Emerging Pastor

I've been studying one subject for nearly a whole year now. It's called the ministers personal growth and it's about understanding the psychological issues facing pastors as well as their congregations. The culmination of the subject is a thesis length report on your own personal growth as a pastor, the challenges your facing and developing strategies to combat issues like burn out, fatigue and moral failure.

It has been perhaps the best subject I have every studied and I'd commend it to anyone in ministry.

I've been reading and re-reading as well as tweeking the last parts of my thesis to make it as full possible and as I re-read it I'm reminded of the lessons I have learned and have taken on board which have made a huge difference in my life and ministry.

While I'm not going to publish it online, over the next few weeks I'm going to share some of the insights I've learned along the way starting with Triangulation. Bet you can't wait :)

To my great surprise I recieved a phone call from my friendly local Fedex Kinkos yesterday asking me to pick up my box of studies. I wasn't expecting them until Friday so it was a pleasent surprise get them early. I took a photo of the box but I used the wrong phone and I can't get the images  off it so your just going to have to imagine the depressing browness of the box and it lovely bible study center.

I'm thinking about turning it into a pinata and smashing the box open with a big stick on Sunday morning during church but I dont know how well that will go :)

Besides getting the studies underway, the biggest issue I still face is getting all of the group leaders together for our intital meeting. I've had three false starts so far because of Mothers Day and other ministry and college obligations. I'm going to try one last time on the Sunday the studies start and hope for the best.

As I was walking to the train station this morning one of my favorite songs started playing on the iPod. Now that's not too uncommon since I'm the one that fills it with music but this song is one that helps to connect me with God. It's full of Revelation style imagery that makes me think of Jesus in different ways. I've copied the lyrics below but I'll share some stand out bits with you.

This reminds me of the redeeming power of Jesus' blood.

   Ill know you by the thunderclap
   Pouring like a rain of blood to my emotions

I like the idea of Jesus crashing into my world to change it for the better, sinking my sinful world and sending it to the bottom of the sea to be crushed and forgotton.

   When you come like an iceberg float in darkness
   Smashing my hull send me to the bottom of the sea

When I let Jesus into my life those nearly 10 years ago he came in such power he overwealmed me. Directly and indirectly he showed me his love and surrounded me with people who continue to love on me.

   And that is why
   I stumble to my knees
   And why underneath the heavens
   With the stars burning and exploding
   I know I could never let you down

Here's the whole shooting match, When you come by Crowded House.

When you come across the sea
Me like a beacon guiding you to safety
The sooner the better now
And when you come the hils
Will breathe like a baby
Pulled up heaving from the bottom of the ocean
The sooner the better now
When you come to cover me with your kisses
Fresh like a daisy chained up in a lions den
Ill know you by the thunderclap
Pouring like a rain of blood to my emotions

And that is why
I stumble to my knees
And why underneath the heavens
With the stars burning and exploding
I know I could never let you down

When you come like an iceberg float in darkness
Smashing my hull send me to the bottom of the sea
I should know you better now
When you come your majesty to entrap me
Prince of light receding
The sooner the better now
And when you come to cover me
With your kisses hard like armour
The sooner the better now
Ill know you by the thunderclap
Pouring like a rain of blood to my emotions

And that is why
I stumble to my knees
And why underneath the heavens
With the stars burning and exploding
I know I could never let you down

She came out of the water
Into my horizon
Like a cumulo nimbus
Coming in from a distance
Burning and exploding
Burning and exploding
Like a slow volcano
When you come
Cover the ground with ashes
When you come

Source

On Friday I recieved a proof copy of the new bible study from the printers, I must say it looks great! The only thing I would change is adding a table of contents. I know, I know, how could you and every other person miss a TOC?!?! well I did so I have to live with it.

Sunday morning I got up to spruke the study and also tell people the cost. As a church we could probably absorb the production costs without much hassle but I believe that people take a greater ownership of something when they shell out for it. So I've pinned the price at $5 a study which is the printed book plus a small exercise book to keep study notes as well as sermon notes. I didn't really see the point of paying for lots of blank pages in the study book to write down answers when the exercise book is cheaper and a lot more flexible!

After the service I was praying with a young couple about some big things they are going through, what a privellege that is to pray for someone, and after I was done someone was there with $10 to buy two studies! That was so encouraging, it's one of the first signs I've seen of people not directly involved with the production of the study wanting to be a part of it.

