I’ve been slack lately on my freak of the week and for that I am sorry! We have some GREAT volunteers at The Stone and I need to get back in the swing of honoring them. Sunday I saw something that I knew I had to post about. Todd and Mandy Harrison are an awesome couple who started coming to the The Stone a year and a half ago after chilling on church for a few years. Instantly I liked them! The love rock music so that was enough for me! On top of liking music they might be some of the funniest people I have ever been around. I also had the honor of baptizing both of them this year.

Anyway, Todd has been serving in our church since they started coming and this last week he came in after working 18 straight hours!!!!!! That is awesome! It would also explain why he was sleeping at the lighting board. I love the commitment of our volunteers and they ARE why RSC happens every week! Todd was leading the way this week! 18 hours of work and straight to church! Amazing! Todd I know you were wore out but thank you for your part in making church happen every week!

When you see Todd this Sunday let him know how much he rocks!

Pete has been attending The Stone since our first service.  To say he is a freak, would be an understatement.  For the first 24 months of our church, Pete literally built and fixed EVERYTHING you saw at Ridge Stone Church.  Our first Christmas Eve he literally worked 30 straight hours trying to build what we had dreamed up.

He as set-up every week at 5 and acts as our punch out guy.  If anything breaks, he fixes it and he always figures out a way to fix whatever is broken.

After our first service his wife, Jennifer emailed us saying Peter could help build a stair we needed built and we used and abused him ever since. :)  To go along with all he does, his awesome wife sings in the band, they are active in a Home Team, and they have invited a ton of people to the church that are vital in making church happen every week.

When you see Peter Sunday let him know how much you appreciate all he does to make RSC happen every week…and trust me, we would be hard pressed to happen without him.

About a month into the planting of Ridge Stone Church, Tyson and Lori Swann walked through our doors and they have been here ever since. They are as sold out to the vision of RSC as anyone. They bring as many friends to RSC as anyone. They serve as much as anyone.

Tyson started his own company years ago that has become VERY successful and for me personally I have learned a ton about leadership from him. There have been several times I have had lunch with him to pick his brain on leadership issues. Since about the day they started coming, Tyson has worked in our 2 year old room in Tiny Town. The kids LOVE him and flock to him when he walks in. Tyson is also one of the most generous people I have ever met. There have been a couple of big purchases for the church he made himself and just last week he installed hearing and air in The Warehouse where our youth meet.

Lori has also served in Tiny Town since they arrived. She is never on time but she serves. On top of serving in Tiny Town, Lori has the entire history of RSC on film. She is a photographer and snaps pictures of everything you see at RSC. If you have seen a photo of RSC, she took it. It is awesome to have that history on film.

RSC is a better place because of the Swann Family. When you see them Sunday let them know you think they rock!

Chris and Karen have been coming to The Stone for almost a year now and they have been a God send. When they first came I figured we would butt heads and NOTHING could be further from the truth. They are as sold out to our vision as anyone I have been around.

To say they go above and beyond the call of duty would be an understatement. Karen designs EVERY THING you see at the church. Every graphic, every slide, every sign, she designed it. She also just did the redo of our webpage. On top of that she is there almost every week around 6 to simply do whatever is needed.

Chris helps Karen with all she does, in the past he has trouble shooted anything techincial we do and this week came on staff part-time as our Tech Director to put systems in place for when we hire someone to take that role. He is a systems guy and he is going to take a huge load of Tim and Amy in the creative area.

I honestly believe one of the reasons RSC has went to the next level is because God sent them here. On top of what they do for us, they also run a little company I push a lot called o2graphicdesign. They also are starting a church though I am doing all I can to convince them to stay here.

When you see them Sunday (they will be ones who look just like the above picture) tell them how much you appreciate all they do!

Posting the Freak of the Week early this week because I will be way tired tomorrow and won’t do it.

Gene and Rhonda have been attending The Stone since around last Easter and lately they have just stepped it up big time. They are hosting a Home Team, Gene serves on our Set-up and Tear-down crew and Rhonda has taken on the task of making sure that every room in Tiny Town is stocked with supplies every week! They have locked in like few others.

