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Category: On Church

  • Growing Young

    In #YouthMin world September 20, 2016, was a big day. The people over at Fuller Youth Institute released their latest book, Growing Young: Six Essential Strategies To Help Young People Discover And Love Your Church. This is the culmination of many years and many pages of research and data to help the church understand what makes ‘young people’ stay in church and committed to their faith.

    GY_Book_Straight.jpg

    I picked up the book a few days after release and am slowly making my way through it. But as an exercise in reflection I hope to write a few posts about the book as I read it, and hopefully provide some application into the youth ministry context here in Australia.

    If you’re a Youth Pastor or in youth ministry then it would’ve been hard to ignore the impressive launch of the book. There were plenty of posts leading up to the release and on the day it was available there were numerous interviews with the authors.

    Growing Young has eight chapters. The first being a summary of the book and the final chapter putting the learnings into practice. The rest of the book describe in detail the six core commitments churches who are growing young are doing. These six core commitments are:

    1. Unlock keychain leadership
    2. Empathise with today’s young people
    3. Take Jesus’ message seriously
    4. Fuel a warm community
    5. Prioritise young people (and families) everywhere
    6. Be the best neighbours

    From the outset this book brings a positive look to church and engaging ‘young people’ in church and faith. It’s a shame no one can think of a better phrase than ‘young people’, because it makes me sounds tremendously old and I cringe as I write it. Yet, it is ‘the young people’ who are exiting the church in droves with 40-50% of those in youth groups today drifting away from God and a faith community when they finish up high school. This is a harrowing fact and one I suspect most Youth Pastors, parents, and churches can resonate with anecdotally, even here in Australia.

    It seems, however, there are pockets of hope and encouragement as the church seeks to engage young people in faith and church. Those churches growing, and ‘growing young’, are doing so through (1) engaging well with 15-29 year olds, and (2) are churches which are growing spiritually, emotionally, missionally, and sometimes numerically. This leads the FYI authors to say that in order to grow young everyone and every generation in the church needs to be involved, by doing so it will actually energise the whole church.

    While the six core commitments state what is needed to help a church grow young there are a number of points that are not necessary for a church to grow young. These things include:

    • A precise size
    • A trendy location
    • An exact age
    • A popular denomination or no denomination at all
    • An off-the charts cool quotient
    • A big modern building
    • A big budget
    • A ‘contemporary’ worship service
    • A watered-down teaching style
    • A hyper-entertaining ministry program

    This certainly gives me hope. To know that you don’t have to be big, cool, soft on teaching, and have all the bells and whistles of what is assumed to be an awesome youth ministry then I’m all in! This is not to say that I’m against these things, but it allows churches and those in youth ministry to be realistic about how to engage ‘young people’ in faith and not worry about superficial things.

    The research also found that churches who did grow young and were focussed on doing so energised their own congregation because ‘the young people’ added more service, more passion, more innovation, more money, and greater overall health to the church. And who doesn’t want a church with these things?

    So it comes back to these six core commitments, and I’ll explore each one in later posts. But for now, with that summary of the book in mind, I wonder what strikes you?

    For me, this causes me to reflect on how churches go about thinking through their youth and young adult ministries. Whether they see them as separate entities of the church looked after by a Youth Pastor or whether they genuinely think of them as part of the overall church, part of the family of God, and giving opportunity for them to serve in meaningful and significant ways within the church community.

    As a local congregation, is your church engaging ‘young people’? Is this a focus? Is there a willingness to make significant changes to do so?

