Ramblings on the Way
DISCLAIMER: ALL RAMBLINGS ARE MY OWN. THEY IN NO WAY REPRESENT THE VIEWS OF ANY CHURCH OR ORGANISATION THAT I HAVE WORKED FOR OR AM CURRENTLY ASSOCIATED WITH...
Wednesday, March 13, 2024
Saturday, March 2, 2024
When you work out that you’re an island
Tuesday, February 27, 2024
You only get a small dancing window
Last Sunday, during church, it occurred to me that my dancing window has now closed.
I was reminded of this as a couple of small children twirled around during the service.
Now - with my kids being 12 and 8 - the days of twirling around with my daughters, carefree during the church service, and behind me.
But I miss those shame-free days.
When the girls just liked the music.
When they just wanted to jump about.
This blasé dancing is a gift to the church.
As a parent, you’re able to catch a glimpse of the joy our a Heavenly Father must have when He watches His spiritual children.
As a church, you’re able to see what child-like faith - the kind which Jesus requires - looks like.
But, this time, like a lot of things retrospectively in parenting, was fleeting.
And, for me, the window of dancing has creaked closed.
Monday, February 19, 2024
Quality over quantity comes at a cost
I’m not massively attached to every word I write.
I do write a fair few of them.
I’d like to think that a decent slice of them are, at least, put together in an okay manner.
But, I’m not often pushed against a word or time limit.
I can, usually, ramble on until I’m done.
But, this isn’t the case if you’re submitting an academic response.
And it’s not the case if your sermon must conclude before the following service in the same worship space begins.
When backed against a fairly firm deadline, sometimes words need to be sacrificed.
Yesterday, I looked over an essay which could have used a good pruning.
It was fair in the content, but it always seems had a major way to be improvised.
Cut. One. Third.
The task involved a response to the driving question, but with the caveat that they needed to use two examples. This student had used three.
One should have been jettisoned and the allotted words used to strengthen the other two paragraphs.
But, this would come at a cost.
A cost that you need to delete your work.
A cost that your effort won’t see the light of day.
A cost that your your long diatribe can be improved with e shorter, tighter, response.
In the context of a sermon, this may come at the cost of words which you feel are “inspired.”
You may need to set aside words which you worked hard to craft and weave together.
But, sometimes, pruning is the best thing for your message and your audience.
Wednesday, February 14, 2024
Teaching losers
Saturday, February 10, 2024
Transferring skills from the old gig
Being the start of the new school year, and teaching three subjects for the first time - including one completely from scratch, I’ve been quite busy.
One job I’ve unexpectedly picked up this year is that of transition coordinator (the one who oversees the integration of the incoming year seven’s and organising the peer support program which helps the new cohort).
Even though I’m only a week into the new task, there are many things familiar with the job.
Training leaders (who vary wildly in their capabilities).
Setting and enforcing leader expectations.
Juggling timetables and conflicting demands.
Organising small group input.
Communicating with schools.
Entertaining large groups of pre-teens.
All of these I used to do in youth ministry.
Many of them I also did last week during peer support.
The longer I teach, the more I find that my previous profession bleeds into my current job.
Group dynamics.
Pastoral care.
Meaningful banter.
Theological knowledge.
Communication strategies.
All of these, either intentionally or coincidentally, were gleaned during my time in ministry.
Now, in the secular workforce, they are receiving another trundle.
If the direction of expertise went the other direction - secular to ministry - then I’m sure that it would be seen as “tilling the soil for the Lord’s work.”
Why can’t it work in the opposite direction?
Sunday, January 28, 2024
When a book you’re not inspired by can still be useful
Monday, January 15, 2024
The largest dating gamble in the church
The minister’s kid.
This is the largest dating gamble in the church.
Why?
Because, if it goes wrong…
You’re highly likely to lose the church in the breakup.
If you do stick around then, potentially, you lose one of your primary spiritual supports (your minister) if the breakup is messy.
If it goes well…
Your relationship is under a larger microscope.
There will be expectations on your future together.
This is the risk of dating the pastoral offspring…
Friday, January 12, 2024
The joy and trials of starting something new
The stereotype is that teachers do very little over the school holidays.
This six week break will be anything but lazy for me.
