The church sign is for...

It annoys me when bloggers apologise for the lack of posts due to their business so I'll spare you...

I want to make a quick statement about something I've dealt with a number of times. 

In the past I've called them crappy, embarrassing, confusing and cringe-worthy.

Of course, I'm referring to signs outside of churches.

I want to make something clear.

If you work for a church, pull up an chair, affix your eyes to the computer screen and lend me a few precious moments.

Church signs are not for those who go to your church. In theory, any regular attendee will find out anything you could possibly put on a church sign from going to church on a Sunday or alternate internal communication devices.

They are for those OUTSIDE the church community.

And...
They understand your jargon.
They have no idea what your groups are called.
They don't care about your pithy saying gleaned off the Internet.
In fact, usually your slogans will drive people away from your church, not encourage them to visit.

They want to know what you can provide for them.
They want to know what to expect if they decide to turn up on a Sunday.
They want to know, if they did darken your church's door, that what they hear will be relevant to they life.

Church-sign-crafters everywhere... Lend me your ears!

Remember who your primary audience is...

Is communication the #1 thing?

It took a six weeks, but I've finally started a full schedule of face-to-face ministry activities at my new church. Thus I've had a very full week.

In an average week during school term I'll do four scripture classes, kids club, youth group and lead the evening service.

Additionally, I'll do a kids address in the morning and the sermon every fortnight.

All in all, this routine isn't unusual for someone with my job (and I can squeeze plenty more into it!).

Those with my job do a lot of up front activities.

We give talks, both short and long, for a range of ages.
We run and explain games.
We co-ordinate activities.
We plan and execute lessons.

So... this leads me to my question... Do youth ministers need to be good communicators?

I ask because it is usually the case.

But is it a NEED?

I think not.

Anyone with my job needs to be comfortable standing before others and communicate clearly, but there is a far greater quality required.

Any youth minister NEEDS to be strong at relationships, not communication.

This is what matters most.

Why?

Because, to quote a John Maxwell-ism, people don't care how much you know (or how well you you may be able to communicate it) until they know how much you care.

Should the church pay tax?

A lack of knowledge has never stopped me from sharing my opinion.

Last night a TV program did a story on Hillsong and the church, or any large church, not paying taxes (you can watch it at http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8612601 and a reply letter to an earlier story from Hillsong here).

About this topic I'm fairly ignorant and much smarter people than I have written plenty about this before.

So, from my position of unawareness...
and open to the accusation of hypocrisy since a portion of my salary has been tax free...
and since no one asked my opinion...

Here are my Ramblings on the subject.

Do I think churches should pay taxes? I believe they should... BUT

I understand the arguments for the church not doing so.

It is reasoned that many churches would go broke if they had to pay taxes and the services they provide would be seriously slashed.

And that point is, largely, tough to refute. I know plenty of churches who are struggling financially.

And here is where my BUT comes into the equation.

I think churches should have to pay taxes once they have a working budget of, say (and I'm just plucking this figure out of the air), half a million dollars (this would certainly eliminate the small struggling churches).

For here is where the Hillsong story makes people's blood boil since they make a heap of cash from multiple revenue streams.

BUT... What if the amount a church had coming into it's coffers affected the amount of tax it coughed up, just like personal income?

From my limited understanding I would like to see incoming donations, like offerings, and any outgoing revenue used for services to the community, like a soup kitchen or op shop, remain tax exempt.

From what I can grasp, this is what the law permits and was implemented to protect. Charitable acts and services are tax free.

But I have a problem, despite what it might do to the bottom line of churches, with churches getting money from rental, conferences, book, television, DVD or music sales and have that remain tax exempt.

I might be off base, and I have been before, but somehow it doesn't feel 100% kosher...

Another evaluation marker?

This is just a quick post squeezed in around a hectic week of double preaching, multiple pancake making and consuming, new scripture classes, RSL lunches and my wife potentially breaking her ankle and loosing mobility (a real downer with an eleven month old!).

But I just stumbled over this post which mentions an interesting evaluating marker for ministries.

How are the relationships within the group?

The author mentions friendships which exist between the group and the closeness between the leaders and the teens, but I like the romantic spin that is expanded.