    Here are the links to the series of reflections on the book:

    1. Growing Young
    2. Growing Young – Keychain Leadership
    3. Growing Young – Empathise With Today’s Young People
    4. Growing Young – Take Jesus’ Message Seriously
    5. Growing Young – Fuel A Warm Community
    6. Growing Young – Prioritise Young People (And Families) Everywhere
    7. Growing Young – Be The Best Neighbours
    8. Growing Young – Growing Young In Your Context
    9. Growing Young – Final Reflections

     

  • Starting Fresh As A Youth Pastor

    At my denominational gathering of Next Generational Leaders (a fancy name for those in ministry in the children’s, families, youth and young adult demographic) last week I was due to present a few reflections on starting fresh in ministry or a new ministry role. Unfortunately I came down with the flu (or man-flu, it’s a fine line) so I wasn’t able to actually present. However, not wanting to waste the time and thought put into it I have outlined what I was going to say below. Enjoy.

    apple starting fresh

    What happens when the honeymoon period that is beginning at a new church begins to fade into the distance?

    Reality sets in.

    Things don’t go as smoothly as they were at the start. The jobs seems bigger than expected. Some of the expectations now upon your shoulders aren’t what you enjoy doing. The role you thought you were given in the interview process doesn’t seem to be have been entirely accurate. You begin questioning your own skills and abilities for the job. Already you have people who don’t like you. You feel like you’re being watched in everything you do. The pressure seems to be rising, whether it’s real or not.

    Welcome to ministry. 🙂 

    In recent times there has been a changing of the guard within the Baptist Union of Victoria’s next generation ministries. A little survey conducted recently found that of the 74 Next Generational Leaders within the BUV surveyed, just over 20% were in their first year of a paid ministry role (they are either starting out or in a new ministry context). If you extend this time to 3 years the number rises to just over 40%. That is a lot of newbies!

    So, with that information in mind I briefly want to share with you some reflections that might be helpful for you as you begin in your ministry. And, if you’ve been around the traps for a while then I hope these pointers are a good refresher for you.

    First, relationships are key, particularly with your Senior Pastor.

    The number one relationship you have within your church, other than with Jesus, is your Senior Pastor.

    No other relationship will have a bearing on your role and the way you function as a pastor than the relationship you have with your Senior Pastor. A strong relationship will provide a place of trust, honesty, and freedom in your role and will also allow for affirmation, encouragement and critique.

    So, make sure you meet regularly with them. Either weekly or fortnightly. Anything longer and you won’t be building a good enough relationship. Seek to sit under their leadership and understand their vision and mission for the church and how you, in your role and ministry, support that.

    This is also the relationship where the most tension will come. Bonem and Patterson, in their book Leading from the Second Chair, speak of it in terms of the subordinate-leadership paradox. Whereby we understand our authority and effectiveness comes from a healthy, subordinate relationship to the Senior Pastor. At different times there will be disagreement and it is the health and strength of the relationship that may determine how things go.

    Other relationships are of course important – leadership teams, parents, young adults, young people, kids, schools, community groups etc. But, it is the Senior Pastor relationship that often needs to take priority.

    Second, when you’re fresh, just listen and observe what’s going on.

    Some pastoral ministry advice I have heard is that it is common to overestimate what you will achieve in your first year and underestimate what you will do in five. I think this is true.

    I could come in with my predetermined programs and ideas and begin putting them in place without listening and observing what’s going on. In my 4-5 months I haven’t changed a thing. I’ve probably done some things a little differently but I haven’t made any structural or process changes to our youth and young adult ministries. I can see that in due course there will be a need to develop areas but right now it’s the listening and observation stage.

    Each individual church is its own cultural microcosm and system. It can take many years for change to come about.

    With this in mind I’d encourage you to simply listen to the stories of those who attend, ask them why they’re at the church, why do they stick around in this place? Speak to those in the youth group, the young adults and also the older ones in the congregation to get a sense of the history of the place. You may find that there are reasons why the church operates the way it does and it may seem completely logical in their mind and totally stupid in yours.

    But just listen, listen and observe what’s going on and where God is at work.

    Third, it’s important to have perspective.

    We are broken people, working with broken people. And it is only by the grace of God that we do what we do.

    It is such a privilege to disciple and equip people as they seek to know Jesus more and more. The amount of time, effort, and heartache that we put into our programs and our people can make us lose perspective at times.

