ritchiemiller.org

This week I am profiling four new children in the Indawo Yethemba Children’s village in South Africa. If you were at one of the services at Avalon Church McDonough Campus on Sunday, you know that Isaiah Porter is leaving in a couple of weeks to live and work at the village for a year. We are so excited for Isaiah and for Bob and Joanna Graham, directors of Indawo Yethemba.

This is Philasande, whose mother is deceased and father is mentally ill. He just came to the children’s village last week. He now has the hope of an education, food in his tummy, and, most importantly, hearing about Jesus Christ.

Here is a picture of my Great Grandpa Will Miller, my Grandpa Sanford Miller, my Dad Roger Miller, and yours truly when I was about four or five years old.

Today I am hosting a few dozen pastors at Avalon Church McDonough Campus. This is a part of our Pastors Coaching Network that is through Avalon HOPE. We are able to coach church planters and pastors on leadership, church growth, best practices, breaking growth barriers, and a host of other growth issues. I am so thankful for the men who poured into my life and I am grateful to be able to give back to others as well. Please pray for the men and women who are attending today. Pray that God blesses them, grows them, challenges them, and encourages them for the task He has assigned them.

Ritchie

For those of you who do not like your job, it could be worse. First of all, you could be jobless, which would be bad. Second of all, you could have a really crappy job. This past February Kim and I were in South Africa and we saw a dung beetle working his tiny little legs off. He was scrounging around in a huge pile of elephant poop. He formed a ball about five times the size of his body and was pushing it across the road. Not only was he trying to avoid getting squashed, his job required that he be over his head in crap!

So if you were feeling a little down about your job, cheer up! It could be worse.

Ritchie

Last Tuesday night we had our first prayer service at Avalon Church South Campus. We had a tremendous turnout and I thought that the evening was powerful and helpful. I was encouraged watching everyone stand around and talk and hang out after the service.

I hope you can come tonight. Here is the plan: we will have several worship songs led by Dusty Beach, I will teach an in-depth Bible principle and cast vision for what Avalon South is all about, and we will pray together. We will have corporate prayer, prayer in small groups, and we will pray for one another. It will be fun and I really believe you will be blessed by being there. The entire service will go from 7:00 – 8:00 PM. Childcare is available.

We will have directions on the church website soon. Here are directions you can follow until we get them up on our website.

From the North
Take Exit #212, Locust Grove
Turn left onto Bill Gardner Parkway and go approximately 1.5 miles
Turn Right onto GA HWY 42 South and go through Locust Grove
Go approximately 4 miles and turn right onto Canup Road (Look for Eagle Storage)
Go 1.5 miles to the sign that reads Eagle’s Brooke Church on the Right

From I-75 South
Take Exit #205, Griffin/Jackson, GA HWY 16
Turn Right onto GA HWY 16 toward Jackson
Travel approximately 3 miles and turn left on Dean Patrick Road
Go approximately 2 miles to the sign that reads Eagle’s Brooke Church on the Left

See you tonight.

Ritchie

I often get asked, “What do you do?” Sometimes I even get asked if I have a real job. It is not uncommon for people to think that pastors and church staff sit around strumming a guitar, sipping a latte, praying, and thinking spiritual thoughts all day. Think of running a church like running a business (like where you work), running an educational institution (we teach birth through adults every week), managing a volunteer humanitarian organization (like the Red Cross), and a running a counseling center all in one. Our staff works really hard and I hope you will pray for them. Here are just a few things that pastors and staff have to do every week.