On a slightly different note, I've had to move the training day back a week (to the day before we start) because some people are being totally unreasonable about the timing. Apparently Mothers Day isn't a good time to get a big group of people together, who knew? :)

As a young and naive small group leader I used to believe that you could do things in your group like, pick the next study, by canvasing the opinions of the whole group, garnering a consensus and then together going down to the local Christian book store and picking one out that meets all the agreed upon conversation.

This in fact did work for a while, when the group was very small, 3-4 people finding such consensus was easy because the group was traveling very closely together in their discovery process with God. When the group grew bigger, say 6-8 people, it became much harder to reach an agreement on who would bring supper next week let alone what we should be studying.

I put these kinds of issues into the subject of Shared Leadership vs Leading by Consensus. When we lead by consensus one could make an argument that we are showing no leadership at all, I don't agree with that. It does however put an unnecessary strain on the group when people start to engage their opinions only to be upset when the group doesn't move the way they suggested.

Shared leadership on the other hand is in line with the model of mentoring new leaders from within the group to become group leaders themselves. Let's take the example of choosing a study again. In a shared leadership scenario, the group leader would pull aside the person (or people) they are mentoring and ask them what they believe the group should study next and either go with it or put it to the group. Doing this gets people to think not just about themselves but of the Spiritual needs of others in the group and that is the best training I can give them.

There is one other benefit from shared leadership, it keeps the leader accountable. It gives people permission to speak into the leaders life about where they think the group is and helps prevent leader ego trips.

Today is pretty exciting for me, I'm off to go visit the printers and get the ball rolling with the new church-wide bible study. It's due to kickoff on the 19th of May so I'm cutting it a little fine as far as production is concerned but it all seems to be going to plan.

I'm also going to send out a PDF copy to the small group leaders today so they can have some time to absorb the infromation. As a church we have performed 40 days of Purpose and 40 days of Community. The biggest problem with both of those studies was there was no formal equipping for the leaders, we just had to feel our way around.

I'm a firm believer that the group leader should lead. Be it by reading on ahead and nutting out the answers themselves or just being further down the road of Christian experience than those in their group. If the leader is stumbling for answers then the rest of the group will stumble along with them.

Along with sending out the advanced copy, I'm also setting aside two training days for group leaders where we will go through the study as a small group ourselves and learn and grow. Because the study is 8 weeks long, I'm planning to have one day just before the commencement and one day three weeks in both covering the following 4 weeks.

I've been looking over the logs for this site for the last month or so and something surprised me, people actually read my blog!

Not thousands a day but enough to encourage me, especially since I've only ever told three people about it, and one of them is my wife :) Hello beautiful!

So how about some feedback? I'd love it if you could leave a comment or two on this or other posts and let me know what's good, what's bad and what you would like to see more of.

This article is part of a case study I performed on a well known Christian welfare organization in Australia. The first part of
the case study was to build a picture of how and why God responds to suffering in the world today then
to perform a critical evaluation of that organization based on that study. I've extracted all of the theological
response parts that I can and it is a facinating insight into how God works in our world today.

What is God's response to suffering?

Theological training today prepares you for many things. It prepares you as a critical thinker. It prepares you meet peoples Spiritual and emotional needs. It prepares you for understanding the whole person and their welfare. What a good theological education doesn't prepare you for is the fear in peoples eyes when you want to involve them in a ministry.

We joke around our church saying if you visit two weeks in a row you will be on a roster, I'm not trying to get people onto a roster, I'm trying to get them into a small group.

At our vision casting confrence (VCC) we (by that I mean the church leadership) commited to developing three areas in 2008, number two with a bullet is small groups as a means for personal spiritual growth and development. It's the reason I'm employed by the church, to create this small group culture. Also at the VCC we promised to undertake a church-wide study to kickstart our small group program.

So I've been spruking this for some weeks, I have sign up sheets, new leaders ready to take up the reigns, training planned but so far it's a little like pulling teeth to get people to sign up. This Sunday again I made an announcement during the service about what this is all about (them and God) and said I'd be at the back of the church after the service to help people find a group that's good for them.

As people filed out of church a few wouldn't meet my gaze, some rushed past and others made excuses. But the worst were the ones that had fear in their eyes that I might talk to them and display some interest in their spiritual well-being.

I've decided that the best way to overcome this is to use rule number 1. My rule number 1 for all ministry situations is to have people personally invite others. We can put up a hundred sign-up sheets and not get a single commitment to come but a leader extending a sincere personal invitation is in my estimation 90% effective in growing a ministry be it a small group, welfare or worship.

