broken heart manifesto: entry 01

my friend thomas has posted the brokenheartmanifesto and i think it's really, really great.

in light of my decision to not just try to follow his efforts but instead joining in as a signatory, here's my first offering:

tonight was the last night of my 2 youth groups' "summer park nights" at the field of the local elementary school. a good turnout for us this summer (7 kids + me = a decent game of kickball); one freshman boy was having his birthday party tonight, so he invited his friends to come to the park first. brilliant!

while we threw around a football waiting for others to arrive, a group of skateboarders showed up at the other end of the park. there were at least 5 or 6 guys, all high school age. i noticed they had a few frisbees and a football (we have played ultimate a few times this summer), so i suggested we should maybe see if they wanted to join in.

everyone kind of stuttered and stammered. i was a bit surprised how fearful they seemed. nobody thought it was a good idea to approach this crowd. i let it lie, and we started our game.

i asked the group 2 more times while we played. the other kids had descended the hill to the opposite side of the long playing field and were casually tossing a football and their frisbees. still, my crew did not want to invite them over. one girl said, "i know it would be the very christian thing to do." but even with that realization the answer was still, "no." a few of my kids had overheard someone saying something about stolen cigarettes, and they also seemed to think it was a crowd that i could walk up to and ask for some weed.

part of me wishes i had made the decision as the youth group leader to be an example and walk over and invite the other group to join us. another part of me wants to respect where my kids are at and find some way to make this a teachable moment without causing them too much anxiety.

so much for "no one else will love for me."

suggestions?

technorati tags
broken heart manifesto, bhmt04

Be the Change

technorati tags
abolitionist, youth ministry, zach hunter

Zach Hunter, author of Be the Change: Your Guide to Freeing Slaves and Changing the World was featured on ABC's Good Morning America this morning. You can catch the 5-minute clip here.

My 2 youth groups are meeting on Thurday nights to read this book together and discuss it. A Starbucks recently opened in Clarks Summit (the first coffee shop in that community open past 7 p.m.), so we're meeting there for our book group. The original idea was for it to be a Lenten book study and to do at least 2 chapters a week, but we're getting a lot out of reading the chapters out loud together and taking time to thoughtfully discuss them. So, more than likely, we'll be reading this book well past Easter. The kids say they're fine with that; they'd rather slow down, have us take our time, and really dig in.

If you think a book written by a 15 year-old kid based on his efforts to end modern-day slavery is too specific for you or your youth group, think again. While Zach does share about his own story, the book is organized around chapter themes like "Inspiration," "Community," and "Courage," to name just a few. The main emphasis so far seems to be to write about and encourage kids his own age to find something they are passionate about and to let them know they can do things to change the world.

Not bad for a 9th grader, eh? I'm no paid lackey for Youth Specialties, but I've found the best prices for this book there. If you take a look around, you'll find discounts on 5- and 10-packs of the book. I didn't find those deals during my initial order and I think I overpaid, but you'll get 25% off of the retail price if you order the 10-pack (single copies are 15% off the retail price currently). I ordered 10 copies to start, and put in another order of 10 this past week because the kids are so interested!

30 Hour Famine Weekend

technorati tags
30 hour famine, hunger, poverty, world vision, youth ministry

Just finished doing the 30 Hour Famine with my 2 youth groups. I'm so very proud of their efforts this weekend. They did a great job fundraising as a group and they were also very attentive throughout the day today as we discussed issues of faith, mission, justice, and charity.

Kudos to the 2 churches I work for; they took a chance and allowed us to throw a benefit concert at a local multi-purpose venue. We had well over 300 students show up to rock, 5 bands that tore it up for them, and ended the night taking in nearly $1800 for World Vision's hunger-relief programs throughout the world.

Amazing what a group of 12 kids can pull off, eh?

Conversion and the "Sinner's Prayer"

technorati tags
conversion, evangelism, mike king, youth ministry

Mike King, author of Presence-Centered Youth Ministry (one of my recent reads, and highly recommended!), recently pointed towards an article at Christianity Today titled "Jesus and the Sinner's Prayer," written by David P. Gushee. It took me a day or so to get around to reading it, but since I've been doing some thinking and scribbling (or typing, as it is) about evangelism and conversion lately, I made a point to read it. And there's some good stuff here. I don't agree with everything in the article, but it gives some Scriptural voice to how I've been thinking about belief, salvation, conversion, evangelism, etc. lately. It isn't a recent thought or topic for me; instead, I'm finding myself getting engaged with the topic directly and it feels good. Kind of like stretching the ol' theological legs.

Here are some clips from the article:

Is it permissible to reopen the question of salvation? If we do, how will Jesus' teachings stand up to our inherited traditions? ... In reading through Luke, I had discovered that twice (10:25, 18:18) Jesus is asked, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" ... [Jesus] offered a fourfold answer: love God with all that you are, love your neighbor (like the Samaritan loved his neighbor), do God's will by obeying his moral commands, and be willing, if he asks, to drop everything and leave it behind in order to follow him ... Jesus never taught easy believism. Whether he was telling the rich young ruler to sell all and follow him or telling a miracle-hungry crowd near Capernaum that to do the work of God was, yes, to believe on him (John 6:28-29), he called people to abandon their own agenda and trust him radically. Radical trust calls for both belief and action...

For clarification, the two passages in Luke are the lawyer questioning Jesus about what it takes to inherit eternal life and the rich young ruler asking the same question.

So, some questions: how does this interact with the use of the "Sinner's Prayer" and the evangelical understanding that all one must do is "believe on Jesus" to be saved? Many people claim (and I believe them) that they have an over-the-top, incredible, one-time conversion experience that causes them to believe, repent, and "get saved." But what comes next? And is that the real question - have you said the Sinner's Prayer and accepted Christ into your heart? The Gospels seem to be saying that's not the only question.

Comments would be great - perhaps we can get a decent discussion going!

Evangelism: a Call to Egocentric Conversion?

technorati tags
conversion, evangelism, jim wallis

From the inward/outward site: a quote from The Call to Conversion by Jim Wallis.

