MIM Ezine - July 20, 2006

Login Leadership: Expectations

Thomas Hanover

“What do you expect of me?”

    It was a valid question. My answer was better than I deserved and I found myself repeating it to several others before they could ask the question.

    In my ministry leadership role I supervise other pastors – more than 100. In the recent reorganization the numbers have changed and no one has had the time to do any counts. My supervision does have a significant impact on credentialing and assignment, so pastors occasionally come to my office with some anxiety. Clarifying my expectations is an appropriate topic.   

    Four words captured by expectations: “Think Kingdom. Stay healthy.”

   Even though I am a judicatory leader who shares some responsibility for the church bureaucracy, I am convinced that the health and effectiveness of the ministry is served first and foremost by an obstinate focus the Kingdom of God. I even believe that institutions can thrive, if they focus first and foremost on the Kingdom of God.

    It is not an original idea. Jesus said, “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” (Luke 9:24 NKJV) Jesus also said, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33 NKJV). This applies to churches and organizations as well as individuals. When we put our survival ahead of mission, we will likely fail at both. When we put mission ahead of survival, we can achieve both. . .  by the grace of God.

    Thinking Kingdom means making many commitments. Let me name just a few. One, Kingdom-thinking means partnership and collaboration. In the 21^st century effective leaders will forge partnerships never thought possible or appropriate before. Some ministry leaders are collaborating with government leaders, business leaders, and other nonprofit service providers to pool resources of leadership, experience, and finances for ministry to a wider community than thought possible before. Many of the problems people in our communities face are so complex and so overwhelming that no one organization can address any one issue by itself. Through collaboration and partnerships with each group working out of their own strengths, people in the community can find help and hope.

    Two, Kingdom-thinking means thinking corporately, not just individually. It is easy in American culture to fall into the trap of thinking only of “Jesus and me.” But if we examine the scriptures attentively, we can see Jesus never talked about only the personal and private relationship. The personal relationship always leads outward to our social and community relationships.

    Jesus said the first commandment is to love God with everything we have. The second is like it. It is to love our neighbor as ourselves. If the second commandment is like the first, are we to assume that we express our love for God in the way we express our love for our neighbor? How can I testify to my love for God, if I ignore my neighbor in poverty?

    A ministry leader will inspire, prod, and nudge the church towards engagement in the mission outside the church doors. Ministry is to encounter the world that is desperate to discover the hope and healing we have found in Christ.

    Ultimately, Kingdom-thinking means letting go of power and control. That is difficult for many ministry leaders. Often they have seen a glimpse of God’s hopes and dreams. That glimpse has gripped them as they passionately pursue the vision. They have poured their hearts and souls in the vision. And it is tough to relinquish it so that others can become partners in the vision.

    Many visions dry up on the vine because leadership could not let go enough to make room for others to buy into the vision. The vision lost the use of gifts and graces it needed to become reality.

    I can’t imagine what Moses must have felt to devote most of his adult years to leading the people of Israel to the Promised Land. And he had to give it up just as they were about to succeed. It must have grieved his heart. But he did let go, because his mission was not to achieve the vision. Moses’ mission was to walk with God. The vision of the Promised Land was his task for the time. And the Promised Land God had in mind for Moses far surpassed the Promised Land across the Jordan River.

    “Think Kingdom and stay healthy.”

    Every day a newspaper somewhere records the moral failure of another ministry leader. Another church is crippled and betrayed. Another community ponders the meaning of the good that was accomplished over years of faithfulness. How quickly a lifetime of service can be discredited. My father used to say, “It is a lot easier to live it up than it is to live it down.”

    To stay healthy is to pay attention to one’s needs in several dimensions: spiritual, physical, mental, social or relational, and economical. I believe the heart of all of these dimensions of life is the spiritual.

    John Wesley regularly asked his pastors, “How is it with your soul?” How are we attending to our spiritual health?  This does not require a church secretary to figure out. It is simple to understand, but challenging to practice faithfully. The daily disciplines of prayer, Bible study, worship – both corporate and private, service to others, and more are critical to keeping us grounded and balanced.

    Richard Foster has written some of the best work I have read on the disciplines that keep one grounded and balanced. (Celebration of Discipline: the Path to Spiritual Growth available from Amazon). Not every discipline is meaningful to everyone in the same way. I am an introvert who values – no, craves – time alone to recharge and renew my spiritual batteries. Some of my friends are extroverts. They seek relationships. So they work to create networks of friends who will join them in the spiritual disciplines.

    While effective leaders are rethinking and retooling much of what they do in ministry today, the admonition to stay spiritually healthy continues. What helps you to stay spiritually healthy? And who helps you do it faithfully?

Tom Hanover has served in a variety of pastoral leadership roles for over 30 years, the last four as a District Superintendent supervising the ministries of more than 100 pastors and churches in southwest Ohio. He has a BA (cum laude) from Taylor University, and MDiv and DMin degrees from United Theological Seminary in Dayton. You can contact Tom at hanover@dbmim.net.

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The Reconstruction of A Youth Worker

Scott’s Ramblings

“Mysticism, Church and Superheroes!”

By R. Scott Miller

    Many of my friends wondered when I would incorporate comic books into one of my rants. For the most part, I had not thought about it until recently.

    Mysticism or mystery in worship is something we usually do not think about or really do not want to think about. We like to make sense out of everything. That is why people are often more comfortable with heroes like firefighters, police officers, or even Batman or the Green Hornet. These heroes make sense. Firefighters put out fires. . .nothing weird or wild there. Police officers take care of crime and other situations. . .these heroes make sense. Even heroes without powers like Batman or The Green Hornet are not a big deal. They use their brains, fists, and many really cool gadgets to fight weird criminals.

