The Bulldogs came up just short in their show down with Red Division rivals at Michigan State’s Forest-Akers West golf course.

The final tally was GPN 311 – Romeo 320. The rest of the schools were several shots behind the Bulldogs. Nate Stevens led the way with co-medalist honors by firing an even par 72 on the day. Nate maintained the lowest overall dual match average by more than 1 stroke with a 37.5 average. Nate has been named on the All MAC Red Division team for the 2rd consecutive year.

More important than this, I played 9 holes with “rival coaches” from GPN and GPS and helped to shore up some bad blood. I think I clearly communicated to them that I desire our teams to maintain friendly rivalries and that all matches should look for fair competition as the hallmark. I think all parties were ashamed at how some of the matches played out. With that in mind, if the switch of seasons does take place we could have 4 new head coaches in place next season out of 5 Red division teams. In the previous 5 seasons there has not been a change of coaching. Amazing.

We are looking forward to two big events next week. First, Romeo and Eisenhower will compete for the coveted Cider Cup on Tuesday followed by the Regional event at the Orcards next Thursday.

Inner City Impact Chicago, Illinois



The definition of student leadership is simply students that can get people to follow them. At ICI they have a program that some students get involved in called “Leaders in Training”. Student leaders begin by working in the programs for the younger kids. At the same time, they are being trained by a full time staff person on various aspects of ministry. After a certain amount of time and investment, promising student leaders are hired as interns and given more responsibilities as they grow in their leadership capabilities.



Brown Corners United Brethren Church Clare, Michigan



They define essential elements in a student leader as someone who has a relationship with God, is looked up to by some of their peers, lives above reproach (1 Timothy 3:2), and is an emerging shepherd who is committed to being a disciplemaker. Each year the youth pastor picks 2 to 4 students that fit the mold and challenges them to take on more responsibility

within the youth ministry. He mainly calls on them to lead Bible studies and prayer meetings and to share God’s activity in their lives.

King Street United Brethren Church Chambersburg, Pennsylvania

They define student leaders as those who influence others toward Christlikeness. Students who meet the adults’ expectations of “FART” are invited to be a part of the “Student Leadership Team”. “FART” stands for Faithful to Christ; Available to be used by God to influence others; Responsive to challenges presented by the adult leaders; and Teachable.

The students on the “SLT” desire to influence their friends toward Christ and meet weekly during Sunday School for prayer, accountability (in their efforts to influence others), and training.

____

My stuff:

The purpose statement of our youth ministry is that “the EDGE Youth Ministry” exists to love like God does as we FOCUS the whole of our lives on God, FOLLOW in Jesus’ footsteps, engage in FAITH-SHARING with our friends, FEED the needs of others, and live in FAMILY with each other.” I believe this is an accurate and biblical picture of a faithful and mature disciple of

Jesus Christ and gives a clear vision of the kind of student leader that we are after.

Therefore my operational definition is that student leaders are those who have committed to faithfully live out the 5 purposes of our youth ministry by modeling that lifestyle and influencing those around them to do the same.

We want to be challenging all our students along the lines of these 5 purposes in everything we do, but more specifically, for those students who have shown faithfulness and maturity in the past, we are currently working (programmatically speaking) on a two-fold plan. On a weekly basis, we have small groups that meet during the Sunday School hour. We are encouraging our student leaders to take full advantage of this time for prayer and accountability and to influence those in their small group towards the same end. On a monthly basis, we want to offer a more extended time for training, assessment, and encouragement.

By the way, here is cool site that I found on student leadership if you would like to check it out: http://www.intervarsity.org/slj/

Southeast Christian Church Louisville, KY

High School Student Leadership “History Makers”



Definition: Student leadership is a place where students no matter what their background, talents or personality can use their gifts to encourage and extend the kingdom of God. It is being passionate about Jesus and others, always encouraging, being faithful, growing spiritually, being a role model, humble and always being ready to share Christ.

There are three tears to history makers: participation, leading a project, and planning a project.

