God has brought many different people together to form this church called Evergreen SGV. In case you haven’t noticed, I don’t fit the “typical” profile. For one, I don’t have any Asian blood in me. But I also didn’t grow up in SoCal (I’m proud to be an Oregonian). I don’t live in the San Gabriel Valley but “way out east” in Claremont, where we get comments like “That’s by San Bernardino, right?” (In case you’re wondering, Claremont is still LA County, and San Bernardino is 30 miles east.) And on the more superficial level, I don’t drive a silver Odyssey, I’ve never vacationed in Mammoth, and I don’t have an annual pass to Disneyland. I do like basketball though, but I only played one season in the Men’s League (because, as you know, I live “way out east” near San Bernardino).

So how did I end up at Evergreen SGV? And how did I “stick” in spite of the differences in my ethnicity and background? How did my family get enfolded into the community and ministry of this church?

Our initial connection to Evergreen SGV was through my sister-in-law, Josie Leung, when we were anticipating our move down to SoCal to serve with Asian American Christian Fellowship at Cal Poly Pomona. We visited with Josie at the Rosemead site shortly before the hive, then when we moved down we started attending the Sunday service at Rio Hondo.

Since we were transplants to Southern California, we were planning to visit other churches too, but two main factors kept us coming back to Evergreen SGV: children’s ministry and the Diamond Bar Branch. Our daughter Janna was about 2 years old at the time, and we were blessed by the quality of the children’s ministries available for her. We met other families with toddlers, and a couple of them invited us to join their Branch summer get-together for a BBQ and swimming. Turns out that was the Diamond Bar Branch, which was the closest one to where we lived. Turns out there were several young families like ours in that Branch. And it turns out (this was definitely God orchestrating) that there were two other Caucasian/Asian marriages (including the Branch shepherd, Elliott Snuggs) represented! So we felt right at home.

Looking back on it now, I think it’s clear that the main reason we “stuck” at Evergreen SGV is because of people. Obviously there were other contributing factors—like we appreciated the Biblical teaching and the value placed on family, which are certainly not insignificant—but it was the relationships with people that kept us coming back and moved us eventually to commit to membership and start serving in ministries.

So do not underestimate the significance of a simple invitation that you can extend to someone who is looking for a deeper connection in our church. Who knows? Your hospitality and initiative may be what they look back on later as the main factor that helped them “stick” in our church.

In the coming weeks, as you enter the sanctuary lobby on Sunday mornings, you will not only be warmly welcomed by our friendly greeters but will also see our brand new Welcome Center! The Welcome Center is the place where connectedness begins… where any person coming through the doors of our church can begin the process of being enfolded more deeply into the community and ministries of Evergreen SGV.

The Welcome Center is for newcomers, but it is not only for newcomers. It is for anyone not yet connected in our church family. So as you pay attention to the people around you on a Sunday morning and then take initiative to meet someone who is not yet connected in our church family, the next step is to bring that person to the Welcome Center.

One of the underlying values of all the ministries in our church is “Make it personal.” So the Welcome Center is not just a table with information on it, but it is people excited to converse with anyone seeking greater connectedness in our church. But the personal aspect of this ministry also extends to you—as you meet people who need to be connected, don’t just send them off on their own to find the Welcome Center, but bring them…walk with them and introduce them to the ministry volunteer serving there.

The Church is not the building we worship in, but rather the Church is us as the people of God. So in order for us to be the Church, we all need to do our part in helping others get connected in the Body. It is not just the job of the pastors, nor of just the ministry volunteers, to welcome and follow-up with the people God brings to our church—rather, that is the job of all of us. The Welcome Center ministry team has a particular assignment (to discover how best to follow-up with those needing to be connected), but they cannot do their job if all the rest of us are not actively noticing, welcoming and bringing people to the Welcome Center.

Perhaps you yourself do not yet feel very connected in our church family. If that is the case—even if you’ve been attending Evergreen SGV for a long time—then don’t be shy about coming by the Welcome Center, and let our friendly volunteers help you find out how to connect more deeply into the community and ministries of our church. This is a great time to do so, because the Branches are starting up again and there are plenty of opportunities coming up—“Experience Evergreen SGV”, baptisms, Women’s Retreat, MOPS, Sunday Men’s Group, and so on.

So bring someone, or come yourself, and experience our new Welcome Center! 

When I’m not hanging out with my family or working at church, you might be able to find me in my little garage workshop, building or repairing a piece of furniture. I love working with tools and wood to create useful projects for my home or for friends. Because I love tools so much, I often carry a Leatherman multi-tool on my belt. Most of the time when I have it on me, it never gets used, but there are occasions when I need a particular tool and then it’s very handy to pull out the Leatherman and put it to use.

You may not be aware of it, but every Sunday morning when you enter the Sanctuary for our worship service, you are handed a tool as well. It’s not made out of steel, and it doesn’t have any sharp points on it (though I suppose you could get cut by it). You don’t have to have any prior training to use it, and though you may not need it every single week, it’s good to keep it at hand for the times when you do need to put it to use.

