I wonder to myself, why is it that I can get so much done but still avoid some really big monster things completely?
Two big ones with the clock ticking…
Light Force Christmas party TONIGHT!
Paper for grad school due 3 weeks ago… Absolute deadline is Friday!
I hate it when I do this to myself.
Well, the president of the school board got what she wanted for Christmas. John McEwan quit. It is perhaps the sickest exercise of poor leadership you can imagine in local school board politics. Not only did they fail to retain his services for even 2 years… They agree to pay him for 6 months of administrative leave. For him, this means that he will make about $100,000 for sitting on his butt and doing nothing for the district. At least reassign him to be a custodian.
The entire school board should be ashamed of themselves. They should impeach the board president. At the next public meeting, no discussion took place about the matter. They nickel and dime about little projects and then throw money at someone to make them go away. Shame on them. They have treated that man inhumanely since before he arrived. It was a losing situation from day one.
Why won’t they simply admit that they fired him? If he was willing to work for the rest of the school year, why else would they put him on leave like this? Their inability to deal with reality will be reflected in their future inability to hire a qualified replacement.
Last nights meetings was disgusting. Each board member proved that they are unqualified to address issues head on. Shame on them.
Here is an interesting discussion from the YS boards.
Is having the big house on the beach, the nice cars, retiring at 40 a sign of successful youth ministry? Or is it that book deal, being a speaker going around the country, having 1000 kids in your youth group? Is the “humble” talk nothing more than a facade for underachieving?
My response:
I don’t know the answers to these questions. But I am tired of the success line coming up in ministry contexts. In the end, all that matters is that we do our best to please God daily. That will look different in each persons place.There were 12 disciples who were trained by the creator of the world and each of them ended up in 12 different directions. (Of course, one failed miserably.) Some stayed in Jerusalem, some went in all different directions but Scripture only provides reports for a few of them.I guess I’m just tired of this whole conversation! I just wish we would change the language to “what pleases God in YM?” instead of “are you a success?”
The clarifying point:
I want to agree and I definately want to agree about language of pleasing God. But I wonder, how many claim pleasing God as an excuse for underachieving. For instance, a YM says they are about relationship and not program when in in actuality, they procrastinate and do not plan for anything? Or how many claim they are doing the work for God by being relevent to youth when in actuality, they are simply immature? How does the business of the church (a reality) judge the success of its youth ministry?
My counter:
I think you clarified that well.
If a church hires someone they are implying that they are going to work with them. If you hire a newbie you had better have a plan in place for a mentor relationship or you will end up with laziness masked with words like relational ministry, etc. My experience is that the “law of unrealistic expectations” gobbles up most new church workers and spits them out quickly.
Too often, churches think that their job is done when they have a little party welcoming their new youth person. In fact, the hard work has just begun. There are certainly stages that all new people have to go through. They have a period when it’s all about relationships. There is a period when it is all about program. There is a period when it is all about questioning ministry effectiveness. The reality is that churches need to have the mindset of a youth pastor being a person who is adapting and growing and maturing all the time, while at the same time leading and discipling the church’s young people or reaching out to the community or whatever.
In my experience, it takes a year or so just to get to “what are we really expecting out of this staff person?” From the staff persons perspective they also have to balance the answer to the question with two other things. “What does my church need me to do?” and “What is God directing me to do?” My point before is that we have all been called for different purposes and with slightly different ministries. Whether a church can admit it or not, their experience is gospel truth… so they are expecting your “success” to be, can we get the youth group to look like “this?” (Whatever that is.) Maybe it’s from a book like PDYM (which has gotten many a YP fired!) Or more likely it is from a favorite YP in the past or what the church leaders YP did. This is where the definitions of success vary.
For instance, my ministry loves the fact that I look at myself as a “community youth pastor” and they love that I am involved in the schools, etc. But they, generically speaking, get frustrated with it because they don’t see “church” the same way I do. If my role as a community youth pastor is to build up the body of Christ in my town… that doesn’t always translate into their vision of success in that the student ends up at our church youth group. 4 out of 10 of the students I interact with on a weekly basis I am encouraging them to be a part of their church! So, I am succesful in how I am building up the body of Christ in my community but unsuccesful in how I am building my empire. To date, the leaders see the value in what I am doing.
The rub comes when new leaders come on board who aren’t as flexible as the leaders now. Their definition of “success” will always be numbers. At that point, the longevity of the staff person is dependent on how flexible they can become and how subservient to the leadership they are willing to be… despite what they may “feel” as their calling.
Hope this helps move the dialogue along.
I’ve got some mixed feelings about this hiring. Perhaps the bottom line to it is that I am still sad that they fired Ty Willingham. I noted with interest that Weis got a 6 year deal worth $2 million a year. That will definitely make it harder to get rid of him if things don’t go well.
