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Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ...27 28 29 NextLast week Kara shared about Dr. Scott Cormode’s presentation at our Sticky Faith Learning Cohort summit. One of the parts of Scott’s training I most appreciated was about the inevitability of conflict when we’re trying to produce change. Sometimes we act surprised when conflict pops up or someone presses back against our good idea, but we should know better.
In fact, Scott reminded us that change produces conflict because change always involves loss, which of course is part of why people avoid change. Loss typically triggers a grief process (generally a cycle of denial, anger/blame, bargaining, depression, and acceptance – but not always in that order). The most typical first response we get to a suggested change is denial, and the second most typical response is anger. Which means if we want to introduce change to our contexts, we have to have a thick enough skin to realize that the predictably-ensuing anger is not just about us. In fact, it may not be about us at all. It’s part of the process of loss and grief.
So Scott has memorized this one line to communicate (out loud and in attitude) when trouble arises:
“This conflict will not undo us.”
Perfect. There’s more to it in his version – that our commitments to one another and Christ are stronger than this, and that the issue is serious but doesn’t have to tear us apart. It’s actually all beautiful and really helpful. But I love that line. I’m trying to memorize it myself.
We’ve mentioned before that we had the opportunity to write a chapter for the new book, Halos and Avatars: Playing Video Games With God
, edited by former Fuller faculty member Craig Detweiler. The book is now out, and recently a good review was posted on the Pop Theology blog that gives a helpful synopsis of the chapters. The review concludes with these words: “Halos and Avatars proves to be not only the first text to link theology and video games, but a must read for any teenager or adult, parent, minister, or scholar interested in not only video games but theology and popular culture as well.” (There’s also a skype interview with Detweiler if you’re interested).
We received our copies in the mail this week, and the following quote was really interesting to me so I thought I would pass it on for your own musing:
Gamers are used to dying and rising. Multiple selves and multiple lives are assumed in game construction. Consequently, the theological idea of being born again will seem increasingly mild and mundane to the gamer generation. Rebirth, respawning, and reincarnation are all part of resetting a game…So how should ministers talk about discipleship? What does it mean to ask for forgiveness? To atone for our sins?
Detweiler has some interesting ideas about that, but I’m wondering what you think?
According to a Reuters report this week, there’s been a rise in the purchase of multigenerational homes (meaning more than one generation share the same dwelling) over the past year, with demand for this kind of housing expected to continue to increase.
Based on a survey by Coldwell Banker Real Estate of its agents, the article shares that this shift is more motivated by financial (primary) or health (secondary) reasons than by close family bonds, not surprising in the current economy. Unemployed college graduates are part of this mix, as are aging parents of Baby Boomers.
While close families apparently aren’t the cause of this cultural shift, it’s interesting to think about the ways this phenomenon could contribute to tighter family environments (which inevitably mean both closer and more stressful relationships).
I wonder what the same survey would look like if we asked youth pastors instead of real estate agents? Do you notice this or other trends in your own context? And how do you anticipate it will impact the families in your ministry (and your approach to ministry) as a result?
Yesterday in our middle school ministry, a volunteer leader was finishing a three-week teaching series inviting students to become aware of and engaged in acts of justice.
In particular, yesterday was focused on the issue of global slavery. The anti-slavery Not For Sale Campaign declared yesterday Freedom Sunday, an international day to rally churches “to declare that they are Not For Sale, you are Not For Sale and no one should be For Sale.” Stephanie pointed students to other websites like humantrafficking.org and invisiblechildren.com to help raise their awareness and inspire ideas for advocacy and action.
I always love when leaders open students’ eyes about the realities around them, and living in the L.A. area slavery is certainly more than a far-away issue. I also appreciate when leaders help connect the dots from ideas to concrete action, and yesterday kids left with a number of ideas for how to respond. But what I appreciate even more about Stephanie’s leadership is that she didn’t consider middle school students too naïve, distracted, useless, or powerless to become aware of real injustices and to act in response. She had the courage to begin conversations about justice-oriented lifestyles among students who aren’t too young to get involved in action that leads to the freedom and shalom of others.
