Seriously...

As this is my blog, and not yours, I'm going to ramble a little bit. Feel free not to read.

Although my senior high students might not realize, I have tried spending more time prepping for youth group this year than in years past. This is not easy for me. For the first 11 years or so of my "professional" ministry career, I was much more of a "wing it because I'm awesome" kind of guy. While this was cute and adorable at first, and on a few occasions made for really great youth groups and confo, for the most part it meant my lessons and group time were a bit scattered, and while the kids may have had a good time, it wasn't nearly as good as it could have been.

This was really clear to me more so for confirmation than anything else. In order to engage the 8th and 9th grade students, I had to really put significant time into thinking what stories about myself I wanted to share, how they would fit in to the overall purpose of the night, and how I was going to connect it to their real life. This may sound easy, but I think it is really more difficult than one may think. Sometimes we try and lump all middle school kids together, but in reality, they are as different as any other group. You have the jocks, artsy students, students who are starting to realize their faith is an important part of who they are as well as students who really, really, really, really, really, don't want to be there.

At any rate, I started to really figure out, if we wanted the students to take their faith seriously, we had to put serious effort into what we were doing to help the kids along in their faith journeys.

So, last night we had a session on dealing with grief and loss. The numbers were not great. I was hoping to have a lot more students arrive. It was a bit dissapointing, but then Pr. Matt Larson began to speak. Matt and a few pages of typed out notes ready to go. We showed Matthew, a Nooma video to begin the night. Matt was great. He really did a fantastic job connecting the video, his life experience, and why this matters to the kids. When Matt was done speaking, we broke the kids up into small groups where I had come up with a sheet for each small group leader.

Anyway, I think it was a really great night. I'm sure if you asked each kid, not everyone would agree. However, I think we prepared well and was really pleased with how it went.

The point of the entire story is that if we take this whole "faith formation" thing seriously, we need to put serious effort into it. Had Matt just showed up and talked, it would have been ok. Or if we would have just had the kids and leaders sit down afterwards and talk, it might have been adequate, but adequate is not good enough.

During this holy week, we are talking about a God who came down, died and the cross and rose again. I think that is something we need to take seriously and something we need to put real effort into passing along.

Other random thoughts...

• "Hope Springs Eternal". The Twins are still tied for first place. So what if they don't have any pitching, they still have Mauer.
• I am going on a sabbatical in June. I plan on blogging more about that later, but I'm fairly excited about it. Plus, I get to spend some time with an intern I had (the only one) a few years back. Yea, after him, I never got another one....hmmm...
• I just finished the 2nd season of Game of Thrones. Yea, I'm a fan.

Ok - in love with this song right now...

Being Fashion Forward

I remember seeing guys in college that wore the t-shirt with a long sleeve-t underneath. While I wasn't opposed to it, I just didn't get overly excited about it nor did I really think it looked like me. It wasn't anything I was interested in. 13 years later, I have come around and find it being a staple of my wardrobe. I rarely wear sweatshirts, and a majority of each week during the fall/winter, find myself doing the layered look with either a t-shirt or a polo. Yesterday I met with a Pastor, so I went with the polo look, just to dress up a little bit for him.

Anyway, 13 years after I first noticed it, I came around. Most of my clothes are purchased by my wife after she gets frustrated enough with me that she just buys me something so i don't look like a complete slob. Every once in a while a package from Old Navy will come with a pair of jeans or two. or she will have gone to JC Penny's or the depot to pick up a shirt for me. What's kind of funny is that when she does pick me out something, I end up being really picky. Yes. Me. The guy that doesn't like to dress up is picky about the clothes he wears. Anyway, nobody would ever accuse me of being fashion forward. It ends up causing some tension in our marriage. After a pair of khakis has been sitting in my closet still in the package for a few months, my wife will ask me why I didnt' even try them on. Or if a shirt still has the tags after a year or so sitting in my closet she will just take it to my father-in-law. Or she will just get mad that I will not go shopping for myself, yet when she picks out something, I will leave it to sit in the closet for a while before even trying it on.

