Hit the Back Button to Move Fwd by Gavin Richardson

where is gavin these days?

i haven't been asked where i've been of late so much as "what i'm doing now?" which is an acceptable question since my leaving the paid staff church work back in july. the last few months have been a real ride emotionally and spiritually (not sure if those are completely seperate but for purposes of this sentance they are). i've run the gammet meeting/talking/chatting with people i respect a great deal on what they might see God's plan in my life. my general idea is that i was so close to myself that i needed help stepping back and looking in through the window. through this process i've identified some short term and long term places i'm putting my creative and passionate self into. thought i'd share those with you, so we can skip the "what are you up to now?" question.

All American Pest Control: this might be the most visible of the entities of late because for the past month or so i've been pretty chatty about my work with All American Pest Control. This is our family business and Erin has been working there for the last 7-8 years. We will eventually finish a purchase of the company in about 4-5 years from her mom & dad and we'll be sole owners. So, in the spirit of doing anything for the family, i've been crawling houses of late to help tend to our historical customers allowing our other employees to focus on some of our more current and up to date protection services. i am also helping erin our with promotions, marketing, and social media aspects of the company. you can follow the adventures of my life in pest control by following on twitter or facebook.

Sticky Sheep: this is one has been in the brewing for a year or two now. my buddy john ellis & i had spent a number or conversations talking up the mixtures of church & business, specifically marketing. we started writing a book on these conversations and we are still putting that together. in the mean time we figured it is time to start sharing these connections. you can engage in our little musings by hitting up the site or checking our twitter or facebook presences.

 

Proof Branding: this is an exciting project to be a part of. i'm joining in with long time friend sam davidson and a crew of others whom are especially creative in a full service branding company. my part in the team is to help translate and work with the church communities that wish to rebrand themselves. this would cover communications, marketing, design, creative directions, and more. i've been working independantly with with first presbyterian church youth in nashville before the launch of proof this past month and have had some real successes and enjoyable moments. you can follow the tweets of sam & matt via proof and the news on facebook.

YouthWorker Movement: is something that i'm really jumping into as my youth ministry passion. i am helping to put together a vibrant and transformational entity to help my beloved, and struggling, united methodist church & fellow wesleyan youth ministries. i've partnered up with charles harrison and a team of others i getting things mapped out and ready to roll next month. if you want in on the braintrust of a vast community of people you should get plugged in with the youthworker movement. in the short term we will have a new email list going out next week. a new website will launch in january (a temporary one will be available next week). in the spring we will be putting forth full service curriculum options from a wesleyan youth ministris perspective. through all this you can keep up on the 'movements' via twitter or facebook as well.

thanks a quick gist of me, if you want to talk further on any of these projects or hire me or my friends give a shout via email gavoweb(at)gmail.com is still my email. i'm pumped to get creative!

in another note: the company that hosts this blog is going in some different direction, so in anticipation of some crazy server issues. i'm going to be moving this blog over to my own hosting options sometime soon.. maybe when i have a minute not doing other cool stuff.

have you gotten your official united methodist calendar? i think i have

one of those tools in ministry i've used year in and out is the methodist calendar. i've used the classic spiral bound calendar many of those years. my fav details is the lectionary listings not to mention the special days listed in the classic calendar. it also fits nicely in my briefcase.

the last two years i've used the wall sized dry erase calendar which was helpful, but i never spent a large majority of my time in the office so it wasn't as helpful.

this year i'm kinda stoked to try out the digital version that is google cal compatible. i'll probably also order a classic one as well, you should get a version as well.

i love Jesus, but i'm keeping my stripping job

i threw out there via twitter last week about a group of strippers who were protesting the church that had been protesting their strip club.

it caught some decent media from accross the country. so much so that other churches came to the aid of the protesting church & apparently some christians who work with strippers as part of their mission.

the cool part is that somewhere in the mix of this chaos the two sides actually did some reconciling. two of the strippers actually accepted Jesus in this which is great! but the quotable regarding the strippers acceptance of Christ is telling.

"Two girls accepted Jesus in their hearts," Brown told the congregation, eliciting affirmations and applause.

The two strippers confirmed that, but they said they won't be leaving their jobs anytime soon.

"Our hearts are with Jesus, but our bodies are at the Foxhole," Gina Hughes said.

what i feel is notable, a learning moment, for the church is that even if someone does accept Jesus the work of transformation doesn't stop there. these girls will also need before you begin to break into the self-actualization of the soul they need help with all the safety & physical aspects of life (yes that is very much maslow's hierarchy of needs). as Jesus did, feed the folks and cure they ills before they can be the transformation for the Kingdom that we want them to be.

loosing a young person : grieving in the digital age

last night i read about the passing of a young man, soldier from our local area. this caught me more than other reports for two reasons. 1. he's a young man from our local area & i knew that some of the teenagers (now young adults) i know were more than likely friends with him 2. my little brother just returned to home from his second deployment to Iraq.

strange behavior that acted on.. i went to see if he had a facebook..

wired covered a beginning of this phenomenon a few years back & it continues to grow as our grieving many times goes from the physical presence act of leaving crosses on the streets, creating memorials & altars at doorsteps/fences/etc. to the digital profiles of the people we are loosing.

here become the places that we go to leave our last words and condelences. it is here that we find solice with others. here where we tell stories. here where we post old pictures and remember times past.

i have seen it a number of times as i am sure you have as well. a question to ask ourselves is this..

is a digital rememberance enough in caring for those who are grieving?

i worry if our digital nature will compromise our grieving by keeping the physical presence of people away or shortening it. it is no doubt encouraging to see the impact a person has had on a life shared in a time such as this, but it cannot make up for hugs, face to face conversation, and just sitting & being. i appreciate Jewish traditions in how they sit and wait for the initial impact to settle then they, as a community, spend months in supporting the family's need. my Christian traditions seem to whirlwind around the family in the immediate moment then wane quickly over the next two weeks. grieving however, goes on for much longer.

it isn't lost on me that this post is in some way reflective & ironic in the very acts that i'm referring.