I suspect it will go very well from day one. If he can keep the same defensive structure and bring in his brand of offense. They can win right away.
Circle September 24th on the schedule. Notre Dame will travel to Seattle to take on Willingham’s Washington Huskies.
Maybe it’s just that I’m paranoid. But I really got the feeling something is array at our church this morning. I’ve got a sinking feeling about it, but I don’t know what it is. I heard a single loaded comment from someone that really let me know that something was up.
One thing about these feelings. I’m almost never wrong. So whatever it is, it is serious. I just pray it doesn’t effect me or my job.
I had a feeling things weren’t going well in Horroville long before I correctly viewed it as the time to go. I don’t feel like I need to go that route and start looking or anything as thing are going really well by anyone’s definition. Numbers are up. Students are growing. Lots of good stuff offered. Good solid teaching. Of course, these were true in Horrorville as well!
It could be the power struggle that is going on (as normal) by a regime change with the deacons. I hope that this is all my weird feelings are about. As Kristen said, “people are wearing a lot of grey for this time of year.”
Dear God, don’t let the grey be about me. I love this place and want to be here and feel as though I’ve followed your direction while serving here. Amen.
I can’t believe it. We bought a freakin’ fake tree.
Here’s what I posted on the YS boards.
I can’t believe it. I am a sell-out. My wife talked me into a fake tree. I was helpless to her. Before I knew it I was sending my money to China for some cheap piece of crap. Worse yet, some of the money will actually go to the fellon Martha Stewart. Stab me in the eyes now.I am responsible for the loss of an industry that supports 100,000 American workers, 5,000 independent farmers, and 1 million acres of crop that will largely be unproductive in years to come.I am so ashamed of myself. When we were done paying for it I handed my wife the reciept and said, “here’s yor receipt… it’s got the blood of a Michigan tree farmer on it. You should at least send the guy a card and promise to visit him at the homeless shelter.” I can’t believe I sold out!For the record, I did like the convenience of plopping the stupid thing on the ground and plugging it in. Instant Christmas tree!
We didn’t get done squat yesterday. I did get some Christmas shopping done. I think we’ve got the kids 100% done, Kristen is done. Not much left.
No tree. No paper.
And, I am being a jerk today and making everyone clean up the many, many messes in the house. I’m sure Kristen just wants me to go to the office and leave her alone!
I know, the line from City Slickers is “one thing” but I really have two major things that I have to do today.
Those are my tasks for the day. I’d be happy with a 50% completion rate on those.
No, I don’t have a pregnancy scandal in the youth group! At least not one that I know of.
This is a thought that I’ve been having for a few days. It’s not profound or life-altering, but it does speak volumes about where we are at as a youth group and a church.
What would happen if Mary and Joseph of the bible were really Mary Smith and Joe Johnson the kids of prominent people at First Baptist?
I have some initial thoughts. I think I would get canned in the long run. Especially if it was discovered that the relationship was being helped along by the youth group and it’s trips or if I knew there wa a relationship but didn’t get the parents involved.
pretty intriguing isn’t it? God does something that completely changes the lives of two crazy kids… But also will change all of mankind, and the youth pastor loses his job. Thanks God!
That’s the most extreme scenario. But what are others?
* The church accepts Mary/Joseph’s words and believes that it is an act of God. I can’t see this as happening, but it is a scenario worth mentioning.
* I don’t get fired, but I get mentally fired and have years of unfruitful ministry to follow in the shadows of this controversy.
* The church has lots of questions but still opens their arms to Mary/Joseph and accepts and supports them.
Of course, I set it up so the last option would be the “best” community option.
But it does lead to a bigger thought… How would we respond to something that seemed like such a tragedy? Is Light Force/First Baptist the type of community that is prepared to accept “messy” people?God, I hope that You well up such compassion and action in our students that they would lead the change process to their parents and the people of our church. God, only you can change these people’s hearts and attitudes.
Lately I’ve been exploring students blogs on Live Journal. It seems that in this community that Xanga and Blogger are not nearly as popular with students as Live Journal. Perhaps it is how easily they link and have friend communities?
At any rate, I have been appalled at what I read. I knew students went through stress in adolescence. But I’ve gotten exposed to it in whole new ways. For one thing, they share their innermost thoughts and their friends comment on it. For another thing, they are struggling with real issues. Sexual dysfunction, self-esteem, depression, on and on and on. It is clear that they are wrestling and losing… But they are also completely disconnected with their parents.
A parent tends to treat the surface issue rather than the underlying problem. A student writes in her blog, “I feel so fat and ugly, I wish I were dead. I told my mom but she just took me shopping for clothes that didn’t make me feel fat.” It makes me want to leap through the keyboard and slap a parent! How can they be so blind? Have they no empathy? Do they not see that their children are really suffering? Do they really think that this solves the problem?
I am often left to wonder if a parent doesn’t see it or doesn’t want to see it.