For those who are dating, are they healthy relationships?

If you had leaders dating, are they setting good examples?

When/if a couple, either teens or leaders, break up how do they treat one another?

Random Rambles

My phone is full of half baked blog post ideas. I used to flush them out with an end of year Ramble-a-thon (which I did in 2008 & 2009). 

This post will serve as a way to clear a bit of space in my potential-posts folder.

So... Here are some questions I never quite got around to distilling down to an answer...

When do prayer points become gossip?
When does the line between pastoral care and being a busy body get crossed?

When measuring success, what matters more, what you get out or what you put in?

When did virginity become a problem to be dispensed with quickly, not treasured?

How many people are unhappy with their church? 
Would it be more than those who work for churches? 
And, who is in a better position to change things they are dissatisfied with?

Not all glamour

I spent last Thursday creating a database of the 100 or so children who went through the kids club at my new church in 2012.

It. Took. All. Day.

Half the database was typed up at my Mum's while she was looking after Hanna and she recognised a hidden secret about my profession.

It's not all glam in the world of youth ministry.

It's not all playing games and cracking side-splitting puns.
It's not all creating inspiring bible studies or life changing sermons (I wish!).
It's not all lunches at the RSL.

One of my tasks tomorrow is to create the attendance records which I'll use for the year ahead, and whilst it might not be edge-of-your-seat exciting, it's an important thing to get done.

For, even though it might not get you springing out of bed, databases and attendance records are a part of the ministry lube which makes everything run a little smoother.

Two filters for new events

Sometimes when I'm pondering events or activities I have suggestions pop into my mind which, upon a few seconds of rational thought, are swiftly rejected.

Two filters which any potential event must navigate are the effect it would have on younger Christians and non-believers.

What kind of example would the proposed event set for the believers who are younger than you? Could you take an 18 year old to the activity? 

and

If a person who didn't go to church asked what you did, what message would the get from hearing about your activity? If they asked if an activity is "okay with the bible" and the "church is cool with it" can you honestly answer in the affirmative? 

If an event can successfully negotiate these two hurdles then it's closer to becoming reality...

Lots of first dates at the RSL

I want to be clear. My marriage is going just fine.

But over the last week I've been on five first dates.
I have another six separate dates to go on over the next few weeks.

By now, as I've mentioned before, I'm a youth-minister-first-date-master.

Who have I been wooing?
My new youth group leaders.

One at a time.
Over lunch.
At the local RSL.
Followed by a game of pool and/or snooker (you can read the reason why here).
Everything my treat.

By the end of the month my heart should explode via a roast meat and gravy overload.

Why am I buying all my leaders lunch?
Why would I fork out my hard earned dosh?

Time + Knowledge = Building trust.

If I spend time with my leaders, getting to know one another by sharing our heart for the youth ministry, then trust is slowly built.

It's a way to grow my starting chips by making initial deposits in the investment bank early in my new ministry placement.

But it worked for me....

This post makes me nervous because it might flame into a morethendodgeball-guest-post type of controversy...

I wonder if people look back on their own personal experience with "but it worked for me" glasses which then affect their stance on certain grayish issues.

I fear that some people develop a well-it-worked-for-me-mindset so to do likewise should be alright, when actually, they are the exception to the rule or quickly forget how they narrowly escaped a risky situation.

An easy example would be the appropriate number of post-school trips.

I went on... three. That's right, three.

Not just one at the end of year 12. But three. One dose of schoolies at Noosa and two bouts of toolies at Surfer's Paradise.

And, overall, they didn't really harm anyone (aside from one case of AWFUL yellow hair dye).

But I wouldn't recommend it now to a school leaver. It wasn't a wise decision to make.

I wonder how many have their opinions on the following questions slanted by the way they acted when they were younger...

Who is it wise for Christians to date?
How many drinks do you have until you've had too many?
How far is too far sexually before marriage?
Do I need to commit to a church as a teen or young adult?

Who was the change champion?

I'm currently working at my fourth church, having started at my last church a few weeks ago, and at each one, inevitably, things have changed.

