The GBC Sandbox
Come play in the GBC Sandbox! Got a ministry idea? Thinking through ways to help reach a part of the 5 cities? Need some inspiration to move forward? If your idea fits in the Sandbox, it will should work at GBC!
The GBC Sandbox is a tool to help us think about how our different ministries fit within our mission, culture, guiding principles and central ministry focus. Our mission (at the top) has remained the same for many years, Our commitment to develop, empower and release healthy followers of Jesus has been taught often over the past few years, as we discussed the heart of Grace, people who worship, fellowship, witness and serve.
What is newer is the list of enduring, guiding principles on the right side, and the description of our desired ministry culture on the left. We feel that the principles on the right reflect some of the key biblical concepts that describe Grace Bible Church at its core. If you held GBC up against a dozen churches, most everyone would look at this list and say, "Yep, that's a real emphasis here, that's what we believe and who we are."
The staff and elders shaped the left side list to reflect our culture, how we do things here, and want to do them into the future. If the previous list anchors us to some key biblical priorities, this list pulls us forward to live out our ideals together as a community. These words describe the attitudes and character in action that we hope will be reflected in each ministry team and ministry leader.
And this is a leadership tool. Not everyone who attends GBC will wake up each morning saying, "Let's go play in the Sandbox." But we hope that leaders in GBC will regularly measure their activities, plans and ideas to see how well they fit in the Sandbox. We want to be able to say 'no' to more good things, in order to say 'yes' to more of the best things we could chose to do. The Sandbox is a leadership metaphor that can help us regular do that as individuals, and do that together with our teams.
Pastor Joe and Pastor Brian preached about many of our guiding principles this spring. As we prepare for a new year of ministry, let's work as a leadership community to say yes to the best, and affirm the work of others playing within the GBC Sandbox. Its one key way we are helping our multi-generation community work together to bring Christ to our world.
To read more about these principles and how they relate to our 2009-2011 strategic plan and goals for improving our multi-gen ministry, download here.