For the record, I do blame my mom. As a kid I was forced to sit at market. What is market? Market is room after room of women's clothing and accessories that stores go into to pick out clothes in some city. As a kid, having to sit for days watching her pick out pants, earrings, dresses, etc. will really screw up a kid. Such began my despising shopping.

Back to the fashion thing. I'm not opposed to having nice clothes or dressing up. I am, however opposed to doing something b/c somebody told me to or to be on the cutting edge of something.

If you are still reading this, congrats, you win a cookie.

Ok - so here's the point. This past week I spent time in Anaheim at the ELCA Youth Ministry Network Extravaganza. While the name "Extravaganza" doesn't bother me, when i say the name to others, it sounds weird. it makes it sound as if there are dancing elephants or something. Anyway, much of what was talked about was pushing the envelope and really taking a hard look at the "cutting edge" of where ministry is heading. For the most part, I don't like being told what to do. I will even admit when I am told by my senior pastor a certain song he wants to have sung or something he wants me to do and I don't agree, I really don't like it. (I haven't told him that, so please don't let him know). I will even reluctantly admit in previous years hearing speakers, rolling my eyes and thinking they are absolutely wrong. After all, I am Adrian Walter and know pretty much everything there is to know about ministry.

In fact, the speaker at each of the main sessions spoke all about the lack of use of social media and technology in ministry. I wrote something about it a while ago. He seemed to go beyond just having a nice website, but rather using it to really form faith. I will be honest, I was entranced. In fact, unlike some years I was never even tempted to skip a main session. I wanted to hear more. I wasn't doing anything he was talking about, and in fact had somebody just sent me a proposal about less class time and more web time, I would of thought it idiotic. Instead, I find myself trying to figure out how I can start to incorporate what he was talking about to what we do at FLC.

Now, living in a small town in NEIA, it takes a while for fashion to get here. Everything starts on the coasts, then slowly makes it's way here. It's kind of like ministry. however, because of the web, everything seems to be getting here much more quickly that it used to. We have the opportunity to be fashion forward when it comes to faith formation and passing on the faith, and that makes me excited.

A few quick notes...

• I've been tempted to blog about our new pastor we having coming, but I am afraid she will force me to drink tea if I do, so I will refrain from mentioning her.
• Speaking of our new pastor, she drinks a lot of tea. I'm not sure how I feel about that. If you believe what she writes, she essentially carries a tea pot around with her at all times. I always thought it would be cool to drink Earl Grey (sp?) but then I found it tastes really bad.
• Twins are going to be terrible. I will not be taking any bets that they will be in the running for their division.
• I'm way excited about the new Star Trek movie coming out.

 I still love this song...

Hello Blog, long time no see..

I'm tired. My wife is gone, school is about to begin for the boys, and I do not have an "after school" schedule set up for them. We had a council supper/meeting tonight. I'm getting ready for fall programming trying to get my calendar lined up. I have 2 football drafts coming up. Earlier today I spoke with Aaron from Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp to plan out dates for next years trip (we JUST got back from New Orleans and I'm already planning next year..seems wrong, somehow) and tonight I have spent a good chunk of the evening thinking about the things I left undone last year.

I tend to be the kind of person to dwell on the stuff that I neglected to do or didn't do as well as I had hoped.

For example, I am going through the people I didn't contact as much (or at all) this past year and should have. Students that I have not seen but did not call. Youth group sessions that I should have done differently. Bible studies I meant to plan but never got around to. Telling my kids I would play play station with them but didn't (I was told by Luke I owe him $10 if I don't play before school starts on Thurs.). How I played my guitar for a funeral and at the end of the song hit a wire so in the silence after a wonderful rendition of Jesus Loves Me by my younger bro, there was a loud crack at the end. How on our trip to the ELCAYG I really didn't talk to and foster as many relationships with the students I brought down as I would have liked. How, as much as I tend to be gone from my family both with work and other things I am in a position to talk to families how they should be.