But the key to a successful change is only exposed once the leader moves on.

For then it will become know if the leader was the force behind the change or if enough people brought into the vision to continue the new pathway.

Youth group double dipping

Should a teen go to more than one youth group?

Check out what I wrote at morethandodgeball about the topic and the conversation that's kicked off.

If you dare, you can contribute and keep the flames of input going...

Offering > Collection

Is it an offering or a collection?

Tonight my new minister mentioned a great point about the segment of a church service when people give money.

He said that the offering is a time when a believer offers to God gifts in gratitude of what he has been given.

Meanwhile, a collection implies a taking of something owed, like a tax or a duty.

In the context of a church service, an offering is a far superior term for what goes on when you part with your cash.

Mail genius

This. Is. Genius.
If they gave out a Nobel Prize for youth ministry then this idea would win.

Having just started out at a new church, with a lot more kids than any of the previous churches I've been connected to, I've been regretting doing my first youth-ministry-wide mail out (I've expressed my love/hate relationship with mail outs before).

The idea I just read about will CHANGE THEM FOREVER.

The idea?
The time saver?

Get the kids to address multiple letters to their parent/guardians near the start of the year.

You take a few minutes and give each kid three envelopes. They then address the envelopes to whoever the parents/guardians are in their home. Mum and Dad. Mum and Geoff. Dad and Sue. Whoever.

Voila!

Instant outsourcing of the thing I despise most about doing beginning-of-the-school-term-mail-outs.

AND, the likelihood of having your mail opened is dramatically increased.

Genius I tell you...

What does a trashed bible say?

A bible that's falling apart is usually owned by people who aren't!

This is a so-so Christian bumper sticker, with an element of truth, but there's a significant difference between used and falling apart.

I've been at churches and involved in ministries where bibles are missing covers, have been torn, scribbled on and generally thrown about.

But bibles which are falling apart don't send a positive message about the way you view the scriptures.

We shouldn't coat the bible in tissue paper, only cracking it out on special occasions, but surely we should value it enough (if we truly believe it reveals the character of God and His unfolding salvation story) to not see it be trashed and be comfortable.

And when you can get quality bibles cheaply, is there really any excuse?

Ministry hoarding

Just in case...
I'll keep the bag full of bicycle inner-tubes.
I'll keep any spare scripture books from the last decade.
I'll keep that pile of cloth.
I'll keep every prop used in a talk.
I'll keep the outline of every scripture lesson I've ever done.

I mentioned here that those in youth ministry have access to a lot of stuff. If I don't have something, no matter how obscure, I'll be able to track it down in a few phone calls or a shout out on Facebook.

The reason? Those in ministry hoard. Everything. We've ever used. Just that one time.

I do it. BIG TIME.

I'm go guilty of ministry hoarding that the pile of stuff I bring with me to each church has exponentially grown after each position.

And you encounter the negatives of this when you arrive at a new place and notice that they also have a lot of... crap stuff.

Things which were kept but, to fresh eyes, is actually rubbish.
Things which you can imagine no discernible purpose.
Computer files kept from the time when clip-art was cutting edge visual media.

Tomorrow one of my main jobs is to catalogue all the stuff that my new church has accumulated over the many years of youth ministry.

For I would hate to buy a dozen ping pong balls or manilla folders and then find out that there is a stack of them in a miscellaneous storage cupboard...

Predecessor questions

Fortunately, I have known the bloke who was the youth minister before me a long time, getting along well and he left on good terms. 

With these ideal conditions met, I got to meet with him today and quiz him on my new church. 

In reality, all I needed to know was the electronic location of everything that has happened in the past (especially the programs of the last two years) and where the useful things are (like a tug-of-war rope or ball pump).

But, we met over a couple of hours.

So what did I want to know?

To start... I did give my predecessor the option to answer any of the following queries with the response "stop being lazy and find out yourself."

I wanted to know the best way to communicate with kids, leaders, parents and the church.

I wanted to get the scoop on any personal issues which exist between the youth group leaders below the surface (ie, have any gone out and how did it end?).

I wanted to find out what leadership and child protection training had been undertaken and how long ago these occurred.

