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 →]

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 →]

As you can see we have a new look at barlowthompson.net. Same content with sweet new pictures. There are 6 total that come up at random. This is our post-seminary style.  Ashley and I are now finished with seminary! (come celebrate May 14th if you’re in the area) As we wrap up the last celebrations and the last of our responsibilities in Illinois we are looking forward to taking on a new life in ministry outside of school. Here are some of my thoughts about this new world…. [Read more →]

Last night my church’s young adult group spent the evening together and I had a FANTASTIC time.  We spent time socializing, exploring our faith, sharing a meal, and worshiping.  Being with them makes my faith feel authentic and important.  They inspire me to move forward and share all of myself.  The energy their community gives me is refreshing.  It is what church SHOULD be…… [Read more →]

This is our last scheduled meeting, but I am hoping we will continue in a new way.  I am going to bring three books and I hope you’ll choose one that we will use to keep meeting.  On Sunday we talked about waiting till summer, and that is still a possibility.  However, because I don’t want to loose the momentum and habit of meeting weekly I would like to suggest we continue after easter with the book we select.  That way you could experience the new format of the group and not lose contact from such a long lay off.  If we need to select a new meeting time that would be fine, and if you feel strongly about waiting till summer that is fine too, but I still have till May 23rd so we might as well hang out!

Here is a brief description of the books.  I also linked them to Amazon.  We may have to buy our own, but all can be purchased used or almost new for pretty cheap.

Yearnings, Ancient Wisdom Daily Life: Is by a Jewish Rabbi but is great for anyone who seeks to be faithful.  He discusses things that all humans yearn for such as: truth, meaning, the way, love, creativity, happiness, and transcendence.  He attempts to uncover life giving practices and needs from centuries of religious dogma.  Very practical very good read.

Blue Like Jazz, Nonreligious thoughts on Christian Spirituality:  This book is a collection of memoirs and essays from a guy who grew skeptical of religion and God and how he grew back toward faith.

Let Your Life Speak, Listening for the voice of vocation:  This is by one of my favorite authors and is about understanding vocation and self discovery.  The author uses his battles with depression, humor, and experience to help people understand their vocation as a calling from God.

We had a great discussion last week, and have a sweet bulletin board to prove it.  Inspired by Laura’s question about fasting during Lent I thought we could spend some time talking about Christian Practices.

Christian Practices address basic areas of human need, they provide opportunity to learn, and should be done in community.  Many Christian practices appear in the Bible, others have been formed through centuries of tradition.  All Christian practices are ways of responding to God’s love for us.

For our purposes I am going to talk about two kinds of prayer practices.  First there are practices that usually require adding something to our life and are usually taught to you by a church.  These are things like: prayer, fasting, corporate worship, communion, baptism, etc.

Second are things that are natural parts existing.  The challenge is not adding something to your life like a prayer time, but adding intention to the things you already do so that your activities bring you closer to God.  These are things like: storytelling, exercise, dealing with material goods, sharing meals, being in nature, using creativity, going to work, playing, being with friends, listening and creating music, working for justice, grieving loss, etc.  These things can be just another part of our lives or they can be understood as Christian Practices.

A Christian practice is a set of activities Christian people do together over time to address fundamental human needs in the light of and in response to God’s active presence for the life of the world in Jesus Christ.  Using this definition Christian Practices can include things you do everyday.

So think about what in life already in that brings you closer to God, and fills you with peace and energy.  Share in the comment section what those things are and if you have thought of them as Christian Practices before.  Also share a Christian practice that you don’t understand, like Laura did on Sunday.

Finally, don’t forget to email me a good day to do a social event.