A Good Kind of Broken

Today, was in a word, great. I received a lot of affirmation, which really helped to lift my spirits. I've been struggling recently with staying positive, but I managed to get a handle on it today. Then tonight we had the Reach Conference. It was amazing, I'm still in awe over it not. The conference brought me back to a place I haven't been for such a long time. My heart was broken, as it should be. I've become so content in my little "Christian bubble". My heart has become so hard for those who don't know the joy of the Lord. Don't get me wrong, I've always been proud of missionaries and supported and encouraged them, but I haven't felt for the people they are going to reach. Until tonight, I was reminded of the love for people I have, that I've always had. As a child, I remember when I first learned people went to Hell, I cried for them. As if it were  my best friend going to Hell, I cried. I still don't feel called to missions, though I wish I was. However, that doesn't mean I shouldn't be praying for these people. All these people that haven't been reached, all these people who don't have the same hope. All of these people, that my God loves and wants to reach. I want my heart to ache when His does. I want to never forget these emotions.

Emotions

One of my weakness, one of the hardest things I deal with now. Emotions have always been a problem for me. When I was younger I was a bottler, a really good one too. If something was wrong no one knew, I looked happy as could be when everything felt like it was going wrong. I would journal, and as I grew older I forgot all about it. One day I found my journal and ripped it up, putrid, filled with hate. Now, well now I'm the opposite. I wear my heart on my sleeve, I cry at the drop of a hat, and anger...well anger is an issue too. I find it hard to be real still, because now sometimes I'm judged for being so "emotional" for not being "strong", it's hard for me to find a balance between the extremes. Even now, as I write this I'm angry, but I know that I can't write what I'm angry about. Gossip kills, not only does it kill others, but it can also kill you. Emotions are great, but there are times they need to be controlled, and times they need to be let go. As I continue now with my adult life, I need to find that healthy boundary. It isn't an easy task for me, but I know it is definitely something I can do.

Recruitment Interview

     When I got this assignment I knew that the answers would not be much different from what I expected. PB Kids has not had very long of an existence, but it is beginning to grow. Recruitment is becoming more and more of a necessity for this small group as time goes by. Both because our numbers are increasing and to reduce the chance of burnout in the current teachers we have. So I took some time to ask Allison some questions about her efforts.

     Allison started the children’s ministry at Pleasant Bay all by herself, since then she has made every effort to recruit those willing to help. However, she does not want just a warm body, she has been searching for someone with a heart/passion for children’s ministry. This is of course an obvious answer, but what she said next surprised me. She also wants a multigenerational diversity in her volunteers. Not the first thing I think of, but an amazing idea to have different generations involved, it brings a broader scope of ideas to the table.

     I wanted to know a bit about the church’s recruiting process, so I pressed a bit on the subject about incentive and how long the process took. She mentioned that the recruiting process is ongoing, the first step being that of building relationships with those you hope to recruit. You need to build relationships on Sundays and continue this process for a few weeks, intentionally getting to know a person and building relationship with them will increase the likelihood that they want to serve.

     Now lastly I wanted to do a little digging on expectations for our ministry. Ultimately Allison would like to have a core group of teachers serving two weeks on, two weeks off. Since we only have one service at Pleasant Bay this gives them an equal opportunity to be in service and serving. She also wants the volunteers/assistant teachers to serve once a month if possible. As for commitment time she has never had a set time frame but wants a member who has started a season/quarter to finish that season and then re-evaluate his/her position. If serving was only taking place once every 2 months or so, commitment may vary.

     For PB Kids things are just taking off, developing if you will. So for the church’s sake good recruiting tactics are imperative right now. It looks as though things are going well, as names are being put down and connections are being made. Things will continue to go well I feel with these strategies.

Recruitment Questions

How long have you been trying to recruit?

Who are you trying to recruit?
What do you use as an incentive to recruit (if any)?

What qualifications do you require for your recruits?
How long does the recruitment process take?

How often do you expect this recruits to serve?

Minimal serving time frame/contract?