For, this upcoming year, I’ll be teaching something new.
New for me.
New for the school.
Since I’m teaching a brand new subject for my school, this means that there are a lot of things which are not in place.
Subject outlines.
Teaching programs for the semesters.
Assessment timetables.
Assessment tasks.
A subject specific student handbook.
Student handouts.
Currently, the subject folder for my upcoming subject is empty.
So far… I’ve created…
A 76 page student handbook.
Two 40 page teaching programs (basically outlines for the topics with teaching material)
A very colourful subject outline.
Student handouts for the entire first topic.
And I’ve still got a heap more to go over the next two-and-a-half weeks.
But, I’m also loving the task of creating something from scratch.
I’ve got freedom to find resources and choose how I’m going to use them.
I’ve got the freedom to decide what parts of the syllabus I’ll teach.
I’ve got the freedom to begin plotting assessment tasks.
Of course, I assume that I’ll still feel completely out of my depth no matter how much prep I put in during the holidays…
And that my head teacher will have a lot of useful suggestions which will significantly modify my current outlines…
But, this is the joy and toil of something new.
Late nights.
Lots of books.
Thoughts hitting you in the shower.
Ideas popping into your mind before you go to sleep.
Sunday, December 31, 2023
2023 Best of…
Monday, December 25, 2023
You should preach the well-worn path at Christmas
Wednesday, December 20, 2023
Our leadership demands shape those who are actually able to volunteer
When you become an adult the way you get involved in church has to change.
You work full time.
You may be married.
You may have kids.
You’ve got financial duties.
You’ve only got limited holidays.
As a young adult, these pressures can be far less.
You can arrive at church by 3pm on a weekday.
You can stay late on a Sunday night.
You can commit to a weekly roster.
You can set aside a week for a mission trip.
Part of the reason that church volunteers, especially within their ministries to children and teens, are primarily young adults and retirees is due to the demands that we place upon our recruits.
These don’t work for many adults.
For, they need to work long into the evening.
They need to be up early on a Monday morning.
They need to juggle family and extended-family responsibilities.
They only have a limited or fixed amount of disposable income or holiday allotment.
In short, life isn’t as flexible.
So, this inhibits what they can be involved in.
Can this be used as a convenient excuse?
Sometimes.
Should it make churches even more appreciative of their adult volunteers?
Absolutely.
Most importantly, it shouldn’t come as a surprise - when they consider the demands or restrictions they place upon those who volunteer - the kind of people who are willing or able to step and and actively help out.
Friday, December 8, 2023
Why you need to do the busy work before finishing with the videos
Anyone who has ever been a student will know, as a school semester winds down - especially in the final term - the teaching units usually conclude with a string of videos.
My Ancient China units ends by watching the original Mulan film.
My Water in the World unit concludes by watching Finding Nemo.
But, before we launch into a slew of video lessons to finish the school year, there’s an important task that must be done first.
Busy work.
An important, but non assessable task (since reports are already completed).
A task where the students select from a list of choices and then create something touching on that topic - usually a poster or newspaper.
The reason this task is essential is because it incorporates a vital administrative function.
Every teaching unit has elements which, at minimum, you must touch on.
This final task ensures, through the smorgasbord of choices which you’ll need to describe, that you are honestly able to tick off everything in the unit outline.
For, while everything in a teaching outline is not equal and doesn’t deserve the same amount of focus, an open task at the end of the unit allows you to still include the red-herrings of the teaching units and give the students freedom to pursue the untouched elements if they so desire.
Thursday, November 30, 2023
The loss which comes from now waking up for church
Tuesday, November 28, 2023
The necessary productivity of downtime
Creating assessments.
Marking assignments.
Writing reports.
Parent/teacher interviews.
As a teacher, every year has its regular busy periods.
School scripture.
Youth group.
Sunday mornings.
Sermons and talks.
In vocational ministry, there’s a predictable cycle of work.
But, then again, both have their quieter times.
Predictably, these mainly revolve around the school holidays.
But, these down times serve an important purpose.
Rest.
Prepare.
Achieve.
This last one is essential.
Now that I’ve conquered the report writing mountain for 2023 (with just a lazy 170 reports) I have a few significant tasks to knock off before the term winds down.