The gospel message has been molded to suit an increasingly narcissistic culture. Conversion is proclaimed as the road to self-realization…. Modern conversion brings Jesus into our lives rather than bringing us into his. We are told Jesus is here to help us to do better that which we are already doing. Jesus doesn’t change our lives, he improves them. Conversion is just for ourselves, not for the world. We ask how Jesus can fulfill our lives, not how we might serve his kingdom.

If you're looking for some spriritual wisdom each day, consider using the inward/outward RSS feed. It is a ministry of D.C.'s Church of the Saviour.

Jeremy Del Rio - Activism

technorati tags
activism, jeremy del rio, shift conference, youth ministry

God took on flesh and moved into the neighborhood

challenge in Isaiah to perceive the new thing God is doing

"young people are closer to God's heart than anyone else" - defends this by quoting the "become like little children" verse

we've bought the lie that young people are the future. there is some truth in that, b/c children do have A future; but God trusts 13 year old david, a teenage virgin to birth and mother Jesus, a teenage esther is a "beauty contest winner" who helps save her people.

re-frames the story of Jesus into that of a teen who as an immigrant moves into a community...develops the whole story.
**my thoughts - interesting way to push me into how i can engage story, something we've been thinking through. why not write the story ourselves for our community? re-create, re-member the jesus story**

Luke 10 - v. 25, expert in the Law stood up to test Jesus. begins w/ a question - what must one do to inherit eternal life? Jesus doesn't respond w/a "sinner's prayer;" he returns the question: what does the Law say, and the lawyer says we must love god w/ heart soul mind and self, and love neighbor; Jesus says he is correct and do this; but he adds a twist, and says to love your neighbor as yourself. lawyer asks, who then is my neighbor (looking to justify himself); Jesus replies with - you guessed it - a STORY: the good Samaritan story.

"justice is more than compassion" - compassion would have been to give the guy a glass of water and leave him there; justice is the Samaritan picking up the guy, caring for his wounds, putting him on his ride, and prepaying his medical bills.

end of Isaiah 61: "I the Lord love justice"

justice is about righting wrongs; you give your life to right the wrong.

Mark Matlock - Technology

technorati tags
mark matlock, shift conference, technology, youth ministry

as americans we love tech, we form bonds & relationships about/around tech. we have come to depend on tech devices.
have we been using tech to address the right problems?

launched planetwisdom.com 12 years ago.

can't just give us a list of the latest tools, websites, etc. b/c they change at such a rapid rate. but wants to get to the heart of the use of tech. cultural exegesis of tech. tech is not morally neutral b/c culture is not culturally neutral.
**connection interrupted**

employers of 50 frustrated w/ employees under 30. when 5 o'clock hits, they're off. vp's choosing daughter's recital over a late-night last minute session.

PS3 vs. Nintendo Wii - bigger better system and graphics; but nintendo has brought other generations into the gaming, brought physical activity into it.

Mac vs. PC - people don't care about computers, they care about living their life and sharing it.

5 Values
1) shift in IDENTITY - w/ mass production, Wal-Martization, there has been a push against it, against cookie-cutterness. people want to create things. it's beyond doilies, now there are microchips and servers. use of YouTube to share who they are and what they create.
kids looking for a place to be who they are w/out having to wear a mask, who they are on the inside; they aren't finding it in the church. mark likes to see it, loves how MySpace brings out the real student, wants to take part in their struggles. if only they could be as real in church as they are on MySpace.
2) shift in CONNECTION - believes connections no longer have to be physical. real connections can be made online. adults use internet to maintain existing relationships, where as kids do that AND use it to form new relationships. story of a 4-year online relationship w/an atheist youth in the UK who came to believe, when he traveled here and they met, it was not as if meeting for the first time.
25% of born-again kids say they've had an experience online that is worship to them.
3) shift in understanding of RISK - an outdated concept, if you are teaching kids the danger of strangers. b/c once they've met once, they're no longer strangers. teach kids to look for strange behavior and alert others.
4) shift in making space for what MATTERS MOST - blew over this to get to the last one b/c of time
5) shift in WHO WE CAN CONNECT WITH - those on the margins can seek out others to connect with. online 24-hour prayer vigils. "where 2 or more can gather." thinking diff'ly about the body of X - not just the local community, it is a global body. beyond america. maybe we need the churches in the world more than they need us.
shift in mission trip thinking - from taking something to them to realizing that they have something that we need and we receive it when we meet them.

it's a DESIRE TO CONNECT, to be in relationship with others.
why shouldn't the church be the "killer app?"

Donald Miller - Evangelism

technorati tags
donald miller, evangelism, shift conference, youth ministry

Evangelism - Donald Miller

"in one part this is ministry, and in another it's penance"

mystical element to the experience of Jesus that is hard to explain

how has XNY hurt you (recent survey on college campus)?
:: crusades (muslim v. XN, not billy graham)
:: religious TV (these people are goofy; say shocking/mean things, often about oppressed groups of people)

hesitancy to talk about XNY b/c of its perception in the world

feels normal to talk about XNY when it's "just us," but it gets weird when others join in

when a culture becomes so insular that it only interacts with itself, it becomes weird and goofy (acknowledges biblical notion of not being of the world). but the gospel message is to go out into the world and often not come back alive. why do we try to protect and insulate ourselves and our kids so that we're not influenced/taken over by them?

what's the best movie you saw this last year?
blood diamond, the prestige, little miss sunshine, eragon, happy feet...

what is your favorite aspect of the nicene creed? (laughter)

why are we so quick to want to talk to narrative, to story...but we don't really get interested (people are often threatened) by the propositional truth of creeds, belief, etc.

jesus tells story after story after story after story...there are propositions (james), but they are encompassed by narrative.

jesus seems fulfilled just to tell the story

if we went to see Rocky, and on the way home, i said, hey guys, can we pull over a second. what do you think was the meaning behind Rocky? what was the point? (laughter)

human heart DESIRES story. STORY SPEAKS FOR ITSELF.

story tells us what to live for, what to die for, what a hero does, what a villain is...

