Youth Ministry Artifact #6- Fleeting Fame!

Today's youth ministry artifact is a compact disc.  You know you are getting old when a CD is an artifact...


I first attended the Youth Specialties National Youth Workers Convention in 1982.  I didn't return again until 1987, but from that point on I was a regular attendee until my final NYWC in 2006.  And from '87 on, I always hoped that someday I could achieve the fame and status necessary to be asked to lead one of the seminars at the convention. (OK- full disclosure.  My REAL dream was to be a General Session speaker on the main stage, but I had not written a book and had no significant "story" to tell in those days.  Then my life fell apart, I lost my ministry- and now I have an awesome story to tell!  Ironic, huh?  So Mark Matlock & Tic Long, if you're listening, I'm ready!)  Every few years I would mention to Yac or Tic that I had some ideas for seminars, but it just never worked out.  Then shortly after attending the 2003 NYWC in Phoenix, I sent Tic an e-mail suggesting a couple of ideas for new seminars.  My first choice was a pre-event seminar teaching newcomers how to make the most of the NYWC itself.  My second idea was called Pagan Eye for the Christian Guy, a take-off on a popular TV show of the time.  Much to my surprise, Tic wrote back almost immediately asking me to do the Pagan Eye seminar in Atlanta, 2004.  I was thrilled.  It was a dream come true.  I was going to get paid to attend the NYWC.  This was big time.  Too awesome...

I had a blast putting the seminar together and preparing the PowerPoint presentation. I had sat through dozens of these things; I knew what was needed to engage the audience and what sort of content they would be looking for.  It would be practical, hands on stuff to help youth pastors reach out more effectively in their communities.  But right from the start I began to realize that being asked to do this had nothing to do with status or fame.  I was not any smarter or more well-known in 2004 than I had been any previous year.  My seminar would take place on the final morning of the event, which any veteran NYWC attender can tell you is a throw away session because everyone is packing before attending the final event in the Big Room.  I was going to be driving to the NYWC with some of the folks from Wesley Memorial UMC- Tampa, and I would be staying with them as well.  No private room or fancy perks ("Is this the Ted Danson jet?  I want the Ted Danson jet!").  I did get a "Speaker" name tag (see top) and this did garner me some attention as I walked around the convention.  I quickly realized that I had become (for a few days) what I had often joked about- I was a Minor Christian Celebrity.  I was getting my 15 minutes of fame- except that no one outside the world of student ministry would ever know or care.  All of those thoughts certainly kept me humble as my peers expressed their excitement over my new found status and their envy over the fact that I could go into the "Speakers Lounge."  

The seminar went very well.  I actually had a pretty good crowd, and after some issues getting my laptop to talk to their projector, it went smoothly.  The evaluations from the participants were quite kind, and I had hopes of being asked back someday.  My later personal failures made that scenario highly unlikely.  But that really didn't matter.  The lesson I remember every time I look at or listen to the CD recorded in my seminar that day is this:  It was the day-in, day-out relationships built with students over all of those years of ministry that brought me any status or fame that I ever achieved.  And all of the glory for that goes to Jesus!  Being a Minor Christian Celebrity is not all it is cracked up to be.  It was a bit of a ego rush, and the CD is a great artifact.  But the big deal is simply being a Youth Pastor.  Take it from someone who lost that privilege; it is one of the greatest honors you can ever receive in life.  Remember to be thankful for whatever ministry God has given you, and do it with passion.  The only "Famous One" is Jesus...


OH...autographed copies of the CD are available from the gift shop.  There's nothing wrong with a little bit of fame...   :-)


Because of Jesus,