It is hard sometimes for me to collect my thoughts enough to feel like I have something "postworthy". I don't know if this is or not but it is stirring in my mind, and I maybe if I write it down it will help....maybe not :-) Here goes nothing:
There are a few things that have really been working on me in the past month or so.
One is a book I read called "A New Kind of Christian" by Brian D. McLaren which is a conversation between a pastor and professor about where the church is and where it needs to go.
Second is the book "Youth Ministry 3.0" by Mark Oestreicher (Marko)the President of Youth Specialties(YS) who writes about where youth ministry was, is, and need to be.
The third and final thing has been the National Youth Workers Convention, the annual gathering of youth workers through YS to be challenged, encouraged, and refreshed.
What I love about how God works is that He finds a way to weave the seemingly unrelated events in our lives into a perfect cohesion of love and grace, and through it all it stretches us to be molded into what we were created to be. Such is the case with these three things...
About a a year and a half ago, I was in BooksaMillion and saw the Brian McLaren book and picked it up because I loved the idea of it being a conversation, not just another book. About a year ago, I was at NYWC and heard Marko speak on what is now called YM 3.0. And about three months ago, I finally pick up and started reading the McLaren book. About a two weeks ago, I finished it and got a copy of YM 3.0 and starting reading it. Last Thursday, I finished YM 3.0 and left for NYWC. I got back from NYWC last night.
So why does any of this matter?
For almost two years now, I have really struggled with the church, youth ministry, Christians, and myself. I really felt and feel like where we are as a Christian Community and where we are called to be are two different places; how we are approaching church and youth ministry and the world are for the most part not really working.
My personal struggle was that most people get to this point and leave the church or maybe start thier own. For me, I really felt this was not answer; why would God want us to give up on the church?
So I am really struggling with this when I go to NYWC 2007 in Atlanta. The whole weekend is great, and Phyllis Tickle addresses it some, but there is still this underlying struggle in myself. The final talk is by Marko on the last day. His talk is about Youth Ministry 3.0, where we have been, are and should go in youth ministry. As he talks, he is explaining exactly what was going on in my heart and soul for the past year. How Marko explains it there is a HOPE that the church WILL change, from here I am really changed to start look to where we need to go.
So I have struggled with this and worked on it for about seven months, and I am seeing progress and struggling at the same time, and at this point I pick up the McLaren book. This conversation between a pastor and professor is basically like I was the reason they wrote the book. The pastor is in a place where he has all but given up on the church and is asking the professor how to become a teacher. The professor does not just tell him, but engages him in a conversation that lasts the rest of the book, and apparently through two more books too, which I have not read yet. In the conversation they address the struggle we have in the church, politics, programs, the whole nine yards... Anyway, it really affirmed me to read the struggles that they had gone through the same things that I was in...
It was right at this time that I received the new book, YM 3.0; which is about the same thing but in youth ministry. Marko even adds comments from people who commented on his blog to engage all sorts of opinions. In the book, he lays out the YM 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0. Describing each by the drive and purpose and verse and youth struggle for either identity, affinity, and autonomy. It is basically his talk expanded with a few more thoughts on what it 3.0 might actually look like.
What has been interesting has been reading on the facebook group for this book, all the thoughts and struggle and ideas from the youth ministry community. It seems as though so many are in this same place of struggle with the Christian Church and Community. What I find so fascinating is how even though so many are struggling with the current system, they are unable to see past it to a new way. (I use "way" meaning different from the previous, but I don't believe that there is really even a way meaning certain way to do it) Each are struggling with making YM 3.0 fit into a YM 2.0 church.
So I head to NYWC 2008 in Nashville, and actually have coffee with Marko. We really only have a few minutes to get to know each other, but I really feel like he was on a similar page. What I find compelling about what Marko is expressing in the book is that it should no longer be about curriculum and books so much as it should be about seeking God and responding to that. This is easier to believe, not only because I have the same feeling, but also because curriculum and books are almost all that Marko company does.
At NWYC, I felt several things:
One - I felt like there was an almost divide. Like there was several different places people were in. Some were here for the first time and could not believe that there was such a community of youth ministers! Some were here, same as every year, to get the newest program or curriculum for the next year. Others were hear because they needed to get away from their setting and desperately needed to be healed and restored. Maybe I was more in the last group, needing to get away from the set ways and dream about where we could be and should go. In fact, I only went to one breakout session the whole weekend out of about 15 I could have gone to.
Two - In the main sessions, I had very mixed emotions after leaving each one. Some I felt really encouraged and refreshed, others I felt challenged, and others I felt like I was being blamed fro why the church was the way it was. I struggled with how a few speakers approached their topics, with a the church is doing this and it is wrong approach. We all work in churches in some fashion and I took some of it personally because as stated before I really feel like abandoning the church is not the answer; not even that they said this or meant to but it came off that way. I loved the idea that we need to open up to the ideas that maybe science and faith can get along! I loved the idea that we are sent to love not judge or condemn! I loved the idea that we are called to do youth ministry WITH students not to them! I want to join the slow club, and restore my soul!!!!
Three - The feeling of consumerism in the main area was crushing me. The booths area I actually tried to avoid after being jumped by vendor after vendor of stuff I do not want, and felt really weird that they each felt they needed to give away something to even get me in their booth.
Four - I LOVED THE SANCTUARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It may have been my favorite part other than three main session. It was an intimate room which just overwhelmed you with the presence of God! Not tvs, computers, loud music.
