This gives us another option for making music together at the weekly Music Night, Tuesdays at 7 pm.
Please share your ideas for a future Music Night.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Penny Whistles Have Arrived
This gives us another option for making music together at the weekly Music Night, Tuesdays at 7 pm.
Please share your ideas for a future Music Night.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
The Vision: The "Why's" Part 2
Yesterday we introduced our new Vision for the future direction of our church: converting the church parsonage into a youth/Sunday School/counseling center. We addressed some of the "why's" of that vision by discussing the nature of, and theology behind, our youth program...the things that make it work. Hopefully by reading that you understand the difference between the kids having a home and just having a place among us.
At least half the youth gatherings currently happen in the parsonage anyway. It's more or less a necessity. Part of that is psychological. The same events that seem so natural sitting on a couch in a furnished house and an appropriately-sized room seem weird when held in a more clinical, less-comfortably-furnished, inappropriately-sized place. The Fellowship Hall is too big for the things we do, the back basement rooms too dark and small. Metal chairs are the only seating option in either, quite uncomfortable if you're spending more than a couple hours on an event. Practicality rears its head too. For example, you can't watch a movie in any of the church rooms. There's no sight lines in the hall, no space in the back rooms. Plus there's no equipment to show the Blu-Rays on which we have most of our movies and no speakers for sound. The parsonage has all of these things plus chairs, couches, a comfortable environment. It already feels like home in a way the church rooms never could.
Another quick example: you should have seen the kids beam when some of the ladies of the church got them their own fridge for pop. It was the first space that they could call their own. They couldn't believe how lucky they were and you wouldn't believe how much easier it is for them to grab pops now than it was when the soda sat on somebody else's counter or in somebody else's fridge. Even that much of a home--one appliance--made a huge difference.
For all these reasons and more, if an event is going to last more than a couple hours, if it requires any kind of technology, or if it's any smaller than a dozen people we just hold it in the parsonage.
The next natural question: OK, so that's worked so far. Why change now?
It has worked so far but we need to consider two important things:
1. At whose expense has it worked?
2. Will it continue to work?
The simple answers: at the expense of me and my family and, for various reasons, no it won't.
The first reason it won't work is a happy one. We're experiencing the same "problem" we had a few years ago. We're starting to have too many events and too many kids to contain in my house. People are feeling welcome. They're inviting friends. Those friends are discovering our church and inviting more friends. On New Year's Eve, through simple word of mouth, we had 19 people show up for a couple of movies. 10 sat on our couch, 3-4 more in chairs behind the couch, another bunch sprawled out on the floor.
This is great, but realistically my house can't accommodate that many people while remaining my house. We have too many things in the way, not enough seats, etc. In practical terms that leaves me choosing between kids, deciding who to notify about events and who to not mention them to.
To be clear, we never turn anybody away. That's a firm rule of mine. Anybody who comes can stay. But that also means that I can't broadcast certain events very widely otherwise we'll be overrun. Usually how it works is somebody will text me and ask if I have time to do something on a given day. I'll say, "Yes" and tell them about how many friends they can invite. I know, then, that I can't let anybody else know.
Obviously this is not ideal as far as youth evangelism. The people who text me most often get to come most often. Those slower on the draw get left out. Since I get texted quite often and my calendar fills quickly I seldom get to make it up to those who are left out. Not having a dedicated youth space is causing us to pick and choose who we'll serve instead of being able to take all comers. It's limiting the effectiveness and growth of this ministry.
The second reason the current system won't work anymore is my family. Before Derek came along this was easy. Careen would just join in on the activity or curl up somewhere with a book while the youth and I hung out. When Derek was a baby it wasn't so bad either, as all he needed to be happy was mom close by. Now Derek is 5 and Ali is 2. They need their space. They need their house. Ali sleeps four feet away from where we watch movies at night. Careen is just down the hall and hears youth having fun at midnight when she has to get up early with the kids. If I want to have an event in the daytime I have to ask my family to leave the house in order to make it work, as the kids can't be underfoot nor can we just lock them in their rooms for four hours. I've made this request multiple times. How many times can that happen before it starts being unfair?
I'm starting to have to reject youth events for this reason. For example, last year we had a very successful movie and dinner night for High School youth. It was fantastic and well-attended. We wanted to start it again this year, to build on that success. But I couldn't do it. I sat down and looked at having Careen and the kids leave the house every second Sunday and I finally decided I had to draw the line. So we're not doing it. The sad part is, that event was drawing kids we don't always see at the other events. But what can I do?