    There is great joy and great pain in ministry and it is only survived through a strong relationship with Jesus, who gives perspective to all things.

    I am glad that my personhood and identity is not wrapped up in being a pastor. Being the Associate Pastor for Youth & Young Adults at Rowville Baptist Church is the current assignment God has for me, but my call is simply to follow Jesus and be more like Him. That allows me to have perspective in what I do.

    It’s not easy. Not by any means.

    But it is a truth that needs to be held onto.

    Therefore, I want to encourage you to get a mentor or a ministry partner. Someone who you can trust, who knows what you are going through, and who can sit there and listen to you verbally vomit all over them. Someone who can understand the tough and challenging times but also someone who can lift the mirror up and tell you you’re being selfish and an idiot. Make sure you have someone like that, or a group of people like that, who can mutually support one-another, bring perspective to the various ministry situations you find yourself in, and pray with you and for you.

    To finish I would like to remind you of 1 Corinthians 3:8-9 where Paul speaks of how God makes the church grow. “The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labour. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.”

    May we be reminded, whether we’re starting fresh or an old hat, that it is God making things grow as we serve Him and His church.

    Top Resources For Starting Fresh:

  • Why Every Youth Pastor Should Watch ‘Spotlight’

    Last week I saw the movie Spotlight on the big screen. I walked away thinking every Youth Pastor should see this film.

    Spotlight

    Spotlight is the story of how the Boston Globe, one of Boston’s most famous newspapers, broke the devastating news of sexual abuse by Catholic priests upon young children in its city. The movie follows the reporters investigating the story and gives an amazing account of their work to uncover such atrocities. It’s a harrowing story and one that needs to be remembered.

    As a Youth Pastor I am responsible for the care of children. As I walked out of the flick I had a overwhelming sense of responsibility toward those under my care. Most of the time the role of Youth Pastor is amazing. It’s a privilege to be able to share and teach the Christian faith to those who are exploring it for themselves. Leading those who wish to see their friends come to know Jesus is exciting work. But, there are also times when certain topics or areas of responsibility need to be in order to make the church environment a safe place for young people. With this in mind I found Spotlight to be a good reminder.

    1. It’s a reminder of how sinful supposed good people can be.

    The Catholic priests in charge of young people were seen as safe people. And rightfully so. The church is meant to be a safe place for all people. Yet, like all people the priests are fallen and sinful people. This doesn’t excuse them of their horrid behaviour of course. But it is a reminder that good people are sinful and fallen human beings. The church is a collective of sinners, not saints.

    2. It’s a reminder of how people look to the church for care and protection. 

    This story broke around 15 years ago. The film depicts Boston as a city that trusts its priests and ‘the church’. It may not be so today but there are plenty of people who still look to the church and its ministers for care and protection, for guidance and help. The Church, as the body of Christians worldwide, should continue to strive in setting the example of love and care for others.

    3. It’s a reminder of the responsibility churches have to care for children and their families.

    As I’ve mentioned, the responsibility on churches and particularly those ministries dealing with young people should make best practice in child safety a priority. It is just so important to have policies and procedures, to have proper screening, and to be in alignment with government laws regarding duty of care for minors. Most people are trusting of others, but it is the responsibility of those in charge of events and programs to take the responsibility of caring for children and young people seriously.

    4. It’s a reminder of how important it is to properly screen people working with children within your church.

    In Victoria we have Working With Children Checks and a level higher would be an Australian Federal Police Check. These of course are the official documents, which may or may not pick up on everything. Ideally, we don’t want to have the attitude of suspicion but we do want to make sure we know the character, chemistry and competency of people who lead and have authority and care over young people. With this in mind it would be good practice to conduct interviews and checks regarding the appropriateness of a persons behaviour with and around children.

