Lunch at NYWC

Got to have lunch with Mark Yaconelli today. First I have to say that I felt very inadequate to be sitting at the table. Not necessarily because of Mark. It had to do with everyone at the table. Most of whom I know, one who is a very good friend of mine. I just remember sitting there thinking, what in the world am I doing in this discussion? I just felt like the best thing I could do was to sit and listen. So I did. Man, there was a lot for me to process out of the whole conversation. Mark was talking about a need for youth ministry to be dismantled. Speaking about the disconnect between teens and the church as a whole. I told him later that in hearing the words “dismantle youth ministry” I get really tense inside. Not sure why, it was just something that I sensed inside myself. Not really even sure what dismantling entails exactly. I just realize that those words made me nervous. Maybe it is because the first thing that I think about when I hear this word “dismantle” is my livelihood, my “job”. Which I think is a discredit to me.

Other stuff that came up:

-Church as a culture. Meaning our religion should mean more than “I live like everybody else, I just believe differently.” That our religion should effect, should change how we live, eat, act and dress.

-The idea that a sabbatical is a communal event, not just an individual event. This is because the sabbatical changes the individual; it allows growth, healing, rest, and inspiration for the individual. Which in turn is healthy for the community.

- The idea of youth pastors being a missionary to the local church. And using the “position” as a means to begin to really unite the adults to the youth and the youth to the adults. It was said that this might be most effective if it was subversive.

-Mark asked us a question that was asked of him at one time. “Will what you are doing today be beneficial to the church in 500 years?” What a question! It begins to put things into perspective. I don’t think we ever think of our ministries or our lives in light of that question. So, what will be beneficial to the church in 500 years. An all-nighter with the teens or being at home with my wife and three boys?