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As you read this, I am easing into my sixtieth year.  

I read Seventeen magazine when I was 14 and AARP when I was 45, so maybe age-specific magazines don’t necessary reach their intended ages.   I remember loving Good Housekeeping as a teenager when I had no house to keep. Today Seventeen magazine strikes me as terrifying.   I vaguely remember when it was about hair styles and clothes, but it seems icky now.

The older I get, the more it seems that statements about age are not necessarily about age.  I wrote a post a while back that felt hurtful to some readers.  I didn’t mean for that to happen.  Honestly, it’s true that many 60-something pastors need to retire, but it’s not as much about age as it’s about energy.  I spent last week with my preaching group which includes a few 60-somethings.  But they are still energetic, ready to learn new things, and willing to try new ways to be the church.

It’s not about age.  It’s about energy.  The truth is that we get tired as we age. The pastor who was ordained at 27 and serves the institutional church until she is 67 potentially preaches through The Common Lectionary (Years A, B, & C) over thirteen times.  How many new things can we preach afresh about John the Baptist?

I know 40-something pastors who basically phone it in.  They need to move on. And it’s possible to be a 50-something pastor who also needs to hang up the clergy stole for now.  Maybe – after many years in professional ministry – many of us just need a sabbatical.  We become cynical after spending countless hours in meetings that achieve nothing transformational.  We become pessimistic, perhaps, after giving our lives to “grow the church” only to find that our culture is changing and – no matter what we do, it seems – our congregations are only growing smaller.  It’s disheartening to admire creative colleagues who turn out to be misconduct pastors.

And yet . . .

the Spirit continues to infuse dry bones and lead the old to dream dreams while our sons and daughters prophesy.  God speaks through secular periodicals and nature and random comments made by a stranger on the street.  I’m feeling pretty energized today.  I hope you are too.

Having a sense of wonder is not just for children.  God still creates cool stuff and the more we learn about it, the more our ministry is enhanced.

Just as Jesus used nature created by God to explain things – seeds, sheep,
lilies – we can find countless images in science to help us interpret Scripture. Preachers love sermon illustrations.  There are hundreds of them here.

God uses everything to point to what’s True and 21st Century preachers can also find illustrations in science that will enhance our interpretation.  Did you know that there are “tongue experts” (James 3:6-10) and provocative studies about ashes (Genesis 3:16)?  Spiritual practices as well as bad habits can be understood by considering how our brains work.  And remembering that Abram was 75 years old when called to leave Haram is enhanced by knowing that indeed some of our elders are more nimble than younger generations.

Some of us are big fans of this website (although I’m uncomfortable spelling out the word.)  God created an unspeakably interesting world and for the sake of the Gospel, let’s read about it.

Image is a mosaic of Scientific American magazine covers.

Clergy, seminarians, and other church leaders often look to denominational resources, churchy blogs (like this one) and theological periodicals for inspiration. I’m not suggesting that we don’t read those offerings.

But just as it’s important to get out of the Church Bubble in our recreational endeavors (take a Thai cooking class!), it is essential to broaden our reading horizons professionally.

Secular magazines are an excellent resource for figuring out fresh ideas for congregational leadership, and – with the NEXT Church National Gathering around the corner for me and my PCUSA colleagues – this week’s posts will focus on secular magazines we should be reading as we consider what the Next Church might look like.

I love Fast Company magazine.  It’s dense with ideas, filled with recommendations for further reading and research, and decidedly not churchy. But many articles, graphs, and lists speak provocatively to Church World.

The annual issue featuring The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies is currently on the racks and while their “20 Lessons of Innovation for 2015” do not completely resonate with management of religious non-profit organizations, many of these lessons actually apply well.

Those lessons – by Editor Robert Safian – include these:

1. “Inspiration needs execution.”  What drives me crazy in Church World is that congregations hire consultants or participate in denominational programs but then Nothing Happens.  A report sits on a bookshelf.  A new mission plan is considered, but no execution occurs.  I believe that – after the consultation – every congregation needs ongoing coaching to prompt real action.  We need to be held accountable.  How are we moving towards the vision?  Who is tending to the necessary details?  We need congregational coaches.

2. “Tomorrow is too slow.”  Remember what Jesus said about not knowing the day God will show up?  We in the church move as if God will never show up. Call me impatient, but there is an urgency about serving those who are hungry or broken or lonely.  Let’s do this!

3. ” . . . But great ideas may need time.”  We can’t change congregational culture, heal from misconduct, or figure out who God is calling us to be without serious discernment and prayer.  One leader cannot carry the vision alone.  We need buy-in from the whole community, or at least from a substantial part of the community.  This takes time.

