Austin Ave Unplugged #019 Practical Practices that Power Ministry

Cast: Lance Havens, Doug Crum, Jyles Wootton, Shanna Klutts

This is a relaxed, behind-the-scenes pass to real conversation with our ministers, staff, and volunteers. From faith and family to ministry moments and everyday life.

Let’s unplug… and tune in.

#AustinAveUnplugged #ChurchPodcast #ChristianPodcast #aacoc #aacocpodcast #podcast

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Connect with a Minister
Doug Crum, Pulpit
Lance Havens, Associate
Jyles Wootton, Youth
Shanna Klutts, Children


Austin Avenue Church of Christ
1020 Austin Avenue
Brownwood, TX 76801
austinavechurch@gmail.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:04

After a bit of a long break, welcome back to AACC Unplugged.

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Yeah, welcome back. It's been a minute.

SPEAKER_02 0:12

Yeah. Now we did do one a few weeks ago. Sorry, Sarah. I just jumped right off.

SPEAKER_00 0:18

Throw me under the bus. It's good.

SPEAKER_02 0:22

It's kind of one of our themes that we do we do kind of come here and kind of kind of own our baggage. So yeah, it's fine.

SPEAKER_00 0:28

Yeah. The SD card fell out of my pocket somewhere. I may have washed it. It may have gone down the drain, but I did lose all the audio for our last our last podcast.

SPEAKER_02 0:39

So if you found a SD card that says studio anywhere, turn it in.

SPEAKER_00 0:45

Yeah, bring it back to the office. We'd love to have it.

SPEAKER_02 0:50

But we talked about things that were practical in ministry. Like a lot of times, you know, I don't know, people probably think about theology and the Bible and things written in Hebrew and Greek and philosophy and deep thoughts, but Jesus' ministry was covered up with like, you know, if they had a treasure, I mean he wasn't the best guy, it was Judas, but you know.

SPEAKER_00 1:12

He had a job.

SPEAKER_02 1:14

Yeah. There were there were people that had to make arrangements for the upper room. You know, they stole a donkey in the process of doing that. True, true. Okay, they didn't steal it here, let me be real clear. Um, there was a donkey waiting for them. Uh but but no, just just ministry has like a lot of practical things as as well as the more philosophical things. And Shannon's here and so she does kids' men. So I mean, that's like really all of practicals, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:42

And I wanted to do I'm I'm kind of glad we're redoing this topic because I thought a lot about some things and I've done shout-outs in the bulletin, but shout out here, uh Cindy Harris, who cuts all of the lamination for me. That's amazing. Like I go through, I don't know, uh Weyland commented the other day, is like, how often do you use this thing? It's it's a lot, a lot, a lot. And um yards and yards. I I could spend hours just cutting things out, but Cindy comes up here once a week and she does that. She's amazing. If anyone else would like to do that, that would be amazing too. Um, we have Jana Wright who washes the linens from the nursery. You know, nursery things get used and abused, and she does a great job of doing that um every couple of weeks. And um just the filling of the goldfish. Oh my goodness. We we I I should buy stocking goldfish because we use goldfish all the time. And so, you know, those kinds of things that you don't really think about, all the tiny things that have to happen before Sunday.

SPEAKER_00 2:52

Mm-hmm. Or Wednesday. Your coffee bar gets filled up. Yeah. Yes. Um all the paper goods in the FLC kitchen that you use. Yeah, they have to find it.

SPEAKER_03 3:03

There's no magical elves that come in and do that stuff overnight.

SPEAKER_01 3:08

Or or the um taking home the the rags that we use to wash up and things like that, you know. Lots of things.

SPEAKER_03 3:16

Oh yeah, and that's a yeah, that's another thing. If you did wash some and you have some at your house, please bring them back. And thank you for doing that. Yes, thank you. We really appreciate it. But please bring them back. We we need those. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:31

And so, yeah, they're they're they're staff that does a lot of practical things, but we have volunteers that do.

SPEAKER_00 3:39

Yes, this church is run by volunteers. I think it is saying that. It's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 3:43

Yeah, and so we had one that was sick last week. Whoops, that's my phone. And um, who normally does the lights and the doors and the coffee, and so um I stepped in and did that. Yeah, and so it's it's kind of fun to get to do, like, you know, to serve him that way, but just know that yeah, the coffee doesn't make itself. Yeah, yeah. The doors are unlocked or are they locked until you go and unlock them. Yeah, and we have awesome folks that do those things. We do, they're amazing.