Specialist Michael Stansbury Jr. thank you for your ultimate sacrifice on our behalf. may you find the peace of Christ surrounding you. prayers for family to find strength & comfort.

a prayer for your fellow servicemen & women

Almighty and eternal God,
those who take refuge in you will be glad
and forever will shout for joy.
Protect these soldiers as they discharge their duties.
Protect them with the shield of your strength
and keep them safe from all evil and harm.
May the power of your love enable them to return home
in safety, that with all who love them,
they may ever praise you for your loving care.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.

humility in work

saying from Abba Pambo

"Your skill is not in what you do, but how you do it"

this reminds me of the teachings of Brother Lawrence & his book practicing the presence. as i seek to find out what i do next in my vocation life it isn't what i do that is imperative, it is how i do it that seems most compelling to God.

in support of a tent city and homeless #savetentcity

today i ran into Quita, asking her "you have a few papers for me?" and she responded with a sigh and a "yes, you know what these are all about?" myself along with my buddy jason had a nice chat with her about her travels since being displaced from tent city during the flood. she had her housing voucher paperwork and said more than a few times "it's not my permanent solution." we hugged and exchanged our pleasantries and went along our ways.

in the last year and a half God has moved me around some people that brought me in touch with this community of people i was aware of but never knew. note: as a church staff person it is rather interesting that it is hard to be with people who have no home. many times they carry with them little value to the church, except a 'mission' or 'outreach' cause. many times, those are charitable in nature and hurt an eventual goal of getting folks off the streets.

as i have been finding my way these last few months and meeting folks in the homeless community i've given my support; in small acts, prayers, needed resources, and just being to the folks at "tent city."

i've done this for a reason. i believe in a process and a place. there needs to be a place that people can land when all the bottoms fall out. if the world falls out from under me i have back ups and places to go. we are richly blessed in that manner. but many do not have those options. so there is a need for a place to land.

but that place isn't the only need. there needs to be a process and the people to help getting folks back to where they want to be. as i've been around the tent city community i believe and am seeing the people who have gotten involved in bridging relationships and helping folks pick themselves up and get back into the life they dream for themselves.

homelessness is complex and this doesn't address all the needs, but a place for folks to build from is, and needs to be, an option. so that is why i support a tent city

two letters : one result

two letters went out to our church community today. first one from me

Dear HFUMC Youth Community,

In Deuteronomy there is a really dynamic scene where Moses who has led the Isrealites through the wilderness since the Exodus exclaims that he is no longer directed to lead the tribe. He speaks to his apprentice Joshua and tells him that it is he that God wishes to lead the tribe into the promised land.

It is with that scripture in mind and a very heavy heart that I write this note to share with you that my employment at HFUMC as your youth pastor will end effective immediately. With the direction of the church my gifts and talents are not the match they once were for the ministries of the church as an employee. As tough as this is to accept, Erin & I are at peace with this and hope you find that as well. We plan to be at church on Sunday, but will not be leading any activities as we begin to identify who we are within the church community in our new roles.

Know that I love you all, have loved being in ministry, a part of your families, and seeing us all grow together. It has been my honor to be a part of your last five years. As we redefine who our family is in the midst of the church we hope that those relationships stay the same even though the nature of what brought us together has changed.

I don't know who your Joshua is but I am praying for that person and the 'unique community' that I know you to be.

May the Lord Bless You and Keep You
May the Lord Make His Face Shine Upon You & Be Gracious Unto You
May the Lord turn His Face upon You & give us peace.

Shalom
-gav

 

&:~)

second one came from our staff parish

After much thoughtful prayer and deliberation, your Staff Parish Relations Committee (SPRC) concluded that the final necessary element in the staff reorganization was an overhaul of the youth programs of our church. Therefore, effective immediately, the positions of Director of Youth Ministries and Director of the New World Generation Choir are open. Searches will be launched to fill both positions. In the interim, Associate Pastor Brad Holliman will assume leadership of the youth division, assisted by the adult leaders and volunteers already engaged in youth ministry at HFUMC.

All previously scheduled Youth programs and activities are expected to go on as planned. If you would like to help with these programs as a leader, chaperone or driver, please contact Brad Holliman.  Any changes to the calendar will be communicated via e-mail, Facebook or the Corner website, so check in before finalizing your plans.

Our prayers go with Gavin Richardson and Tiffany DePriest, and we thank them for their contributions to our church and its ministries. Please watch the newsletter and other church communications for more information about the searches in the next few weeks.

The Staff Parish Team

moving on...

save tent city : our latest efforts

starting yesterday my buddy brian & i started working with some other, less techie types, on gathering materials for tent city nashville. our big effort is getting drop sites around middle tennessee and putting out information through a new hub site http://www.savetentcity.com

so that is where i will be the next few days. if you can jump in and help do that. tent city relief efforts are different than those of the many displace homeowners in middle tennessee area. tent city residents will need tents, sleeping bags, tarps, and other camping/outdoor equipment. they also will need toiletries and clothes as well, but primarily our first efforts are to help with establishing the community, infrastructure and housing.

in case you missed your weekly pbs tour : ginghamsburg work with darfur

if you involved in the united methodist church at any church geek level, as i am, then you no doubt know that ginghamsburg united methodist church does a lot of work with darfur. they were recently profiled on public broadcasting's show "religion and ethics weekly."

what you think you have right about your communication is wrong : saying and communicating is different

i know when we meet as a staff we talk a lot about the need for better communication. it is a huge pain in our b'hinds. so i'm totally spinning in thoughts stemmed from rev. dan dick's latest posting on communication misconceptions of our 'good' communication that undermine actual good communications.

here's his three hit points.