    5. It’s a reminder of how devastating child abuse can be upon the individual and wider community.

    The movie doesn’t go into vivid detail about what actual sexual abuse occurred but it let’s you in on enough to get the picture. It also portrays, as well as it can in a two hour movie, the after effects of such abuse and the consequences. It is a very sad situation, and is simply devastating on the individuals and families involved. The breaking of trust, the breaking of relationships, and the emotional turmoil is a stark reminder of why we must provide safe spaces for our young people to grow, learn, and thrive in our youth ministries.

  • I’m Back…And It Feels Good

    This week I started in a new pastoral role in a new church.

    It feels good to be here.

    For the last four years I’ve been in a para-church pastoral role and I have to admit I feel ‘church rusty’ right now. The ministerial WD-40 needs to be close by over the next few weeks as I get used to being a church pastor again.

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    Beginning this role has been a long time coming. Never mind the 44-day holiday I had between finishing my last role and starting this one, but the first conversation I had about this position was about eight months ago. It’s been a process, a good process. I’m excited to be here.

    In starting a new job, in a church or otherwise, there is always a mixture of excitement, challenge, and a sprinkle of weird. The learning curve is exponential as new processes and functions of the organisation need to be learnt. There is the attempt to get settled as quickly as possible and try and feel productive, but that’s actually not as easy as it sounds in a role all about people. And as I said to someone this week, “I’d love to be asking you questions right now, but I don’t know what I need to know so I don’t actually have any questions.” As time goes on this will become clearer, right now I’m just enjoying meeting new people and setting up my office.

    So in the midst of all these things it is very exciting to be here – I’m actually back in a pastoral position! Sweet!

    And there is a daunting part to it too – I’m actually back in a pastoral position! Argh! 🙂

    If I was to say what is the most exciting part to it all though it would be the privilege of walking alongside people as they seek to be disciples of Christ. This isn’t an easy proposition but it is something I’ve missed for a while.

    Being out of the church role for a while makes you realise how much of a privilege it is when you’re in it.

    With this being the case I’m thankful for a great first week back and look forward to many great weeks ahead.

  • The Resolve

    The following is the Resolve, which people of the Holy Transfiguration Monastery hold to within their community. I had the chance to visit their monastery during the week and meet some of the people. It was an interesting time of going back and forth with questions. I also sampled some of their hospitality in edible form, which was simply terrific.

    RESOLVE

    In honour of the non-violent God

    Assured of life eternal, with your whole being proclaim your gratitude.

    Reject nothing, consecrate everything.

    Be the good of love, For God, for neighbour, for all creation.

    Judge no-one, not even yourself.

    Love beauty.

    Maintain inner-silence in all things.

    Show hospitality, err on the side of generosity.

    Speak truth to power, especially power without love.

    Let your only experience of evil be in suffering, not its creation.

    To breathe peace in to the world, first disarm your own heart.

    For us there is only the trying, the rest in none of our business.

  • Jesus And My To-Do List

    tdlistWhy is it that I often walk out of church on a Sunday morning feeling more guilty and with more on my to-do list than I did walking in?

    I’ve had this occur numerous times over the last couple of years. I’m not sure if it says more about me or the church service and preacher. I can’t help wondering whether it’s my expectations of what it is to go to church and worship that leaves me wanting. Nevertheless, I occasionally walk out having that sense of needing to do more in the coming seven days.

    I’m a preacher myself, so I know I need to work hard on the application of my sermons. The explanation of the Bible and understanding of the passage can be worked through slowly or quickly but application needs to be there…somewhere. And it is within this application section that I need to know that the burdens I’ve been carrying for the last however long can be lifted. That my cares can be taken care of. That I can hope and know God is in control of all things.

    I need to be reassured that I don’t have to do anything more this week to have God love me more. 

    I know God. I know God because of my faith in Jesus and his work on the cross. Through that work he has enabled me to have my sin forgiven and be in a relationship with Him.

    I understand this will mean I will need to change. Following Jesus means growing as a disciple. This happens over time and with the Lord’s help.

    But when I am weary from a week where I know I’ve sinned throughout, where I didn’t read my Bible as much as I’d like, where things haven’t gone right, then I come to church seeking comfort, seeking encouragement, and to be reminded that God still loves me and is taking care of me.

