Men's Fraternity Launches at NCBC

(Me and Lance greeting the guys!)
(Click on pic for slideshow)
This morning we launched Men's Fraternity and it was an incredible morning! Before I share with you the good news, I just want to say thank you for some of the poeple who have supported the launch of Men’s Fraternity. From Pastor Bob’s announcement and support, Peggy’s eNewsletters, Gina’s printing the business cards and flyers, Kim’s tips (prelaunch idea), numerous staff involvement, deacon and elder support, etc, etc, etc. Thanks to the Men’s Fraternity Leadership team for their tireless efforts and commitment to excellence that made this morning possible, not to mention a summer of 6:30 AM meetings every week since the first week of May. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

This morning, our team arrived between 5 & 5:30 AM and began setting up. We set the room up for 120 people. Coffee was made – lots of it! (thanks Jim Knudsen) 8 doz donuts were delivered at 5:30. Everyone took their positions: 4 greeters, 19 table leaders, 3 sound guys, Matt preparing the dvds, Ed giving oversight, and the rest of the team executing the plan. Then, at about 5:40 we gathered in a circle to pray for the morning – I’m not sure we were prepared for what was about to take place.

At 5:45 our first “customer” arrived – Jerry, a new guy to the church. Then, it was a steady stream of men for the next 25 minutes. The east parking lot filled up and men were circling the parking lot (lots of pick up trucks!) looking for a place to park. It looked like the final scene in “The Field of Dreams” with a steady stream of trucks and cars (very few mini-vans!) coming from 2 directions! 4 men walked in, then 6 at a time, and then it became hard to shake everyone’s hand because there were so many streaming in. A couple of guys asked if there was something else going on because there were so many cars in the lot. I said “no, just Men’s Fraternity!”

At 6:10 the activity center was buzzing with activity and the team hurried to set up additional tables for the overflow. I wasn’t in there when we started but they said it was a powerful moment when 142 men sat down around tables and watched the launch of Apollo 13 (think Tom Hanks) to signify that Men’s Fraternity was officially launching! WOW!

Needless to say, we are all on cloud. We only had one dozen donuts left – and they are prob gone by now. Relationships are already forming and men are mobilized!

Mission accomplished. To God be ALL the glory!