And listening to their prayers yesterday, I think some of our students’ perspectives are in fact changing as a result of her courage.
Wow. That’s the best word to describe my experience at the third and final day of our Sticky Faith Summit yesterday. Dr. Scott Cormode, Professor of Leadership at Fuller, led us through a three-hour discussion that revolved around this question: How do you help people change who need to change but don’t want to change?
The biggest insight I gained from Scott is the power of telling stories – stories that capture what you’d like to see more of in the future. And to tell those stories again, and again, and again.
And again.
And when you’re telling stories, to connect the stories with the church’s existing vision, values and narratives – thereby helping folks connect the dots between the past, present, and future.
Scott’s definition of vision is a “shared story of future hope”. That’s my new favorite definition of vision.
Yesterday was day #2 of our FYI Sticky Faith Summit. We’ve got teams from 12 amazing churches gathered to discuss our research and its implications for ministry – youth ministry as well as children’s, college, young adult, and even the approach of an entire church.
We got talking about how to engage senior pastors in the vision and research, and one senior pastor attending the summit, Dave Burns from Hillside Community Church, shared some interesting insights about how youth pastors can connect with senior pastors. Few highlights:
-Find out what sort of experience your senior pastor has had with intergenerational ministry (which was the focus of yesterday morning), or any other areas you’d like to see change in your church. Perhaps he or she doesn’t have much experience with your vision.
-Give him or her a taste; invite him or her to an event and give them a specific role that can help them really experience the vision.
-Give him or her tangible action steps about what you are hoping they will do in the future. They’ve got a lot to juggle so the more specific you can be, the better.
Can’t wait for today – Dr. Scott Cormode from Fuller will help us all understand how to bring about organizational change that sticks.
In 2010, we have 12 churches who are part of our Sticky Faith Learning Cohort, which largely revolves around our FYI College Transition Project research. Yesterday we started a three-day summit here in Pasadena with teams from Highland Park Presbyterian Church, New Song Irvine, Bel Air Presbyterian, Meredith Drive, Hillside Community Church, Lake Avenue Church, Mars Hill in Grand Rapids, Pasadena Nazarene, Richland Hills Church of Christ, Solana Beach Presbyterian, First United Methodist in Tulsa, and Yuong Sang Church. Each church is bringing 2-4 team members so we had an incredible group of 45 folks. Chap Clark did much of the teaching.
The biggest theme I walked away with was the importance of loving kids unconditionally – without any selfish agenda. So often we as parents or youth leaders have selfish agendas for our kids – we want them to behave certain ways more because it will make us feel better than it’s necessarily the best for them. We want kids to come to youth group because a room full of kids makes us as leaders feel better about ourselves than a room half full of kids. We want our kids to do well in school because the more A’s on their report cards, the better we feel about ourselves.
I want to work on that as a parent and a youth leader.
A few nights ago, our family had Jesse and Megan Oakes over for dinner. Jesse is one of our youth pastors at Lake Avenue Church and we’re in the middle of a February teaching series on “Love, Sex, and Dating”.
Jesse was leading a small group of ninth grade boys and in an effort to help students think about how they are God’s masterpieces, Jesse asked those guys what they had that was most valuable. The first kid who answered said, “I know what you want me to say: it’s my virginity, right?” So that was the answer he gave.
The rest of the small group gave their answers then, which ranged from their camera to their computer to their collectibles. After hearing a few of his friends’ answers, the first boy said, “Wait, so I don’t have to say it’s my virginity?”
How many of our kids are just waiting to give us pat answers – answers that they think we want them to hear. Let’s push them a bit further to really think and tell us what they really think.