I believe there are three main problems we encounter that prevent or undermine good communication: 1) confusing “transmitting” with communication, 2) over-reliance on information as the most important part of communication, and 3) making assumptions about what people “know.”

currently i'm wondering what push of information i do and how different that is from actually communicating to folks? in the size ministry i have, its impossible to pick up the phone and call everyone, not to mention many folks would rather not have a phone call (or they will tell me so). i might have become so conditioned to this that it is my norm. i actively use twitter cause i can spew out information, but if no one communicates back i just move on. did i ever really convey an idea? does that mean i should start blogging regularly again since its more of communicating an idea/plan/dream/rant/etc.?

what can i do better to help with communicating to you? my church peeps? my family? my internet networkings?

in the meantime, go check out the rest of dan's thoughts on communications.

Jesus is the shirtless guy : following is the new leading

i'm pondering this quick little ted talk by derek sivers this morning. i caught this idea to be quite radical in shift in the way we look at leadership.

"it was the first follower that transformed the lone nut, into a leader... if you really care about starting a movement, have the courage to follow and show others how to follow."

as with most things it has me pondering of faith.. wondering if Jesus is the nut, then who is the follower who showed us how to follow? Saint Paul? some of the Disciples?

where am i in this? am i the guy that's trying to get attention by some silly song and dance or do i need to figure out how i show to follow better?

i think if we asked Christ about the idea of following to lead he'd be pretty stoked by it.

me speaking & talking : here & there for your amusement

next week i'll be doing some of that speaking thing that i do.

wednesday thru friday i'll be in and around the dallas area for the united methodist reporters communicators conference. i'll be leading a churchy discussion based off the keynote speakers thoughts on new media strategy. the possibilities of that conversation could be amazing, so i'm excited to get to lead that. the next day i'll sit on a panel with a bunch of social media geek / church nerd friends on, what else, social media. that will be easily enjoyable. hope we can bring some stuff to the table that challenges everyone in the room. that's the task i'm giving myself.

flying back on friday and then on saturday is up early to volunteer with podcamp nashville and put on my session of 'sex, lies, and social media.' that's going to be interesting & a whole lot of fun. vegas is betting my awkward statement and subsequent blushing will be an over/under at 4 (its just 20 mins of talking otherwise it'd be much higher).

unfortunately, if you are not already signed up for the communicators conference then you'll have to miss me this go round, but you can still sign up for podcamp & check out me and some of the other fabulous minds of technology and what they are thinking about.

youth gone wild : stats can be misleading

as youth pastor i do a lot of news filtering on the state of, trends of, and all the ills of today's and future youth culture. if you do some news search for teenagers it isn't a very promising picture (especially globally). one of the trends i see in the news is a whole lot of angry kids in the england. but as with any news reporting as with any statistic there is always the 'other side.' so my heart was lightened by the latest from asbo jesus.

 

its nice to think of the other side of all the statistics that we hear about and fear over. truth is, i have over 100 kids from ages 12-18 in our youth community and, though i don't know the intimate details of every moment of their lives, i pretty confident they are all on the positive side of every bad statistic.

it reminds me of some parenting education i used to teach on. i used to coach folks on doing a paradigm shift in their viewing of their children. to stop looking/seeing the bad stuff but to look for those positive pieces and celebrate those (even if they are minute).

well, enough of the preaching. its time for some music this whole thought process made me think of.

ashes on your forehead : a little diddy for those with dirty foreheads today

this was just too cute. my buddy eric coomer sent it to me. i haven't checked out jonathan rundmans's other works, but eric says they are really good as well.

gold, silver, bronze : top methodist moments on youtube

so why not!

on monday i gave out medals for the top john wesley moments on youtube. figured i'd give out medals for methodism realized over youtube.. why not!

this list i couldn't help but get onto some of my soapboxes, so i hope you don't mind some of my subjective judging.. feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments

gold medal: the methodist clayride - i was pleasantly pleased to see this back on youtube. years ago i had a copy of it that i uploaded to youtube but was asked to take it down by a certain agency. i felt that was a real loss at the time because the video then created a lot of buzz and nostalgia amongst us methoblogger types. not to mention, its a great video for sharing the history of the methodist church. if i remember correctly it had over 15k views (mind you this was the early days of youtube as well). so i hope the clayride gets to ride on & as the methodist presses in the early days of the movement shared its stories, theology, sermons, etc. maybe you all can help share this gold medal of methodism.

silver medal : methodist amendments  maxie dunnam - whoa the scandal!! maxie gets the medal for this one because his video showed up on my radar first, though eddie fox put his up a few days earlier. these videos struck off the biggest abuse of the youtube medium by methodist pastors at large. seriously, lets take our sermoning communication medium to a media medium that is short, sweet, entertaining, and engaging (see how youtube community reacts by how they mashedup maxie). still, in the metho-nerd circles, this was scandalous to take the churches business outside the authorities of the general/annual conferences. which, may or may not be a bad thing.. not to leave them out, bishop jones & tex sample took notice and made their counter arguments as well. for stirring the pot and getting a whole lot of amendment mush on youtube, maxie gets the silver medal.

