Commitment at The Crossing

There has been some discussion of late how and why we have commitment levels for service at The Crossing. Let me try to explain what was hammered out by God in my basement during the first six months of the ministry . We believed that God could draw people to Himself by more than just a Sunday morning worship service. For that reason, we designed a process where people could participate in what we are doing at the Crossing at every level of commitment. Here is how they are designed.
There levels are from lower commitment to higher level and are as follows.

Participant - A person who volunteers for a single time for any inreach/outreach event by The Crossing
Involvement - A person who commits to a more than a single event participation.
Connection - A person who unites with the church through a covenant relationship
Service - A person who is backed by the Crossing as they seek to minister in a specific ministry on a regular basis
Partnership - A person who is following their calling for ministry and is supported by the Crossing in that ministry
Commission - A person who is called to full time ministry and is sent by The Crossing to fulfill that ministry

Here is an example of these commitment level's work. Let's say The Crossing decides to hold a concert at the mall where we meet. Glen shows up before the concert and asks if he can help set up chairs at the concert. Glen is now at the lowest level of commitment. He is a participant. If Glen decides to set up chairs at every concert, he now moves to the next level of commitment. He is involved. During the the third concert Glen, gives his life to Christ, gets baptized and covenants with the church two months later. He now is at the next level of commitment. He is connected. During the next year's concert series, Glen decides that he now wants to run all the chair set up for the following season. Glen now is in a place of service and at that level of commitment. By the end of that year Glen believes that God is calling him to teach others how to set up their chairs at their events. At this point, The Crossing helps Glen bring his chair show to the road. Glen has moved to the next level of commitment. The level of partnership. The final stage of commitment is commission and by now Glen is clearly ready for a full time chair ministry. The Crossing sets up his commissioning to his full time chair ministry and now supports him as he seeks to fulfill God's ministry through him.

Why is this important? We use these levels for two reasons. First, it allows everyone to move through process at their own pace and time which keeps us from moving people into leadership to soon. It also makes everyone move into the process at an entry level position that enables the church to view these people as they mature toward deeper levels of commitment.
This process may not be for everyone but it seems to work well for us at the Crossing.