I am struggeling with what to do with my SH students this year. I need a name for youth group. "Youth Group" just seems blah. I need to figure out what the heck I am going to do this year. I used up all of the Nooma videos the past 2 years, which I used as an intro and really loved it, now I have to move on and I don't know what direction I am going to go. In addition to YG (or whatever it needs to be called) I need..yes, need, to set up a Bible study to go deeper with those students who want/desire to do so.

I lead our contemporary worship twice /month. When I say lead, I mean plan the worship, get the band together to rehearse, set up the music stuff (all with help, but its still my thing) etc. I have been trying to figure out the best way to do the service so the people who this reaches..well...it reaches. This also means continuing to argue for the existance of said service and explain to people why it is needed.

I need to get my bum in gear and get more of a 7th and 8th grade program going. This means stuff beyond just confirmation.

We have an entire group of 20 something adults who are not coming to church with whom we need to do something..anything for on a frequent basis.

Did I mention my office needs some..umm..work? by some, I mean..a lot. (anyone?)

And finally, I really need to figure out a way to better utilize our youth and family committee this coming year. I am totally a "do it myself" kind of guy and..well..if I really want things to go well this year, I think I probably need to lean on them a bit more than I have been.

So, I have a few things going for me..

1) The Twins stink this year. When I mean stink, I mean they are terrible. So, I don't have to be distracted by a pennant race this year.

2) There are a bunch of great people at my church to work with. I have an extraordinarily supportive (yet a bit undeserved) pastor, parents and adults who truly care about the faith formation of students, youth and families at FLC.

3) It may seem cliche', but I also believe it a God who takes us as we are, and even though I may screw up, He still walks with me. Watching a family who i care about deeply go through a terrible tragedy helped remind me of this. After saying that line 50 times during the youth gathering trip, it really came to light while visiting the family. I don't believe in a God who promises me everything will be hunky dory. Instead I believe in a God who says He will walk beside me no matter what. And really, that means a lot more to me than anything else.

At the Youth Gathering, Switchfoot played. I like em. A lot. This is a great song. For me, it also tells me to get off my butt and get something done...

There is a lot of crap to get done. I suppose it might help if I get to sleep and get started tomorrow...

Friends, Followers, and the weird world of Pintrest

I don't get it. I recently got invited (after some begging) to Pintrest. It is cluttered, confusing, and I have no idea how to find anything. There are just a bunch of pictures of things ranging from board games to pictures of star wars. It wouldn't be so bad, but I have no idea how it is organized or what I am supposed to do. As a person who lives his life in confusion, this seems to go beyond anything I can handle. How people spend hours upon hours doing it, I will never understand.
When I first logged in, it asked who I wanted to follow. Before I knew it, not only was I following people who are my facebook friends, but I found myself following people I didn't know because I like baseball. I un-followed them immediately because...well...it just seemed weird. And they had some really weird things "pinned". I keep getting notices that "so and so is now following you on Pintrest". I assume some notice was sent to my fb friends telling them I was on there.

It was probably un-necessary for me to join Pintrest. Between my blog, facebook, and twitter, I probably have enough ways to share what I am thinking, doing, etc. While it would seem there are plenty of ways to do such a thing, there are plenty still left out there. I'm not on foursquare, linkden, or google + (ok, I did get an account, but I really don't get it).

All of this does bring up an interesting question. What does it mean to be a follower? During a week when we are talking about following Jesus to the cross and the tomb, how do we differentiate our understanding of what it means to be a follower today vs. 2012 years ago. I can follow somebody sitting at Magpie. I can be a friend to somebody that I haven't talked for several years and probably won't have a face to face conversation with for another 10 years. So if I am sitting in a congregation and a pastor talks about following Jesus, what is s/he talking about? When we "churchy" folk talk about following Jesus, we mean living a life of service. We mean caring for our neighbor. We mean telling people about how Jesus death and resurrection changes the way we care for and treat other people. Anywhere else in the world, it means clicking a button and receiving an invitation to help somebody with their virtual garden.