bronze medal : hallelujah chorus by mute monks - okay, this is silly, its only methodist because this one happened to have happened at a methodist church and the youth basically ripped off an otherwise other youtube sensation, but with a hit count of 100k and just observing the reaction of the congregation (or lack there of) and the pastor (what was that?) at what i assume was a christmastide service.. oh boy. bronze medal for having the cajones to try it pine castle umc

standing looking up : patriot guard - this a news report, from united methodist news (i assume), on the methodist pastor who helps with the patriot guard. for those that don't know what the patriot guard is there is just a simple search on youtube and you will get countless videos, some even by national news coverage. this gets the honorable mention for a couple of reasons, 1. it tells the story of how some have take their community into action for the forgotten and the fallen of our culture. 2. it has a pretty decent hit count (i have a version of same video on my youtube channel) which almost doubles it. yes, #2 is not nearly as noble as #1. 

so tell me who got robbed from the podium. there's lots to choose from

give to who was there, because they will continue to be there : desparate times in haiti

received word the other day that one of my high school buddies was taking a team of doctors down to haiti for relief efforts. there was quite the bit of news coverages because, since our time in high school he's been able to wedge into the media market place. i saw another news article where a number of children who were up for adoption to american families were rushed to their pennsylvania homes with the political people showing smiling faces as if patting themselves on the back.

no slack on my friend & his medical team, they will do a lot of work and a lot of good work i am sure. but it had me wondering. slight slack to the political players who lord over visas and all these international adoptions.. it had me asking, "why now?"

sure, there was an earthquake & it is devastating, but long before that, there was extreme poverty & suffering... where was the anderson cooper's & media police alarming us to the worlds ills? chasing tiger woods?

i share my thoughts to say this one thing. as you are compassioned to give to help with relief efforts, give to the people who were already there, because, they are most likely to be there long after everyone is gone.. and they will be dealing with the aftermath of not only a physical earthquake, but a systemic poverty.

this is why i am so pleased to say that i am a part of the united methodist church & its continued work under the UMCOR banner. they were there before the earthquake, sadly some died in the earthquake, and will be there long after the earthquake. i applaud & more with the folks at highland park umc who have kept a long standing clinic in haiti since the 70's, but lost one of their church members in the earthquake.

learn more about the stories happening in haiti, long after the news vans leave & continue to help those who will be there long after cameras turn off and go home.

visit: www.umc.org/haiti

top tech trends of 2009 for youth ministry : new day in @ymtoday

i was asked to write a, shorter than this, article for ymtoday on the tech trends of 2009. this is my unedited & proper use of capitals article for your review.

Gone are the days where spent calling everyone on the youth phone list, cutting clip art books and taping graphics to papers for making posters, and sorting slides into a projector carousel. Today's youth ministry is full of early adoption to new technologies to communicate and build relationships. It seems to be 2009 amped that trend of leaving behind the those things we used to do so routinely in the early 2000's.

Here's a little list of technology trends from the past year used, being used, or to use for your youth ministry. Not all were created in the last year, but they did seem to pick up more steam.

1. Facebook: Do you remember MySpace? I do, and I thought it was pretty cool. Facebook though is just a fabulous youth ministry tool where MySpace wasn't. Create a group or fan page for the ministry you are a part of, easily send messages to the whole group, create events, post pictures & videos. It is easy to do, takes less time, and its where your teenagers are hanging. Have you watched your teenagers spend time onFacebook, it borders on problematic. If you have some cash, you can invest in ads on Facebook , the metrics for adverts is amazing, not terribly expensive either, plus it shows who are 'fans' in your ad extending the trust relationship. You can even get on board with a free mission trip via the social media network.

2. Twitter: People are up in the air as to whether Twitter is a usable youth ministry tool. My teens many follow a few friends and a bunch of celebrities. I don't have a youth who would create a twitter based newsletter for us like Adam. Twitter for me is brain trust & community of other youth and ministry leaders. Have a question, need prayer support, want to celebrate, need consolation after loosing a job, and more you can join into the community of youth workers on Twitter. I sought help developing this list via my Twitter community.

As a program, Twitter is a mobile based application, so it has txt and alert capabilities. Which leads us to our next item.

3. Mass Text Services: If you think it is going to be a pain to get all your people onto Twitter and then to enable the cell phone alert tweets for your twitter account, just set yourself up for one of the many mass text messaging services. If you are like me, youth gathering times are their normal loud and crazy, but now its all that with the teens staring at their cell phones. They have entire conversations overtxt . I've even caught teens not answering their phone calls but then answering text messages. Tap into that behavior with some of the paid services like txtsignal or a free service like broadtexter.

Note: Txt services use two basic formats: One is where message is more like an email going thru the system. Different cell companies handle that information differently, so a txt service will have you indicate what type of provider the corresponding phone number is. Other services are more like a phone to phone communication, big difference with those is you do not need to know service providers, but they will most likely charge by the number oftxt's and phone numbers (ie. each txt to 1 number is 5 cents, so one mass txt to 50 people is $2.50).

4. SmartPhones: I was told once that 'there haven't been any new inventions, only inventions making everything smaller.' This is certainly the case with the fusion of computer & cell phone. Whether you are iPhone, Blackberry, or now Droid the day of a phone being just for talking is gone.

The smartphone as it continues to become more affordable & builds in development will become the youth workers greatest tools (might even out do the guitar,haha!). As new applications are being developed from YouVersion's Bible app, Youth Specialties Tough Topics, productivity apps like Evernote, GPS directions, to even creating your very own phone application more & more will administration and communication will be done through the phone. I can be sitting at an sports match and send out emails & text messages to the whole group or just our leaders, make notes for the next days to-do list, take pics of the game and load them up to ourfacebook group or flickr page, and then post new information to our website.

5. Flip Cameras: Video used to be the toughest thing in the world. Cameras cost a bunch of money and then you had to edit the videos. Chances are your computer was not powerful enough to deal with all the resources needed for video, so it took many days to put together and render videos. Those days are gone.