Land of Cowboys and Big Hair

Welcome to Texas, where the air is cool and the sun is shining. Perfect weather actually, something I will miss in WA. However my time here has proven to be rather amazing, we started the trip with a visit to the Sixth Floor museum. For those who don't know this museum is the building where Oswald shot from and assassinated President Kennedy, it was emotional simply to be there. I stood a few feet from where Oswald took the shot and tried not to cry. History is powerful. Outside, looking up into the window was a chilling experience for me. A friend of mine joked as we walked away that we were on Elm street, and that Freddy Krueger would come out and attack. I simply looked at her and told her I wasn't afraid, and that in fact the sixth floor scared me more. She asked why, so I responded, "because the shooting was real, it really happened, and Freddy Krueger isn't." Sometimes I forget that moments in history happened, that there were bad people, who did bad things. The longer I've thought about it, the more I want to spread the Good News. This time has been as sobering as the Oklahoma memorial for me, but it was something I needed. I can only hope the rest of my trip will be as beneficial to me.

Communicating for a Change

Communicating I always felt was a skill of mine, I have been involved with public speaking for a few years now. Public speaking however does not mean I will be good at preaching. At times I doubt I am doing God's Word justice in my delivery. So reading this book has helped me realize my words are not just what I say, but how I say it as well. First off I need to comment on the delivery of the book itself. I get bored easily if a book does not entertain me, just like "Willy Graham" told "Ray" personal stories sink in more with an audience. The beginning of the book is solely story until the adventure ends. This brought my attention to an immediate focus and engaged me in the book. I relate easily to stories and did not feel the stories were that far fetched. It was a great way to communicate to me the ideas that I needed to communicate to others. One-point sermons were honestly something I had never thought of. I came from a world of fill in the blank notes. Where if I don't write things down I will easily forget it, and an hour after service I may not even remember what the main message of the sermon was. For me, that was normal. Nothing more then a simple Sunday where I had been "filled" just could not remember what I was "filled" with. This was a simple process and was in a sense ritualistic. However even I can grasp a one point sermon. Much like Will in the story I also have travelled a good distance by car, so I understand the map metaphor very well. A map is key to travel, and I can see how it is key to your message. It involves ME-WE-GOD-YOU-WE (which took me a bit to read and even longer to say), our map is a relational map. My hardest part would have to be the first "WE" because I have a hard time figuring out how to relate to an audience if I do not already know them. I cannot simply look out into the audience and say something to relate to a group of people I know. However I do not feel as though this rule expects you to. Even Will stated he would continue until he found as much common ground "as he could", clearly we can't relate to everyone. If we could preaching would be a whole lot easier. The relationship method is also a good way to keep track of where in you are, if you forget simply think "MEWEGODYOUME" and you will be back on track in no time. Memorization, my biggest ministry weakness it seems. Everything I have studied recently has been shining a light on it, including this book. However it is again shown to me how great it can make my messages. Notes in all honesty trip me up, I get confused and lost, especially if my notes are any longer than a simple outline. It can make me a bit flustered and lose my audience because I no longer look prepared if I begin repeating myself. A great line that sticks with me is, "I'm saying that until you can deliver it with no notes, from memory, then it's not your message." Such harsh terms but ones I think are true. I want to start to get better at this, be it moving to a small outline to speak until I can speak without notes. I am a talk at you kind of person, not intentionally mind you, but I know I am. Simply put I deliver an onslaught of information and expect that my audience is following along with me. That however is not how I talk to people usually. I have a more friendly casual way of speech, so I need to bring that to the floor whenever I am speaking. Instead of sounding like the computer that I try to be I need to let myself shine through and engage people. Find Some Traction, simply put but I felt a metaphor that was used a bit loosely in a way. For me at least it was quite confusing, once it was explained however it was a synch to apply. Prayer is something that I take seriously and would obviously seek time for if I was doubting my message. The big "ah-ha" was the checklist of questions. I feel this will help me put things into perspective and resist the never ending draw of tangents. Some day I will find myself in a preaching situation. By now I am almost certain of it. Though I don't plan on preaching to kids I feel like one day I will preach to adults. Now I can see some things that will help prepare me. Now I'm not worried about what my message will look like.