culture is hungering for a story, and we're not telling ours very well.

teens want to live inside a great story, they want to play a role. (story of dad/daughter clashing over her lifestyle (goth, blah blah); dad at wits end; donald challenges him w/ this idea; dad comes home later with a challenge for his family: an orphanage needs built in mexico and if we don't do it, xxx # kids are going to be uneducated, probably end up in abusive relationships, etc.; kids catch on (dad, i could use my myspace to try to get my friends to held; daughter recognizes her dad's call for her to be a hero...))

a great story has Ambition, Conflict (God loves conflict, he embraces conflict), Protagonist (if protagonist dies, that cause may die, too)

Paul in Acts 17 goes out and meets "at their meeting place" to discuss...

assumption of church marketing is that it's a corporation; "be profitable for the Kingdom of God." fear of being fired.
***connection interrupted***

Paul acknowledges the religious interest of the Athenian community; notices the shrine marked to "the god nobody knows." takes the time to observe the culture and see how his story can speak into it. sees the longing for a god the people can be near, touch, etc. and sees how the people are being taken advantage of by those running concrete shrines, people paying and running errands to have the chance to come close to god. and paul says God is near...

kids see 3000 commercial messages everyday. we need to tell a story other than, "attain what you can to be comfortable and avoid conflict. so go out and earn and spend..."; acknowledge what is positive in culture and name that which is not.

*book by Robert McKee about stories*

QUESTIONS from the "war room" (i'm not really happy with this label!):
is the loss of story universal? do other religions use them better than us?
:: not a universal thing; it's an american thing (i'd say a western thing)
:: heart doesn't respond to lists; yes, other religions use stories b/c they work on the heart.
:: story in some ways has been overrun in the church by some sort of american story (example of church that decides to encourage members not to run up christmas gift debt, published a 60-page catalog of "make your own gift on the cheap" ideas, the church gave instead of buying (1500 person church), gave $100,000 for well-drilling in Africa, no christmas pageant, etc.)

Shift! Conference

technorati tags
shift conference, youth ministry

I've been invited to live-blog via internet stream some of the sessions of Willow Creek's Shift! Conference. I'll probably be posting my notes here, too, but the conference blog (which features other live-bloggers) can be found at shiftnow.typepad.com. Check it out and follow along.

Evangelism: A Definition

technorati tags
evangelism, faithful practices, youth ministry

I pulled the following defintion out of my notes from the Evangelism workshop at last weekends Faithful Practices Conference (lack of grammar due to the note-taking quality!):

Evangelism is a set of intentional activities governed by the goal of initiating people into the body of Christ.

Why [evangelize]? Living life the way God intended it to be, to experience here and now the most of the kingdom of heaven.

Okay, so, what do you think? One of the parts of this definition that I like is that it does more than speak of evangelism as an effort towards a one-time event. There is still a quality of some sort of conversion experience in the language, but it goes beyond that, which I think is important. For many, there is no one-time, get on your knees and tearfully ask Christ to be your Savior. Instead, many people experience a gradual conversion (I would say we are CONSTANTLY on the path of conversion, that it is never a completed process). There is communal language in this definition; the initiation is a personal thing but it happens IN THE CONTEXT OF COMMUNITY - very important.

Also, and this it something I have to really think on and pray about, is the idea that "evangelism is a set of intentional activities." I definitely would self-identify as one who hopes that the way I live is a witness to the love of God and thus becomes an instrument of evangelism. But I think that I need to think through what it means to be intentional about a goal of inititiating people into the body of Christ.

On Evangelism

technorati tags
evangelism, faithful practices, youth ministry

From today's SojoMail, and in relation to the Evangelism Workshop from the Faithful Practices Conference:

In Pasadena, each of the "five families" – Evangelical/Pentecostal, Roman Catholic, Racial/Ethnic, Historic Protestant, and Orthodox – each shared their interpretation of Jesus' "mission statement" in Luke 4:18, and asked, "Is Jesus’ proclamation our proclamation?"

One of the interesting "problems" in the Evangelism Workshop was that nobody could/felt comfortable defining evangelism (yet many think it is important to do!). Some, of course, talk about getting people to "make a decision for Christ;" others focused on training believers to be disciples whose lives reflect and, more so, enflesh the love and grace of God for the whole world. It is encouraging to me to see representatives from nearly every strain of (American) Christianity coming together to proclaim the Gospel message - and making a commitment to thinking about evangelism beyond a simplistic, one-dimensional effort to "get people saved."

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. (Christ, while in his hometown, reading from the prophet Isaiah as recorded in Luke 4:18-19, for those who need the reference. This is the next story after Christ's fast and temptation in the desert and the beginning of his public ministry in Luke.)

Conference Notes - Quick Links

technorati tags
faithful practices, youth ministry

I am home and somewhat recovered from the trip to Nashville over the weekend. More of my own thoughts to come over the next week on specific topics we covered (I was particularly impressed w/ Kenda Creasy Dean's lecture and Andy Root's 2 sessions on Relational/Incarnational Ministry).

Mark DeVries from Youth Ministry Architects on DEVELOPING LEADERS/VOLUNTEERS (Workshop I)

Dietrich Kirk, executive director of Center for Youth Ministry Training, on EVANGELISM (Workshop II)

Gonzalo Duarte of Companero Inc spoke briefly about his SERVICE LEARNING/MISSION TRIP AGENCY (brief interlude)

Lesleigh Carmichael on WITNESS/TESTIMONY (Workshop III)

Kenda Creasy Dean spoke on THE EMPIRE STRIKES OUT, touching on the end of Christendom, missiology, translation, reframing... (Lecture I)

Kenda Creasy Dean on CLOUD OF WITNESSES (Worship Message from Hebrews 12)

Dietrich Kirk on DISCIPLESHIP/PLANNING (Workshop IV)

Andy Root on RELATIONAL/INCARNATIONAL MINISTRY (Lecture II)

Andy Root on RELATIONSHIPS AND YOUTH MINISTRY (Workshop V)