With the advent of YouTube being the quality standard and the destination for most created video content the Flip Camera is the new video must have. Not only are they extremely cheap ($100-180, for a decent one) they shoot really good quality video, transfer extremely easily (digitally, so you don't have to do the tape playback recording), and portable so they can always be on your person. You can purchase one, two or three of these gems & hand them out to youth during events to capture footage for a highlights video. Pull out a camera when you are out on the town and inspired to do a little devotional for a video podcast. Get some of the youth to create a news/announcement video. Have a bunch of cameras to do a scavenger hunt and post stuff immediately to your presentation software or to the web.

So what's on your list of big trends for the year? Leave a comment or two, I'm sure there is something I'm missing or maybe my numbering is off.

Honorable Mentions:

• Digital Photography: Every youth event I go to seems to have youth & youth leaders in tow with high quality cameras. Bye bye disk camera & slide film.
• Digital Publishing: All those pictures & graphics can be printed into beautiful books & posters for affordable prices & effort. Forever keeping the narrative of that ministry
  
• Netbooks: Though I'd say that might be more for the college scene
• Google: From Google Voice, Docs, Earth, Ocean, Maps, Latitude to the beta test of Wave there's something for everyone
• Affordable Presentation Equipment: Doing the projector thing was a huge ordeal (not to mention projectors were HUGE!) now the hardware & software is small in size and price
• Collaborative Tools: Maybe its Basecamp, could be Google Wave, we all are using stuff to help us collaborate with our team of ministers & cohorts.

naming the paradigm : rob bell on youth ministry

i've often said when working with other youth ministry leaders, 'you can get anything done if you can speak to it well.'

my thinking behind that is, my observation, that much of youth ministry actions are intuition/gut moves (some may say Holy Spirit leading, which i'm cool with). those movements are done with great intentions and well meaning, but just as i have a hard time telling folks why i am a 'nice guy' (something i've been accused of on occasion) it is hard to explain intuitive actions. coupled with, many 'professional' youth leaders are quite young and haven't had a great deal of experience working with & coaching adults sometimes twice their age. but, if you can speak to people why this or that is necessary, they are more apt to go with your leading, even if they do not completely agree. thus, an importance to speaking well of what you are doing in ministry.

with that in mind, i was quite excited to read some of rob bell's thoughts on youth ministry in this interview with youth worker journal. he speaks so well to some of the issues i feel at hand for our current crop of youth growing up in youth ministries around the country.

YWJ: OK, the magic bullets, if you don't mind.

RB: The dominant paradigm in churches is production, not discipleship. It's about how to keep kids coming—how are the numbers? In the gospels, whenever there were large crowds, Jesus gave a difficult teaching that thinned out the crowd. Over and over, He chose those moments: John 6—Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood. Nice. Very accessible for kids. There is a certain pattern where He's trying to find out who is serious. Youth workers are put in this position where their paychecks are based on how many people they can keep in the place. When they read the gospels, they realize this whole system seems to be going the other direction. Many youth pastors I've met are promoting something they don't believe.

YWJ: Like what?

RB: They're told by the senior pastor to encourage the students to attend the service where there's a seven-part sermon on raising funds for a giant building, and kids don't really buy it. At the same time, the kids are wearing a red bracelet and becoming passionate about AIDS and water in Darfur. So the youth pastors and the kids sit in a system that says the preservation of this system is the first priority, and they look around at these giant issues of justice that are demanding a generation to step up and do something about it; and guess what they do?

this excerpt i pulled basically because it shares two tensions i feel in youth ministry, 1. the need to have top notch programming & 2. the culture of preservation (something i feel is paramount, not in a good way, in my mainline tribe). those two things are just not part of the Kingdom of God that i envision.. now, can #1 be a gateway, sure.. can #1 help in discipleship, sure.. but at what cost are we going so overboard that we loose sight of our goals.. living at Christ lived, loving as Christ loved. to me that isn't grounded in a program or an institution. those are ground out in relationships beyond human measures and being remarkable because you have been inspired to be that way.

anyways, check out the interview i could go on and on with the various questions & answers.

a heretics advent : how do you give thanks

A Heretics Advent from Gavin Richardson on Vimeo.

i read this little parable for our youth the first sunday of advent. we were coming off the thanksgiving holiday and it seemed poignant. i share with you to ask the same thing i asked of our teenagers. 'what are you doing to not live into this parable.

here's what i am encouraging you to check out.

• 61st Avenue umc & the last minute toy store: little ole’ 61st ave umc is putting together its annual “last minute” toy store to help families in hardship provide some toys, food, and sometimes a christmas tree for over 3,500 children here in nashville. toy store starts at noon on friday and goes thru Monday. join me on friday by driving yourself over. volunteer orientation starts at 12. The Toy Store will stay open till around 6:30pm when the last shoppers go thru.
• send a message of hope to our growing church in cote d’ivoire, west africa. there is a lot of need, and when there is need a little hope goes a long way. send some encouragement.
• check out advent conspiracy, get yourself aware of the conditions people live in outside your world. spend less, give more, love all!
• maybe you are just a cool person who cares
• volunteer at the community care’s fellowship or nashville rescue mission
• become aware of local and global issues.. maybe the world AIDS or water problem

making a splash in social media : its okay to loose control

i liked this little ted talk presentation on social media, in part, because it is short and tells a simple story. the learning point that i would suggest my church tribe needs to take a hold of is, "its okay to loose control" and that "no longer does the message come from the top down."

we can all think about how 'the world is flat' and everyone has an equal voice to traditional media institutions and powers & that was really scary to them a number of years ago (might still be). but if you embrace that others are talking maybe not just about you, but with you, then they are people to lift up and share the genuine voice/face of your ultimate cause.

but, the control factor comes into play.. 'what will they say next?' etc.. well, as someone who comes from a religious background, we say that one needs to have 'faith'.. yes, novel concept, but a good concept when one practices it. my experience though is that people really only have faith as long as it falls within their boundaries of human control. with that, we miss out on the possible beauty bound up in the mystery of individuals and community. i hope for a day when my tribe's structural institutions that helped it to get a certain status and size, see the way to get out of the way and have faith in its community to do something remarkable.

churches doing twitter wrong : churches can do twitter well

i am constantly frustrated with church folks who extol their social media use for their churches. one such statement is the proverbial "our church is on twitter." i am not sure what that means? how is a church on twitter? church, can be there if we are looking at church as a verb, chronicling the interactions of the congregation with the community, but most of what we see is same thing we see so many times with church websites.