4. “Innovative cultures are rewarding.”  Fast Company is talking about financial rewards here.  But I’m thinking about spiritual rewards, emotional rewards, and cosmic rewards.  Imagine a culture in which lives are being changed for good and neighborhoods are thriving.  Yes, please.

5. “Failure does have a price.”  Some efforts fall short.  Some are expensive.  Sometimes “performance” doesn’t align with “aspirations.”  Some congregations ruthlessly punish and shame those who fail after trying something new.  Yes, there is a risk.  But show me a congregation that doesn’t try new ways of being the church and I’ll show you a dying congregation.

6. “Millennials are making waves.”  Show some love to  Millennials.  “This demographic cohort is often caricatured,” says Safian, but they are smart and interesting and super capable.  Point them to leadership positions.

7. “Values are valued.” “Next gen customers appreciate enterprises with soul,” writes Safian.  Amen.

8. “Bold ideas are global.”  How are we connecting with sisters and brothers in other parts of the world?  I’m not talking about sending them checks.  I’m talking about relationships.

9. “Every company is a tech company.”  Or in our context: Every spiritual community is a tech community.  We connect digitally.  Apps improve our lives. We don’t use social media to be trendy.  We use it to connect.

10. “World-changing ideas are bubbling.”  Do we imagine partnering with others (maybe even inter-faith partnerships!) to serve trafficking victims, refugees, people with PTSD, or basic hunger?  There are some cool organizations that would love to partner with us.

This post could be much longer as I could share so much Good Stuff from Fast Company magazine.  I read it so you don’t have to.  But if you want more . . .

Image of assorted Fast Company covers.

O my God, in you I trust;
   do not let me be put to shame. Psalm 25:2a

My Roundtable preaching group is in Austin discussing Brene Brown and shame this week.  Not only is shame is a repeated issue in the Bible (Hannah’s infertility, Hagar’s abandonment, the woman at the well, Peter’s denial)  but our pews are filled with people living in shame:  the woman who is infertile, the family whose child is mentally ill, the parents whose child didn’t get into college, the man who was a victim of abuse.  Church can be a circus of secret shame.

But one of the issues I often observe is that long time, faithful church people seem to carry shame about their congregations:

• “Our choir used to tour in Europe every summer but now we don’t even have a decent tenor.”
• “We used to have 300 children in the Sunday School but now we have less than ten.”
• “We used to have three pastors on staff and now we can only afford one.”

There is other shame, of course:  the shame that befalls a congregation whose pastor has been charged with a crime, the shame some feel when their denomination takes a stand that is opposed to their own understanding of Scripture.  But that’s not what I’m talking about here.

As congregations decrease in size and budgets are smaller, are we embarrassed that our church is not what it used to be?  Does it feel like we are not enough as a congregation?  And what is enough?

My hunch is that when a congregation is a safe community for members to be vulnerable, it’s also a church that feels unashamed about who they are as a congregation.  In other words, if we can be vulnerable with each other in the church, then we can more easily talk about the realities of Who We Are now:

• Yes, we are much smaller than we were 25 years ago.
• Yes, it’s true that we no longer take annual mission trips to Malawi.
• Yes, we have fewer children and our choir is smaller.

But if we are making a difference in our communities, if we are offering solid spiritual formation, if we are serving the poor and lonely in our community, then we will not care about numbers quite as much.  We will not be ashamed of who we are as a church because we will be serving a clear and holy purpose as we are right now.

If our current ministry is ineffective, we will naturally focus on our golden past.

And in ineffective churches, there are actually some good reasons to feel a little shame:

• When our church only serves our own.
• When we wring our hands over meaningless decisions.
• When we speak to each other with sarcasm and harshness.
• When we grab power (such as it is, in the church:  “But I always chair that committee.“)
• When we blame each other – especially the pastor – for our plight.
• When we bicker.
• When we trust no one, especially our leaders.
• When we say we are “friendly” but ignore guests and strangers.

There are very faithful small churches.  There are exceptional congregations with no choir, no Sunday School, no children, and no FT pastor.  We need not feel ashamed that we are no longer what we once were.  By God’s grace, we can become something even better – unless we will not let go of the past.

Image of warholized Brene Brown.

There are more than 87,000 Starbucks options on their beverage menu. (Hello, Grande, Iced, Sugar-Free, Vanilla Latte With Soy Milk & a Caramel Drizzle.)

But life is not a coffee shop.

Finding ourselves unsatisfied and unable to make a change seems to be increasingly common.  It could be true that we simply need to become content when things are not “perfect.”  Or it could be true that we have more choices than we realize.