Workshop 5: Relationships and Youth Ministry

technorati tags
faithful practices, youth ministry

Andy Root - Relationships and Youth Ministry

"relationships aren't about fixing, they're about being with" - parable of andy trying to fix his wife's problem when she's suffering, and she blows up and says don't you know i don't want a fix, i want you to just be with me...

why relationships at all? why are they significant in YM?
YouTube clip about NoLimit worship (NoLimit Youth Ministries)
-desire to be a part of kids' lives, and the desire of kids to have relationships w/ people

Crisis of relationship
-pre-industrial family encompassed basic needs (made/grew food), education, work, relatives, recreation (balls enclosed in the circle of a family
-industrial family, the balls fell apart and separated (dad gets up, goes to work, family has little idea what he's doing; kids go off to be educated at schools...); pluralization of life worlds
-split continues to happen. specialization continues to become finer and finer

field of cultural totality (change in each context, but each culture has them): family-economy-gov't-society-religion

family and religion have shrunk to small pieces of the pie, where the economy and society have grown greatly; this creates crises of relationship

the high school is actually not that old...only since after the great depression that it became the norm. institutionalizing children in a structure - the high school. meant 2 broad things...
1)young people remained in their parents' homes much longer
2)yet they spent fewer meaningful hours with their parents

crisis of relationality arrived in the mid-20th century, led to...
-backlash to technological advance (every advance comes w/ a backlash - higher pollution...)
-technical rationality (determinations of how people are treated made by the bottom line...filters into relationships - why stay married to you, it doesn't benefit me; why should i stay in this church...?)
video clip from the office (michael giving his presentation to corporate on "the faces of scranton")

this led to an emphasis on The Self-Chosen relationship
-up to the individual to negotiate all relationships (no longer the family or tradition or location)
when a kid walks into the doors of a hs, and sees a sea of people, how does he determine what relationships to have?
-only in a modernized world is relational interconnection optional and open to ??

how do you choose?
-tradition/family no help
-"cool" vs. "uncool" (consumerism plays a part, but it's largely b/c of intimacy): label to say "you're safe to develop a relationship with"
-indian caste system and american h.s. operate in exactly the same way (milner reference "freaks, geeks, and cool kids")
-jim rayburn (founder of Young Life) understood this; decided to do YM by going INTO the high school. by becoming friends, them trusting him, they would come to his events. he had to become "cool." organization's strategy was to go into the HS and develop relationships w/ the "cool" kids.

Relationship Focus
1) relational/incarnational ministry of personal influence
-using relationships as a means to an end
-relationship less important than the thing you're trying to achieve/get them to do
-focusing on the "third" thing
-the person isn't important, only their decision (will)
-the Incarnation was not about influence: jesus didn't come into the world to lead us into the safe barn; but instead about coming and sharing our place, suffering with us...
-the koinonia of the trinity is not built on influence: the father isn't trying to influence the son or the spirit to do this or that, but simply IS, in relationship
(video clip from A&E, steve discerning whether to enter seminary, is a college missionary...) (YouTude blip, green day's american idiot, empty relationships, leaves them alone, finding some comfort in all the wrong things, missing the peace that passes all understanding..."loving them into a responsive relationship" - why not just loving someone? - b&w video of kid doing all these activities usually needing 2 people but he's doing them alone...a ministry called Emmanuel?)

2) relational/incarnational ministry of PLACE-SHARING (bonhoeffer)
-means to stand in for; to be there
-to concern oneself for the other's full person (not about influencing)
ARE YOU BRAVE ENOUGH TO JUST STARE IT DOWN, the ugliest thing in someone's life; will suffering destroy you? or, will it connect your heart to someone? doesn't mean you say it's good.
-therefore it means to suffer with (whereas the conditional relationship means that you don't have to; or that i'll suffer with you if it then means you see i'm right)
-it's ethical (Christologically) - caring for the wholeness about their humanity; demands that you confront. all relationships demand judgment and confrontation, but judgment and confrontation cannot lead to relationships
-Incarnation is its fullest picture (the word became flesh and tented among us)
-the trinity is based on mutual giving love; being with and for (each person points away from itself and towards one of the other) (moltmann/volf, dance of three in one...)
video clip from "little miss sunshine" (when son finds out he is color blind)

personal influence compared to place sharing
"how" v. "who"
"programmer" v. "theologian" (dancer)
"for cultural conflict" v. "narrative of the incarnate, crucified, and resurrected"

What would this look like, how would this be practiced?
The Shape of Faithful Place-Sharing
-Open (identification) AND Closed (Differentiation): being able to be open, but to say stop, i am a human being, you will not exploit my brokenness (ref. to good will hunting, will trying to break down robin williams's character in their first session); recognition that one can not be categorized, boxed in, etc.
-Barrier (presence demands confrontation/judgment)
-Correspondence w/ Reality: jesus christ has become reality (jesus christ is in the world); suffering w/ and yet confessing that...
-Mutuality in Freedom: freedom is always freedom FOR, not freedom from (Christological bondage?)

As a paid YD, can't be a place-sharer w/ all the kids. it is an invitation to the congregation to be place-sharers with the kids. a bridge btwn the kids and adults; point back to the church, the family as saying, "you are the ones who ought to be in relationship w/ these kids"

Lecture 2: Relational/Incarnational Ministry

technorati tags
faithful practices, youth ministry

Andy Root - Examining the Practice of Relational/Incarnational (R/I) Youth Ministry

"freaks, geaks, and ?cool kids?" book
american evangelicalism (book title), christian smith
: sub-cultural identity theory - if a religious group can draw a very thick set of boundaries of who's in and out, pluralism actually helps define them even better
: evangelical tool-kit - culture is an incredibly complex thing; varied; groups in a culture develop tools and pass them to each other in how to react to situations. the tools set the actions one will take.
:personal influence relationalism - by being personally involved w/someone they found they (conserv. evangelicals) could get someone to make a decision. "always on stage."
:free-will individualism
:anti-structuralism

divded by faith (book title), ?emerson? - history of last 10 years, falling apart of racial tension.

andy's study: how this tool kit was affecting YM
how evang YM understood relationships
goal not an air-tight sample but to gather snapshots
sample provided by Fuller's Center for study of Youth and Family Ministry (requested 8 best examples of relational ministries, interviewed 5) they were diverse in size, denomination, etc.