This may sound self-serving but I think I've earned the right to say it. For years I've sacrificed and done, by most accounts, an amazing job ministering with these kids. There's been no mystery to it. I've given them the time, energy, and space that they needed to flourish and enjoy themselves among us. But this has been on the backs of me and my family. We have been paying for this vital ministry. We've shown it can be done. We've demonstrated why it's not only good, but indispensable to our church. How long do we have to keep paying the price to show that to everybody else?
At a certain point the church has to decide whether it thinks this ministry is vital enough to support. If the answer is "no", then I've been wasting my time with this (at least from a church perspective) and I need to stop doing it. But if the answer is "yes" it's time to throw our support behind this ministry...for everybody to throw in some support for it. I'm eager and willing to continue growing the ministry and working with the youth of our town but I can't keep doing it without the right tools and space. And I can't keep making my family pay--not just financially but by sacrificing their home--for something the whole church should be supporting.
We haven't even talked about the Sunday School and counseling aspects of this Vision. We will do that next time when we lay out the floor plan and what the final product would probably look like. And you should get excited about that, because it is way...cool.
As always, feel free to ask questions and make comments in the comment section below or via e-mail.
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
At least half the youth gatherings currently happen in the parsonage anyway. It's more or less a necessity. Part of that is psychological. The same events that seem so natural sitting on a couch in a furnished house and an appropriately-sized room seem weird when held in a more clinical, less-comfortably-furnished, inappropriately-sized place. The Fellowship Hall is too big for the things we do, the back basement rooms too dark and small. Metal chairs are the only seating option in either, quite uncomfortable if you're spending more than a couple hours on an event. Practicality rears its head too. For example, you can't watch a movie in any of the church rooms. There's no sight lines in the hall, no space in the back rooms. Plus there's no equipment to show the Blu-Rays on which we have most of our movies and no speakers for sound. The parsonage has all of these things plus chairs, couches, a comfortable environment. It already feels like home in a way the church rooms never could.
Another quick example: you should have seen the kids beam when some of the ladies of the church got them their own fridge for pop. It was the first space that they could call their own. They couldn't believe how lucky they were and you wouldn't believe how much easier it is for them to grab pops now than it was when the soda sat on somebody else's counter or in somebody else's fridge. Even that much of a home--one appliance--made a huge difference.
For all these reasons and more, if an event is going to last more than a couple hours, if it requires any kind of technology, or if it's any smaller than a dozen people we just hold it in the parsonage.
The next natural question: OK, so that's worked so far. Why change now?
It has worked so far but we need to consider two important things:
1. At whose expense has it worked?
2. Will it continue to work?
The simple answers: at the expense of me and my family and, for various reasons, no it won't.
The first reason it won't work is a happy one. We're experiencing the same "problem" we had a few years ago. We're starting to have too many events and too many kids to contain in my house. People are feeling welcome. They're inviting friends. Those friends are discovering our church and inviting more friends. On New Year's Eve, through simple word of mouth, we had 19 people show up for a couple of movies. 10 sat on our couch, 3-4 more in chairs behind the couch, another bunch sprawled out on the floor.
This is great, but realistically my house can't accommodate that many people while remaining my house. We have too many things in the way, not enough seats, etc. In practical terms that leaves me choosing between kids, deciding who to notify about events and who to not mention them to.
To be clear, we never turn anybody away. That's a firm rule of mine. Anybody who comes can stay. But that also means that I can't broadcast certain events very widely otherwise we'll be overrun. Usually how it works is somebody will text me and ask if I have time to do something on a given day. I'll say, "Yes" and tell them about how many friends they can invite. I know, then, that I can't let anybody else know.
Obviously this is not ideal as far as youth evangelism. The people who text me most often get to come most often. Those slower on the draw get left out. Since I get texted quite often and my calendar fills quickly I seldom get to make it up to those who are left out. Not having a dedicated youth space is causing us to pick and choose who we'll serve instead of being able to take all comers. It's limiting the effectiveness and growth of this ministry.
The second reason the current system won't work anymore is my family. Before Derek came along this was easy. Careen would just join in on the activity or curl up somewhere with a book while the youth and I hung out. When Derek was a baby it wasn't so bad either, as all he needed to be happy was mom close by. Now Derek is 5 and Ali is 2. They need their space. They need their house. Ali sleeps four feet away from where we watch movies at night. Careen is just down the hall and hears youth having fun at midnight when she has to get up early with the kids. If I want to have an event in the daytime I have to ask my family to leave the house in order to make it work, as the kids can't be underfoot nor can we just lock them in their rooms for four hours. I've made this request multiple times. How many times can that happen before it starts being unfair?