• Pray several hours for the messages, the members, the sick, and the lost
• Sermon prep and lesson prep which includes reading the Bible, Internet research, reading Bible dictionaries, commentaries, listening to sermons, reading topical books, reading systematic theology, reading apologetics, writing, re-writing, etc.
• Creative Team meetings
• Staff meetings
• Meeting with ministry leadership teams
• Meeting with building teams
• Meeting with finance teams
• Meeting with youth ministry teams
• Meeting with preschool teams, parking teams, usher teams, greeter teams, teachers, small groups, band and worship teams, etc.
• Plan for this weekly services
• Practice the music for the services
• Plan for the Tech Team
• Plan the video, visuals, musical backgrounds, the click tracks, set up the sound systems, the lighting systems, the words for the screens, etc.
• Do long term planning for sermon series
• Do long term planning for outreach
• Constantly recruit volunteers for ushers, parkers, greeters, nursery, preschool, Kids Town, youth ministry, praise team, praise band, tech team, missions teams, cleaning ministry, office volunteers, small groups, offering teams, information team, hospitality team, set-up teams, outside set-up and clean-up, etc.
• Small group training
• Recruit small group leaders
• Manage small groups
• Lesson planning for small groups
• Recruit people for HOPE, plan HOPE events, raise and manage money, set up advertising, train volunteers, plan charity golf tournaments, manage mission trips, develop a business plan for connecting with local businesses, plan monthly HOPE Street Team events, manage pastors coaching events, develop a church planting strategy, etc.
• Manage and contact care team volunteers for funerals, hospital visits, etc.
• Call first time guests
• Contact second time guests
• Write letters to entire church, preschool, children, youth, volunteers, small groups, thank you letters, etc.
• Plan advertising
• Work on area-wide mail-outs
• Budget planning for each ministry
• Pay bills weekly, prepare financial reports, manage funds, deal with banks, set up financial counseling, and deal with CPAs for financial planning and management
• Budget projections, comparisons, and forecasting
• Offering analysis
• Enter contributions for each person
• Prepare financial statements
• Plan weekly youth services
• Prepare music, games, activities, etc. for youth services
• Plan for youth activities
• Recruit and train youth leadership
• Hospital visitation for sick church members
• Funerals
• Weddings
• Marriage counseling
• Financial counseling
• Pre-marital counseling
• Family counseling
• Baptism planning
• Contacting those who need to be baptized
• Follow-up with those who receive Christ
• Connecting new members
• Assimilation
• Prepare all church communications including websites, in-service communications, blogs, e-mails, and tech support for computer issues
• Preparing sermon CDs and podcasts
• Managing the church website
• Answering the phone
• Responding to complaints
• Data entry for new members, visitors, baptisms, salvations, and other decisions
• Purchasing for church events
• Managing purchase orders and requests
• Running a business office
• Managing the church office
• Planning, preparing, and managing the church calendar including all major church-wide events, as well as weddings, funerals, youth events, children’s events, small groups, band practices, single’s events, picnics, cookouts, etc.
• Facilities management
• Cleaning facilities
• Repairing facilities, painting, carpet cleaning, set repair, replacing lights, etc.
• Background checks for nursery, preschool, and children’s workers
• Buying and choosing curriculum for preschool and children’s ministry
• Contacting volunteers through phone calls, scheduling, and letters for preschool, Kids Town, Youth, Parking, Ushers, Greeters, Hospitality, band, praise team, tech team, etc. each week
• Leadership development
• Planning for the direction of the ministry, outreach, discipleship, fellowship, and ministry
• Work on Guest Services
• Working on message planning and sermon series for an entire calendar year
• Work on worship services
• Plan for major events like Easter and Christmas
• Puppet ministry
• Children’s music programming and practices
• Children’s ministry planning
• Missions trips planning
• Set designs for new message series
• Planning for visual illustrations for messages
• Recruiting new members
• Writing, planning and teaching Dinner With The Pastor and church membership
• Printing
• Designing backgrounds, bulletins, e-news, letters, etc.
• Setting up chairs and tables for the different services and small groups
• Computer work
• Vision casting
• Problem solving
• Writing books
• Writing blogs

I could go on but you get the point. We have figured it up and it takes around 1500 volunteer hours to pull off a service at Avalon Church. That is why it is so important that you volunteer!

So the next time someone asks you, “what does a pastor do,” now you will know.

What is Avalon South Campus?

In the fall of 2008, we started sharing the vision that God had given to us about becoming a multi-site church. We knew that this was God’s plan for us, we just didn’t know exactly when or where. We’ve always had a passion for the Butts County area and knew that we would eventually pursue ministry in that area. Early this year, God began to open doors for us to develop a relationship with a church in that area that was looking for a new direction. We met with their leadership and spent a great deal of time in prayer, finally deciding that the best thing we could do to build the Kingdom of God would be for Avalon to absorb that church and make it an extension campus.

Is this a church plant or a new church that Avalon is starting?

No. We are going to be ONE church in TWO locations. We are simply taking the vision and the ministry of Avalon and plugging it in an additional location. We believe that God will do amazing things for the people of that community and we want to be a vessel for life change.

When is it going to start?

During the month of August, we will be holding prayer services each week in the new facility. We want all of you to participate in these meetings really catch hold of the vision that Pastor Ritchie will be casting. Also, if you’ve signed up to be a part of this campus, you will be trained on-site and you’ll be a major part of our preview services.

What is a preview service and when are they going to be?

A preview service will give the community an opportunity to come out and see what each week’s service will look like.

How do I get involved?

You can sign up on your communication card for information. We are asking for 150 people to launch out from the McDonough Campus and make the South Campus their home church for the next year. This is a great opportunity for you to get connected and get involved in Avalon Church.