Reporting Findings
YM @ Bethel Church (AOG, 500 people, 40-50 kids, San Gabriel Valley, large Hispanic and Asian family, many 1st move after being able to get out of east LA) YD is Gary, no seminary, 10-15 yr vet.
goal for R/I: that you come to know Christ as personal Savior. the things i do must have that as their focal point. impact lives for eternity. to make sure you make heaven your home, not there by the skin of your teeth.
-understanding of culture (sees signs of end times in culture); culture is hostile; need to get kids out of this world
-peer relationships: lots of pressure; try to give a flyer about XNY and they'll rip it up in your face. they're all spec. against XNY, they'll accept other religion, they'll say i'm a nazi and communist. XNs can't change content in movies, so maybe we just have to be a better, good alternative people; make sure you aren't changing when engaging w/ the bad, change them to the good and don't be affected.

YM @ Ocean Front Presby. Church (on the shore, upscale boutiques and shops, OC) YD is Sam, has M.Div, trained at Fuller, purpose-driven. relationships for modeling; culture kind of hostile. does R/I b/c he has to model things w/ them, so that his teaching isn't just ear candy. uses they/them (us/them) language. let the kids see my pain, that is part of my R/I. not being fake. cried in front of them. let them see it so they can say, yeah, i am, too. momentarily about sharing suffering rather than solely for influence.
kids say outside of the group, everyone else at school are not XN. some are quasi-XN. some go to Mass but they don't have the same kind of rel. w/ God we do. relationships w/ them are diff't. don't actually talk to them about their faith, but they're life is an example enough. INCREDIBLE AVERSION TO SPEAKING OR TALKING ABOUT THEIR FAITH W/ NON-CHRISTIANS. only way to express their faith is alt. example (not drinking). very US/THEM.

YM @ Foothill Cong. Church (foothills of Sierra Madre mtns; weird 50's feel; 50-60 kids on Wed. nights)
YD is Randy; part of Young Life in past; has ready every YM book known to man and likes to mention them; programs don't draw or keep, only relationships do; culture is toxic but Europe is worse; jesus is example, became one of us to make sure we went the right way.
culture is a place where you're constantly assaulted;
for randy, service was key. had to have service. parable: when people go to amusement park and leave, they're miserable after they leave, cuz it was all about them. but when you serve, it's not about you, you leave and are exhausted but you had fun and you feel good. (service seems to be much about feeling good about oneself). worship is about how i feel.

YM @ Washington Ave. Cong. Church (right in Pasadena, off the ramp off 110 freeway; megachurch, 4000 worship/week; mainly young professionals (wealthy and white), but located blocks away from Pasadena's homeless and pah-handlers and low-income Afr. Amer. and hispanic 'hoods)
YD is James; rel. serve to help kids take faith more seriously; culture is hostile but we must dialogue w/it; jesus went deeper with a few, not the masses; 12 and 3 perspective of Campus Crusade (12 apostles, 3 very close apostles); they've created spaces on wed. for conversation, sitting together, playing board games together, w/ motiv. of people just having conversations; actually wants to become more a neighborhood place, would have to become bilingual, change hiring practices; dream is that these kids are in each other's weddings...you know that there is no more breakdown btwn urban and suburban (no conversation about gang violence stopping; education improving; etc....all about befriending the 'hood, but the 'hood wants systematic change)

YM @ Joyful Noise Church (san dimas; genX congregation, has now started to age (young family congregation), located next to HS, lots of green space)
YD is Matt; very talented; relationships provide modeling, formation: help students assimilate into the larger church body (bridge towards getting kids into the congregation; means to an end still); culture hostile but is in dialogue w/ it; can't find theological justif. but there are sociological ones

Analysis:
-culture is the reason for doing R/I (leadership dev., educational authenticity, legitimize programs and teaching; congregational assimilation)

Getting the Problem in View (that it's culture and not theology)
-***more attent. to cultural conflict than to the continuing ministry of God in the world***
-R/I is constructed from the tools of Evangelical engagement (and mainlines have gradually and unknowingly adopted the toolkit)
-most prominent tool is relationalism

Advantages
-richer social capital (more adults willing to part. in their life...social networking; but that's not necessarily discipleship)
-all adolescents were involved in worship and service
-but this came w/ rigid in-group/out-group labeling
-this risks making relatinonships about personal influence; worship about indiv. emotional feelings; mission about volunteeristic service
-this is all a problem b/c it's thin theology

Ross Langmead's 3-Fold understanding of Incarnational Mission
1)following Jesus as the pattern for mission,
2)participating in Christ's risen presence as the power for mission, and
3)joining in god's cosmic mission of enfleshment which is evident from the beginning of creation

Andy's research shows a conspicuous absence of 2 and 3

leads to Jesus being understood only as an example, so that relationships is only about where we get kids; not for suffering with them; and can lead to justification of us abandoning them b/c they're not coming along, rather than living and suffering with them.



why do we do it? b/c god is actually present when you are in relationship (there is something mysterious about this), not just b/c we're modeling jesus or b/c we're trying to move kids to do something.

Workshop 4: Discipleship

technorati tags
faithful practices, youth ministry

Dietrich Kirk - Creating a Discipleship Plan for Youth

in many churches, "programs" (SS, wed. night bible study, youth group) have started all looking like and being the same thing, and we wonder why kids aren't coming out to everything we're offering.

process for creating a discipleship plan (DP), encouraged to take back and do again w/ the local church (can't be from 1 or 2 people).

deech's bg is UMC; he thinks wesley has a right idea in sanctification (meet christ, then continually growing and maturing in grace).