I'm starting to have to reject youth events for this reason. For example, last year we had a very successful movie and dinner night for High School youth. It was fantastic and well-attended. We wanted to start it again this year, to build on that success. But I couldn't do it. I sat down and looked at having Careen and the kids leave the house every second Sunday and I finally decided I had to draw the line. So we're not doing it. The sad part is, that event was drawing kids we don't always see at the other events. But what can I do?
This may sound self-serving but I think I've earned the right to say it. For years I've sacrificed and done, by most accounts, an amazing job ministering with these kids. There's been no mystery to it. I've given them the time, energy, and space that they needed to flourish and enjoy themselves among us. But this has been on the backs of me and my family. We have been paying for this vital ministry. We've shown it can be done. We've demonstrated why it's not only good, but indispensable to our church. How long do we have to keep paying the price to show that to everybody else?
At a certain point the church has to decide whether it thinks this ministry is vital enough to support. If the answer is "no", then I've been wasting my time with this (at least from a church perspective) and I need to stop doing it. But if the answer is "yes" it's time to throw our support behind this ministry...for everybody to throw in some support for it. I'm eager and willing to continue growing the ministry and working with the youth of our town but I can't keep doing it without the right tools and space. And I can't keep making my family pay--not just financially but by sacrificing their home--for something the whole church should be supporting.
We haven't even talked about the Sunday School and counseling aspects of this Vision. We will do that next time when we lay out the floor plan and what the final product would probably look like. And you should get excited about that, because it is way...cool.
As always, feel free to ask questions and make comments in the comment section below or via e-mail.
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
Weekend Announcements: Angel Needed!
Things going on in church this weekend:
--Thursday Night at 7:00 our Lutheran Basics course continues at St. John's.
--Saturday Night at 7:00 Theology on Tap meets at Alice Bevans' place. She lives on W. Pecan just a couple blocks from the church out towards the Genesee Sausage place. Call for directions if you need them!
--Sunday Afternoon/Evening will be the youth Superbowl Party at Pastor Dave's. Come at kickoff for food, games, and prizes!
Also we need an Angel on Call to give a ride to a Genesee gentleman and his wife so they can pick up groceries in Moscow. Friday or Saturday would work. Call me if you can help!
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
--Thursday Night at 7:00 our Lutheran Basics course continues at St. John's.
--Saturday Night at 7:00 Theology on Tap meets at Alice Bevans' place. She lives on W. Pecan just a couple blocks from the church out towards the Genesee Sausage place. Call for directions if you need them!
--Sunday Afternoon/Evening will be the youth Superbowl Party at Pastor Dave's. Come at kickoff for food, games, and prizes!
Also we need an Angel on Call to give a ride to a Genesee gentleman and his wife so they can pick up groceries in Moscow. Friday or Saturday would work. Call me if you can help!
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
The Vision: The "Why's" Part 1
As you've probably heard, the new vision that we talked about in Sunday's annual meeting involves converting the parsonage into a center for youth ministry, Sunday School, and counseling. My family and I would move to a different house, clearing space for those ministries to flourish. We'll talk about what such a center would look like plus the steps we'd need to take to get there in subsequent posts. For now, let's just cover the "whys" of this vision.
Those present at the annual meeting saw a short film showing some of the youth who come to our church in order to participate in its ministries. We only caught the ones who were there when we were filming our Sunday School movies. We still managed to catch 17 youth on camera. Very few of those came specifically to do the movie project. We just recruited kids who had come to hang out and do other things. That's 17 youth picked up more or less randomly in just four months of filming. We actually have contact with more.
Why do these youth come to be with us? Over the years people have attributed it to me. I'll take some of the credit, as I've made this a priority...seeing the great need. But really, it's not my personality that draws them. It's our theology meeting their need.
