How Time Flies

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It looks like it has been a couple of years since this was updated. Time sure flies when you are retired...seriously. I have been much busier than when I was wasting my time working.

For the past several years I have:

1. Helped created the Ignite! Half-time ministry which motivates people to do something significant with the second half of their life...after retirement.
2. Operated lights at New Covenant Bible Church.
3. Led the team of recording operators that recorded the Sunday services.
4. Trained and served as a Stephen Minister, then became a facilitator, then coordinated the Supervision Groups, then served as a Stephen Minister Trainer, then led the Leadership Team.
    
5. Served as Board Chairman at His Hands Free Medical Clinic. I also wrote grants, which involved setting a strategic plan and developing a useful budget management system. I volunteered at several events, and served on the Fundraising, Grants, and Strategic Planning committees.
   
   During this time, we replaced the one part time staff with 5 part-time staff, tripled the physical size of the clinic, greatly increased the client contacts, added dental and healthy living clinics. We are debt free and have moved from an operating deficit to a surplus.
6. Served as bookkeeper for the Serve The City coalition of ministries and churches. I reconstructed the prior year finances, established a budget and a financial management system, and kept the checkbook and accounts.
    
7. I served as Chairman of the Deacon Board at New Covenant. Besides chairing the board meetings, I was active in preparing the annual budget, starting with chairing the Human Relations Advisory Council and setting the individual compensation levels and overall budget. This also involved negotiating group healthcare contracts. I chaired the Admin Committee, which is responsible for the overall management of the $4 million church budget. I was instrumental in establishing the Accounting Systems Update team which restructured the budget and monthly reporting processes. I was a member of the Strategic Planning Team and chaired the Phase One Expansion Team. During my tenure, we relocated to a $22 million facility.
    
8. I served on the Trekkers Adult Bible Fellowship Leadership Team in the "Missions Coordinator" role.

 One of the tenets of Half-time is that one should re-evaluate one's activities each year and cut the least important. Key criteria are impact, passion, commitment, and effort. As such, I have progressively eliminated items #1 through #4. In a couple of months, I will reach my term limits on item #5, but I will continue to help write grants.  I think my role as Serve The City bookkeeper will be reduced in the future as Charles moves on to other efforts. In June of 2014, I will reach the term limit on item #7. Item #8 remains, but in name only, as the leadership team has not met in over a year.

All this means that I am about to retire from retirement.