DISCLAIMERS - the only person who can create/promote growth in a young person is the Holy Spirit. students grow at diff't rates (some 7th/8th ask the ??s you wish your seniors would). youth begin the discipleship processes at diff't times. a DP will encourage students to participate in what programs are meeting their needs/maturity level, not to be at every diff't programmed aspect. very few will leave our programs committed disciples.

what is dicipleship? (group responses)
process in growing in christ-likeness
christ centered relationship building plan for interaction, growth and learning for YMs and their youth
intentional process of walking side by side w/ someone as you lead them in the way of christ
leading by example; helping people reach toward fulfillment of the great commandment/commission; becoming christ in the world
apprenticeship (youth:mentor/master:christ as ult. master)

god doesn't always work in the same ways, but often in similar ways. referring to lesleigh's testify workshop:
Are there common points in our stories? (group responses)
Early stages: questioning; parent-forced faith; searching for answers; recognizing god's goodness; many kids are clueless (ignorant), even if they've "grown up" in church; FEAR; denial-of their need for faith; invitation; rebellion; non-christian/no commitment/non-believer
What's next (after an initiation/decision for christ/first taste...)? realization; education; assessment; exploring; questioning and doubt; lost our way/wandered from faith; conscious incompetence (realize something's there, but not sure what you're supposed to know about it) - knowing that you don't know; curiosity; passionate; excited; new stage; fear/timidity/intimidation/what next?/now what? (deech wrote a book called this); alienation; infancy/baby christian/just starting
Moved into the faith, grown, what's next? strong desire to seek; thinking; hungering; encouraging; experiencing things in a new way; god's love makes new; feel accepted as part of group/body of christ; growing; looking for a teacher/mentor; putting together the dots; experiences confirming knowledge; maybe it's god not coincidence; challenges; temptations; challenge to live it; excitement; energy; try to become a model and share what you've experienced; belonging to a community; fearing being the model;
How do we define coming to a place of maturity? it's not about me; understanding (Scriptures; role in the world); becomes lifestyle rather than some other part of their life; peace; ownership of process; self-discipline; servant leadership

Taking these stages/experiences/needs, moving to condensing this a bit and thinking about how to summarize/title some steps. Name the experiences for the stages that we might help facilitate.
Metaphors to help:
Doug Fields uses a baseball diamond. 1st base-beginning XN; 2nd base-taking on some missions; 3rd base-taking on some leadership; Home is servant leadership. Problem is that not everyone starts by going from 1st-2nd-3rd; some jump in at 2nd base, etc. Not very fluid.
Brentwood's metaphor is the River of Life (hand-out_. Five stages of faith:
1) Checking out the scene - aware of the church, have seen the programs, but don't know what it's about
2) Stepping in the water - dipping your toe in to see what it might be like; baptism would happen somewhere in here
3) Diving Deeper - seeking more, dive deeper into scripture, involved in youth group, involved in missions, starting to take ownership
4) Riding the Rapids -
5) Going Fishing - ready to come back in as leaders; navigators of the river
Suggestions have been that there is a point where many pull over for awhile, sit on the beach, don't move forward or back, etc. The river metaphor allows for that and other stages.

(group responses to naming the stages and IDing the programs that fit them)
Where are the holes? where the kids are more mature, there is less set, there is a void. (kenda's fleas in a jar example) as a whole, we've set the bar at a certain level but kids that get beyond that don't have much to go on to.

Creating the Programs to Meet the Needs
It's overwhelming to program for 4 or 5 diff't stages. But these programs don't have to be weekly programs. important part is that by IDing the stages, you can program better. ID the stage you're targetting and program for that rather than trying to program for everything at all events.
Utilize conference/diocesan/presbytery events as tools for specific stages. Know who might benefit.
As discipleship levels increase, the numbers of participants decrease, and that's OK.

How can we look at our programs, upcoming events...and fill the holes, program towards the a stage, etc.? (group responses)

Friday PM Worship - Hebrews 12

technorati tags
faithful practices, youth ministry

Message given by Kenda

wellsley tunnel of screams - bston marathon
hebrews 12:1-2, 14 (cloud of witnesses)
will it look like this as we run into that final stretch on the way into heaven? the cheering of the crowd is contagious. at the penn relays, the more elite runners didn't collapse, exhausted; they came back into the crowd and encouraged the rest on.

witness from greek martyria, witnesses in court. only sharing what had happened to them. early christians pick up the word.

evangelism came as natural to the early church as, hey, come to dinner; hey, go ahead, pet my puppy. it was organic and natural.
"one beggar telling another beggar where to get bread"

paul in hebrews uses witness not as a legal term but as a sports metaphor...those who have gone ahead come back to cheer on those yet to come. (clip from superbowl a few years ago, crowd in airport gradually begins applauding for a group of soldiers as they walk off the plane.)

since we're surrounding by such a crowd, we better strip down and get on with it. discipline, perseverance, self-denial. disciple, of course, comes from discipline. in the ancient world the runners ran naked; before the race they were rubbed down and massaged with oil. for practicality, aesthetics, and sheer joy for being able to run the race.

400m race in Barcelona, runner w/ torn hamstring helped to finish line by father.

suffer=allow to be overcome by love to give for another.

real purpose of cloud of witness is neither perserverance or perspiration, but closer to eric little's desc. in chariot of fire: race is being run on sunday, and this was against his understanding of sabbath. the OC allowed him to switch to a dff't race on a diff't day and won gold. but the OC didn't realize this wasn't the real "race" eric was running. (god made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast, and when i run, i feel his pleasure).

what if what god really needs for us to finish the race is god's pleasure? what is it about my ministry that allows me to feel god delight in me? if you haven't had room in your ministry to engage in this, make some room for it.

clear the path for the long distance runners so no one will trip and fall...b/c god wants you to feel god's delight in you.