What is this tool? It’s a Connection Card!

I know you’re aware of the purpose of the Connection Card that allows us as pastors to hear from you. But the Connection Card can also be used by you as a tool to help  welcome and follow-up with guests who attend. So here’s what to do…

As you identify a guest—or anyone who needs to be connected in our church family (because of course you are paying attention and taking initiative to welcome them, right?!)—as you identify that person and are talking with them, one simple question you can ask is “Did you get a chance to fill out a Connection Card?” Most likely their answer will be “no”, in which case you can whip out the extra Connection Card that you are carrying with you, show them the little boxes they can check and let them know that their information will just go to one of the pastors to follow up with them.

We get very little (sometimes zero) response from guests to our repeated announcements from the pulpit to fill out the Connection Cards. But my experience has been that when I’m talking with a person individually and then ask them to fill out a Connection Card, they’ve been more than happy to do so. So instead of recycling your Connection Card every week, hang on to one or two of them and stash them in something you always have with you on Sunday morning, then use it as a tool to help someone get more connected in our church family.

When someone whom you’re talking with fills out a Connection Card, ideally you would then walk with them to the sanctuary lobby where we will have a Welcome Ministry set up…but more on that next time…

I love puzzles of any kind, so my daughter recently introduced me to a very fun game app called Unblock Me. It’s identical to the (non-electronic) puzzle/game called Rush Hour, where you have to shift pieces around within a grid in order to open up a passageway for the red car to “exit”. It’s a simple concept with a clear goal, but the trick is to identify the key piece that needs to change position in order to open up the “route” for the red piece. If you can identify that key piece and move it into position, then you can solve the puzzle with the fewest number of moves; if not, then you’ll spend a lot of time randomly shifting pieces around.

Enfolding Ministries at Evergreen SGV has a clear goal too: to enfold believers deeper into the community and ministry of the church so that they will grow toward maturity in Christ. That’s the goal—maturity-enhancing connectedness. But just like Unblock Me, we could have a bunch of movement (i.e. ministry) happening but if we fail to identify key people who need to be connected, we cannot accomplish our goal.  So identifying people who need to be connected is the vital first step in the Enfolding process.

How do we identify those key people who need to be connected? Pay attention! As a father and as a teacher, I am constantly saying to someone: “Pay attention!” But it’s not just kids who have a hard time paying attention…we as adults do too. We live in a distracted, busy, instagram world, and thus we may find it hard to truly be present to the people and situations around us. So in order to pay attention you may need to do something radical like go on a “phone fast” and not look at your phone for the 2-3 hours that you’re at church. Then use the time that usually would be spent checking your phone to pay attention to the people around you. It’s fairly easy to spot someone who doesn’t seem to know where to go or doesn’t have anyone to talk with—and those are pretty big clues that he or she isn’t very connected in our church.

But don’t stop with merely making a mental note: “Hmmm, that person must be new to our church.” Take initiative! Go and introduce yourself. Ask if they need help finding some place on campus. Find out how they heard about Evergreen SGV and if they know anyone in our church. Introduce them to the friends that you’re hanging out with. Invite them in to your little circle of conversation. Take initiative to show hospitality.

Apart from identifying people who need to be connected, our goal of enfolding people into the community and ministry of the church can never happen—identifying is the crucial first step in the process. So pay attention! And then take initiative to welcome.

You may not know this about me, but I played quite a bit of basketball in my younger days. One thing I love about basketball is that it is such a team sport. Though the players on a team usually have their assigned position and role, all the players have to carry out the basic skills of the game. So the point guard may have the best ball-handling skills, but all the team members have to be able to dribble and pass as well. The big guy might be the one pulling down the most rebounds, but the other team members need to be blocking out and going after the boards too. So there are certain assignments that are particular to each position and role, and other assignments that must be carried out by every member of the team, in order for the team to compete well.

That same kind of teamwork needs to happen in the Church. Each of us as believers have particular giftings and functions that are vital to the rest of the Body because they are unique, but at the same time, there are commands and “assignments” from Scripture that all of us as believers are called to obey. Not everyone is called or equipped to serve in Children’s Ministry or on a worship team or shepherding a Branch ministry. Those may be particular functions and giftings. But if Scripture is correct (and it is), then all of us who are followers of Christ are called—and therefore equipped—to show hospitality to one another in the church.

I Peter 4:9 says “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.” Peter is writing that to the church—to all believers—and he doesn’t preface it by saying “If you’re an extrovert…” or “If you’ve got a warm personality…” or “If you have a big home…” He simply says “Show hospitality.” Therefore in order for our church to function the way God intends it to function, ALL of us need to be extending hospitality to one another within our church family.

Some will be called to specific roles within ministries of hospitality—and if you are not currently serving in a ministry, there are lots of opportunities to serve in various hospitality ministries, so please contact me!—but even if we don’t serve in a ministry of hospitality, we are still called to show hospitality to those around us. In the next couple articles, I will be sharing about the process for hospitality and follow-up that we are putting in place, and how all of us can take part—in fact, MUST take part—in order to make that process successful.