    Of course, I may know this at a cognitive level. I may know this at an emotional level. But I need to know that this is the case again this week. Just as it was the last.

    This reminder may happen through the Scripture passage, or through the words of the preacher in explaining the text, or through the application part of the sermon.  Whatever way it may be it needs to occur in a way where the application doesn’t mean I walk out with more to-dos this week.

    Because guess what?

    When Jesus died he didn’t add a single to-do to my list. He took many, many, many to-dos away though. When Jesus died he didn’t add guilt to my burdens, he took them all and dealt with them.

    So, preacher (and I speak to myself as much as any other), preach Jesus. Preach Jesus in such a way as to articulate what he’s done without adding more to my week and my to-do list. Please.

  • A Church Growth Strategy?

    A quote attributed to Fr. Brou in an article by Archer Torrey. Perhaps a new church growth strategy for the post-Christendom church?

    The only sure foundations for a young church are the graves of its missionaries

    Ouch.

  • 100 Sermons In

     

    I preached my 100th sermon the other day.

    I don’t consider myself a great preacher but there’s something about working at preaching that I find satisfaction in.


    SP11

    I have a spreadsheet which lists every sermon I’ve ever given. It tells me what number I’m up to, the date of delivery, what passage of scripture it’s from, what corny title I’ve given it, and where it was delivered. Due to my missions role there are a few double ups, having given the same sermon in different places.

    Some today argue that preaching is a waste of time. That sermons aren’t worth what we think they are. That there is a better way of communicating God’s truth, perhaps in small groups or through one-on-ones or in some form of creative dialogue. These ways of delivering God’s truth are great and there’s no denying there are different ways people receive the Word and understand it. It’s all a matter of communication theory I suppose.

    Yet, I still believe that Scripture not only gives us the words to communicate but also shows us the way God seeks his Word to go forth.

    The proclamation of scripture is an important aspect to the teaching and receiving of His Word. From the beginning to the end of scripture God speaks and uses preaching as a means of proclamation. These sermons and words are delivered by the person God has gifted in teaching or prophesy, such as, Moses or Ezra or the Prophets or Jesus or Paul or other apostles, just to name a few.

    Coming under His Word each week at a gathering of believers is important for my soul. I look forward to the opportunity to continue preaching His Word to anyone, anywhere.

  • Why Your Church Service Is Awesome

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    Photo: Wiki Commons

    In the last 6-9 months I’ve had the opportunity to visit a variety of churches and sit through a number of services “on the other side of the pew”. Since I’m no longer on staff at church I get to observe and participate in services like never before. This experience is great and painful all at the same time.

    Today’s post is simply a list of points that have struck me while reflecting on services I’ve been to recently. In other words, it’s a list of points that I think make your service awesome.