There are also three opportunities for students to serve in the high school ministry. The first is the meet and greet team, their job is to help others get connected. The second is attending history makers meetings and service projects, where they have a monthly meeting and learn what it means to be a student leader. And the third is Saturday Night Revolution, an all student lead worship experience. In these three areas, students are expected to be a part of the worship, teaching, fellowship, and the service aspects. To be a part of history makers, students must fill out an extensive application that defines the student leaders commitment, expectations, and helps to place students in gifted areas of service.

Crossings Community Church Oklahoma City, OK

“360 Student Revolution”



They believe that anyone can be a student leader. They teach the 360 revolution concept. Target three friends, pray for them 6 times a week, and miss 0 opportunities to share Christ with them. They also have accountability, mentoring, and meetings. There accountability is monthly and internet based.

Saddleback Valley Community Church Saddleback, CA

“Core Students – Student Leaders”

“Students aren’t the future church; they are the present church”. This is the difference between active participation and passive observation. Doug Fields sees his role as preparing God’s people (students), for works of service. He seeks to help student s use their spiritual gifts, hearts, abilities, personality, and experiences for ministry. There must also be a deeper level of commitment and accountability for student leadership. Core students must also be committed to a lifestyle that pursues godliness, honors God, and is above question, as well as the youth ministry and friendship evangelism.

Student Leadership University

“Training Tomorrow’s Leaders Today”

They encourage young leaders to commit themselves to excellence, which they define as the ability to rise above self, circumstances, obstacles, change and the crowd. Each student is exposed to programs focusing on leadership skills such as time and life management, goal setting, dealing with conflict and difficult people, and developing a Christian worldview. There are four programs that are base on the belief that the greatest catalyst for personal development occurs through the people you meet; the places you go; and the books you read.

The four programs are

101 Orlando – gaining vision to soar and not settle

201 Washington D.C. – impact the country through influential leadership

301 Europe – global strategies for leadership, and

401 Mediterranean -living your legacy of inspired faith.

North Point Community Church Georgia

“Max Q” -Maximum Dynamic Pressure

They share six key components that are critical to your teenagers becoming spiritually influential: setting standards, establishing priorities, maintaining accountability, unconditional acceptance, sustaining influence, and leverage. The purpose is to help develop students who can withstand the pressure, who can be light in dark places, who will not waver from their faith while pursuing relationship with their peers, and who can be influential without being negatively influenced themselves. The ultimate goal is for them to develop students of influence, who influence their peers for Christ.

_______

My Operational Definition:

Leadership is influence. Any person can be an influencer, but it is a conscious decision. They must first decide to be a leader and then act upon that decision. So student leadership is acting on a conscious decision to influence others that they come in contact with for the cause of Jesus Christ.

Students should use three ways to do this, pray for others and opportunities to influence, connect to others personally, and help people get connected to others who are influencing for the cause of Christ. Student leaders also need mentor relationships, accountability, and purpose. Students should be teamed up with an adult role model who is living out the expectations we are asking of the students. The accountability can be set up first with an adult overseeing the student on student interaction while over time the adult gracefully leaves the interaction between the students. And finally, helping students discover their purpose in life and for the cause of Christ is crucial and essential in their development as a leader. Each student is gifted and capable of service, they need to be given opportunities to discover the area, or niche, they were designed for to become a person of significance and influence.

North Clinton Mennonite church

Has “youth elders” who are nominated by adult volunteer staff, interviewed by the youth pastor, and then affirmed/voted on by the rest of the youth group. A youth elder is held to personal living standards, as well as attendance requirements. Their primary role is shepherding, providing pastoral care, 5-7 assigned students from the youth ministry. They also provide organizational/administrative input & leadership to the programming aspect of the youth ministry. Programatic/One-anothering in focus.

Huntington North Student leadership

Seeks “Christian Students who are committed to influencing their friends for Christ through YFC-related ministries.” Students are asked to “Go alone together to reach your lost friends at Huntington North Highschool.” Students are expected to attend weekly, morning meetings, use outreach programs as tools for outreach, and to take risks in conversations about Jesus, while living a “certain-kind” of lifestyle. Outreach/missional in focus.