I wanted to know what things could be thrown out and what, even through it might look like rubbish, must be kept.

I wanted to know who the gatekeepers of the church were. In short, who do you go to in order to make things happen?

Finally, I wanted to know when he was most concerned he would get fired (luckily he couldn't think of a time!) and what one thing he wanted to do but, for whatever reason, never quite got around too.

January 1st-15th resolutions revisited

Today is the first day of my new job.

Whilst I was between gigs I made this list of up-until-the-middle-of-January resolutions.

How did I go?

Purge emails - Done. Of the +1600 received and 1200 odd emails sent, I'm now down to only 150.

Watch the backlog of Minute-with-Maxwell's - I started approximately three month's behind, meaning I had around 100 to plough through, I'm about half way done.

Watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy - I've now seen all three films in their entirety. Almost. I did have a nap in the middle of the second (but I had seen that bit previously). I still haven't seen The Hobbit.

Submit a new guest post on MorethanDodgeBall - Completed. It should be posted here sometime over the next week. I wonder if a teen should go to more than one youth group.

Read the latest Eragon book - I'm currently, or so my wife's Kimbo tells me, 24% through the last book. I took some time to actually read/skim the first three books (not a short task at around 600-700 pages per book).

Get on top of my Google Reader - I now have two topics with +1000 posts. A small step in the right direction.

Finally, brew some beer - Fail. I still haven't used my beer making kit. One day...

Coming to church just because the roster says?

Something I've often felt are people who come to church, seemingly, just because they are "doing something" on the roster.

And whilst I'm not a fan of it I've been guilty of it every Sunday in 2012.

For I haven't been to church all year. Last week I went to the cricket (you don't turn down free member's tickets!) and yesterday the morning and evening services at our home church didn't align with our daughter's schedule.

But I'll be at church this Sunday since it's my first week at my new church. I assume I'll have to be there this Sunday... and every week afterward since I'll be "down to do something."

So are roster's an effective way to get people to come to church?

I hope not.

But I've acted in the past like it is.

I've put people on a roster, knowing full well that it'll lock them into attending and I've seen similar things done by involving kids in an element of the church service.

But I think the putting-someone-on-the-roster-so-it'll-get-them-to-church system is broken.

It's broken because it feeds the false mindset that church only "wants something from you."

It's broken because it doesn't allow someone to just come to church and be ministered to.

Finally, it's broken because it revels a warped sense of community, where you are only involved due to obligation, not an overflow of what God is doing in your life and the church you've been called to be an active member of.

I am not your child

I've heard that it's preferable for ordination candidates to have done a previous occupation for a few years. In theory, this is so a 18 year old kid doesn't leap into ministry before getting "life experience." In truth, I think it is just so ministers will have a non-ministry source of sermon illustrations.

Every ministry agent have a past.

They have previous occupations.
They have their family background.

I will always be a former retail worker and water meter reader.
I will be a son of a father who died in middle age of cancer.
My wife and I will always have gone through miscarriages and the journey it took to get our daughter.

I only have one request (and this goes for myself as well!).

Be aware of how your past and present situations influence the way you treat others.

Were a boss of a company? don't treat the church council like you might a boardroom.
Did you work with children? Then you need to be alert to the differences which exist between a church and a school setting.
Are you a parent of teens or young adults? Then you need to treat others in their age-range differently than you would your child. Don't nag or lecture.

There is nothing worse than having a conversation with someone in ministry and thinking... I am not your child.

How I know it's building

If I'm anxious about something then I'll plague me in the shower.
If I've got a big event then I'll plot in the shower.
If I've got an important speech or sermon then I'll practice it in the shower. Repeatedly.

I'm glad I'm in the middle of a fortnight between my last job and my new ministry position for, given enough time, it was bound to happen.

As I sit around at home... whittling away may days... it is slowly building.

It's only been the last few days that the excitement of a new job is starting to really kick in.

How do I know?

I thought about the new job in the shower. 

The shower is where all the real thinking happens and I found myself wondering about the new church, the questions I'll ask and what I'll do on my first day.

Now I just have to decide if I technically start Monday or take it as my usual day off...
Maybe I need another shower.