The Right Attitude

Sometimes my days are hard, I mean, we all have bad days don't we? At times however it seems go be more than I can bare. Right now I'm honestly sitting on the Choralons bus, trying to get excited about the ministry opportunity we have today. This isn't easy, last night I had an issue with some friends, this morning I woke up at 5 from a nightmare, and now my shoulder and neck are killing me. However I still can find this joy inside me. Sunday is usually a day I can wake up early with my passion for ministry. I want to train myself to have that passion everyday. After all, nothing is stopping me from ministering to someone. We don't usually think about it on the weekdays, but it's true. The only difference is we aren't in church. We don't need a building for ministry, yet not many Christians want to minister outside of their safe church walls. The same lost souls are in the grocery store that walk into the church building for the first time. So what is stopping us?

Children's Ministry Leadership The You Can Do It Guide

Leadership, in ministry it can be one of the most important thing a leader has, yet exactly what they are lacking. It is a skill many people build up and few one simply possesses. I myself had to develop my own sense of leadership in high school and even still that isn't the same kind of leadership I will need in children's ministry. Some things Wideman was able to point out I needed work on. His book is a great guide for those with prior leadership roles or those starting out for the first time. Just because you are a leader does not mean you know everything there is to know about God. Sometimes when you get caught up in your work it becomes harder to focus on the time you yourself spend with God. As you expect your ministry to grow you also need to be growing. Part of that process is digging further and deeper into the Word. Your relationship with God has to grow long before you can expect your followers to grow closer to Him. When one thinks of a leader, they don't expect him to also be a follower. However as children's pastors that is part of what we are expected to do, even as Christians were are called to follow our Father. Some leaders however have a hard time with this. As a leader we have strived to do things our own way, however we can't do everything we may want. We are called to be align with the main body of the church we work for. That may mean changing our "perfect" mission statement, or canceling the "best" kids event because it doesn't fall in line with what our lead pastor's vision is. An associate pastor told me recently he wished he was still taking classes, he shared with me that a continued pursuit of knowledge is important. Especially as the world continues to change. Learning however is not limited to classes, as a children's pastor we need to learn about the culture, because culture is ever shifting. What was once popular to kids is no longer popular. Tomorrow the next greatest thing could come out, we need to be in the know about what kids are buying. Conflict is not my forte, it makes me really nervous and usually does not get solved right away. However I know it's a part of my future job and can come in many different areas. It can come from your volunteers, parents, or even the children in your ministry. No matter the cause you need to be prepared to handle things peacefully, quickly, and respectfully. It's only a matter of time before I will have to handle my first conflict in ministry, I need to be prepared to handle it. Limits are not something I easily place on myself, even worse is if someone asks me to do something I will happily take it on. The worst part is that others will not take that into consideration. They have no idea what my work load is, and if I do not say no they will think I will always take on their work. To add to my problem I have a never ending desire to please others. Part of my leadership development is to learn "the art of no" in life. After all, no one can say no for me, only I will know when I've had enough. "Temptations don't go away because you move into leadership." Sadly, I thought for a long time that it did. However I should not think that, after all, even Jesus was tempted. So there is no reason that I should not be. Leader or not, I will be tempted and must remember that I have my strength in the Body of Christ and in God. It is a daily battle that I will have to face, but one I can daily overcome if I take the right steps. I do many parts of ministry myself, even though I am just a volunteer I do a lot of physical labor myself. At times I also do check in, or teach, even help set up for the adult ministries. I can't always doll this, even though I enjoy working for others there will come a day that I can't anymore. Soon I will be delegating these responsibilities to others. Leadership, some are born with it, some develop it. It comes into play in many different areas of your ministry. The skills are invaluable to you and your team. As you continue on you should be someone your team is willing to follow. You should be a leader they are proud to follow. Wideman's book can definitely help, but in the end the task is up to you. You can become a leader if you devote yourself to it.