    We like our worship the same way. Everything should fit into a nice neat box. We love to be able to mechanically explain everything. In youth worship that is not always what this generation is looking for. If it fits too neatly into a box, it is too easy.

    Unfortunately as Protestants, we spend too much time ignoring our roots in the Catholic and Orthodox churches. I am not suggesting that the “three hours without a seat” experience I had at a Russian Orthodox Church in Russia is what youth are looking for. However, some of the characteristics of that experience are worth noting.

    One of the most beautiful and meaningful times of prayer I had was at an Orthodox church in Smolensk, Russia. I was standing (eventually kneeling) near an icon of Jesus hearing the priest in the background chanting something that I could not understand, but in my heart was one of the most beautiful sounds I can remember. Also lingering around was the scent of the incense (not like the ones that you can buy at the store and burn in your room to cover up the smell of dirty socks). Nevertheless, this was a scent that spoke to my soul at the time. It was one of the most intense times that I have ever had to being in the presence of Jesus.

    So why can we not have experiences like this in church? Is it our discomfort? It is like the discomfort of trying to explain heroes that have superpowers. Superman we can almost understand. What about heroes like Green Lantern who can make anything with his ring, or The Specter who is supposed to be the wrath of God incarnate. Then there is Dr. Strange who seems to be able to do almost anything through magic. These are all heroes that if they really existed would make people uncomfortable. They do not make sense. They do not fit into our sense of reality. We cannot explain them.

    What is a simple explanation of Christian Mysticism? Here is a very simple explanation from a great website source for mysticism: Jesus proclaimed "I and the Father are one," (Jn. 10.30) showing the world what the union of God and man can be. Christian mysticism is about nothing else but this transforming union.

    A common misconception about mysticism is that it's about "mystical experiences," and there are many volumes on such experiences in religious literature. But true mysticism is not focused on "experiences" (which come and go) but with the lasting experience of God, leading to the transformation of the believer into union with God.

    As pastors and worship leaders we have a responsibility to lead our congregations in ways that bring them closer into this transforming union. There are many different ways to do this. Centering Prayers are a wonderful way of bring youth into a focus. There are many ways to do this. You could pray through scripture, use icons (video projectors are a wonderful source for this), music could also be used and then there is that chance to break out the incense and freak out the older part of your congregation. Or for some of those, remind them of the 70’s!

    Another use of mystery that has been lost is opportunities for anointing for healing. For some reason this mystery of faith is often either considered too catholic or too charismatic. Yet, it can be one of the most beautiful times to spend with your congregation. The first time I had a service of healing during our Youth Worship Service was amazing. I had a message about God’s wanting us to be whole. As a response I explained the tradition of anointing with oil. Everyone was quiet at first. Then one person came up… then another… then many. One of the youth spoke to me after words and shared how he knew he didn’t understand how God could heal what was going on in his life but he knew that without God’s healing he could not get through it.

    We need mystery in our life. We need to be reminded about how much we do not understand. We need to have the opportunities to just know that God can work through us even if we do not understand.

R. Scott Miller is the Director of Christian Education and Youth at Milford First United Methodist Church in the suburbs of Cincinnati, OH. In his 15 years of youth ministry, Scott has written and developed much of the youth programming used in his churches. Scott has a B.A. in Radio/TV and Journalism from Morehead State University and an M.A. from Asbury Theological Seminary. You can contact Scott at rscottmiller@aol.com.

If you would like to read more about incorporating Mysticism into worship, check out these resources:

http://www.innerexplorations.com/

http://www.frimmin.com/faith/mysticismintro.html

Soul Shaper and The Sacred Way by Tony Jones, Youth Specialties
Both books explore spirituality and contemplative practices in youth ministry
The Book of Uncommon Prayer 1 and 2 by Steven Case, Youth Specialties. Contemplative and celebratory prayers and worship services for youth ministry

Helping Churches Dream Dreams and Live out their Vision!

Book Review – Partly Cloudy with Scattered Worries: Finding Peace in All Kinds of Weather

By Kathy Collard Miller, Bethany House, 2005, 0764200259, 167 pages

Reviewed by Teena M. Stewart

Worry is our way of trying to control our situation. Though we may feel like we are actually doing something concrete, the reality is that it wastes energy that can be put to better use. It can also rob us of joy. Those of us who believe ourselves to be only moderate worriers may think differently after reading this book which astutely points out negative behaviors and destructive thoughts in which many of us partake. These are often offshoots of worry. Partly Cloudy with Scattered Worries trains us to identify the difference between fear, careful thought, or worry. In addition, it gives suggestions for diffusing worry.

For instance, did you know that when we worry about others it is often because we want to control their behavior? Sometimes what we fear the most is often not as bad as we anticipate. Though it may bring difficult circumstances, there can be blessings that come out of those trying times. The author gives us ample illustrations to expand on her points. Many stories are from her own life experiences plus those of other women she has encountered.

The author continually brings us back to God’s word as biblical model and reference point, interlacing her chapters with scripture. Collard Miller’s examples of women in the Bible who persevered through tough situations, give encouragement and show that others have persevered through similar difficult circumstances.

A nice addition to the book is the inclusion of Letters from God written directly to the reader to help sooth us and reassure us that God is in control. Every chapter includes discussion questions, which can be used for the reader’s own study and reflection or can be also used in small group or class study. Women, in particular, will find Partly Cloudy a resource that is helpful for daily living and spiritual well being.

Click here to order "Partly Cloudy..."

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