1. church twitters often rehash their inner content creation and just throw it out there as if people who haven't graced their walls are all of a sudden interested. much like marshall mcluhan says we do.
2. the face they always show is the church building or fancy logo. again, it works for the people in the church, but doesn't do anything for establishing a relationship with others outside your congregation

so how does a church community use twitter?

1. use it just like you probably are using twitter: making church announcements, posting links to your website/sermons/etc. i am fine with that, just know that you are only talking to the audience that is already invested into your church body. there is value to that, so its okay to do, just don't talk about your media use as something getting outside your church.
2. get personal by:

• make a formal twitter background with images of your church people, not your steeple
• change your avatar to some people. folks want to see how they will fit into your congregation, give them faces (often changing avatars) that help them see themselves as part of your church
• use pictures a plenty
• interact, don't just follow people from your church, but all over your community
• give out helpful information for community events, family building, parenting, schools
• affirm what others are saying
• talk about your people
• be ready to use direct messages to invite folks & let them know where to meet you
• be willing to show weakness/struggles/frustrations as a church body. authentic is the word
• start some helpful "lists" for your followers to plug into (this would involve knowing who to follow and what are important topics for your community)

sorry to the folks at highland park umc for picking on them with my chosen image.. it was just to easy.

return to church : a few chuckles at ourselves

i had some great giggles today watching these videos on 'return to church' (tip from ian at youthblog). it had me thinking of some of the tricks that we are used to get people 'in the door' and that when presented with a disingenuous invitation people run quickly. reminded me of a nice quotable, "what you win them with is what you win them to." i will give this vicar some props, he's not just letting his church become a museum.

kleenex & tissues : talking about the holy spirit

kleenex & tissues and the Holy Spirit from Gavin Richardson on Vimeo.

last week i went to hang with my friends at the nashville cohort. we had our annual, 'what are you thinking about' session. one of the questions had to do with the our understanding of the Holy Spirit and how to communicate to others what that is.

certainly as methodists we have our 'strangely warmed' historic experience that we can be comfortable with a physical reaction in our bodies to the spirit's movement, but for so many people our modern idea of the Holy Spirit comes from azusa street & the birth of pentecostal movement.

my odd connection in our conversation this day was to say, this is basically a kleenex & tissue issue. when you grab something to blow your nose what do you call that thing? many times you'd call it a kleenex.. however, kleenex is just a brand name for a tissue. however, we often don't distinguish the two as different. they are one in the same. the tissue has been has a history longer than the kleenex, but we still mix the two. same thing with the Holy Spirit.. sorta..

we've allowed the pentecostal movement to lay claim to the Holy Spirit and brand it as what we often times know today. so there is a need to, as we talk about & experience the Holy Spirit, to let folks know that we are experiencing the 'tissue' not necessarily the kleenex.

chris brogan on evangelism : being there before the sale

chris brogan : be there before the sale : relationship in marketing & evangelism from Gavin Richardson on Vimeo.

so i took in that live web event last week with chris brogan and i've been pondering on some of what he said and i'm reading in "trust agents." he wasn't at all speaking to a church context, but as with most things (but is becoming much easier in todays business environment & language) i turn it around into some church framework.

one of the things chris brought out were some stories of 'trust agents' who were "there before the sale." it was one of those quotable moments as you could see heads dive into notepads and laptops typing.

it reminded me from a time last summer where i hosted a conversation with regular church going folk & those who are disenfranchised with the church and might call themselves non-religious or spiritual but not religious put together by my friend jim palmer. one of the stories that really stuck with me from a participant was how they were put off that the friends they made in their neighborhood, invited them to church, eventually helped them come into Christ, then left them hanging as they moved onto some other couple. this person then found out that this was a process of that church and they were to go befriend new people to bring them to the church as well.

so what makes up evangelism in when our common framework makes up some commodity sale & that conflicts with how people want to be treated & how we improperly fix some consumption to grace? is there a way in which one could just "be there" with people and not try and control the workings of God to force a sale of salvation, but allow God's mystery to work?... i don't know, maybe you have some ideas

help me help children find a new home : miriam's promise & my heart

many of you have been with me for a number of years on this blog and you know quite a bit about me. you might know that i like trips to crazy monasteries, make fun of my celebrity look alike status, used some of the worship resources i've put online, shared in some deep conversations, and some not so deep.

one thing i have not shared openly is my care i have for children & youth within the foster & adoption process. as a child, looong ago in my birmingham years (those i call my impressionable south years), our family was a foster family. we hosted many kids of various ages that were needing a new home. some were abused children, some were given up for adoption for whatever reason and young and older ages. the older kids would generally stay in the same room as my brother & i (sporting some massive double bunk beds). the younger ones would stay closer by to my parents.

i vaguely remember names and as the years have gone by the faces get blurry, but the impression of having so many kids coming through our home hopeful for a permanent home placed in me a heart for them. tho, at the time, admittedly i wasn't always the nicest of boys to them.