Archbold Evangelical

Has not developed a clear program or definition for student leadership, but use the adult volunteer staff to identify & informally appoint students who have a “vital relationship with Jesus” who are willing to commit to serving & sharing regularly as a result of that relationship. If these students continue to function and show maturity in this serving & sharing tasks they remain identified & used within the context of the ministry. I don’t know how to group this one, probably “students in charge” in function, although student leaders in relationship “on paper”.

Nappanee First Brethren

Student leaders form a “Youth Council”. Adult volunteer staff appoint students to the ballot, after interested students have filled out an application, who are then voted on by students present at the youth group. Each student on the council is given one of the “5 purposes of youth ministry” (Warren/Fields) and are to be the “eyes, ears, hands & feet” of the youth pastor for their particular focus. Students are expected to live out their commitment to Christ in word & deed, as well as be involved in every aspect of the youth ministry, local, district & national. “Student Leaders in charge” function.

_____

My personal summary of a definition for student leadership recognizes a Biblical responsibility to be missional in focus, while recognizing the local church’s mandate to function as the body in carrying out the “ministry & message of reconciliation”. I am trying to develop a highly intentional, streamlined form of student leadership with as little programming as possible to develop the youth ministry and students. Here at Crossroads, “student leaders” are called captains and are seen/trained/referred to as “ambassadors of Christ”. Becoming a captain is open to any student who chooses to invest in the youth ministry’s purpose (helping searching students discover & develop an intimate relationship with Jesus). They do this by 1) by identifying his/her role of service (within the youth ministry) and 2) by identifying his/her area of influence (among their peers out in their world), while maintaining a commitment to 1) grow in maturity (measured by initiative and responsibility in both the “inward” & “outward” tasks) and 2) faithfulness (measured by obedience & lifestyle) to Jesus. Members of the adult staff work with students who are grouped according to the “roles of service” they have chosen in providing accountability to their

commitment & role of ambassadors among their area of influence. I’m

trying to incorporate a combo of “missional” & “local church ministry” (as a tool for the missional).

Fellowship Bible Church Longview, TX



In this middle school ministry, student leaders focus on tasks that point into the student ministry. They lead small groups, maintain a contact ministry, and help the weekly meetings run smoothly. This leadership team is available to anyone who commits to both coming and participating. The adults provide external motivation and rewards for being on the leadership team while they have seen this grow into internal motivation when they reach the high school ministry. Once the leadership students have been identified they are trained according to their giftedness as discovered in a spiritual gift assessment. As students demonstrate both a level of faithfulness to the task and mastery they are challenged to add more ministry related aspects of the group.

Glenn Ellyn Evangelical Covenant Church Glenn Ellyn, IL

In this middle school ministry, the student leaders are those who have accepted a challenge to step out. There is no selection process and the adult leadership ensures that students are part of the team because of their own internal motivation to do so. They are involved in peer-to-peer evangelism as well as task ministry. For the most part, training is done informally and is hands on. Once a student has demonstrated aptitude in a skill, they are challenged to take on tougher tasks. It appears that one guiding goal for student leadership is preparation for much more responsibility once they reach the high school ministry. Though this is a fantastic by-product for the high school ministry, the student leadership team seems to be geared towards building the middle school ministry.

Central Baptist Church Fountain City, TN



Central Baptist’s leadership team is primarily involved in tasks and brainstorming for new ministry programs. This group is open to all interested people, 9th grade-college who are interested and committed to participating. Training and planning is primarily done on their annual retreat where they focus on team building, prayer, and Bible Study. They are involved in ministry evaluation, event planning, assessing needs, setting goals for the student ministry, and guiding the youth pastor. This has developed into an extremely positive “feeding frenzy” of energy for this large student ministry. Though the leadership team has influence over their peers, their primary role is to support the student ministry program.

First Baptist Church Romeo, MI



Student leadership takes on two forms. Entry level leadership consists of task ministry. (In the first level students volunteer to help, while in the second level there is an application process) These students are trained to complete assignments that make the weekly meeting function. These entry level leaders are chosen because they have a skill and have demonstrated faithfulness in coming. The second level of leadership is available to all to apply, but some students are guided into it. This level of leadership consists of peer-to-peer ministry training and accountability. These students have made a commitment to student leadership and are engaged in regular evangelistic efforts on their school campuses. They have regular meetings with the youth pastor for encouragement, training and follow-up.