Anyway, for a long time I tried to figure out how I can be with the "in" group and get on Pintrest. Now that I am there, I don't get it. It hasn't changed my life. It hasn't given me meaning. It hasn't made all of my dreams come true.

Anyway, as I continue on my journey with Pintrest, please keep me in your prayers.

 

A few other quick tidbits..

• The Easter breakfast I usually do has been hijacked by a few parents. I will admit I feel a bit slackerish, but also very relieved.
• Opening day is Good Friday. Hmm...do I stay home and listen to the Twins game or attend worship? This may very well be the lone game this season when they are in first place.
• I loved our contemporary service on Palm Sunday. Between the music, message, etc., it all flowed extremely well and it was awesome. 
• My mom tore her hamstring. The "how" isn't important. What I should do, however, is record how "nurturing" my dad is with her and show it to my wife so she better understands why I am how I am. (For example, him trying to explain to her that she should sit up and move around a little bit and how that would help her feel better).

Reminding Me (Us)

As the point person for our New Song worship, I have found myself on youtube and other media place listening to music and trying to figure out which songs to use for our worship. I came across this ditty while planning our last worship service. I really like this song.

I saw a stat the other day that said my denomination was down in membership about 5.9%. Yes, much of this has to do with the "split" in the church from 2009. At the same time, mainline protestant churches have been on the decline for quite a while. At a recent youth worker retreat, we tackeled the question about where our youth ministry was, where it is, and where it is going. Without getting into too much detail, I think it is fair to say that most of the conversation revolved around relavance. How is what we are doing relavent in peoples lives. How are we showing people that God is relavent in people's lives. I heard a sermon recently that essentially said to the congregation "you know the good news, go and share it". I don't believe this is true. As I looked around the room, I wondered, "how many people here really understand who God is and what this really means?" When I see stats like 7-8 % of people find their faith relavent in their daily life, did the people sitting in the pews get it? How are we talking to people about faith? Should we go and assume that people do understand when there has been a steep decline in not only church membership but the importance of people's faith in their lives? Does this change the way we are explaing the gospel to people?

I recently visited Wartbug College to continue preparation for the ELCA National Youth Gathering. A lot has changed on campus since I was there. For starters, there is a library. There is also a coffee shop in the library. It seems as though colleges are constantly changing. Why? Well, the demographics have changed, the way students learn has changed as well as what makes students choose one college over the other. Back in my day, there was not a widespread use of projectors, video, laptops, etc. In Luther College's new buildings, almost everyroom has its own projection system.

What has this taught me? It is not only the content we are teaching people, but also how we are passing along information. When students go to google with questions before their parents, it would appear the "how" is getting to be as important as the "what". We need to let go of "what used to be" and focus on the "what is the reality".

Why? There are students that don't really know who they are. There are students (and parents, people in their 20's, etc) who feel overwhelmed, confused, lost. There are students (and parents, people in their 20's etc) who do not understand there is a God who loves, cares for, and wants them to remeber who they are. That is our job. It means to do whatever it takes to help people remember who they are. It means meeting people where they are, not where we think they should be. It means the church need to change. (the reality is the church is constantly changing whether we like it or not, we just don't like to always acknowledge it).

Given that, the question for me is, how quickly do we push for change. Whether it be projectors in the sanctuary or the use of video in worship, it seems as though we are already behind. The new software program I am using for worship allows for "signals" to be sent to peoples iphones and ipads with things such as scripture readings. I really do struggle sitting still for any period of time beyond about 10 minutes. During worship I find myself looking around and crumpling up my bulletin. If I try to give a "talk" to my students at youth group and it goes beyond 5 - 10 minutes, I've lost them. (yes, part of it is me) but also that is NOT how students live out their lives. Heck, I had a student last night in-between drying dishes texting her bf. Even when I show a video at our senior high group, kids faces are lighting up from their cell phones. They are always connected. If we don't figure out a way to tap into that soon, we are going to fall even further behind and the 8% will drop even further.