SPEAKER_03 4:14

Yeah, and if you came in and your room is nice and cool or it's nice and warm because it's cold out, then somebody is doing that as well. Turning on the air conditioners. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:25

And and people notice when those things are not done. Right. Yeah, they do. Uh when they're done, it's just expected. It's just it's just default. We're all the rhythm. Of course, the room is the temperature that it should be, and the coffee is hot and the goldfish. Are filmed. Yes. But yeah, is is the person who is who is known to be in charge of the thermostats. Um, yeah, when they're when they're not dead on, I hear. Yeah. So yes, we noticed. We noticed human nature.

SPEAKER_04 4:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:56

But I don't know. I I did youth work for a really long time and I learned pretty qu uh quickly that the uh that the practicalities when you're working with children, kids, teenagers, uh, that they matter a lot. But um I spent a lot of I spent a lot of time trying to organize those things so that when it came the point to do ministry, yeah, those things were already done. They were taken care of so that I could be fully present.

SPEAKER_01 5:26

Yeah, that's why you front load as much as possible during the week so that you can be present.

SPEAKER_02 5:33

And I'm not a genius at this. Craig Rochelle is the the life church guy, okay. He is a systems genius. Uh, but but I've tried to mimic his philosophy and thinking, and that's just get systems down for all those practicalities and just copy and paste those. Just find something that works, get it as efficient and sharp as possible, and just keep doing those those practical things that work so that you're freed up to do the things that are more relational. Right. I I couldn't be fully present with my youth group kids if I was trying to book rooms, right? Because I should have done it a month before and now we're in the city and we don't have a place to stay. Well, I I I can't be fully present. And so you just take care of those things on the front side so that when you're present, you're fully present.

SPEAKER_00 6:23

Absolutely. Yeah. One of the things that I love that we started doing are our uh staff meetings to have that list of upcoming events that helps me a lot in terms of creating slides and um yeah, making sure that the kitchen is stocked for the fifth uh Sunday potluck or uh restocking after huge events. Um that was a that was a great thing. The two uh youth rallies that happened uh at once and then Oasis and all of that. But um the planning ahead of front loading and and knowing what's coming and anticipating some of those little things and what could even potentially happen. Um that that has helped tremendously the the planning and the the the meetings.

SPEAKER_02 7:11

Yeah. And so right now we have something that's really practical that's going on. Uh I think Jamie made a joke about it when uh she videoed the announcements and you literally could hear them.

SPEAKER_00 7:24

Yes, I was thinking that was gonna happen today, but yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:28

But we're getting a new roof. Yeah. So this is something that's been probably needed for, I don't know. If you just go count the water stains on the ceiling tiles, it's something that's been needed for a while. Yeah. And another callback to our volunteers are the best. Absolutely. We we have guys that are putting a roof on. So there's anywhere from a half dozen to a dozen people here most weekdays this last week or so, and they have engineered and designed, and you've probably noticed some some poles. Some poles.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

Yeah, some poles, some ladders as you drive by. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:06

We're gonna we're gonna fur the the poles in, and I'm still not sure if the if it's F-I-R, the poles or F-U-R.

SPEAKER_01 8:15

I have no idea. I hope it's not F U R.

SPEAKER_00 8:17

I hope it's not F the I think.

SPEAKER_02 8:18

But they call it But they call it fur them in, which means that they're gonna cover them with something that looks nice.

SPEAKER_00 8:24

Yeah, they'll look really good when they're done, I bet. Yes. I'm excited that I'm excited that we're just gonna have a new roof. Like there are so many spots, like you said, the the water staints that have come through on the ceiling tiles. There are moments you think they may burst. Yes. Yes. How much squishy water is in there? Right.

SPEAKER_02 8:43

And everybody had warned me not to put books on my shelves that that's where the leak was. And I was like, I haven't had a problem with water. Well, now I know why. Is there was a workaround, there was a tarp that was funneling it away from the bookshelf. But I mean, that's great, and it and it was functional, but you don't want water in above, yeah. And so, and so we're gonna get that fixed, and we have members that are doing it, and uh talk to Wendell about the compression rate on this steel, and he has all the facts and figures, and he has looked at blueprints and they have measured and they have figured this out, but it it's incredible, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:23

It's phenomenal. Yeah, um my favorite thing was when we were walking over with the kids on Wednesday night, one of the kids goes, What's going on up there? I said, Oh, they're building a roof. Wait, it already has the roof, so they're building another roof on top of the roof. I'm like, Exactly. That's right. Exactly. I said, You see how that one's flat? We're gonna go this way. Yeah. Slanted. For those of you that don't see the video. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:47

And and so there's three roofs on this building. He's they've already fixed one.