New Hope Community Church Bryan, OH



Student leaders at the Linc are being trained to influence others. Students are chosen for Max Q by a staff member and an interested student goes through an interview process. Once selected, the staff pours themselves into these students with hands on training, one-on-one discipleship, and special training camps. Students are purposefully not put on a pedestal so as not to single them out as an example; rather the benefit with their leadership team is in the individual’s current ministry on his campus and the preparation for adulthood.

______________________________________________________________

My operational definition of student leadership

Student leaders are students who have internally accepted a challenge to influence their peers towards a relationship with Christ. They are chosen and called by an adult for leadership because they have mastered and taken ownership of tasks within the student ministry and have grown to the point where they need to “grow out” with their faith. Student leaders are to be trained and held accountable by an adult staff person. While the adult’s role is to mentor, model and encourage, it is not to externally motivate the student leader towards action. A leader leads based upon their own conviction.

Well, this was not the way we wanted to finish our season. The regular season came to a screeching halt and we got clipped by Ford 169-179.

The thing that makes me so sad is that the guys just don’t seem to give a rip. Maybe it’s a lack of talent, but they should have been able to handle Ford easily today and they didn’t. We have the league championship later this week and the only way we can come out of this season with any respect is to win this, win our regional and get back to the State Finals. It’s a long shot, but I think they could do it.

Two weeks in a row that I’ve not gone through my weekly schedule here. Maybe that little self-made fad is fading. Of course, I got thrown off schedule with the stabbing incident and all. (The victim seems to be recovering and the guy is in jail on $1 million dollars bond. He looked like a real winner to me.)

Tuesday: I took Megan to preschool this morning. It’s exciting because she is so excited about this step in life. She is in love with the water table that they play with. I have to send out a few e-mails today, but other than that it’s a quiet day. I do have to complete my homework for grad school and e-mail that in ASAP. I have all of the research done and only need to type it up and submit it. I started reading the book Dedication and Leadership last night and found it absolutely fascinating. (I am seriously thinking my thesis may have something to do with student leadership in the LDS.) At about 1:30 I have to be at RHS to pick up the golf team. We have our last league match with Ford II. I think we need to win this to hold second place in the league.

Wednesday: A big night for LF as we launch our monthly concert of prayer. The students came to practice last night and that went “just OK.” (They just don’t see the need to pick songs that everyone is comfortable with!) I have the day off from golf practice, I hope, and this is helping me get caught up with my real job.

Thursday: My major responsibility is to take the varsity golf team back to Forest-Akers West to capture the league championship. I’ll be gone all day with this.

Friday: Get ready for the homecoming game tailgate party & bonfire. Also, this is when everyone else will be setting up the India room for the missions conference this weekend. We want out room to win this year and it seems that people are going all out!

Saturday: I mostly have the day off. We just have missions conference to attend.

Sunday: More missions conference stuff followed by a parents meeting and a praise & worship time at the Wrobleski’s from 6-9.

Maybe I should stop doing this since it’s really depressing? No. I think it’s good. 🙂

Scott, you’ve turned into a welcome regular here. Thanks again for dropping by.

12:15 PM, Scott W. Somerville said…

I’m not expecting to change your position on homeschooling, so let’s consider how one can advance the Kingdom in public schools. If I understand your overall position, you are suggesting that Christian teachers should seek jobs in public schools, so that they can use their position of influence to try to convert the children in that classroom. Is that right?

I wrote back in the comment area…

At 9:42 AM, PA said…

I don’t know where that came from. But that’s not what I am saying at all. I’m saying that Christian parents should be involved in their local public schools. We have many teachers at our church who work for various public school districts. You can be salt and light and not present the gospel in every class. As far as I know, a teacher is able to share their faith if the student instigates the line of conversation.

The more I think about this the more I realize that this isn’t what I meant at all. Perhaps I am just that bad of a communicator? Here’s some new lines of thought.

