Why Does This Matter?
What happens on the platform is the most obvious and public way people gain an impression of what matters to us. What we say, what we do and how we do it, are all part of how we commend Christ to his people and to a lost world. What happens on the platform needs to reflect our values.
- People should be well prepared as we value clear and thoughtful engagement with believers, unbelievers and our culture generally.
- Attendees want to feel welcome but not put on the spot, so people up the front should be welcoming and relational but not over-sharing or asking attendees to turn to a neighbour and share. Nothing coercive or overly directive.
- We aim for a vibe that is friendly (we value people) understated (expressing humility and avoiding emotional manipulation), serious (we are meeting with God), reflective (meeting God should be deep and life changing), and affirming of our heritage (we stand in line with Christians who down the centuries have thought deeply about how the gospel shapes the big questions of life).
- In the city, people are time poor. We love them by starting on time and taking between 60 and 75 mins.
Behind the Scenes throughout the year
- Recruit, train, schedule and provide ongoing encouragement to people in all platform roles (except Preacher which the minister takes responsibility for).
- Most of these roles have a Job Description that you should be familiar with. You should update these Job Descriptions as required. There shouldnt be any hidden expectations – put it in the Job Description.
- Fill in the planner ahead of time. Strive for diversity on the platform each week (age, gender, ethnicity). Major roles (Preach, Lead and Pray) are ideally scheduled 3 months in advance.
- Most people with Platform Roles also have a number of other ways they serve, and some of them find the Platform a pressure role that takes more emotional energy. Schedule people early and try to get a feel for their capacity. Use the Multi-Week Schedule to get a feel for their overall volunteering load.
- Interns have specific agreements for the number of times they preach and lead that need to take priority in scheduling. Female interns and trainees often dont get enough Platform time so make sure they are also prioritised for Prayer, Bible Reading and Interviews.
Sunday by Sunday Role
In Elvanto, someone will be designated to serve for each Sunday in this role. In your absence you will always appoint someone else to serve in this role.
- Be on site by 10am and contactable by phone from 9am, in order to liaise with your team and with the Music Team Leader and AV Team when things don’t go to plan (for example, tech issues).
- Bring your access pass – you may need to provide access to the office for people to get equipment or print stuff.
- Attend and run the Friday Touch-Base via Zoom. This meeting is attended by staff who organise Sunday logistics and is normally at 9am. If you need to shift the time let the staff know with plenty of notice. A staff member (probably Matt or Craig) will set up the zoom link in the agenda.
- Address last minute drop-outs and hiccups in the Platform Team.
- Unless you have an up front role, dont join the Platform Huddle at 10:15am but use this time while others are busy to look for people to be welcomed.
- Serving in this role does not preclude you from other roles provided you are available to respond to needs as required. (Roles such as Kids Church and AV desk where it is not easily to drop the role quickly are less suitable.)
- (In the Presbyterian Church, the minister – not the Session – is responsible for the order of service and that the different elements of the service are led by appropriate people. Your appointment to this role for a particular service is the delegation of these responsibilities of the minister.)
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