Leader Longings

This Advent season, I have simply been unable to let go of this picture.  It showed up the very first day of our Advent Devos  this year—and I literally find myself coming back to look at it again and again.  (A little aside, my husband discovered the online Advent Calendar produced by Biola University last year, and we honestly look forward to our devotions every day.)

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The picture described here is one depicting the Old Testament story of Hannah longing for a child.  Her eyes are just haunting for me.  I hadn’t thought of the deep aching sense of emptiness that goes with unanswered longing in this way before.

We all have personal voids and disappointments in our lives,  but I believe that ministry itself is fraught with a depth and breadth of longing beyond our own places of emptiness.

A friend was recently describing a pastor that she knows as “a faithful leader,  a good preacher, but a man whose disappointment in his congregation was palpable.”  I wonder how true that is for many ministry leaders. We long for rich communities of faith.  We long for lives and hearts to be changed by faith in Jesus Christ. We long for God’s kingdom to break in.  All those longings are a part of what draws us to ministry.

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It’s not hard to be disappointed by the church these days, isn’t it?  Whether by the distracted nature of our community life, or by the growing sense we have as leaders that no matter how hard we work, we will not be able to make our churches or ministries grow just by doing a better job.  Of course, though that is misplaced longing, don’t we all with empty eyes land there at some time or another?

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And how do we then enter into a new year with hope?  Could it be by holding on to dear Hannah–both in letting God fill our disappointed, empty eyes and hearts, and by seeing ministry through the eyes of the rest of her story– the promises God filled and fulfills?

Thank you Hannah, for not giving up and continuing to plead with God.  Your empty eyes were a rich witness to Samuel then and to us all these years later.   Come Lord Jesus, Come.

~Nancy Going

Frayed by the Pressure of Advent?

You may have started your Advent devotions yesterday, or maybe you’ve been too busy to pick them out yet.  In any case, I’m imagining that your mind is urging you to slow down—to actually be able to DO what you are encouraging the people you lead to do, while at the same time you have so MUCH on your ministry leadership plate for the next three weeks.  And then you also want to be able to create and share a meaningful Advent life with your own family too.

It’s the Advent tension of ministry, right there in our faces. 

And to add to that tension, there is almost always real frustration and added annoyance with the people who share in our ministries at this time of year, either the volunteers or partners in leadership. In this important time of preparing our hearts, and learning to wait, and re-awakening ourselves to what God is doing all around us, it is just profoundly hard to dwell in that spiritual richness when we are anxious about the uncertainty of budgets and rehearsals and programs that can go with leading a church during the Christmas holidays.

I found these sentences today from a team covenant posted by the Renovare organization.  I think you might find them to be a very helpful way of thinking about actually living Advent as a ministry leader.

 

Establish trust through vulnerability

“For a team to establish real trust, team members, beginning with the leader, must be willing…to be vulnerable without knowing whether that vulnerability will be respected or reciprocated.” 
 –Patrick Lencioni

Establishing trust through vulnerability means that we’re comfortable being exposed by one another. We have the courage to say things like, “I was wrong” and “I made a mistake” and “I need help” and “I’m not sure.” Like Mary, in John 12, we expose our weaknesses before Christ and each other relying on his love and mercy to flow through us.

“Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”


–Colossians 3:13-14

I pray that you will Let your Advent be “hopefully” real.  And you may just be able to slow down and dwell in the ever-growing fullness of a life with the one who gave up all to be “God with us.”

You can find the entire covenant here Renovaré Behavioral Covenant

~Nancy Going

The Scary Bridge

I love bridges. But I didn’t used to.

A couple of days ago, I drove over the causeway bridge that leads into St. Petersburg, FL. It’s a long bridge with a super high point. It was a beautiful drive. As I began the ascent a memory came to mind:

When I was a child we went on a family vacation to Galveston and I experienced my first tall causeway bridge. I’ll never forget looking up and seeing that bridge that seemed to go straight up into the clouds and not come down. I remember the lump in my throat and the butterflies in my stomach. And I remember the climb that seemed to go on forever and there was no end in sight until we got all the way to the peak of the bridge. And then it happened – my dad said, “Whoa! Here we go!” And the descent ensued with laughter from me and my siblings and a huge, “Wow!” as we headed down to the other side.