fast forward some 20 plus years i have adopted Miriam's Promise as one of my causes that i champion. they are a methodist affiliated program (which means they get support from our church in name and personal devotion alone, they are not funded by the umc) and that partnership has allowed me to get to know them very well. they have a wonderful staff and board of directors made up of people i respect tremendously. i have a number a few youth from our youth community who have been adopted through Miriam's Promise which is neat to connect with. and who knows, even though we have Brooks now, erin & i have talked a number of times of adopting into our family because we know the need is out there.

they are having their annual golf tournament fundraiser on October 12th and i am trying to raise $4,000 dollars for our teams totals.

as i see some numbers, if everyone in my readership of blogs, twitter, facebook, and newsletters "chipped in" $10 then we could easily achieve this goal. $10 dollars is not ordering 1.5 starbucks drinks, 1/2 of a meal on the town (for one person). that isn't much. if you can give $20 or more, that'd be amazing too. you can set your giving, but please give. just use the "ChipIn" little meter above, it is secure, i've used it many times in giving to other causes.

help me help children find a new home, give to Miriam's Promise

shalom, -gav

church in second life : religion and ethics expose

stumbled across this story covering the various church & spiritual experiences found in secondlife. i've chronicled here many times my happenings in secondlife. its been a few months since i 'hung out' there so it was like seeing an old friend as they visited the anglican cathedral and seeing other creative spaces that make up the imagination of the virtual world.

crummy church signs : thou shalt remember the sabbath.. or try

i've chronicled this church before and their interesting church sign sayings. this one popped up yesterday and all I could think about was "what about the sabbath?" suppose that is lazy even though god mandates that.

reflections on weeding : glad God is patient

Reflections on Weeding from Gavin Richardson on Vimeo.

so i finished weeding out my neglected garden (which i need to go back to since this was recorded a few weeks back) and i had some thoughts.

Matthew 13 The Parable of the Weeds

24 Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.

26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

27 "The owner's servants came to him and said,'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?' 28"'An enemy did this,' he replied. "The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'

29" 'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.'"

i am glad that i know a God which is patient in sorting out the weeds & wheat instead of how we in the christian community often argue who is in & out.

transgendered pastor comes out to congregation : what's in a history

i stumbled upon this article about pastor david weekley who recently came out to his congregation about his sexual reassignment past.

He told them that in 1984, just nine years after undergoing extensive sex-reassignment surgeries, he was ordained by the Methodist Church without telling anyone of his original gender at birth.

i am pretty stoked to hear of the congregations response, which was positive in support. it shows a wonderful example of grace & acceptance. i do have a wonder when it comes to the big umc church. what is in a person's history that needs to be vetted out in the process of ordination?

in the little segment i have quoted, it is said that he didn't tell anyone of his original gender. i'm fine with that not being an everyday conversation piece, but when we talk of an ordination process (one that i understand to be extensive and thorough) that it isn't a topic of conversation i find hard to imagine.

who is responsible for asking the question or being open? is it even an issue?

what do you think?

update: we are getting a good conversation over the posting at my facebook wall. if you're a friend chime in. if you're not a friend, ask, and then do the same. or just drop a thought here.

ministry tool you might not have heard of : new tech for the old tool

United Methodist Reporter & Variable Print as a Ministry Tool from Gavin Richardson on Vimeo.

note: i will be open about this one, i sit on the board for the united methodist reporter communications so i'm a bit biased that you need to use them for this ministry tip. but you might be able to find another variable printer.

do you ever feel like your printing needs miss the mark or you are having to create massive publications that are super wordy to meet you church congregation or ministry? well, that is a thing of the past if you want it to be.

andy clued me into the world of variable print some three years ago & i just love it. i have my plans this year to harness some of its beauty for our youth ministry.

the basic concept is this, you combine a spreadsheet document with some specific 'variables' such as children/young adult/active-inactive and your publication is set up (similar in concept to a mailmerge where they put your name into the 'dear someone' spot) with variable designations. when its all set up your publication is run with individual personalization in full color, address printed on, and then mailed & you never have to look at it.

cool thing about this

1. gone are the days when you needed to do plates that look the same for everyone and cost you extra money to make simple changes
2. you can cut down on the paper usage because you don't need to produce mega documents that you're specific ministry gets lost in the mix of everyone elses
3. color printing (at dirt cheap from what you might think) gets an almost 85% more response rate than a black & white or one color publication
4. youth can feel affirmed when their newsletter/postcard has them and/or their friends doing ministry activities (and they aren't mixed into a huge messy collage)
5. you never have to deal with stamping an envelope, taping a trifold, once it prints they can send it for you

so, if you want to know more about this stuff give andy a shout. he's one of the sales reps at the umr & my buddy.

Your Jesus is too Safe : Jared C Wilson names 'em for Us

i've known jared c wilson for around 3 or so years now via the blogosphere and the nashville faith communities. corresponding over the blog postings & lately over twitter. so when he asked about reviewing his upcoming book "your Jesus is too safe" as part of a greater blog tour, i was quite honored to jump into it.

to be honest, i wasn't quite sure what to think of "your Jesus is too safe" before i opened up the book. so much is written about Christ you wonder what else there is to say some days. it did not take long for me to really get into the concept of the book. jared owns up to the many faces/ideas/concept/perceptions of Jesus that pervade our culture & theology today. granted, not all Jesus's i was familiar with, but hippie Jesus & 'get out of hell free' Jesus i've come across before. and as a youth pastor for so many years its been hard to break people out of those simple/cliche caged mindsets... and that was just the introduction

so diving into the book i found the greatest gift for where i am today in spiritual formation & teaching. jared really goes through and names, and claims, many of the personifications of Christ that we know & feel about this man, but we have not the reflection or words to say often enough. it was also a great gift to look over the whole book and say, 'here is why Christ is so complex' in that he has so many dimensions to his being. in my own self, and my observations of others, many times we cannot sufficiently express what we feel in emotionally or spiritually. whatever the reason, hyper technology, over programmed life, lack of vocabulary, etc. its a gift when we can 'name' for ourselves (or have help from others) in expressing the richness that is bound within us. so, in my humble opinion, jared has done a great gift in reflecting upon the many depths of a Christ many of us know.