Heard in Church World from Pastors:

• I can’t retire until I’m 70.
• I don’t have enough experience to take on that position.
• It’s too late to seek a new call at 58.
• I don’t have much energy left in this ministry, but what else would I do?
• I’m too old to learn how to do ministry a new way.
• I can’t afford to work part-time.
• I could never work with an old white guy.
• I could never work with a tattooed, non-binary twenty-something.

Heard in Church World from other leaders:

• We don’t have the capacity to offer Sunday School any more.
• We can’t afford an associate pastor.
• Who has time to volunteer?
• We’re not a church without a  Wednesday night Bible study.
• Can you imagine trying to be a church without a choir?
• We have nothing in common with the neighbors.
• Nobody wants to come to our Chili Dinner.
• What is those people come through our doors?

Maybe we aren’t really stuck.  Maybe we just haven’t broadened the possibilities. (Who ever dreamed 50 years ago people would put caramel in their coffee?)

Note:  Betsy Hanzelin is a Rock Star youth leader, and in these days when many youth programs are fragile, I invited her to be the guest blogger today.  How does she do it?  Read and learn.

These are my reflections after 22+ years of working with teenagers, churches, families and volunteers.    I didn’t go to seminary, but I’ve been in the trenches and figured some stuff out as I went along.

Relationships are key to your ministry, and your relationship with your students should not be at the top of your list.

1. God: It goes without saying that you need to be working on your relationship with God. You can’t lead people on a journey that you’re not on as well.  All else stems from this (and sorry to be so cliché, but it’s true)
2. Volunteers: Grow a team of people who love God and love teenagers to serve with you. I spend 40% of my budget and at least that much of my time and energy on building and maintaining relationships with my adult and youth volunteer team!    The time spent in teaching, planning and playing with my volunteers means I have people willing to return year after year because this ministry gives them a place to serve with people they care about and enjoy spending time with.  Younger youth look forward to the day they can be a staffer, because they recognize that we love each other and it’s a bunch of fun.
3. Senior Pastor: When I have a great relationship with my Senior Pastor, I am energized!   I know I am free to try new things and he/she will have my back.  And when I fail, she/he is there to help pick up the pieces, encourage me to keep trying, and defend me when parents complain.   When I don’t have that relationship I feel afraid to try things, isolated and alone and my ministry suffers.  Seek out regular time to check in with your Pastor and be honest about the joys and sorrows of your job.
4. Parents are often super busy and details like permissions slips or trip deposits are way down on their to-do lists. Cut parents slack and look for ways to support them in the task of parenting teenagers (which is really rough).   Hold events where they can be included and they don’t have to pay, cook, clean or give the right answers. (parent dinner night; mom/daughter conversations about beauty, self-esteem, acceptance;  A family Capture the Flag night; etc.)  Communicate through emails, texts, Facebook posts, postcards, calendars, the church newsletter, etc. on the off chance that one of those might catch their attention and keep them informed about church stuff.  Answer their phone calls, emails, texts.   Don’t view them as adversaries, but as partners … even when they don’t live up to your expectations.    Parents are the #1 influence on the spiritual lives of their children and they need your help and support!
5. Students: It may be surprising that this is so far down my list, but besides knowing everyone’s name and some of what makes them tick, I can’t be expected to have close relationships with all my students.  And they don’t necessarily want that either.  That’s why I rely on my volunteers!   They can attempt to forge those relationships with everyone.  I do have close relationships with some of my students, there are those who are naturally drawn to me and who I “click with” deep down.   My goal is for every student to have that “someone” and know that when they aren’t there their absence is noticed and they are missed.  It just can’t always be me.

My Stuff

Be authentic.  Teenagers always turn away from people they know are full of crap.  They respond and are drawn to people who are real and honest about who they are, what they love, and where they falter.  Admit when you’ve made a mistake, apologize often, accept the consequences of your actions and don’t hide any of it.  Be willing to say, “I don’t know, but I’ll try to figure it out”.  Tell stories of your successes and failures.  Speak of your strong faith, and those areas were you are uncertain and/or doubt.  (But also set healthy boundaries … don’t overshare or burden your team or students with stuff that isn’t appropriate).

Take care of yourself.  I’ve met many youth workers who are a hot mess.  You weren’t called to this ministry to kill yourself.  Sabbath is not a suggestion, it’s an imperative.  Hot baths are good, long showers are good, chocolate is good, catching up with an old friend is good, time with your spouse or partner is essential.   Eating well (so hard, I know) and exercising are good.  Don’t be that worn out, tired, mentally frazzled person that shows up when too much is going on.  Be that beloved child of God who needs to take care of themselves so they can do the work they are called to.