So, how quickly do we push for change? We don't want to alienate people, but if we don't start to do something soon, I will begin to question how we "insiders" really view our faith and the impact it should have on peoples lives.

• Still bitter, but this does make me feel better
• There is hope...
• Our church is creating putting a new website. I am really excited about it!
• My favorite part of this weather is going outside and playing catch with my boys. Love it. Probably the highlight of being a dad...

Hipsters and Pretties

I recently returned from the ELCA Youth Ministry Network Gathering in New Orleans. As a "Gathering Coach" (sucker), I had to go a few days early for a training on training. Also - we were doing some planning for the youth gathering. For these first three days, all of our meals were taken care of at the hotel. I was standing in line one night to eat, and a person I have not seen in quite a while came up behind me. I wouldn't say that we were ever close friends, but we knew eachother. After a few minutes of awkwardly waiting for her to acknowledge who I am, I finally said hi. She looked up, then suddenly said "you used to be so preppy!" Ah, the power of a hair style. That and I was wearing a long sleve t-shirt with a twins t over it. When I did know her, I had short hair that kind of spiked up in front. That and I wore a lot of polo shirts. Two nights later I went out with a few friends. I was standing there listening to some people, and this gal looked up at me and said "so, your trying to be all hipster. I'm not really a fan of the hipster look, but I do like He-Man, so I'm trying to figure out if I like your shirt or not". A few of my friends even began referring to me as Sheldon. (If you don't get the reference you NEED to begin watching the Big Bang Theory)

For the past, oh, 6 months I have been getting a lot of flack for my hair style. I recall coming home one day and my mother-in-law was at my house. I told her, "Audrey, I got a hair cut today". She just said, "no you didn't". I said "yes". She just made some type of noise and continued with whatever she was doing. My new Senior pastor and I were having a conversation about our congregation. He suddenly turned to me and said "It's kind of like your hair. 1/3 hate it, 1/3 like it, and 1/3 don't care."


This past weekend a couple of mom's from my church asked if I wanted to wear a pretty. I found out this is a barrett. In fact, last night after Ash Wed. I received a text asking me if the pastor had to put a pretty in my hair prior to putting the ashes on my forehead.

Last summer I even purchased a pair of chuck taylors to wear. Why? I didn't really plan on buying any. I hadn't owened a pair since high school. I just happened to walk into a shoe store, found a pair and bought them. In addition to being mad fun of as these have now become my church shoes, the young lady who sold me the shoes also explained that I needed to wear socks that you couldn't really see. She had a tattoo and several piercings, so I wasn't going to disagree as she obviously was much cooler than I. Of course, when I asked her if they would look ok on me, she said "my mom has a pair, so you'll be just fine."

My new "look" didn't happen because of some great scheme, instead it's been a process over the past year. Last week, my wife turned to me and asked what I had going on. It was a Monday and I was wearing a pair of Khakis. Honestly? The previous Friday I didn't have any longs sleve t-shrits clean, so I went and ironed a few shirts. So, when I got up Monday, I had a couple of shirts ironed, so i put one on.


In Bible study this morning, we talked about peer preasure. We discussed wearing or doing things just to please other people or to fit in. I can't really say I have ever really "fit in". Whether it be at camp wearing my awesome and comfortable (but highly in-approrpiate) shorts, not dressing up at church, or even refusing to cut my hair.

In less than an hour, I will be getting my hair cut. The main reason? I am having trouble seeing out of my right eye as the hair is too long and I refuse to wear a pretty in public. I want it made clear right now, that it is in no way getting cut because of pressure to do so. Of course....if the question were asked whether I was refusing to cut it b/c people thought I should? Well...