• Is my position reflective on the word of God. (That homeschooling and separation from the world are wrong?)
• If my position is incorrect, am I willing to change my mind?
• Am I just being hard nosed and not seeing any good in something just because of my own personal experience?
• Are all children supposed to fit into the same types of institutions or are we as a society OK with having total an institutionalized lack of institution? (School is a creation of man, out know?)
• Are my assumptions based on known facts or just my observations of having been around these different types of education?
• Is this a battle worth fighting? Ultimately moms/dads are going to chose to do their own thing and I have to figure out how I can support them even when I think they are wrong.
• Does this boil down to a grey area or is this a sin issue?

A final observation is that my friend Scott merely asks questions and rarely answers ones that I ask. Is that because he assumes he is more important than I am or is it just that he thinks that my position is so stupid that it’s not worth responding to. (Of course, another possibility is that he finds truth in my positions?) I don’t know. And I have much else to do.

A scary incident here in Romeo.

I noticed on the SB Tribune website that eventually that link will go away. So I wanted to post it now.

MOOR OR LESS

By BILL MOOR

Tribune Columnist

I was driving my third-grade daughter and first-grade son home from school that snowy afternoon when I caught my fourth-grade son in midshove.

He and his buddy, Adam — or former buddy — were having a bit of an altercation right there in Leeper Park.

A push here. A swing there.

With both of them in their snow gear, they didn’t look as if they were doing much damage, but I pulled over anyway.

I grabbed both of them by the arms and yelled at them to knock it off. I don’t think I said anything noteworthy, but the froth from my mouth apparently got their attention.

I’m sure I was the last person they expected to land right in the middle of their little feud.

They both look embarrassed. They both walked home — heads down. As the years passed, they went their own ways, no longer close buddies but not adversaries, either.

When I drive by Leeper Park, I occasionally remember that little scene — just one of those hundreds of mental snapshots I keep from my kids’ formative years.

Adam McLane, my son Steve’s buddy back then, remembers it, too.

But what he remembers most was the following day — a Saturday afternoon.

I took Steve and Adam to the movie “Rocky IV.”

You know the movie. It’s when Rocky outboxes the Soviet wunderkind and then says to the Russian crowd: “If youz can change and I can change, then wez all can change.”

An end to the Cold War almost immediately.

I don’t think that the theme — spoken so eloquently by the Rockster — was why I took them to see that movie. Quite frankly, I didn’t even remember seeing it with them until Adam recently e-mailed me.

He is now an associate pastor of student ministries at a Baptist church in Romeo, Mich., with a wife and two children. He says he retells that little episode often to his church groups.

“That simple little lesson taught me an awful lot about forgiveness and grace and life.”

Maybe that’s what I wanted out of getting them together after their tiff. Or, who knows, maybe I just wanted to show them how punchy a person could get if he went through life banging ribs and butting heads like Rocky.

Adam did want to know if I could explain what was going through my mind back then and if I thought Steve also learned a lesson that day.

I wasn’t sure how to respond. I did tell him that it was probably my way of showing that I believed in both of them — that I wasn’t taking sides — and that if they quarreled again, they would be letting me down as well as themselves.

I’m sure I also didn’t want them to dwell on their bad blood — that the sooner people make up, the quicker feelings heal.

After the movie, I didn’t know if it helped or not. Just a few days ago, Adam told me it did.

So I called my son, Steve, and asked if he remembered the episode. He said that every time he sees a Rocky movie, he does. And even if he didn’t say so back then, he says he did learn some lesson, too.

Hmmm.

When I think back to those parenting days, I tend to remember the mistakes I made — of being too strict … or being too pushy … or being too flippant.

I think we all do that as parents.

We measure ourselves against Ward Cleaver of “Leave it to Beaver” or Jim Anderson of

“Father Knows Best,” and we come up wanting.

It is easy for us to remember the times when we think we could have done better as parents.

But then we occasionally are reminded that maybe we did a few things right, too.

Steve even mentions now that I wasn’t such a bad guy back then after all.

I told him if he continued to get mushy like that, I’d send Adam down to finish their fight.