Workshop 3: Witness

technorati tags
faithful practices, youth ministry

Lesleigh Carmichael - Witness

What comes to mind?
how we came to know the lord
gospel choirs
some do it silently (some wear t-shirts)
there are a variety of ways to do testimony.

we all have a story to tell, we need to tell our story, everyday we add a new chapter to the story of God and his people
sometimes our testimony may not agree, and that's OK - it happens in Scripture, too.

who are the characters in our stories? our editors, our writers...
we don't always choose our characters (david didn't choose goliath), and we need to not be afraid to name those characters we wouldn't choose.

the rest of the session we did 2 exercises: first, we created a list of characters in our individual story of faith (to this point in our life), describing them by name or description, and making a few quick notes about their impact. this was to be a tool to help develop our "testimony" as if writing it as a script or short story.

the second activity was to draw a timeline of our story, however we thought that ought to look. we each had a 6x6 inch piece of off-white canvas and a marker. some used words, some made charts and graphs (the engineers in the house), some used symbols, some had a fairly straight line, and others had spirals, or mountains and valleys. we then attached each individual piece to each others and ended up with a sort of banner or flag of testimonies.

a good exercise in finding ways to explore and express our own stories, and it's something that can translate over into work with youth (or adults, for that matter) quite well.

Thank You, Recap, Feedback Thus Far

technorati tags
faithful practices, youth ministry

First, I want to pause and say thanks to all who have been visiting the blog throughout the day. I know many of you are first-timers coming in from links I e-mailed or you saw others post for me. I hope you are finding some useful things. I know the posts are long and a bit dis-jointed, so let me recap where we've been so far today if you get antsy when having to scroll through long posts:

Mark DeVries from Youth Ministry Architects on DEVELOPING LEADERS/VOLUNTEERS (Workshop I)

Dietrich Kirk, executive director of Center for Youth Ministry Training, on EVANGELISM (Workshop II)

Gonzalo Duarte of Companero Inc spoke briefly about his SERVICE LEARNING/MISSION TRIP AGENCY (brief interlude)

Kenda Creasy Dean spoke on THE EMPIRE STRIKES OUT, touching on the end of Christendom, missiology, translation, reframing... (Lecture I)

If the long version of notes is too much, please bear with me. I'm finding I don't have much time to trim or just copy and paste highlights as we're moving along quickly. Let me know if you have any thoughts or suggestions. I'll be posting about a more hands-on workshop about TESTIMONY given by Lesleigh Carmichael of the CYMT later this evening (since it was hands-on, I wasn't able to type notes as we went along). I'll also likely have some notes from the evening worship, where Kenda is PREACHING.

Kenda Creasy Dean: Lecture 1, "The Empire Strikes Out"

technorati tags
faithful practices, youth ministry

Kenda Creasy Dean - Lecture 1: "The Empire Strikes Out"

Begins w/ a video parable "training fleas requires placing them in a closed glass jar. after 3 days, fleas will never jump higher than the height of the jar. their behavior is set. and their offspring will automatically do the same.
is this like our churches? yes, a lot of yesses (always done it this way, above our comfort zone, change is good - you first)

The Empire that Struck Out: Christendom. People think we're still functioning in this Empire that has struck out. Was always more about the emperor than it was about Christ. Reason to gather everyone around in the guise of a "Christian nation." Assumed everyone was; if you weren't, you were a social outcast.
We try to form XN young people into Christendom, into a jar that no longer exists.

Video clip 2: pied piper playing around 3 kids who are bored, apathetic, scratching their butts; get excited when the guy combusts (burns out for no good reason)

How do I keep them? How do I excite them for the best thing in life?
Faith as a product we dispense (youth pastor as Pez dispenser). Relic of Christendom. Theologically wrong.

If the church is going to be about anything other than training fleas to jump in the jar, then youth ministry must lead the way. Primary focus of church on Christ.
Church's original identity as a missionary movement. Reclaim our identity as a missional church.

National Study of Youth and Religion youthandreligion.org - 1st study in YM to reframe issues/problems in YM as the problems of the church (they're not just a problem w/ young people)
1) teenagers aren't hostile to religion (on the whole, benignly positive; not b/c they like XNY, but b/c they couldn't care less) - WHATEVERISM
2) teenagers' faith mirrors their parents' faith.
3) teens almost completely lack theological language (incredibly inarticulate about religion); least art. are mainline protestants; catholics slightly better; exceptions were mormons, conservative protestant, and black protestants
4) a sign. minority (40%) claim that religion is important to them and 8% say it makes a difference in their lives.
5) most teenagers find religion inconsequential. most teenagers adhere to moralistic therapeutic deism (MTD) as their unacknowledged religions creed. helps you do good, feel good, puts god in the background (the cosmic butler or guidance counselor). god created, says be nice to others, the goal is to be happy and feel good, god is there to solve my problems, and good people go to heaven when they die.

MTD v. Apostle's Creed: MTD is all about "me"; AC is about God and who God is (is very descriptive...)

MTD has colonized American XNY to the point where it is the dominant faith. Kids don't practice it b/c it's what ... it's what is taught in church

If the study is correct, then kids are going to jump only as high as we do, as the church does.
"Youth ministry just got moved out of the basement...full throttle." Scary, b/c now we're not just mucking around w/ YM. we're messing w/ the church. we've said the youth are the prophets, but we're finding they're prophets that are damning us. cuz we're all in the boat.

Solution? not get kids to go to a MTD more often; acknowledge that we are a post-Christendom community. not them coming to us, but us being sent. TURN THE ECCLESIOLOGY ON ITS HEAD.

Mission became either a coercive consumerism; or something a few people do to people not like us on behalf of the larger church (b/c in Christendom it is assumed all are "in").