    • Your worship or service leader is genuinely interested in welcoming me as a visitor. Because your service leader is so good I now know their name, I know what’s happening in the service, and what to expect in the coming hour. This is very good to know and I appreciate this information.
    • Your time of singing is an appropriate length and there has been thought put into the song choices. The words of the songs and the number of people singing in the service gives a good indication that your “song picker” knows what it means to gather as a church. They evidently know that the words of songs are important and there is a focus on the gospel and the theme of the whole service, particularly the sermon. While I know there are plenty of people who all have different preferences for songs you’ve been able to focus on the essentials in the choosing.
    • Your announcements are given by a real person, who tells me their name and highlights 2-3 points from the bulletin that are important for the church. I appreciate that it’s a real person up the front delivering the important announcements in good time. This shows me that you know it’s important to communicate with the church and also lets me know what I should take note of among all the other newsletter items.
    • Your pastoral prayer is spoken on behalf of the church for believers and non-believers around the world, throughout this country, and also for those within the church. In some ways the pastoral prayer can be a tricky one because there are so many options to pray for. Yet, the person who is praying this in your service has thought deeply about how to pray for people around the world. This gives the impression that your church is focused on the whole world and has a global worldview. Praying for your country and for those within the congregation also allows me to see that you care about your community, both inside and outside the church. It is in this prayer that the focus of the church is most readily shown.
    • You have a bible reading. This is brilliant. Not only do you have a bible reading but the one who speaks these words over the congregation introduces the text in such a way that if I didn’t know where to find the particular passage I am led by the reader to it. This is either through the mentioning of the page number, where it is in the bible (OT or NT), or being directed to the table of contents page at the front of the bible itself. Thank you for taking the time to do this, I know it must feel weird if you’ve always been around a bible but it is helpful to see you thinking about others. With this your reader has also given me ample time to get to the passage and is happy to stay silent while people “page flick” to the right spot.
    • You have a preacher who actually reads, explains, and applies the bible. Your service is awesome when this happens. It is one of the main reasons for gathering together on a Sunday, to hear the Word preached, and your service has a preacher willing to do so. This is excellent. Not only that, but they introduce themselves and seem genuinely concerned with wanting to get across what the bible is teaching. I’m not too concerned about how long your preacher goes for if he’s teaching and applying the bible, it’s just good for them to be doing so.
    • You have people in your congregation willing to talk after the service. To have a welcoming team or people who are on the look out is great. I appreciate that. To have people in your congregation who are willing to turn around and say “hello” off their own bat is even better. This makes your church look like a friendly and welcoming place, somewhere I’d think about coming back to.

    So, is your church an awesome church?

  • Afraid To Belong

    I think you’re afraid of belonging.

    Belonging to something goes against the grain of our culture. We’re meant to be individuals. We’re meant to be concerned purely with the self. We’re meant to do what we like in this day and age. Life is for our own pleasure, our own enjoyment, and our own fun. Why then would we belong to anything?

    Despite our individualistic culture there is something about us that wants to belong. Look around, football clubs have members, Facebook has friends, Twitter has followers, wars have armies, politics have parties, institutions have chapters, and beer drinkers (or parma eaters) have locals. With belonging comes a sense of being part of something bigger. There is a feeling of commitment and mutual appreciation. There is a knowledge that other people are like us, they are centred on the same things we are. There is a togetherness, a mate-ship, a team bond.

    This might all be well and good but there is also something within us that makes us afraid to belong. Belonging means we have to be investors, investors of time, energy, and emotion. Belonging means we are exposed, vulnerable, and out in the open. Belonging means disappointment, hurt, and heartache. Belonging isn’t easy and that’s why we’re afraid.

    When the footy team never makes the eight, when the political party is stuck in opposition, when the family is in turmoil, when colleagues aren’t pulling their weight – situations like these make belonging hard. The same goes for the church, to belong to a local congregation is going to be hard. When 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people, when the offering decreases, when the rosters aren’t being filled, when the people won’t turn up, continuing to belong to a church is tough.

    In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul talks about the church being like a body. And in v14-16 he says,

    “For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body.” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And, if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body.” that would not make it any less part of the body”.

    Paul is telling us, whether we like it or not, that there is no excuse for not belonging to the body. While the church may be made up of people with a number of different gifts there is still a responsibility to belong. Not everyone is going to be the preacher or the Sunday school teacher or the offering steward but that doesn’t mean we are excused from belonging.

    We like to belong to something but we don’t like to commit. We like to belong in quiet ways. After all, it’s nice to sit up the back and hear pleasant music and words wash over us for an hour. But hey, getting involved in the constitution committee, having people around for lunch, building a relationship with a teenager, helping out with crèche, playing the guitar, or (dare I say it) beginning a new ministry, well, that’s not nice – that’s messy! That actually means it’s time to get our hands dirty, invest time and money, invest emotional energy.

    So, whether you’re part of the 20% that does most of the work or the person who wafts in and out of church buildings each Sunday perhaps it’s time to evaluate where you’re at. Perhaps it’s time to commit to belong, truly belong, or are you too afraid?