Are you looking at a bridge with fear and trepidation in your ministry? Are you hoping for change but not sure how to get there?

Maybe you need a bridge.

Many congregations are in need of a bridge, a bridge that leads to the place that you know you need to go but seems a bit scary. Where do you want to be? One of our consultants Jim LaDoux has great insight on the image of being a bridge to 21st Century Faith Formation. Check it out.

At Vibrant Faith, we see ourselves as people who accompany leaders and congregations as we pass over the scary bridges, knowing that God is with us all the way. There is no question that as we lead the church in the 21st Century, we need to look at innovative ways to equip the church to be God’s love.

And that’s faith. It’s like looking up to the top of the bridge trusting that there is hope on the other side. And boy, when we make that descent we can enjoy the rush of God’s life-giving Spirit as we are led into the future of the church. And we can joyfully say, “Here we go!”

Don’t be afraid of the bridge.

 ~ Tom Schwolert tschwolert@vibrantfaith.org

You Too Can be a Hula Hoop Champion

One toy that has not changed a bit is the hula hoop. There’s nothing you can do to innovate it. It’s simply a round circle of plastic that comes in various colors. Pretty basic, and it has never changed.

When I was a kid, everyone had a hula hoop in the neighborhood. Occasionally we would gather all the kids together on the block and have a contest to see who could hula the longest to be the hula hoop champion. I must confess: I was not very good at it and never won the championship. It always seemed to be the girl from down the street who was in dance class and could just go on forever without any effort. But hey, it brought everyone together for lots of fun and laughter. Oh yeah, and it was “groovy” and we wore bell bottoms.

Another circle that hasn’t changed is the circle of relationships that we all need surrounding us in our walk of faith, even in the forever changing landscape of ministry. If your faith is central to your life, I’ll bet you could sit down right now and write down the names of 5 people who have influenced your faith. After all, it’s how God chooses to show up in our lives – through the hearts of others. When we are encircled by a supportive, faith-filled circle we tend to stick around in the church and our faith tends to become the central compass of our lives. During the last few years of working with a youth group, I had them interview each other, and one of the questions was to have them make a list of people in their circle. There was always a marked difference in the youth who had several on that list and the ones who had one or two.

So leaders of churches, do these two things:

1. Write down the names of at least 5 people who have nurtured your faith over the years. Then write them each a hand written letter thanking them. Even if they are no longer living, you can still write the letter. It can be transformational.
2. Begin to cultivate circles of faith nurturing relationships in the lives of the young. Start with what they do have. Ask them. Then explore with them how you can grow that circle. (also, see yesterday’s post)

So don’t worry about having the coordination to be a hula hoop champion. How about championing circles of relationships?

 ~ Tom Schwolert
tschwolert@vibrantfaith.org

Head, Heart, and Hands

The Faith Formation team at the Catholic Community of St. Peter in Charlotte, NC understands the importance and power of alignment. They’re working on a faith formation plan that will align head, heart, and hands.

Each month throughout the year, they will conduct a whole-community intergenerational learning program focused on some aspect of the Bible. Their “head” goal for the year is to enhance every member’s biblical literacy and help them see the relevance of God’s Living Word in their lives.

Following each intergenerational session, all parishioners will be expected to do an activity from Vibrant Faith @ Home, carefully selected to pertain to the topic of the month. Their “heart” goal for the year (and beyond) is to empower people to share about their faith at home.

Also, each month members will be encouraged to participate in a designated service/immersion activity. Their “hands” goal for the year is to get all members to recognize that learning about the Bible (head) and sharing faith at home (heart) should automatically lead to works of mercy and acts of justice for the sake of others (hands).

Here’s an example from their plan:

October
(Head) – Intergenerational Session on Introduction to Lectionary Year B
(Heart) – Vibrant Faith @ Home activity Sowing Seed
(Hands) – Refugee Event Serving with Catholic Charities
(Heart) – Vibrant Faith @ Home activity Welcoming the Stranger

That’s alignment.

As you plan your faith formation programming for next year, think about how you can align head, heart, and hands.

 -Leif Kehrwald