not being an academic, i can appreciate not feeling like i have to translate every word/phrasing or looking up historic accounts that are code words for the academy. in my world, those things have little meaning except to establish some heirarchy system. so, in personal reading preference, i appreciate "your Jesus is too safe" being a thorough book in exploration & having some real connections to history & theological discourse, but not being presented in an academy format. i'm just not smart enough for that.

in strange observation notes. i carried this book with me for much of the summer to youth events and personal retreats/vacations and the book with title and cover always seem to get some interesting reviews and commentary. 'what is that about?' 'what kind of Jesus are they talking about?' which would start some conversations over the Jesus i am naming for myself, and how i've found patterns in my life in pilgrimage for Chris. those times, are priceless. which would inevitably lead to the last question 'can i borrow that copy when you are done with it?'

radical discipleship : shane claiborne at duke chapel

one of my youth sent me this.. its really great when your teens send you stuff.

where faith is going wrong in social media : life without pants & a little bit of south park

the last of my four installments guest posting at matt cheuvront's "life without pants" blog on spirituality & social media is out for the world to see titled "where faith gets it wrong." i bring back some thoughts you've seen on this blog before, from my thoughts on why your podcast isn't reaching who you think it is to some of my ideas i shared at podcamp nashville. go check it out and comment on any of the postings. tell me i'm full of crap (i just might be) or whatever else your get to thinking about.

blogging towards enlightenment : discovering your virtual self

i've been doing some guest postings over at matt cheuvront's 'life without pants' blog talking up spirituality and social media. last week we talked about enlightenment & blogging today we are talking about discovering your virtual self.

got check them out, let me know what you think. lay claim to some of the stories & expand on them. did i mention that my latest posting i actually use capitalization? yeah, it was wreaking havoc on matt post editing

marshall mcluhan on church safety : life without pants guest post

for the next few weeks i will be guest posting over at matt cheuvrot's blog 'life without pants' covering thoughts on spirituality & social media. some thoughts (listen for the return to tribal culture mention) i ponder in my first posting are reflected in this snippet of marshall mcluhan. as with most things i hear, i relate them to church life. can you guess what i was thinking?

religious spiritual christ-follower emerging emergent missional : other defining typos

i just love religious satire. its so telling & holds up a mirror showing us how we really are. i pulled this gem out for a twitter conversation, but it reminds me of some of the whole definition/tags that people are willing & not willing to give themselves. it also reminded me of one of the snippets of prophetic twitterspeak i shared at my spirituality & social media session at podcamp nashville.

someone who gets social media : interview with charlene li @ sxsw

as i've mentioned. our church gets social media & networks wrong all over the place. here's a gem of an interview with charlene li of groundswell. its not over the top point making, but she is so on target for where church/corporate entities need to examine themselves within the social media spectrum.

getting over our control issues : linked data for everyone

i'm a huge fan of ted. if i had the money i would so geek out at their conference. so it is with no real surprise that there is something shared that might in fact aid one of my passions, the church & specifically the umc.

in a lunch conversation i had with larry hollon on tuesday (thanks larry for the time) he had asked my thoughts on some of the things i might address in rethink church & the agencies approach to using social media. one of the things that i suggested was the release of control of materials. creative commons is the new framework we move in, not exclusive copyright. so i found interesting some similar themes & possibly an answer in tim berners-lee ted talk on how he developed the internet (no, it wasn't al gore) and his newest 'play project' of linked data.

things that jumped out at me quickly were when he mentioned "you've payed for this" in regards to the data that the government has. because we have payed for them with tax payer money. within the united methodist church, we have apportionment's that pay for the agencies to do a large amount of their work. in essence, we are owners of that information. we should have access to it.

but there is a control mentality that if you give it away you loose 1. your ability to make money (which isn't the role of umcom or the other agencies) 2. that people will re-purpose your stuff (ala. a mashup or sound clip it for their own thing)... both of which, are navigatable (i don't think i just made up that word). many of our biggest companies give their braintrust away for free and they've parlayed it into a living and the most loyal of customers. why assume that someone re-purposing your stuff is innately bad? i go with the assumption there are more creative people out there than i. as a youth pastor i keep trying to groom them that way as well. they do things i would never have imagined re-purposing my ideas for the betterment of the ministry.

so what do i suggest with this?

• get over your control issues. that might start with just naming them. (as a personal shot, why are we asking people to take down meaningful & helpful videos on youtube)
• put people in charge of sharing your braintrust. put together the linked data setup with your information and let others come in and put in their part.
• allow them full access so that they can know their people better & serve more fully
• open up resources for them to re-purpose graphics, videos, logos, etc to reach a demographic that you are trying to reach, but painfully not.

more explaination of technology & virtual community : shane hipps day

zach lind did this little video interview for his podcast expanding a little more on what shane was getting at with technology & the virtual community.


Shane Hipps and Zach Lind Discuss Virtual Community. from Zach Lind on Vimeo.

virtual community is not possible : shane hipps day

this is the video by shane hipps in a little snippet interview by the out or ur folks at the national pastors convention. scot mcknight took some of this to task as well & kept going with it as shane chipped back in. tony jones also threw in his thoughts on virtual community into the conversation.