SPEAKER_00 9:53

I think there's four over the over the old auditorium. I've heard there's four levels of roof. Oh wow.

SPEAKER_02 10:00

Well, but there's kind of three sections, right? Yes, there's three sections of the audience. There's like the old building and our volunteers have already done that one. And then there's like kind of the office fish for your flat roof. And so they're doing that one. And so, I mean, I hate to be the guy to say it, but I mean, at some point the roof and the auditorium gotta be done too. Absolutely. And so, yeah, one roof at a time.

SPEAKER_00 10:25

Um, so one one bite at a time, as they say. Yes. How do you eat an elephant?

SPEAKER_03 10:31

Yeah, another practical thing that I was thinking about is keeping the band-aid stocked. If you know the guys that are working on this, that we've had to go. Oh, man.

SPEAKER_01 10:41

Where are the big band-aids? Where are the small band-aids? Where are the band-aids that already have the antiseptic? Do you have any ibuprofen? Yeah. Actually, we do. Yes. Fully stocked.

SPEAKER_02 10:53

And so we also have some Aggies for Christ that are going to be here in a few weeks. Uh they're thinking 30 to 50 college-age people, and they're coming to do work. They're going to build a ramp uh with the ramp builders. They're going to fill in the cracks in the education hallway and in I forget. And in the backyard. And in the backyard. Yes. Which for people who don't know, that's a classroom on the second floor. Yes. Yeah, it's not in the actual backyard. No. No. No. And so, but um they're gonna do a lot of the work. Uh we have some people to help organize it. We probably need some more of that, but we also have to feed this many people. So, a practical way that you can help and serve if swinging a hammer and building a ramp or working on w hallways is not your thing, we gotta feed 30 to 50 college students. So call the church. Sign up. You are being summoned.

SPEAKER_01 11:50

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 11:51

Yeah, I definitely think that's probably what I'm gonna end up lending my uh time to is cooking for those guys. You're certainly gifted at it. We definitely need more of those. I'd love to see some casseroles. Go make some casseroles. What about tenderloin? Tenderloin. Perfect.

SPEAKER_02 12:12

I can smoke pork tenderloin. I can fill up my big green egg.

SPEAKER_03 12:17

Yeah. No, that would be amazing.

SPEAKER_02 12:19

And you can put that on a tortilla, you could put that on a sandwich. It's yeah, it's a good bit.

SPEAKER_03 12:29

Yeah, for sure. No, that'd be amazing. I'm getting hungry. I know. Why do we do this run before lunch?

SPEAKER_01 12:36

Man. Oh man.

SPEAKER_03 12:38

I'm so hungry right now.

SPEAKER_02 12:39

So if you show up and help the Aggies work, you also could get in some of this food.

SPEAKER_00 12:44

Also true. Yes. Also be fed.

SPEAKER_02 12:46

It's gonna be so bad if we talk about this stuff and they get there like, sorry, we didn't have enough time. Here's a corn dog.

SPEAKER_03 12:53

We brought MR Kool Aid.

SPEAKER_00 12:57

Corn dogs are great. Love corn dogs. They are good.

SPEAKER_02 13:00

But not if you're expecting pulled pork.

SPEAKER_00 13:03

Sorry. Sorry.

SPEAKER_02 13:04

Pull pork, corndogs.

SPEAKER_00 13:06

And goldfish.

SPEAKER_03 13:07

And goldfish. We'll make something happen. Right. If I gotta be if I gotta camp out in there again for the next couple weeks like we did the last couple weeks, I'll do that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:20

That's great.

SPEAKER_02 13:22

But I think our point is that um God gave us spirits, He gave us flesh. Yeah. We live in the realities of a world that is physical and roofs leak, and you gotta feed your workers. And so like we're called to minister to the to the whole body, uh, the physical stuff, the practical stuff, and to the spiritual side. And uh and Jesus is the perfect incarnate God man, and he knows that and he gives us to take care of everything that needs to be done.

SPEAKER_00 13:57

That's right. Some of his most uh notable ministries are at a table. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 14:03

I know a guy who's preaching about that on Sunday.

SPEAKER_00 14:06

I didn't know that before.

SPEAKER_01 14:07

You didn't know that? No.

SPEAKER_02 14:08

Yeah, no, it's literally about food.