Fun is not a bad word.  For the middle years of my ministry, I outlawed the use of the word “Fun”. Fun could not be the goal for a lesson or event.  After all, I only have them for six years and there is so much that I want to teach them before they leave for the scary, secular world of college!  Jesus didn’t die on a cross for us to have fun or be happy!  But I was ignoring my number one goal … building relationships.  I’ve learned that fun is not a dirty word, and that providing opportunities to just have fun together is what binds us together.  My most favorite activity is our yearly Work Camp Nightly Volleyball game.  Everyone plays, no score is kept, each person gets to serve, it doesn’t matter how many are on your team or where you stand on the court, and if you don’t know how to serve, someone will take a 5 minute game time-out to teach you (and you get 20 tries before we move on).    I never set these rules, they just organically happened when I allowed space for fun to take over.   And Jesus might have been willing to die on a cross for these types of all-inclusive games to occur! Don’t always take yourself and your job too seriously.

Grace is the word.  Give it like crazy.  Give it to your Pastor, the parents, your volunteers, your students, your congregation.   Cut people breaks.  Give your volunteers time off.  Forgive when people screw up.  And give grace to yourself as well.  Don’t just preach it, do it often and without hesitation.

Congregational Stuff

Keep your Congregation informed.  When they don’t hear about the good stuff we are doing and the challenges we are facing, they write us off.  You are the advocate for teenagers to your church.   If you need more money, volunteers, resources, space, etc. you will have a much easier time with those requests if your congregation is invested in your ministry.  But they aren’t going to walk into your office and say, “Tell me about the youth”.   Cheerlead for your youth, make spaces for them to participate in worship, hang pictures in the hallways of their crazy activities, feature a student each month in the church newsletter, and ask them to write summaries or give talks following meaningful trips or retreats.  Anything that helps the congregation know and care about who they are and what they do will help when you need them to back you up and invest in your ministry.

Getting youth to worship is a difficult battle.  Churches often believe their youth ministry is weak if they don’t see youth in Sunday worship.   I’ve tried for years to think about ways to get my youth to come the hour or so early to attend worship before youth groups.   But they just don’t, and often times their parents don’t either.    Teenagers like to sleep in when they can and often Sunday is the only day they are not scheduled like crazy.  IF they do go, their friends aren’t there and they often get dirty looks if they are dressed in t-shirts and jeans.   Traditional worship isn’t touching them down deep.    But none of this means teens are not faithful, deep, inspiring or in touch with the living God.     They are, they just don’t often find that in worship.  Choose your battles wisely on this one.

Youth doesn’t have to happen on Sundays.  Tap into the pulse of your families and find out what works for them.  The traditional models aren’t working anymore in much of the country and we need to be in touch of the demands on students and their families.  Be creative and willing to try something new.    If you need to run things through a Board or Committee, bring those results and preferably a few parents with you as your present new models, dates, and times for approval.  Congregations who are unwilling to meet the needs of families are losing members and frustrating Youth workers.

Good luck, God bless and be ready for the best job ever!
Betsy has been the Director of Youth Ministries with Flossmoor Community Church in IL since 1992.  The image is a stained glass window from their sanctuary featuring Jesus going out into the world.

It was a good thing that my own phone was dead or there would be pictures.  (The image you see is from a Tumblr called Parents on Phones.)

HH and I went to the extraordinary Shedd Aquarium today which was all kinds of wonderful.  After checking out the belugas and The 4-D Experience, we went to the coffee shop for a break.  And there we saw seated at other tables:

• Toddler in tutu with pink boots and adult on phone.
• Two little girls with matching Frozen shirts and adult on phone.
• Little girl holding a stuffed white Beluga toy and talking excitedly about how whales eat “really tiny fish.”  And adult on the phone.

I thoroughly love my phone.  I get it.  There is always a text to make or a fact to check or an email to read.  But when we are out with the kids – especially in A Kids’ Place like a playground or a zoo or an aquarium, let’s focus on the kids.

This article from last summer spells out the importance of giving our children the attention they deserve.  Social media is here to stay and I love it.  But our children – and also adults – deserve our undivided attention.

Several people have written about what we can learn about leadership from Jimmy Fallon.  Check out this recent article by Eric Clayton and this 2014 article by MaryAnn McKibben Dana.

Sadly, many of our congregations are diminished by poor leadership and those leaders aren’t particularly interested in (or aware that they need) ongoing leadership training.  So, here’s the thing: if our leaders aren’t going to take classes or get coaching or read helpful articles, then maybe we’d be willing to pick up some pointers from late night TV.

