So much going on in life.  My calendar is constantly packed, the church calendar is even busier, and there is even more that I could be doing if I just wasn’t so tired and worn out.  But is busyness really the goal?  I sure hope not.  I think the goal is committed discipleship, yet at times that seems so easily lost.  All of our activity pushes us onward with direction-less frenzy until finally individuals and families are driven away from the church searching for sabbath.  Oh the irony.   [Read more →]

Well the boot camp has been over for several days yet, but I still owe you one more post.  I had to leave early for a funeral and just now am finding time to post my final thoughts.  The last session was all about people.  How to recruit people, how many people you need, and how to manage them once they come.  Although this information was targeted to people starting churches and new ministries it is applicable to all people in ministry.  From a youth director to a senior pastor and from large churches to small churches.  Programs and meetings are not ministry: People are ministry! [Read more →]

To see part 1 of this series click here.

Today at the conference on starting new ministries the most important themes I picked out were 1) Know your mission field.  2)Work hard on first impressions. 3)Take care of yourself. [Read more →]

After day one of the new ministry boot camp in Dallas I have a “to do list” that is half a page long, three pages of notes, and a swirling mind.  There are so many ideas coming at me I’ve spent the last several hours processing.  I’ll leave some updates here on the blog and hope to start communication during the day on facebook.com/woodlawnyoungadults.  The purpose of the conference is to hear the best practices of starting new ministries.  Todays session was specifically geared to larger churches who are starting daughter churches, second campuses, or new ministries.  Things that stuck out was a conversation about DNA vs. fingerprints and how to build ownership in the project. [Read more →]

My church, like many, has age specific ministry.  For the most part this makes since.  Children need different programming than adults.  Youth need different activities than seniors.  But there is a down side to all this age specific ministry, it has potential to segregate the church.  The truth of the Kingdom of God is intergenerational.  It requires relationship across the boundaries of children, youth, young adult, adult, and seniors.  As we begin new ministries at Woodlawn UMC we have this in mind.  After assessing our demographics we found that our programing has a weak spot.  We do not reach people age 20-40 with the consistency or frequency of other people groups.  This is not a surprise and is true of most American churches.  But hiring a pastor who is a young adult and starting “young adult ministries” should not be centered on age alone.  For our ministry to reflect the body of Christ it must be a ministry of all generations. [Read more →]

I am reading an interesting book called The Search to Belong by Joseph R. Myers.  His premise is that relationships happen in four spaces: public, social, personal, and intimate.  Recently the church has tended to emphasize public and intimate relationships.  The problem is we value intimate relationships over all else and value public relationships as our main or only introduction point.  If you’ve had a class in evangelism you have probably seen the image of concentric circles and been told it is our job to process people from the outer to the inner circle.  This simply doesn’t make since.  Do we really want all of our relationships to be intimate ones?  The answer is obviously no.  So how instead do we create healthy relationships on all levels? [Read more →]

If you have read any of the last several post you know that my current ministry position is centered around forming new expressions of church for people who claim to be young adults.  I am about three weeks into the gig and am enjoying every minute of it.  While we are starting a new expression of church, we are not starting a new church.  Our ministry is growing out of a healthy congregation that has plenty of resources to expand their reach.  There is so much potential, so much opportunity, so many choices for direction.  I have been blessed by dozens of people who are excited and interested in helping us get started, yet, everyday I have to remind myself to take a deep breath and don’t do anything.   [Read more →]

Over the holiday weekend a friend’s dog got spooked by the fireworks and ran away. It was heart wrenching. Especially because it was such a great dog and such a close friend. All l I could think about was searching for the dog every moment I was outside. I have never been so vigilant, and because I can’t stop thinking about my new job, this vigilance soon became a metaphor for the work I am about to do. [Read more →]

The Church in my generation is having an identity crisis.  We aren’t sure who we are yet, and our wavering identity is causing us to lose people on the fringe and frustrate our elders.  Unfortunately, clarity may not come for months, years, or even another generation!  This lack of clarity is daunting, and for many, may be overwhelming enough to throw in the towel, but I am begging you don’t stop now!  Lack of clarity can be biblical and even holy.  It gives us opportunity to rely on God, to forge our relationships, and experience the labor pains necessary for new life.  Just ask the Israelites in the dessert, Joseph and Mary on the road to Bethlehem, the disciples before Pentecost, or the early church in ancient Rome. [Read more →]

From graduation day until I start my job I have roughly 45 days to get my head on straight.  I am spending this time doing two things: dreaming big and preparing to protect myself from dream crushers.  My recent blog posts show I am obsessed with being creative right now.  And figuring out how to get that creativity into the church.  One of the biggest reasons for this fascination is my main man Seth Godin and his stellar book Linchpin.

The world is experiencing a revolution.  Not the “government overthrow” kind, the “oh my god electricity is useful” kind.  Our schooling, culture, and desire for self preservation have convinced us to seek jobs that are secure and easy to do.  But those jobs are gone and we are left with a new world where showing up is not enough.  This new world demands creativity, risk taking, and innovation.  Take a look at the last three words of the last sentence….can these things happen in church????? [Read more →]