SPEAKER_01 14:10

Yeah, that's awesome. Awesome. And you're gonna make us all hungry. So 100%. I better have breakfast. Right?

SPEAKER_02 14:15

I'm I mean, they would have already heard the sermon by the time they hear this, but basically once you see it, it's all that you see. Like every story in the Bible, it has food. Absolutely, absolutely it's it's bananas. It goes back to Genesis and you know, Esau and um Jacob when he tricks his dad. I mean the entire book of Ruth centers around Harvest, the parable of the lost son. I mean, the ministry of Jesus. There there's just food everywhere.

SPEAKER_00 14:45

Everywhere.

SPEAKER_02 14:45

So absolutely and the story ends with a feast. Book of Revelation. So anyway. So let's go.

SPEAKER_01 14:56

And if you are looking to get involved in something, practicals are an easy way to get involved in the church and serving. Um I know doll's class is talking about service right now.

SPEAKER_03 15:08

Yes, we are going through um service practice and we're gonna be finishing that up this Sunday. Um, one of the things um that our class kind of got involved in was doing some things for the um youth rally, like coming over and helping cook, and we did like I don't know how many pancakes. That was crazy. It it was amazing to see, like, I literally um prayed and was super nervous about nobody showing up to help, and then there was like tons of people coming. That's great, and uh Lance brought his um grill. What is it, the black stone, and we had two of those running and there was eggs, and Tim was stirring eggs for 40 minutes, and I realized that you can't cook eggs in a roaster. Um I thought it did, and you know, I was like, hey, it it it'd be a good no, it was not the time to try it. But um we dumped him on the blackstone and it cooked him to like three minutes. I don't even know if it was three minutes. I think I had to stir it really fast, otherwise they were gonna burn. But that's great. No, everybody was running around. Uh we had people setting up tables, setting up the you know, plates and the um moving food. It was it was it went very smoothly. That's awesome. Yes. I hadn't heard that story. Thank y'all all for everybody that showed up to do that.

SPEAKER_00 16:35

Everything you do, every little thing or big thing, it is worth it to the kingdom and it's worth it to the ministry of this church. Yeah, absolutely. So great.

SPEAKER_03 16:44

Yep. And sometimes it's big things like everybody sees, but most of the time it's things that nobody sees. And it's okay. You know, that's kind of where I liked when I first started serving is to get in where nobody sees. Nobody sees. And uh you just kind of work up from there. So yeah, if you're introverted and uh solitude is your your jam, then you know, come still serve. Yes, take out the trash, the vacuum of a couple classrooms.

SPEAKER_02 17:18

I mean audio visual team. We need somebody else to grow how to stream. Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:26

We all of those little things.

SPEAKER_02 17:28

Yeah, and that's something that is very much a public ministry. Like there's nothing more public than the A V team, and yet they sit behind us and above us, and nobody sees them. Nobody sees them. Yeah. But yeah, but we know we see what they do immediately.

SPEAKER_01 17:46

I come from a theater background, and I always called the backstage crew the ninjas. If you do your work really, really well, it goes flawlessly, and nobody knows that you did anything. But that's that's the goal. That's the goal.

SPEAKER_00 18:03

Oh, can we switch it? Can we call it the ninja team now? For sure. The Sunday morning ninjas.

SPEAKER_02 18:09

Audio visual.

SPEAKER_01 18:10

Yeah, baby ninjas. Go.

SPEAKER_02 18:13

Well, coffee ninjas. I still want t-shirts for that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:19

All right. Well, we we read it right out.

SPEAKER_01 18:22

Yeah, I think so.

SPEAKER_02 18:23

All right. Um, I'm pretty sure that you prayed us out the last time that we talked about practicalities. Do you want to do that again?

SPEAKER_03 18:29

Yeah, I'll I'll pray us out. I was gonna say if you're asking me to remember, that's not a good thing right now. I don't remember, but I'll pray us out. All right, Lord, thank you so much for the many uh wonderful talents of everybody in our congregation. And Father, we just pray that you help us to use those talents uh to serve you and to serve each other. Uh Father, we pray that you um just take care of everybody that's uh serving right now, especially the guys on the roof, keep them safe, um, keep um the Aggies for Christ that are coming, like allow them to um experience service and to uh grow uh in that. Uh Father, we thank you so much for all the people that volunteer and do the small things. And we just pray that you help us to realize that even in doing the small things, we can do that to you to your work and for your kingdom. All these things we pray in Christ's name. Amen.