for a high...take that weather.com!
- I figured that it took about 800 man hours to pull off today's event...Matt and I were talking about why a lot more churches don't do events like this...very simply put...it's a lot of work...and unfortunately...most people don't like work.
- One of the two most powerful things that happened today was getting to baptize 37 people! It was awesome to get to speak directly to each of them and share with them a word from God and to baptize them as followers of Jesus Christ!
- I about lost it twice during baptisms...I don't usually lose it when I'm baptizing people, but today was crazy emotional.
- About the baptism...we used a swimming pool. We set it up the night before and the water temp was 50 degrees.
- Michael and Kevin hooked up a water heater and we were able to get it up to 72 degrees by service time...not really warm, but way better than 50 degrees.
- Love the song "Washed by the Water" that the band did today...Dave did an amazing job playing and singing it, and it was a great song to close out the service with.
- I wish I could share all of the awesome stories from today, but there are too many and I don't want to violate any confidences, but lets just say that we definitely changed the way several people think about church today! Love it!
- Exactly how many people is still up for debate, but we know we had at least 451 for the baptism service and between 500-550 for the afternoon party...nuts...just nuts!
- Huge thanks to Yancey and Anna Green and their friends for doing the temporary tattoos all day.
- Several people asked, we used Fun on the Run for the inflatables...if you ever need big inflatables for an event Dave is a first class guy to work with.
- Massive respect to Rose and her crew for all the work they did to get everyone fed today...we had enough food for 500 and still ran out...crazy day!
- I'm pretty sure that the Johnson's and Daniel's arms are wore out after running the Snow Cone Machine all day.
- Seriously tired...there are probably way more people I need to say thanks to, but I'm needing to veg for a bit and then go to bed...big week this week...I'm spending the week calling on people and praying for the first two hours of everyday...If you've got a prayer request be sure to e-mail me or leave a comment on here!
- Have a great night and can't wait to see you next Sunday at BridgeWay...we start a new series call Soul Cravings next week and I'll be speaking on Peace...you don't want to miss it!
- Yes I know I used a lot of exclamation points in this post...but it's my blog so I'll do what I want to...peace.
http://daleschaeffer.blogspot.com/2008/10/sunday-night-reflections.html?showComment=1223326260000#c6272592757332904617'> 15:51
Hi Pastor Dale..
You don't know me. My name is Scott Sidusky and I attend and volunteer at Donnie Miller's church. Donnie linked your blog in one of his posts a couple of months ago, I decided to check it out, and I added it to my feed. I really enjoy reading about the great things God is doing in and through your church. The "Party in the Park" thing sounded like it was the bomb! I pray that God continues to do awesome things through you guys!
Just wanted to share that with you. Have a blessed day, man!
Grace and Peace.... Scott
http://daleschaeffer.blogspot.com/2008/10/sunday-night-reflections.html?showComment=1223386800000#c1628743215204322532'> 08:40
Scott,
Thanks for the prayers! Donnie is an awesome guy and I really appreciate his friendship. I pray often for Trinity Family, and the ministry there in Gardner.
Blessings,
Dale