Our teenagers are growing up in a world we never imagined. They have more information, more choices, available to them than we ever did. Their lives are also more organized, scheduled, and goal-directed than ours ever were. This combination means they also have less real, human interaction than we ever got, especially with adults. Much of their time is spent in isolation, in front of a screen of one sort or another. They have a connection to a game or social network or what have you but it's through electronics, not face to face. They also have adults aplenty in their lives but all of those adults want something from or for them. Parents are parents...they want what's best for their children and feel the responsibility to raise them right. Teachers are under pressure to get these kids to meet standards. Coaches are under pressure to get them to win games. Bosses are under pressure to get them to learn their jobs well. None of this is wrong. But put it all together and every relationship with adults kids experience comes freighted with performance expectations.
Now consider that kids nowadays are involved in one or another of these pursuits non-stop, as society has decided that "idle hands make the devil's work". Imagine this was your life: get up, eat breakfast quickly, shuttle to band practice, school, after-school activity, sports practice or game, home, eat, do homework, try to find an hour or two for leisure (staying up late to get it), collapse into sleep, get up and do it again. Imagine every adult in your life was in the business of making sure you stay (and succeed) on this treadmill.
What would you need or want most? What would benefit you? Where would you find God in a different, meaningful way?
What if your church made God into one more demand on your time? Come on Sunday. Worship. Learn this. Serve there. Sit down and memorize, there will be a test. Would that God be meaningful to you? Likely he'd be the equivalent of your latest math assignment.
Here's what we tell the kids. Come. The door is always open. When you have free time--on your schedule and not just ours--text and you're welcome to come over. Sit down. Relax. Grab a pop...you know there's always some there for you. Now, what do you want to do? Play a board game? D&D? Computer game? Just shoot the breeze? Watch a movie? It's all good. Oh, and bring your friends too.
In the course of this the kids get a chance to relax. As they relax they open up, chat about their days and lives. There's an adult there, relatively expectation-free, just to interact with them and enjoy them. They're accepted. They're loved. They're home.
In this process, they learn more about what it means to be in relationship with each other, with me, and ultimately with God. We don't sit them down in a classroom and teach them things about God (except in Confirmation and Sunday School, where that's exactly what we do). Instead we show them God in the welcome invitation, in the gathering of friends, in the safe environment, in the unconditional love, in sticking with them through troubles and celebrating their successes.
We don't teach them about God in a classroom with a chalkboard because they won't spend most of their lives in a classroom in front of a chalkboard. We teach them where God is in the things they do every day. In this they learn that being holy and living well doesn't mean giving up everything that you love, it means finding ways to do the things that you love in godly fashion. Godliness is woven in the fabric of their actions: learning to play together, talk together, laugh and cry and fight and fear and explore together.
This method of evangelism takes longer than traditional methods. What a classroom-person tries to teach in 45 minutes takes me years of patience, listening, walking with these kids. But coming out the other side I believe we have more to show for it...not a God who lives in a building apart from their lives but a God who's with them every day just like that pastor was.
I get calls several times a year from folks who have now gone on to college and beyond, asking for advice or confessing troubles or needing help. The lesson isn't over when class ends and neither is the connection. It continues for a lifetime.
I'm firmly convinced that this is the best, if not the only, way to reach out to and nurture youth in today's environment. The fact that most of them love every minute of it, seek it out and invite their friends, bears that out. When we really get rolling I simply can't keep up with it all. At certain times during the year I'll have four separate semi-formal get-togethers with kids during a week and then one or two spontaneous ones. It's hectic, it's exhausting, it's a blast, and it's so worth it because it makes a difference.
There's seldom a single moment where you can point and say, "Aha! I see what they're doing there!" Mostly it just looks like doing normal stuff...which is the whole point. But string along that normal stuff long enough and meaningful relationships grow. A leaf just looks like a leaf, but step back and you'll see the whole garden growing around it.
That's how we do youth ministry here. That's why it works. Recently we've been given yet another opportunity, another influx of young friends knocking at our doors asking if we have time for them. We need to say yes...for their sake, for the sake of our church, and most of all for the sake of God who invited them to knock (whether they know it or not). This vision is that "YES!"
Next: The "Whys" Part 2: Why this vision? Why the parsonage plays a crucial role in this ministry, how it's worked so far, and why things are changing.
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
Those present at the annual meeting saw a short film showing some of the youth who come to our church in order to participate in its ministries. We only caught the ones who were there when we were filming our Sunday School movies. We still managed to catch 17 youth on camera. Very few of those came specifically to do the movie project. We just recruited kids who had come to hang out and do other things. That's 17 youth picked up more or less randomly in just four months of filming. We actually have contact with more.