And, now is the time to get them done while I have a little more time on my hands.
Why?
Because it helps downplay the idea that teachers or those in ministry have a limited work schedule and, before you know it, the limited window of downtime will slam shut and the predictable busyness will kick off.
Monday, November 20, 2023
Christmas devotional
Last week I wrote a contribution for the Advent resource the church I attend with my daughters is collating. In short, it’s a mash-up of a few Tiny Bible Bits. Here’s my devotional…
But, over time, the congregation would become used to the question and become more comfortable sharing where they had encountered God outside of the weekly church service.
Friday, November 10, 2023
Should a healthy church expect a boomerang generation?
I mentioned in this post that I returned to visit my home church a few weeks ago.
Between the years of 2002 and 2016, the idea of returning to my original church wasn’t a reality. I was in vocational youth ministry. I had my own church services to run.
Now, I could return back to my spiritual nest.
Of course, what I’m going to ponder is context specific.
In some places, living expenses will demand that grown-up youth will - in all likelihood - never be able to return to reside in the suburb of their spiritual rearing.
But, in a world where housing prices aren’t spiralling out of control, would returning generation be an expectation for a congregation.
Should some, when they are within easy driving distance, be drawn back to the place they first encountered Jesus?
Should a church expect that those who were sent away due to transitioning life-stages, inevitably return?
Of course, this isn’t why you do children’s or youth ministry.
And, undoubtedly, this is a horrible evangelistic strategy if it’s all you’re relying upon.
Nonetheless… is a boomerang generation a sign of a healthy church?
Sunday, October 29, 2023
The kids ministry challenge Jesus asks of every congregation
This morning in church I gave the congregation a challenge during the “kid’s talk.”
I write “kid’s talk” because my speaking spot in church isn’t always directed at those still at school.
This morning, the aim was squarely at the adults in the room.
Linking with the passage about young Jesus in the Temple from Luke 2, I mentioned how those who witnessed Jesus’ questions and observations were amazed.
I then said, after teaching something like 1500 scripture lessons, one of the enduring lessons for me was the ability of children to understand, question and insightfully observe the gospel.
In short, the faith of children can still be amazing.
I concluded by reminding the congregation that, if Jesus wants those who’d follow Him to have childlike faith (Luke 18:17), then if they don’t go out of their way to witness the faith of the children around them (be it scripture in school, the church’s ministry to children after school or on a Sunday) then how can they know exactly what Jesus wants them to have?
For, if you don’t see the faith of a child, how can you know what Jesus us talking about?
Saturday, October 21, 2023
The continuing ministry of your first church
Sunday, October 15, 2023
How I will be explaining yesterday’s “No”
As I anticipated in yesterday’s post about the referendum, the vote was decided in the negative.
Having voted yes, I think it’s not the best (if not bravest) decision. But, as of right now, it’s the path Australia has decided.
So, how am I going to explain the outcome?
How will I explain it to the students in my classroom?
How will I explain the outcome to my children?
How will I explain it to my grandchildren?
In part, most of my explanation way laid out yesterday.
The government did a woeful job in clearly justifying what they wanted the people to agree to.
The government, in light of history, should never have announced a referendum without bipartisan agreement.
This, of course, leads to the most important element when discussing the result last night…
People voted no on The Voice.
They didn’t vote no on indigenous people.
The idea was rejected.
Not the people primarily affected.
Now, as a white person, I’m not in a place to say how indigenous people feel about the outcome.
I’ve got no doubt that some, even a large portion, of the ATSI population feel jilted about the referendum.
But, nonetheless, this was a rejection of an idea of government.
A poorly explained idea.
And, the people said no.
This is their right in a democracy.
This would be my final point in the explanation.
You don’t have to like the outcome in a democracy.
In fact, quite often you’ll find yourself in the minority after an election.
Unless your political seat is constantly being held by the victorious national and state governments, then your vote probably went to the overall “losers” of the election.
It will happen often over your voting lifetime.
You have to be able to deal with that outcome.
This is how democracy works.
Even if you don’t like the result.
Even if it makes you angry.
Or disappointed.
Democracy is bigger than you.
And democracy is what people have fought for and died defending.
Yesterday what about democracy.
Messy, disagreeable, democracy.