Ok, so this is like the longest post ever...I know. So I am going to post it and come back and post again with why any of this matters
About a a year and a half ago, I was in BooksaMillion and saw the Brian McLaren book and picked it up because I loved the idea of it being a conversation, not just another book. About a year ago, I was at NYWC and heard Marko speak on what is now called YM 3.0. And about three months ago, I finally pick up and started reading the McLaren book. About a two weeks ago, I finished it and got a copy of YM 3.0 and starting reading it. Last Thursday, I finished YM 3.0 and left for NYWC. I got back from NYWC last night.
So why does any of this matter?
For almost two years now, I have really struggled with the church, youth ministry, Christians, and myself. I really felt and feel like where we are as a Christian Community and where we are called to be are two different places; how we are approaching church and youth ministry and the world are for the most part not really working.
My personal struggle was that most people get to this point and leave the church or maybe start thier own. For me, I really felt this was not answer; why would God want us to give up on the church?
So I am really struggling with this when I go to NYWC 2007 in Atlanta. The whole weekend is great, and Phyllis Tickle addresses it some, but there is still this underlying struggle in myself. The final talk is by Marko on the last day. His talk is about Youth Ministry 3.0, where we have been, are and should go in youth ministry. As he talks, he is explaining exactly what was going on in my heart and soul for the past year. How Marko explains it there is a HOPE that the church WILL change, from here I am really changed to start look to where we need to go.
So I have struggled with this and worked on it for about seven months, and I am seeing progress and struggling at the same time, and at this point I pick up the McLaren book. This conversation between a pastor and professor is basically like I was the reason they wrote the book. The pastor is in a place where he has all but given up on the church and is asking the professor how to become a teacher. The professor does not just tell him, but engages him in a conversation that lasts the rest of the book, and apparently through two more books too, which I have not read yet. In the conversation they address the struggle we have in the church, politics, programs, the whole nine yards... Anyway, it really affirmed me to read the struggles that they had gone through the same things that I was in...
It was right at this time that I received the new book, YM 3.0; which is about the same thing but in youth ministry. Marko even adds comments from people who commented on his blog to engage all sorts of opinions. In the book, he lays out the YM 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0. Describing each by the drive and purpose and verse and youth struggle for either identity, affinity, and autonomy. It is basically his talk expanded with a few more thoughts on what it 3.0 might actually look like.
What has been interesting has been reading on the facebook group for this book, all the thoughts and struggle and ideas from the youth ministry community. It seems as though so many are in this same place of struggle with the Christian Church and Community. What I find so fascinating is how even though so many are struggling with the current system, they are unable to see past it to a new way. (I use "way" meaning different from the previous, but I don't believe that there is really even a way meaning certain way to do it) Each are struggling with making YM 3.0 fit into a YM 2.0 church.
So I head to NYWC 2008 in Nashville, and actually have coffee with Marko. We really only have a few minutes to get to know each other, but I really feel like he was on a similar page. What I find compelling about what Marko is expressing in the book is that it should no longer be about curriculum and books so much as it should be about seeking God and responding to that. This is easier to believe, not only because I have the same feeling, but also because curriculum and books are almost all that Marko company does.
At NWYC, I felt several things:
One - I felt like there was an almost divide. Like there was several different places people were in. Some were here for the first time and could not believe that there was such a community of youth ministers! Some were here, same as every year, to get the newest program or curriculum for the next year. Others were hear because they needed to get away from their setting and desperately needed to be healed and restored. Maybe I was more in the last group, needing to get away from the set ways and dream about where we could be and should go. In fact, I only went to one breakout session the whole weekend out of about 15 I could have gone to.
Two - In the main sessions, I had very mixed emotions after leaving each one. Some I felt really encouraged and refreshed, others I felt challenged, and others I felt like I was being blamed fro why the church was the way it was. I struggled with how a few speakers approached their topics, with a the church is doing this and it is wrong approach. We all work in churches in some fashion and I took some of it personally because as stated before I really feel like abandoning the church is not the answer; not even that they said this or meant to but it came off that way. I loved the idea that we need to open up to the ideas that maybe science and faith can get along! I loved the idea that we are sent to love not judge or condemn! I loved the idea that we are called to do youth ministry WITH students not to them! I want to join the slow club, and restore my soul!!!!
Three - The feeling of consumerism in the main area was crushing me. The booths area I actually tried to avoid after being jumped by vendor after vendor of stuff I do not want, and felt really weird that they each felt they needed to give away something to even get me in their booth.
Four - I LOVED THE SANCTUARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It may have been my favorite part other than three main session. It was an intimate room which just overwhelmed you with the presence of God! Not tvs, computers, loud music.
Ok, so this is like the longest post ever...I know. So I am going to post it and come back and post again with why any of this matters
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4 comments:
It is beautiful to see God at work within our lives and our souls. He is carefully weaving these unseemingly similar threads of truth in us...stretching us, teaching us, loving us...
Thank you for sharing your reflections here.
I understand about the consumerism in the vendor area. :( Anyway, looking forward to hearing more about NYWC when I see you and J this weekend at church. :o)
It was good seeing you this weekend. It is also good to find others willing to take on hard questions of where the church is. I have gone through many of the same thoughts in the last few months (including the decision to stay and work from within the church) and also found the convention to be a mixed bag of summarizing some of my struggles as well as a disturbing amount of church consumerism. I would love to stay in contact and see how we both continue on this path.
I loved the thoughts. I loved sharing some of the NYWC convention with you guys.
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