Why do these youth come to be with us? Over the years people have attributed it to me. I'll take some of the credit, as I've made this a priority...seeing the great need. But really, it's not my personality that draws them. It's our theology meeting their need.
Our teenagers are growing up in a world we never imagined. They have more information, more choices, available to them than we ever did. Their lives are also more organized, scheduled, and goal-directed than ours ever were. This combination means they also have less real, human interaction than we ever got, especially with adults. Much of their time is spent in isolation, in front of a screen of one sort or another. They have a connection to a game or social network or what have you but it's through electronics, not face to face. They also have adults aplenty in their lives but all of those adults want something from or for them. Parents are parents...they want what's best for their children and feel the responsibility to raise them right. Teachers are under pressure to get these kids to meet standards. Coaches are under pressure to get them to win games. Bosses are under pressure to get them to learn their jobs well. None of this is wrong. But put it all together and every relationship with adults kids experience comes freighted with performance expectations.
Now consider that kids nowadays are involved in one or another of these pursuits non-stop, as society has decided that "idle hands make the devil's work". Imagine this was your life: get up, eat breakfast quickly, shuttle to band practice, school, after-school activity, sports practice or game, home, eat, do homework, try to find an hour or two for leisure (staying up late to get it), collapse into sleep, get up and do it again. Imagine every adult in your life was in the business of making sure you stay (and succeed) on this treadmill.
What would you need or want most? What would benefit you? Where would you find God in a different, meaningful way?
What if your church made God into one more demand on your time? Come on Sunday. Worship. Learn this. Serve there. Sit down and memorize, there will be a test. Would that God be meaningful to you? Likely he'd be the equivalent of your latest math assignment.
Here's what we tell the kids. Come. The door is always open. When you have free time--on your schedule and not just ours--text and you're welcome to come over. Sit down. Relax. Grab a pop...you know there's always some there for you. Now, what do you want to do? Play a board game? D&D? Computer game? Just shoot the breeze? Watch a movie? It's all good. Oh, and bring your friends too.
In the course of this the kids get a chance to relax. As they relax they open up, chat about their days and lives. There's an adult there, relatively expectation-free, just to interact with them and enjoy them. They're accepted. They're loved. They're home.
In this process, they learn more about what it means to be in relationship with each other, with me, and ultimately with God. We don't sit them down in a classroom and teach them things about God (except in Confirmation and Sunday School, where that's exactly what we do). Instead we show them God in the welcome invitation, in the gathering of friends, in the safe environment, in the unconditional love, in sticking with them through troubles and celebrating their successes.
We don't teach them about God in a classroom with a chalkboard because they won't spend most of their lives in a classroom in front of a chalkboard. We teach them where God is in the things they do every day. In this they learn that being holy and living well doesn't mean giving up everything that you love, it means finding ways to do the things that you love in godly fashion. Godliness is woven in the fabric of their actions: learning to play together, talk together, laugh and cry and fight and fear and explore together.
This method of evangelism takes longer than traditional methods. What a classroom-person tries to teach in 45 minutes takes me years of patience, listening, walking with these kids. But coming out the other side I believe we have more to show for it...not a God who lives in a building apart from their lives but a God who's with them every day just like that pastor was.
I get calls several times a year from folks who have now gone on to college and beyond, asking for advice or confessing troubles or needing help. The lesson isn't over when class ends and neither is the connection. It continues for a lifetime.
I'm firmly convinced that this is the best, if not the only, way to reach out to and nurture youth in today's environment. The fact that most of them love every minute of it, seek it out and invite their friends, bears that out. When we really get rolling I simply can't keep up with it all. At certain times during the year I'll have four separate semi-formal get-togethers with kids during a week and then one or two spontaneous ones. It's hectic, it's exhausting, it's a blast, and it's so worth it because it makes a difference.
There's seldom a single moment where you can point and say, "Aha! I see what they're doing there!" Mostly it just looks like doing normal stuff...which is the whole point. But string along that normal stuff long enough and meaningful relationships grow. A leaf just looks like a leaf, but step back and you'll see the whole garden growing around it.
That's how we do youth ministry here. That's why it works. Recently we've been given yet another opportunity, another influx of young friends knocking at our doors asking if we have time for them. We need to say yes...for their sake, for the sake of our church, and most of all for the sake of God who invited them to knock (whether they know it or not). This vision is that "YES!"
Next: The "Whys" Part 2: Why this vision? Why the parsonage plays a crucial role in this ministry, how it's worked so far, and why things are changing.
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
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