What do we need?

The financial need will be great, but we know that God will provide. We really need for you to continue to invest in God’s Kingdom through your tithes and offerings.

August 10th, 17th, 24th, 31st - PRAYER SERVICES

We will be having prayer services at the South Campus at 7pm. We will hear from Pastor Ritchie, have a short time of worship, and spend time in prayer over that campus and the ministries there. We want EVERYONE to be here for these meetings! We will have childcare provided.

September 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th - PREVIEW SERVICES

We’re going to open the South Campus back up and start having preview services. If you’re headed down to the South Campus, this is when your first official service as a volunteer will begin.

September 18th - PUBLIC PREVIEW SERVICES

We’re going to be hosting a public preview service on this Saturday night at 7pm. Invite all your friends and come be a part of this amazing experience.

October 3rd - LAUNCH DATE

We will officially launch the new South Campus to the public and start having regular services there!

A lot of people have been asking me how the running is going. For those of you who do not know, I am preparing for the Comrades Ultra Marathon in South Africa. This is a race that is 89 kilometers (54 miles) and I will run it on May 29, 2011. I am doing this to raise money to build more houses for our children’s village in Ashburton, South Africa. I am trying to get 1000 people to sponsor me at $1 per kilometer.

The training is going well. I am running six days per week and lifting weights one day per week. I am on a training regiment for running the Atlanta Marathon on Thanksgiving Day, which will be my second marathon. This is a qualifier for the Comrades Marathon. My schedule includes cross training one day per week, running 3-5 miles two days per week, running 5-10 miles at a set pace two days per week, and running a long run one day per week. My long days are on Saturdays and look like this between now and November: (in miles) 8, 13, 14, 10, 16, 17, 12, 19, 20, 12, 20, 12, 20, 12, and 8. Wow, that made me tired just typing it.

Until it gets cooler I have to run indoors (which is really boring running 110 laps at Gold’s Gym) or really early in the morning. I ran 11 miles this past Saturday between 10:00 AM and 12: PM and I nearly passed out. I had to walk part of it. I did have a church member stop and offer me a ride. Then he started playing “Eye Of The Tiger” to motivate me. I became highly motivated…to get away from him. Thanks, Clint.

Keep on running.

Ritchie

Don’t miss the prayer service at the South Campus tonight. We will meet at 7:00 PM, will have a brief time of worship, I will teach briefly, and we will spend some time praying for the South Campus launch. I really hope you will plan on being there. The address is 751 Dean Patrick Rd, Locust Grove, GA. Please be aware that the directions on Map Quest are not correct. Here is how to get there:

From the North
Take Exit #212, Locust Grove
Turn left onto Bill Gardner Parkway and go approximately 1.5 miles
Turn Right onto GA HWY 42 South and go through Locust Grove
Go approximately 4 miles and turn right onto Canup Road (Look for Eagle Storage)
Go 1.5 miles to the sign that reads Eagle’s Brooke Church on the Right

From I-75 South
Take Exit #205, Griffin/Jackson, GA HWY 16
Turn Right onto GA HWY 16 toward Jackson
Travel approximately 3 miles and turn left on Dean Patrick Road
Go approximately 2 miles to the sign that reads Eagle’s Brooke Church on the Left

See you tonight.

Ritchie

As always, I continue to be amazed at what God is doing in and through Avalon Church. You would think that after almost nine years (we will be nine years old on September 9th) things might get a little humdrum, boring, or redundant. Not so around Avalon. I think things are getting better and better. We have an amazing group of volunteers who love Jesus and others. Every week I leave church thinking, “That was the best service ever” only to say the same thing the next week. Our music, children’s ministry, youth ministry, guest services, and Avalon HOPE just keep getting better and better. We have an amazing staff, people become Christ-followers every week, people get baptized, connected in ministry and small groups, and I could go on and on. On top of all of that you have a pastor that has very sexy legs. Just kidding. I was just checking to see if you are reading this or not. But really, you should see me in shorts. Not running shorts, because I am a man and that would be disgusting, but a nice casual pair of knee-length shorts. Why am I writing this? What does this have to do with Avalon Church? Did I drop the cheese out of my sandwich? Does my elevator go to the top floor? Am I a few fries short of a Happy Meal? Is my wheel spinning but my hamster is dead? I know that I have ADD/HD but this is ridiculous!

Keep on praying for the marriage series. This thing is off the charts. I have had so many people talk to me about how God is speaking to them. This coming weekend we will have the question and answer session at the end of the message. See you Sunday.

Ritchie