PC Workshop
Posted on May 9, 2007
I have had a vision of something that I have wanted to do for probably close to 3 years now. The idea came to mind back when I was heavily involved at my former church and for some reason, it didn’t take shape at that time and it’s taken another year and a half since then to see this become a reality.
I have a pastor friend at a local church and I have pestered him for a long time about this. Our daughters are friends and we see each other whenever one of our 4 daughters has a birthday, it seems. At the last round of birthdays a couple months ago, we began the discussion again and now, this Saturday, it’s becoming a reality.
We are opening the church from about 9 - noon to allow church members and others to bring in their ailing PC’s and a group of us will be available to attempt to fix them. I’m guessing most of the issues will be virus, spyware and malware related, however, we can also install that new hard drive or DVD drive.
I want this to serve the church because it’s at the core of why I started this blog, to equip the church to effectively use technology, and the true church is the people, not just staff or key volunteers. I see this as a way to do that.
But wait, there’s more. Many people have friends, co-workers and neighbors who are having computer issues and some of those people wouldn’t darken the doors of any church on Sunday morning. So, why not invite them to your church on Saturday morning, we’re not going to preach at them or scorn them or tell them they’re going to hell in a handbasket unless they repent from their sins they committed last night. (Is there enough churchy words in that sentence?)
We’re going to serve them, we’re going to talk to them, we’re going to be regular people who are doing them a huge favor. In the process, we might get to know them a little bit, we’ll have a form to gather info, like name, address, phone#, email address, what their problem was, then we’ll be able to make other notes. Then, in a few weeks, one of us can call or email this person, followup to make sure their computer is still working ok, and oh yeah, how’s your grandma doing or how’s your job search going or whatever.
Do you realize what this does? It starts a relationship, it gives this person a glimpse of what the church is really about. Sure, going to church on Sunday morning is important but we can show them the love of Jesus through our lives and through the heart that God has given us for technology and the church. Maybe their view of church and people in the church will change through this. I am so excited about this Saturday.
After God formed this idea in me and I wasn’t able to actually do it, I somehow became aware that this guy named Bryson was doing something similar at his church. I have no idea why I didn’t jump in there and learn more about what he was doing, probably pride, I guess. But it did confirm to me that it must be a good idea if someone else is doing it.
God is bigger than I am and he pulls things together in His timing. I have been planning this Saturday for a couple of months and about a month ago, Bryson and I connected and we share a heart for technology and the local church. God is now using us to impact our community in a big way. The bonus for me is that he has given me tips on how to prepare for Saturday and on what to expect and the biggest bonus is that he will be there. We’ll also have a few somewhat technical guys from within that church.
Bryson has called his days Geek Day Of Service, which is a cool name and we may transition to that. This Saturday was already pegged with a boring name, so I haven’t transitioned it yet, but our desire is to do this kind of day about once a month at different area churches. My own church may be next, I have already begun that discussion.
By the way, my pastor friend John has really embraced this concept. His church blanketed their neighborhood with flyers for Saturday, he is having it announced on the Christian radio station’s community calendar all week and I know he was wanting to get it on television and in the newspaper too. Last Saturday, I heard the community calendar announcing this event and it blew me away.
This has been a long time coming and I’m excited to finally see it become a reality. I’m even more excited to have Bryson in it with me, it always helps to have someone that has been there and done that.
Pray for us this Saturday, more importantly, pray for the people that come, that they will see Jesus in a new way and that a relationship will begin.
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6 Responses to “PC Workshop”
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This is a great idea, I will pray for this.
Let us know how you get on.
This is FANTASTIC!!! Another great example of how the church can reach the community. Great Idea!!
I’ve contemplated the same idea of couple times and like you never got it off the ground. I look forward to hearing how it goes. Take lots of notes so we can reproduce similar at our churches
I love it. Please post after and tell us how it goes!
Just dropping a note to let you know that I have prayed for you and all involved tomorrow.
As the primary geek at my church (out of several), I’m very interested in hearing how things go and more importantly. the processes used to pull this off (i.e. limit the # of computers serviced, what to do if you run into a complex problem, are you tshooting alternative OS’s [MAC], etc…).
Let us know.
Wow, what a great idea! I;m going to purpose this to our Men’s group. I’ll keep you posted