Hitting the Perfect Forty

My youngest daughter had her first gymnastic meet of the season. At each meet, the goal is to get as close to an all-around score of 40 as possible. For my daughter's level, anything lower than a 36 is, to say the least, not a reason to rejoice. This means that she needs to average nothing less than a 9.0 on any event. She started the meet off on the uneven bars; not her strongest event. After her foot slipped from the bar, she was only able to earn a score of 8.6. We sank in our seats as we knew the chances of her averaging anything above a 36 for the night seemed dismal. We sat through the next three rotations and at the end of the evening she placed third all-around and earned a 36.75 all-around score! She went from a rough start and excelled at all the other events for the night. Ministry, likes this meet, has some difficult moments but here are a few things that made a difference for her tonight that I think can help us.

First, she refused to let one mistake determine her mood. Ministry is full of quick decisions. Submit this. Post this. Say that. Call this person. Disregard this complaint. Listen to that feedback. Sometimes those quick decisions work out well but sometimes they cause a "slip" and we wish we could take them back. When those quick decisions cause a slip, we cannot allow it to alter our mood. We must be willing to try again and move on.

Second, her coach stood beside her telling her to shake it off. It is critical to have mentors in ministry that don't hold mistakes over your head. Everyone has said something they wish they could take back or missed a moment that they wished they clutched onto. A good coach knows when the weight of our own mistakes is already on our shoulders and, instead of adding more, encourages us to shake it off and move on.

Third, she moved on to what was in front of her. Not just physically but mentally and emotionally. She had to focus on the next events - beam, floor, and then vault - or else she would have continued to make more mistakes that evening causing her overall score to drop more. We cannot focus on what was. Only what is. If you make a mistake, keep the overall goal in mind, shake it off, and keep aiming to what is in front of you.

Ministry is fast-paced and sometimes things change from moment-to-moment. There will be evenings when the perfect 40 is just out of reach. Lead anyway! Don't leave the meet! No matter the mistake that happened...no matter how far out of reach it seems...the goal is the same. To lead in such a way that brings glory to God and points people to Jesus. When we mess up, and inevitably we will, we cannot afford to stay there too long. Refuse to let one mistake determine your mood. Listen to the voice of an encouraging coach. And then proceed to the next thing you can do to move successfully toward the ultimate goal.

#ministry #PurposeOverRules #PaulaDannielle #Spiritualhealth #PaulaForte

Life Norms and the Effects on Faith for Generation Z

There is a new generation on the horizons of leadership in our congregations. While their permanent name will be assigned sometime in the future, researchers are calling them Generation Z, iGen, the Centennials or the Founders. For the sake of this article, let’s go with Gen Z. Most researchers have settled on Gen Z being born around 1995 – 2015 (although the final year is still being determined). They are characterized by being individuals who are too young to remember what life was like before September 11th. While they are the children of Gen Xers and Millennials, they are extremely different from those generations with defining characteristics on how they see the world and view faith.

Their social views are different. Disney princesses have different skin color, hair color, and hair types. They had an African American president for the majority of their lives. Their parents are multi-racial. Their classrooms are diverse across racial, cultural, and economic lines. Having friends with two parents of the same gender is not unknown to them. Members of Gen Z walk in a room and are more likely to recognize the lack of diversity than the presence of it (Dorsey, Jason. 2015. Center for Generational Kinetics). Gen Z sees a lack of diversity as an indicator of isolation and that all people are not welcome within a group of individuals. They are much more open to seeing and judging the inside character of a person before erecting cultural barriers.

In regards to their social habits, there has been a 38% drop in alcohol and tobacco usage (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2016). They recognize the need to make the most of their educational opportunities and thus teenage pregnancy rates are down 40% and teenagers are graduating high school on time at an increased rate of 28% (Annie Casey Foundation, 2016). They experienced the consequences of the social mistakes of their parents and grandparents and have refused to go the same route. Life has an intrinsic value to this generation. They want to make the most of their opportunities and see a purpose for existing beyond themselves. As the Church, we get the benefit of directing that purpose in a way that capitalizes on their God-given talents and personalities. They love life and want to live it abundantly. It will be our job to show them how through the lenses of faith in Jesus Christ.