On top of that Gene owns a helicopter and we used and abused it this last week filming some video for our upcoming Easter promos and Easter day. He got sick of driving into Atlanta for work so he bought a helicopter to get him there quicker. That is very pimp.

He took the entire afternoon on Tuesday and got all the footage we needed and never complained. Very cool.

When you see Gene and Rhonda this week let them know you think they rock!

I don’t have a picture but everyone who went to the Unleash Conference yesterday is this weeks Freak Of The Week!!!  You guys are awesome!!!  You took off work, left the church at 5:30 in the morning and headed a church conference just because we asked you to do it!

The e-mails I have gotten from you guys today have literally rocked my world.  RSC will never be the same again because you 40 people have had your vision expanded and now have seen what is possible.

Thank you and I can’t wait to see what God does through all of you!

Alan Richards come to The Stone a year and a half ago during our series called Desperate Sex Lives.  I guess he needed what we were talking about because he has been around ever since. :)  About a month later he played drums for us and has played ever since.  He truly is a freak for RSC.  One of the most generous people you have ever met, he puts a ton of time in playing drums for us and putting up with Tim. :)  Plus he has a double bass with the RSC logo so I think that is cool.

He also has the most sold out family I have ever met.  His wife Laura and his two teenagers are there EVERY week EARLY setting up the lobby and working the resource table.  His kids outwork most of our adults.

This week when you see them let them know how awesome you think they are!

After walking in the office this morning it wasn’t hard to decide who the freak of the week was this week!! I got to the office this morning to find Evan sleeping on some cushions on the floor of Tim’s office.

Turns out he wrecked his jeep Wednesday and had some pick him up for practice and Tim couldn’t get him back to his apartment in Buckhead to this morning. So he stayed at the office and went to the warehouse and recorded some music until about 5 this morning and then finally fell asleep on the floor. I felt sorry for the bum so I took him to breakfast.

Evan has been playing guitar for us since about 3 months into the church when he was not the best around. Now I put him up against any guitar player around. He is sold out to the vision of RSC and even though he moved to Buckhead for college he plays nearly every week for us. When Tim is not around he leads worship.

He is so sold out to reaching unchurched people and so sold out to our vision that you can’t help but love him. He literally has grown up before our eyes since we started the church.

He is also the favorite of all our teenager girls for some reason.

When you see Evan this week let him know you appreciate how much work he does to volunteer to make RSC happen every week!!!

Here is what I found as walked in the office this morning:

Chris Garcia is this week’s freak of the week. For those of you who don’t know Chris, he runs our middle school and high school ministries. If he keeps it up he will probably be on staff by the end of the year so I had to name him the freak of the week while he was still volunteering.

Chris has caused me more headaches and more frustration then just about anyone BUT he has taken his lumps and butt chewings and EVERY time he learns and grows. He is doing a GREAT job with the youth. He has the two Sunday night youth services rocking and rolling and the kids love him. Chris works 40 plus hours a week on third shift then comes into the office several times a week. He is the man!!!!

Right now, Chris in in WV with about 40 teenagers on our youth ski trip. He is doing all the teaching and I hear he is doing a great job. On top of all that he also runs the media and sound in our children’s area on Sunday mornings. We work him to death.

Besides that he is getting married to my assistant. How he pulled that off none of us know!!!

Chris is doing a GREAT job and if you see him Sunday make sure you let him know.

One more thing…. Chris MIGHT be the most hairy person I have ever met. Seriously since he arrived in WV there have been news reports of abominable snowmen sightings. What they don’t know is it isn’t the abominable snowman, it is simply Chris Garcia.

I know I said the freak of the week would be a way to highlight our volunteers who knock it out of the park every week but this week I want to give a shout out to our staff.  It is a awesome feeling to know you can go out of town for a week and KNOW that everything is being handled and done with excellence.

Ridge Stone, you are so blessed to have such an awesome staff.  I love working with them.  I trust them.  They get the vision.  They are sold out for RSC.  They are sold out to me.  They are sold out for you.

Tim, Preston, Malcolm, Amy, Cheri, Taylor, and Chris, you guys rock!!!!!