So let’s make this easy:  People love Jimmy Fallon.  He is both crush-worthy and supremely likeable.

But he can also teach us how to increase our capacity to lead.

1- He lifts up his team.  Steve Higgins is “so great.”  He regularly asks us to “give it up for The Roots.”  Even if there are issues on a church staff, it’s crucial for a pastor to back up her/his leaders.  Have fun with them.  Appreciate them. Back. Them. Up.

2- He writes “Thank You” notes.  There are so many people who contribute to the life of our community.  Strong leaders are appreciative for both the grand and the trivial.

3- He invites people known for one thing to try new things.  Emma Stone lip syncs.  Don Cheadle sings R&B.  Daniel Radcliffe raps.  Imagine if we invited the long-time treasurer or an experienced Bible study leader to try something new and fun?

What if each of us adopted these three simple practices this Lent?  And if Jimmy Fallon inspires you, consider taking a class, reading a book, or subscribing to some articles.  We are called to lead to God’s glory and we can do better.

An adjective is a describing word.  A noun is a naming word.

No, this is not a child’s grammar lesson.  But sometimes we need an ecclesiological refresher.

Rob Bell wrote a while back that “Christian” is a poor adjective.  I would call it a misleading adjective.  Examples:  Christian Phone Book, Christian Hair Salon, Christian Band, Christian Author.

“Christian” is a much better noun.  (Note:  Not necessarily referring to Christian Grey here.)

At our staff retreat yesterday, some of us came to the conclusion that “Church” is an excellent adjective.  Examples:  Church Building.  Church Staff.  Church Meeting.  Church Playground.

Church as a noun can be confusing.  This is a church.  This is a church building. “Going to church” could mean heading to a Bible study at Starbucks or heading to a food pantry to stock shelves.  But usually it means we are going to the building where our congregation gathers on Sundays.

One of the marks of a 21st Century Church is that the people do not merely “go” to church.  They are the church.  They are the church in Starbucks, in the food pantry, in the car, and in the office.

And now a note for Presbyterians (or any denomination without a bishop):  the word “Presbytery” is an excellent adjective, but a crazy-making noun.

Yes.

It used to be true that sharing certain realities of life was frowned upon even (especially?) in a spiritual community. It was usually kept quiet, for example, that:

• The pastor ever struggled with doubt.
• The most generous financial contributors were not always The Rich Ones.
• The church staff didn’t always get along.
• The perfect-looking family sitting next to you on the pew for 10 years had dealt with all manner of crises.

Our culture has changed and today healthy churches do not keep such things quiet. This article covers why transparency is good for business. Transparency is also very good for spiritual communities.

In fact, as people seek community today, we are increasingly attracted to:

• Leaders who are real. The healthiest pastors have strong emotional intelligence and excellent boundaries, but they also share their personal struggles in pastoral ways. “The Perfect Pastor” or the pastor who tries to convey that her family is perfect does the congregation no favors. It’s a community killer.
• Finances that are managed openly and effectively. There are thousands of charities that would love to have our money. Congregations with transparent accounting procedures instill trust and confidence. When salaries and benefits are published, we better understand our sense of fairness, justice, and commitment. (Is our secretary earning a livable wage? Does the Senior Pastor earn three times what the Associate Pastor earns, and if so, why?)
• Rules that make sense. Do we say we are a welcoming congregation but our rules tell a different story? Do we hold up a vision of tolerance but we have written or unwritten rules against certain people holding office?
• Open opportunities to serve. Nobody joins a church to serve on a committee with endless meetings, strange processes, and cliquish leadership. When there is a secret inner circle that makes all decisions, the congregation is negatively impacted.
• A clear and transformational purpose. People want to make a difference in the thick of our busy lives. We do not have time to waste on institutional administrivia.

Social media contributes to transparency, but it can also isolate us. Oversharing how very perfect everything is – and especially oversharing someone else’s issues – is not what I’m talking about here. Social media that reaches out trying to connect (sharing prayer concerns, for example) creates intimacy.

Neil Patel of Fast Company writes, “As people become more transparent with one another, their relationships deepen. And who is responsible for leading that move towards transparency? It’s the leadership of the business. Transparency has to start at the top.”

Attention Pastoral Leaders and Denominational Staffers: Transparency starts with us. It keeps us honest. It infuses trust. It creates community and makes us better.

Do we ourselves trust that God is leading us? Do we seek to be faithful followers of the way of Jesus? If so, we can afford to be transparent in our ministry.

Image of the Transparent Church located in Limburg, Belgium and designed by Arnout Van Vaerenbergh. Photograph by Frans Sellies.