Their lenses for processing information operates differently than ours. According to the National Center for Biotechology, the average attention span in 2000 was 12 seconds. In 2015, it is 8.25 seconds. With Gen Z, we have less than 8.25 seconds to present something to them in a way that peaks their interest and catches their attention. They have “eight-second information filters” that have been crafted by growing up in an internet world with limitless amounts information (White, James Emery. 2017).

If we can capture their attention in less than 8 seconds, it will be paramount that we answer the question of why they should care about spiritual matters to a spiritually illiterate audience. In addition to their social views being different than previous generations and their preoccupation with living a peaceful and purposeful life that is open to everyone…In addition to their attention spans being shorter than that of a goldfish (fish attention spans are actually 9 seconds)…Gen Zers are not post-Christian. According to Dr. White, they are considered further down the road from that as “spiritually illiterate,” and don’t have even a memory of the Gospel as part of their lives. Because a large number of their parents were post-Christian, they have not been given the tools to fill the spiritual needs that remain. It is like taking a child who never had a book in their home, but has been successful in life, and now telling them at 15, 16, 18, or 21 that it is important for them to read. In order for them to agree with you, you would need to show them the need.

If we are going to reach the next generation for Christ, we must understand that their social outlook is wider than our generation. We must be willing to capture their attention quickly, answer their questions purposefully and succinctly, and then present the grace of the Gospel with language that doesn’t require Biblical knowledge. We must be willing to walk alongside the members of Gen Z and embrace their drive for purpose and their inquisitive questions without quickly judging and condemning their actions. They will find Christ through relationship that has cared enough to meet them where they are.

#nextgenleaders #PaulaDannielle #PaulaForte #GenZ

The Value of Debrief

Anything worth doing, is worth reviewing, so we can see how to do it better. From worship services, to events, to camps & retreats, we have a responsibility to continue to improve and give God and our families the best experience possible. One of the ways to continually improve is to celebrate the wins and evaluate and plan for things that need improvement. Debriefing meetings designed to celebrate the contributions of your team, evaluate the furtherance of vision, and examine the logistics are beneficial opportunities that can lead to ministry enhancement and growth.

Every Sunday is coming! Events are necessary to continue to build relationships amongst ministry members! And everyone that is involved and giving energy to those things wants to win. Both worship services and special events take the talents of people to ensure their success. Even if the event doesn’t go according to plan, and things didn’t go as smoothly as anticipated, leaders must take time to show appreciation to the people who serve. People have an innate need to feel valued and know that their contribution matters. Take time to celebrate the things that went right before commenting on anything that needs improvement. Then end in celebration as well. Encouraging words make us feel like we can win. So even if as the leader, you don’t feel like the event or Sundays have been winning, point out pieces that went well and then next time your team might win, or at least come closer to it. Everybody wants to be a winner!

In order to keep kid and student ministry from being a plethora of endless events with no definitive direction, the ministry needs a strategy, with goals and objectives, that all point to the accomplishment of a vision. Evaluating and debriefing worship services and events according to that vision keeps everyone on the same page and keeps the ministry on track. The vision (where you want to go) is influenced by your strategies (how you plan to get there). Each worship service and event should have goals and objectives connected to one of those strategies and that is designed to further vision. Before the event, ensure that the goals and objectives meet the strategy. Then during debriefing, evaluate if the goals and objectives were accomplished, if the ministry strategies were met, and then discuss how the event accomplished vision. If the worship services or events are not furthering vision, then reevaluate and reconstruct their design.

While vision is essential to keep us on track, policies, procedures, and practices keep us safe spiritually, physically, and emotionally. Policies, procedures, and practices also sync up expectations in regards to what is acceptable and unacceptable norms and behaviors within a group of people. During a debriefing meeting, highlight those policies, procedures, and practices that were done well. Then discuss the ones that weren’t executed so excellently, determine where the breakdown happened, and come up with solutions to remedy them from breaking down in the future.

Debriefing meetings should be purposeful, evaluate vision and strategy, and take into account policies, procedures, and best practices in order to minimize the subjectivity of varying opinions and to keep your team on the same page of standards. Debriefing meetings can further a team’s ability to work together and improve programming for families.

#nextgenleaders #PurposeOverRules #PaulaDannielle #PaulaForte #Debriefing