One of the defining moments in my life is when I heard "I have a dream" preached by Martin Luther King jr. No, I wasn't alive to see it, but as millions of people have done, I watched a grainy bit of black and white film that is engraved with the sound and images of history in the making.

Why it had such an impact on me, God only knows. I believe it's because of the deep sense of justice he has placed within me. The words resonate with my heart and cause me to be anxious to be doing something, anything to be involved in God's mission of reconciliation.

In his speech MLK makes reference to one of my most beloved peices of Scripture, it is Amos 5:21-24

 I hate, I despise your religious feasts;
    I cannot stand your assemblies.

 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
    I will not accept them.
    Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
    I will have no regard for them.

 Away with the noise of your songs!
    I will not listen to the music of your harps.

 But let justice roll on like a river,
    righteousness like a never-failing stream!

Before I came to know Jesus, before I read these words, I heard them in the lyrics of a song that I used to put on repeat all the time. The song is called Pepper by the Butthole Surfers

 Some will die in hot pursuit
 In fiery auto crashes
 Some will die in hot pursuit
 While sifting through my ashes
 Some will fall in love with life
 And drink it from a fountain
 That is pouring like an avalanche
 Coming down the mountain

Like MLK, I refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt, we do not need to drink from teh cup of bitterness and hatred. We can all drink freely from the cup of liberty because we are all called to be free!

The words of Jesus are: "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." (John 7:37-38)

We no longer have to live as slaves to our desires but can have true and lasting liberty.

My friends, we are called to be free!

I've been trying to get a new small group up and running for a couple of months now but I've just been running into barrier after barrier. I've got people lined up, a study area and some exciting ideas to experiment on them with but the venue had been elusive.

The small group I run at the moment used to meet out of our house but recently we have been meeting at another couples place because they have a lovely new little boy and he needs to get some sleep! It's been quite good not having the group at our house every week, not because we don't want people around, we love having people around, but because after 4 years it's good to share the load a little.

So with that and another reason in mind I didn't want to start this new group out of our place. The other reason is I want it to be closer to part of the community we are focusing on at the moment and since a lot of them don't have transport our place would be a little too far.

I chose to meet in the cottage at our church. We have a main church building, a large hall, a manse as well as an old fibro building we call the cottage which houses the office and some space for Sunday school etc.

The cottage is on the same street that we are reaching out to with our soup kitchen so it seemed like a good idea go there and be close to the action. That way anyone curious about the Christian faith and wanted to know more can come along easily.

I've taken a brave step with this group, although I'm the one who started it up and recruited people to come (it is my job after all), I decided that I do not want to be it's leader. Last week I called up someone I have been mentoring in my home group to come and take over the reigns of this group.

If a church is going to develop a healthy small group community then it needs to be able to grow, and if it want's to grow it needs new leaders. I firmly belive that these leaders should come from apprenticing group members in existing groups so I thought I really should model that myself instead of just taking control.

So now I have a leader, a venue (and the keys!!!), and people to start with and I'm really looking forward to where God is going to lead us!

I guess it happens in all churches, some sort of emergency comes up with a key person and that creates a cascading effect in a ministry.

Two Sundays ago I was asked to swap my rostered week for worship leading, I was supposed to be in the 27th but the leader for the 20th couldn't make it so they wanted swap. This worship leader however didn't just want to swap with me, they wanted to swap their entire team. So with a good deal of effort the entire worship team I was rostered on with swapped to this week. So how did it go? It was brilliant!

Not to overstate it, but I usually take a bit of time getting the song selection right for a service. There are many considerations, service length, special events etc but this one had to be actioned with economy of time. So on Tuesday morning I was on the train with a friend who had the "Presenter" software we use for our powerpoints and we just riffed right through a song list.

I know some places like Hillsong put a great deal of production into their services, taking quite deliberate actiosn to make sure the music and message are connected, I believe the term is "building a platform of praise for the speaker". I agree with the approach in general that the two (well all elements of the service) should complement each other but there comes a fine line sometimes between architecting a service and emotional manipulation (not that I'm accusing anyone of that!)

Why do I mention that? Because God really had his hand on the song selection. This weeks and the next two weeks services are based around missions and the song list really captured this theme brilliantly without even trying. The start and finishing song are two very missiony outward focused works and the rest of the songs allowed me to dig deep into what it means to be a Christian when I was meditating on communion.

If your interested, the song list was:

• Tell the world
• Always and Forever
• Salvation belongs to our God
• Nothing but the blood (old hymn)
• Create in me (another old hymn)
• Send me