A few quick notes

•  I am giving up soda (not pop) for lent
• I am proud of Luke. He went through his lunch schedule for lent and is eating peanut butter once each week instead of his favorite meal at school
• Pitchers and Catchers have reported. Twins have a legit shot at winning a very week Central division
• The David Crowder Band is no longer together. They are by far my favorite Christian group and I am going to miss them making new music.

Like a box of chocolates...

I'm trying to figure out what kind of day today is going to be. When my alarm went off this morning at 5:56 a.m., I was not excited. I was in a deep sleep and as I feel as though I had not been sleeping well, really wanted to crawl back in bed. I forced myself to get up, get dressed, and wait for my walking partner Pat. I will admit (grudgingly), when I do go for a walk early in the morning, I do feel better. Yes, part of it is the wonderful conversation that occurs, but mostly it is the being active portion of the walk. Anyway, when I got back from my walk, I made my coffee (for those of you wondering, I was able to salvage my broken coffee grinder, so that's good). My youngest son who most mornings is a complete monster woke up relatively easy this morning and at no time did I yell at him or tell him to get dressed, eat, or get his snow stuff on. It was fantastic. I have to admit, I was on a high. Boys were playing well together, Adam wasn't being...well...Adam, and we were way ahead of schedule. Then it happened.

Luke walks to school each day. As we are only 3 blocks away, he leaves each day about 5 - 10 minutes before Adam and I do. Adam on the other hand gets dropped off. Now, this seems like it should be relatviely simple. You pull up, you say goodbye, your kid gets out of the car, and you leave. Not so much. This morning, the line wasn't moving all that fast, then it came to our turn. We followed the car ahead of us, we stopped, and I told Adam goodbye, and he jumped out of the car. That should have been it. Instead, I sat there for what seemed like 10 minutes, staring at the car 2 cars ahead of where I was. I started looking around wondering what they were waiting for. Finally the back door opened and the kid got out. Ok, I thought, now we can go. No. the parent then got out an walked their kid over. I'm a parent. I understand that some days are kind of rough and a kid needs a little extra tlc. What I don't understand is why you would hold up a huge line of other parents who have things to do (like sit in a coffee house and blog). Maybe it is because I have no heart, but I am all about shoving my kid out of the car as quick as possible, in part because it is polite to the other parents and also because if Adam isn't in a "yea school!" kind of mood, an extra 3 minutes in the car isn't going to help. It's kind of like ripping off a band aid, the quicker the better.

So now, here i sit blogging, preparing myself for my annual review in less than an hour, unsure what is to come. (That and I am still a little sore from running with students from 5- 9pm yesterday)

As far as the review goes, here are a few of my thoughts. As I was filling out my official form, I began to think about all of the things that I left undone this past year. I started listing out the things I wish I had done better or (gasp!) even the few things that I even screwed up. I find it a lot easier to focus on those things that on the things that I did well. I have been a part of some really great reviews and some...well...not so great ones. When I say that, I don't mean ones that were just talking about what a great or terrible job I was doing, rather a reflection on this past year and what can be done to do better next year move forward in a positive way. I think today will probably be the latter.

Ok - a few quick thoughts, A friend of mine posted this article. The first time I heard something similar to this was from Paul Hill who essentially said the same thing while talking about how men bond and grow together. He focused on how guys like to compete with eachother, etc., and the church needed to find a way to do this and while girls enjoy chatting on the phone for a long time sharing their feelings, a lot of guys want activities that will challenge them physically. The challenge is to find those activities in the church.

• I am holding out hope the M & M boys will be back and the Twins will at least have a shot at the division this year
• I really do love the worship band I play with. They are a great group of talented people and I am blessed to have the opportunity to play with them
• I leave for New Orleans next week for 6 days. I'm not really sure what to expect, but it should be a good time

Finally - Super Bowl prediction. I will have a better idea when I talk with my brother as to who he is rooting for (he always picks the loser), but right now I am thinking the Giants will win in a not very close game.