I have been interested in starting some sort of Christian outdoors program here in GA. I was wondering whom it is that I may contact to keep me from reinventing the wheel when it comes to organization.
I sent the following reply:
Brian,
Get a core group together who are like-minded and give them all jobs. Burnout is a real danger if you try to do too much by yourself. Everyone should know what your expectations are.
Keep it simple at first. Concentrate on one big event and do it right. Promote it to death. After you have a successful event under your belt word will spread and you can expand your calendar.
Avoid rescheduling events. It's better to cancel and try again later. Too much rescheduling and guys will get confused and lose interest.
Avoid too much business time at meetings. For a Club just starting up you'll need business time for bylaws, calendars, etc. However, most guys go to meetings at work and don't want to spend their leisure time at meetings. Concentrate on fun. We usually order pizza, shoot the bull, have a short business meeting (we started to have devotionals at meeting recently), and then watch a hunting or fishing video. Total time = 2 1/2 hours.
Evaluations are helpful (I have one on my Website). They let you know what you’re doing right and wrong.
Have fun! One of the reasons that we formed FCS was to show the
world that Christian men could "let their hair down" and have fun.
May the Lord bless your endeavor.
Randy