What kids want to talk about
Group magazine asked Christian teenagers, “What do you wish your youth leaders would ask you?” Their top 5 responses:
- What ideas do you have for youth group activities?
- Why did/do you come to youth group?
- How’s your relationship with Christ? How can I help?
- How’s your family life?
- How do you feel about more teenagers having sex these days?
Violent schedules
Recently a friend e-mailed this bracing reminder from Thomas Merton:
To allow one’s self to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, To surrender to too many demands, To commit one’s self to too many projects, To want to help everyone in everything, Is to succumb to violence. Frenzy destroys our inner capacity for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of our work because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.
Health checkup
How can you tell if your church is healthy?
Stephen Macchia, president of the Evangelistic Association of New England, worked with colleagues to develop 10 telltale signs.
“A healthy church is prayerful in all of the following aspects of church life and ministry, is reliant upon God’s power and the authority of his Word, and values . . .
1. God-exalting worship. 2. God’s empowering presence. 3. An outward focus. 4. Servant-leadership development. 5. Commitment to loving/caring relationships. 6. Learning and growing in community. 7. Personal disciplines. 8. Stewardship and generosity. 9. Wise administration and accountability. 10. Networking with the regional church.
Ministry’s double bind
In some church circles, there’s an odd logic at work:
If the ministry is going well, we say, “God is blessing.”
If the ministry is not going well, we say, “What am I doing wrong?”
With that system, we can never take credit, only blame.
Conflict
Amid the conflicts of church life, it helps to remember these words of G. K. Chesterton:
“Love means to love that which is unlovable, or it is no virtue at all; forgiving means to pardon that which is unpardonable, or it is no virtue at all.”
Developing leaders
When you hear “developing leaders,” what comes to mind? We’ve been asking that question, and here’s what we’ve been hearing:
How can I identify potential leaders?
How can I improve my existing leaders’ skills?
How can I improve my own leadership skills?
In response, we’re devoting the fall issue to the subject. Don’t miss our interviews with John Maxwell and Marlene Wilson, or the wonderful insights into preaching by Helmut Thielicke.
Customers or contributors?
In a recent phone conversation, contributing editor Fred Smith pointed out that many churches ask people, “Do you like going? Are you getting something out of it?” But that approach, he says, sees people as customers.
The better approach, he believes, is to see them as contributors. The questions to ask people are, “Are you profitable to the Master? What do you have to give and are you giving it?”
Pastoral Codes for the Internet
Leadership cartoonist Dik LaPine recently instructed us with these codes for ministers sending e-mail. Simply turn your head sideways to get the full effect:
😀 It was a great sermon.
(:P It was a rotten sermon.
|:( Don’t insult my sermons.
🙂 It was meant to be a joke.
🙁 Sorry, it wasn’t funny.
N 🙂 The meeting put me to sleep.
😡 This is confidential.
:* Greet the brothers and sisters with a holy kiss.
:)> Quoting Francis Schaeffer.
1996 by Christianity Today/LEADERSHIP journal
Last Updated: September 17, 1996