My friend, Brian Raison from Ohio State, sent me the press release below by the Drug-Free Action Alliance about how teenagers responded to the Super Bowl. During the Super Bowl, the friends that we had over all agreed how pervasive alcohol ads were. Note below that students didn’t vote those their favorites. I like the encouragement below to TALK to kids about tough subjects, including alcohol. Parents and youth workers can use ads as a springboard for deeper conversation…
Now here’s the press release:
According to the more than 30,000 middle and high school students nationwide, who participated in the Drug-Free Action Alliance Super Bowl Survey; while alcohol ads were widely remembered, they did not place in the top three favorites among youth, as in past surveys.
Doritos stole the show, with kids voting three different Doritos commercials as their top picks.
NATIONAL Middle School High School
#1 Doritos: Hands Off Doritos: Hands Off
#2 Doritos: Shock Collar Doritos: Shock Collar
#3 Doritos: Stole Tim’s Doritos Doritos: Stole Tim’s Doritos
#4 Bud Light: Stranded Budweiser: Human Bridge
#5 Bud Light: Clydesdale Snickers: Betty White
(Results based on over 30,000 middle and high school students within 38 states.)
“It is refreshing to see youth choosing commercials promoting a snack product for their top three favorites, however, there were plenty of alcohol ads, and based on the survey, kids definitely took note of it,” said Patricia Harmon, executive director for Drug-Free Action Alliance.
Not only did alcohol ads show up in the top five favorites, but when middle and high school students were asked about the products they remembered being advertised, alcohol was the second highest item recalled by both age groups (following closely behind food items).
“The concern is the influence of alcohol advertising on young minds,” said Harmon. “Considering youth, under the age of 21, make up about 18% of the Super Bowl viewing audience, we know there are a lot of underage people being exposed to alcohol advertising.”
Research shows that the more youth are exposed to alcohol advertising, the more likely they are to drink, drink more often and drink to excess. The effects of alcohol on developing adolescent minds and bodies can be devastating and long lasting.
Each day, 8,000 kids (between the ages of 12-17) take their first drink of alcohol. Those who begin drinking before age 15 are five times more likely to develop alcohol problems later in life. Alcohol is associated with a variety of risky behaviors including teen violence, car crashes and sexual assaults (among many others) and can cause permanent damage to the still developing adolescent brain.
Though it is unrealistic to think parents could possibly shield their children from all alcohol advertising, there is something parents can do; talk to their children. Research reveals that kids whose parents talk to them often about the dangers of alcohol and other drugs are 50% less likely to use.
“The next time your children are watching TV, we encourage you (parents) to sit down with them, making it a teachable moment. Use the commercials as an opportunity to teach your children to read between the lines of advertisements, building their media literacy skills,” said Harmon. “It’s an easy way to bring up the topic of underage drinking and to encourage your children to make healthy choices and avoid risky behaviors.”
A couple of weeks ago I was at a middle school retreat where a discussion arose among leaders about kids’ inability to articulate what they believe.
According to the National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR) team led by Christian Smith, “the vast majority of [U.S. teenagers are] incredibly inarticulate about their faith, their religious beliefs and practices, and its meaning or place in their lives.” One of the team’s conclusions from this is that faith communities are giving kids very little help in knowing how to express their faith, why it’s important to them, or how it connects with the rest of their lives. In general, this trend seems to have been true in the second wave of NSYR research five years later, reported in Souls in Transition: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults
.
The leaders at the retreat were talking about how difficult it is to help students make those connections and actually articulate what it is they believe. What I appreciate about Mark Oestreicher, who was the speaker for the weekend, was the way he was working to help leaders help their students articulate their own faith. He used his platform time to help weave together the Grand Story of what God has been up to throughout history, the centerpiece being Jesus as the Rescuer, and encouraged cabin discussion time as the time to begin fleshing it out.
I like that language of rescue, and I think it’s something teenagers can grab on to. In fact, our cabin discussions led to some kids working through what it may mean to be rescued, to live as rescued ones, and to participate in the Kingdom of the Rescued every day at home and at school. But more than that, I like that youth workers are wrestling with this important gap in the faith development of our students…
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(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), 131. [
, a short collection of writings and presentations published after his death. I wasn’t expecting to find a definition of theology in the opening section called…