Adam McLane

Trends vs. Problems

Numbers at YMX are down. Not terribly down, but down. One thing is true in life… when quantifiable numbers go down I always seem to take notice.

This is why I am not panicking. This is why I don’t really even care. Less is normal right now.

While the calendar has 4 seasons, youth ministry has 2.
School’s in: Defined by youth workers daily/weekly routines of weekly meetings, retreats, lesson planning, etc. YMX gets more traffic when school is in for obvious reasons… they are looking for help on curriculum, issues raised, retreat programming, etc.
School’s out: Defined by a crazy schedule of daily/weekly routines interupted with the schedule of summer. Students are out of school so they are more free. Loads of churches do VBS and week long camps, mission trips, etc. Obviously, less time spent in the office looking for answers to questions you have leads to less time spent at YMX.

I think a lot of areas of our lives would be better if we would recognize high seasons and low seasons and expect stuff out of people accordingly.

Herein is the difference between are real trend and a real problem. If your trend has a traditional downturn and you panic… it’s counterproductive. If you see a downturn right on schedule you should just be able to look at the trends and say, "OK, it’s down now… let’s gear up for an upswing there… when the trends takes us back up."

Understanding the difference between a trend and a problem is the difference between good management and bad management.

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Adam McLane

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2 responses to “Trends vs. Problems”

  1. Tony Myles Avatar
    Tony Myles

    From my warped mind…

    1 And Jesus and the disciples headed out from that place into the wilderness. 2 Suddenly, Simon-Peter realized that the crowd was getting thin because the journey ahead didn’t seem favorable. 3 Speaking up, he asked, “Master, why are our numbers down? Should we do something about it? Something a bit more seeker-sensitive”

    4 Jesus looked at him and loved him. 5 “Sounds like a great idea, Pete. Go out and put on an outreach event. See if you can get that one cheap Christian band that sounds like the more expensive Christian band that sounds like Coldplay (but not when they were successful because we couldn’t afford them since Judas keeps helping himself to a portion of the offerings). I can build something pretty awesome on that pebble.”

    6 So the disciples went out and passed out flyers advertising the iPod giveaways and Mountain Dew that would be consumed. 7 When the people heard that pizza would also be provided, a great number of them came out. 8 Eating the food and drinking the Dew, they stuck around long enough to hear if their name was called for the iPod. 9 Soon after, they left.

    8 Then Andrew said to his brother Peter (as only brothers in Christ can do), “Told you so.”

    9 When the disciples came back to Jesus, Thomas (called Didymus) spoke up. “I doubt this approach is going to work. It’s too modern an approach for such a postmodern audience.”

    10 Jesus loved him, too. 11 “T-Diddy, take those doubts and come up with an alternative.”

    12 Thomas withdrew to a quiet place.

    13 “I don’t get it,” Matthew said.

    14 Philip replied, “Contemplative ministry.”

    15 Then the Pharisees came out and grabbed the flyers, asking, “Is this the best use of paper? Don’t you know what this stuff costs a package? And why all this clip art? Too much use of black ink, I say. This isn’t being a good steward of finances at all.”

    16 Jesus loved the Pharisees, too, even if it was a little harder.

    17 Matthew stood up at this moment, declaring, “We need to get back to our Jewish roots! Just like they did in the first century with the Torah and all that dust of the rabbi stuff.”

    18 All the disciples looked at each other, rather confused. Meanwhile, Matthew started jumping on a trampoline that was safe to jump on because it had bricks underneath its posts.

    19 Jesus loved him, too, by the way.

    20 Finally, John spoke up and asked, “Could I share an idea?”

    21 Jesus loved the disciple whom he loved… which goes without saying.

    22 “I know I’m the youngest and all, but could I take leadership of this ministry? You know, like a student-led sort of thing?”

    23 His brother James asked, “Why you and not me?”

    24 John replied, “Because you got to lead last time and it’s my turn.”

    25 “Fraid not,” said James, “I’m more mature.”

    26 “Fraid so,” said John, “because student-led ministry is the next wave and since I’m younger I’m better.”

    27 “Fraid not,” said James.

    28 “Fraid so,” said John.

    29 A little later, Luke and Mark came by and wrote this all down. Zonderdale and Tyndervan are still competing for the rights.

    30 Meanwhile, Jesus kept on loving them all. Not too many people got saved that day, though.

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  2. adam Avatar
    adam

    I guess I’m not certain how this is tied into this post. But OK.

    Is this some sort of commentary on my desire to reach people? If so… I didn’t know you were a sociologist for the Northern suburbs of Detroit.

    Sorry if that sounds snarky but…. it is what it is.

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