Whenever (in any age...jerusalem, rome, middle ages) XNY loses its grip on the center, it leaks to the edges (gentiles, barbarians, celts, those on other continents).
Influences: John ?? Hall (Christendom), Andrew Wall (Scottish Methodist Missiologist: future of church is not going to look like what it looks like in NA or W. Europe, but what it looks like in the Southern Hemisphere: expressive, dynamic, outside the box, experiential, experimental. this happens in one place here: YM. mission isn't about contextualizing the gospel, but learning it in new ways through the eyes of a culture entirely different from our own, b/c they see things that we never knew it was there.)
Principles of Missional Theology
1) translation principle - gospel can't exist outside of culture. incarnation itself was an act of translation
2) indigenization principle - church must become home to a part. area
3) pilgrim principle - church can't get too comfortable in any part. time and place

translation principle (counters pastor as pez dispenser) (divine origin: incarnation)(re-framing life to see our lives through God's life and not our own) example: video clip from Crash (conversation btwn dad and little girl hiding under bed, about bullets and an invisible cloak) how is that scene like my job as a pastor? pass the faith on to our young people - tell stories, give a diff't set of images to frame her experiences in; make it real by acting it out, wear the story; mystery remains, space for doubt; got down on her level; job is hers to share it w/ her daughter as he was instructed to do w/ her; she had to trust the giver of the story. analogy of pastor as translator. giving them the tools of having another story.

which story are kids going to re-frame their experience with? 2nd clip from Crash (shopkeeper finds daniel, waits for him at home after work, needs to blame someone for why his door is still busted and can't be fixed) girl believes the story and jumps into dad's arms right as shopkeeper shoot; she isn't wounded. how do you look it as a XN, how does that change how you look at it? being saved by nothing else but grace in the moment; her belief propelled her into action.

can't do the reframing unless you know the XN story first. (2nd scene couldn't happen w/out the 1st)

indigenization principle - "the discipline of staying put" (counters "meChurch" mentality (find on YouTube) - where it's all about you) (look for "jesus videos" on YouTube) (divine origin: ) giving OTHERS hospitable space, not creating space for us. attractional models aren't going to cut it anymore. go INTO the neighborhood and embody who Christ is and what he's about. radically praxis basis.
1) radical focus on Jesus Christ (church gets low marks, but jesus is rated high amongst the "unchurched")
2) incarnational infiltration (church doesn't exist for itself, we don't live for ourselves) - not being gathered together to protect them from the culture, but send the out into the midst.
3) embrace culture full-stop
4) ID and define through practices: example of st. laurent's cathedral in reading, UK where they've transformed the space into something that looks like...something from outer-space, it's movable/flexible; cited "mission-shaped church" report; blessing people to go out and form new communities in a diff't model. if you're going to be a part of this church, you are a part of (insert mission/ministry here). the orb in red bank, nj.
5) tendency to try to capture christ into the form we like best (taladega nights - baby jesus, teenage jesus, bearded jesus - i like the baby jesus best)

pilgrim principle - not just something we have, but something we are. 2/3 of God is "Go." mission exists before church. "spider and the starfish" - look analagous (several legs, central nervous system...), but they're very diff't. cut off spider's head, it dies, but a starfish regenerates. inside they're structured very diff. decentralization allows adaptation and reproduction. why the church has potential to have enormous influence.
questions from the book to assess whether you're a spider or a starfish. not every situation lends itself to starfish principles, but it's good to ponder.

CAN'T HAVE A MISSION; BE A MISSION

the future of the church depends on Jesus Christ, not on us, so you couldn't kill it anyway.

Workshop 1: Developing Leaders

technorati tags
faithful practices, youth ministry

Mark DeVries from Youth Ministry Architects on VOLUNTEERS

The Problem w/ Volunteers is...

not enough
have day jobs
*sidenote - If you want to work w/ kids, don't become a Youth Director (YD), cuz you have a day job - it's organizing the ministry.
overburdened
want to do it their way
lack of confidence
fuzziness about their role
lack of resources
they DON'T volunteer
*leaders never volunteer - they usually are asked
their leader (the person leading them)

Majority of us are responsible for other volunteers

Traditional YM
triangle upside down, w/ it all falling on the YD
not sustainable, b/c YDs get crushed
Sustainable YM
pyramid w/ YM on top (dancing)
volunteers own the ministry
say 5 volunteers giving 10 hours/week = 50 hours/week
YD hired and volunteers back away
YD ends up doing the 50 hours/week

YM is the church's ministry/resp., not the resp. of 1 individual (via Kenda)

moving from 1-on-1 to a web of relationships (Akeelah and the Bee)
weave a constellation of relationships around them

predictable ratio
# of kids / another # = how many volunteers you need
build a capacity through volunteers

3 Keys to Building Your Leadership Team

1)Recruiting
2)Developing
3)Delegating

1) Recruiting
most churches never spend more than 1 hour/week recruiting
we expect them to walk through the doors
people don't volunteer b/c we don't give them REAL responsibility
Building Volunteers:
1) Decide to Invest
2) Determine What You Need
SS - 2/grade
HS YG - 4
Jr YG - 2
Major Event Coordinators - 4
there's a mythology - we speak the story, the ID that adults live up to. if the story is "nobody volunteers"...
IF WE'RE DOING INFANT BAPTISM, WE HAVE PLENTY OF VOLUNTEERS!
3) Develop Your Pool
3x as many potential volunteers as you need (stock your pond)
List of people good w/ kids
"" good w/out kids (good behind the scenes)
ID people w/ "grades", to "rank" them
place "A" names in blank slots first
make 3 calls/day to get through list
use voice mail/answering machines and ASK them to do something on the message, let them know you call back in a few weeks
4) Recruit AT LEAST 6 Months Out
5) Keep Asking

2) Developing
"Manager" mind-set
not a solo tennis match; it's a baseball game
2x2: As a parent, what kind of volunteer leader would you want for your son or daughter?
somone who is themself a parent
someone they know personally

1) Prepare for Failure
70% of pro YD believe dev. leaders is of high import.
25% say they do it well
Presbys dead last among mainlines in volunteers
ELCA and ECUSA just a hair better
2) Do Ministry Out of a Sense of Community
connect leaders together - monthly coffee group, a small yearly gift
3) Affirm Privately
4) Affirm Publicly
interpretive eavesdropping

3) Delegating
Abandonment is not Empowerment
giving them no task (just come and hang out) is awkward at best
Clear expectations reduce mishandled monkeys (handouts of YD covenant, volunteer leader guidelines...avail. online)
Regular follow-up keeps our players focused on the game
check-in to make sure checklist is getting checked off
"is there something i can help you with?"
Pace first, then lead (come alongside and meet people where they're at and then get ahead of them to urge them forward)
The flywheel will turn (once it gets going, momentum starts to take over)

Effective Student Leadership: check out the Youth Ministry Architects website (much of the presentation is available there)