Front the Front Line...

Bob Livingston fom North Channel CSA

Bob Livingston's house is in The Woodlands, as is the congregation he attends. But he works for Kirby Corporation in an office building located in the N. Channel area. Members of the "church at Kirby Corporation" made a commitment to serve those in need through the Whole & Healthy Children initiative in the community, N. Channel, where they spend the greatest part of their waking hours. Their decision energized the N. Channel CSA Team, which goes by the name of "ROC" - "Renewing Our Community" - to step out in faith and commit to the adoption of a local elementary school before the CSA Team was convinced they had the needed resources "in hand" to fulfill the 4 M's commitment.

Bob Livingston is now the Mentor Coordinator on that N. Channel CSA Team. He's not perfect, but here's some things I see him do. He communicates with the community liaison (and, thus, the principal) at Cloverleaf Elem School at least every other week. He writes to the Mentors in N. Channel and shares with them what he hears from the school, and he sends copies to the rest of the N. Channel CSA Team members and to the Mission Houston staff. His emails report the school staff's applause of the Mentors, any concerns the staff may have, and any needs the staff may express. Bob also passes on any mentoring tips he hears about, and he uses both email and phone calls to inform and enlist the mentors to take the Transformational Mentor Training (TMT) continuing ed modules provided by Mission Houston. And Bob sends reports in writing and brings them in person to monthly CSA Team meetings.

What can we glean from Bob and N. Channel that provides some "best practices" for CSA Teams? I offer three, though you may see more.

1. Expand your understanding of the Body of Christ in the CSA. Don't limit yourself to having Team members and volunteers only from among those who attend a congregation whose facilities are in your CSA. And don't limit those who live in your CSA who want to serve to doing so only within the geographical boundaries of your CSA. The potential labor pool from the Body of Christ in each CSA includes all those who live or work in the CSA and who feel called to work and pray in unity with others in that CSA.

2. Communicate regularly to all those with a "need to know." This includes regular written and spoken communications among yourselves as the leadership Team. It includes formal reports and informal communications that allow everyone to have a sense of progress ... to celebrate accomplishments, and to pray about and offer input to overcome obstacles. Passing on positive comments puts needed deposits in the spiritual and emotional bank accounts of volunteers - including you CSA Team members. Passing on information and requests that reflect the larger picture of the overall goals and objectives of the CSA or of a school calls us to prayer and prevents us from thinking the activity we're most passionate about or primarily responsible for is "the silver bullet" that alone brings transformation. And regular progress reports are tools to keep us motivated as well as accountable to one another.

3. Establish a calendar and habit of monthly Team meetings. Remind each other what we're after that calls forth our best efforts: the extending of God's influence in every person and every part of the community and city. Send progress reports about the items each of you are the point person for (e.g., mobilizing prayer, scheduling school makeover work days, etc.) before meetings and tell the other Team members where you could use their counsel. In the meetings, verbally recommit as a group to ownership in seeing all of your CSA goals reached. And make time to pray - with and for one another, and for the transforming of the CSA and city.

Try these on, and see if your sense of encouragement, your affection for one another, your resolve to keep going and the performance of your Team and volunteers doesn't improve.

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