Summer Youth Ministries: The Whole Enchilada!

Summers Always ROCKED!!!

I suppose this counts as a rant...

Every year around this time I begin to see links on Twitter to articles and blogs proclaiming that it is in the best interest of your student ministry (or at least of the youth pastor) to cut back on the schedule of activities for summer- and every year I think my head is going to explode!!! I have been out of youth ministry for a while now, and maybe everything has changed since I left. But somehow I seriously doubt it! Summer is not a time to slow down- it is a time to crank it up! Why would you slow down during a season when many students actually have spare time, are bored and are searching for activities and ways to connect with one another? For me, summer was always a time to go absolutely crazy and give yourself as many opportunities as possible to build relationships and expose the students of your church and your community (because their friends are just as bored as they are!) to the love of God whose name is Jesus. So today I will answer the question "What exactly did a Carl planned summer ministry look like?" You may not believe we really did all of this, but every summer I believed in giving students The Whole Enchilada! And for many of them, their best memories of youth group are rooted in our summer ministries. So enjoy, hang on...and remember, summer ministry is not about those who can't and won't be there because of vacations and camps. It's about all of those who can- and who need a place to belong! 

From 1987-2006 every summer began with the publication of a summer booklet with a theme and a calendar. The calendar was mostly for parents; the booklet described events in detail and had contests and a lot of silliness. I would usually get it in the mail a month before school let out. We would begin to advertise on the Youth Group Hotline, or in the later years have the website ready for summer at that time as well. Of course publicity and sign-ups for the big trips would have already happened, but the bulk of the summer ministry would be announced in the booklet. Here is a brief synopsis of most everything we did in an average summer. This listing is out of the 1999 booklet (pictured at right) from FUMC-Kissimmee, my last summer there. Links are provided to help you understand my personal glossary of terms and to let you read about the specifics of any events that interest you. The details changed from year to year, of course, but this will give you a general idea of how my summers went for nearly 20 years. And if I were still in ministry, I would do it all again this summer...

* A kick-off Progressive Dinner to welcome our new middle school students.
* The annual Chain of Prayer.

* Our Schoolzout Blowout trip to Atlanta for Six Flags and a Braves game.
* Wonderama, featuring a live band, Gladiator Jousting and a Velcro Wall.

Winning the Great Race with a team pyramid!

* The Great Race, with the winning team earning a Kitchen Sink on the Disney Dash Ice Cream Bash coming later that summer. (For perspective you should note that all of the other events listed above took place the first week of summer vacation!)
* Middle School Madness, 3 separate events for middle school students only. In 1999 this included a Video Scavenger Hunt and a Mall Invasion!
* SHO-Time (Senior High Only!) at the All-Star Cafe, Macaroni Grill and Roadhouse.

* Wednesday Night Live! This was our weekly mid-week meeting. The first hour was bible study, which in 1999 featured the theme Sold Out For Jesus. The second hour was for playing games, hanging out and occasionally hula dancing. But mostly 4- Square- the old school version.

Jason Fry doing lawn work at a Nashville Orphanage

* Our summer Mission Trip was a 6 day adventure to Nashville to work with the Center for Student Ministry. An awesome trip, by the way.
* We also had local mission projects. We spent a morning picking up trash in our church's neighborhood. We worked to raise money for Graciela, the little girl from Bolivia we sponsored through Compassion International. We volunteered a day at the Orlando Second Harvest Food Bank. And every Sunday morning for the 8:30 worship service a team of our students taught Children's Church for 5-8 year olds.
* Almost all of our youth served as teachers and helpers at Vacation Bible School.
* The annual Youth Week was always a big event. In 1999 it was HUGE! To read specifics of that week, click here!
* We had both Babes Night Out (females only...although the guys would try to crossdress and tag a long!) and Dudes Night Out.
* Three days were set aside to do One on One, where students could sign-up for an hour of my time and we would grab a coke or a milk shake and just hang out. These were very popular days, especially for the kids who signed up first and got the breakfast and lunch appointments!

Hamming it up at Kyoto's!

* Each summer we would set aside a night for a large group to go eat at our favorite Japanese restaurant, Kyoto's. 1999 was no exception.  
* There was a "Carl's going to a movie" Night. I announced I was going, told anyone interested to meet at the church at a certain time, and then we went. I did not tell them in advance what we were seeing.  A Mystery Event!
* We had a small group, overnight spiritual growth event called The Radical Sabbatical. One of my very favorite things ever.
*  Our Sunday night UMYF continued to meet each week for worship, study and fellowship.
* On 2 Sundays we would stretch our UMYF time out and do what we called SNAC- Sunday Night After Church!  One night we did a movie (Short Circuit) and world's largest bowl of popcorn; the other night was the famous Disney Dash Ice Cream Bash! 
* There was, of course, a Movie Marathon!  In 1999 it featured movies from Outer Space!

Myrtle Beach, 1999

* 45 of us participated in Myrtle Beach Days, a week-long excursion to the Betsy B.
* We did one day at Walt Disney World and another day at Cocoa Beach. (If you are keeping score, there were 75 days of summer vacation that year, and we had some sort of youth event on 70 of those days...)
* And even though technically it was after school started back , our summer ended as it always did in those years- with the Last Gasp Summer Blowout at Melbourne Beach.

Ahh... SUMMER!  The absolute best time of the year for youth ministry. Most churches, youth pastors and student ministries are probably neither prepared for nor interested in doing The Whole Enchilada these days. I get that. But I do hope maybe this bit of madness will inspire you to kick your summer up a notch. But whatever you do, please- don't neglect your students this summer. You don't want to have my exploding head on your conscience, do you? :)

Because of Jesus,

#DangerDays: Let It Go

Unless you have been living under a rock...and I mean a REALLY BIG ROCK...then you are aware of the hit Disney movie Frozen. If you know families with small children, then you also know that most of the world's kids have memorized the Oscar winning song Let It Go. The song is everywhere. Parents run headlong into the #DangerDays when they try to take the Frozen soundtrack out of the car CD player. Fortunately, it is a great song, especially as sung by the incomparable Idina Menzel (or as John Travolta calls her, Adele Dazeem). The song is all about being yourself, about letting go of the things you have always pretended to be and allowing your true gifts shine through. The song has a powerful message about self-esteem and grace. If for some reason you are not familiar with it, here's my personal favorite version...

Frozen is great. But as the great Arlo Guthrie says halfway through his 20 minute opus Alice's Restaurant, "that's not what I came here to talk about." I want to talk about our identity as Christians.

For many years one of my pet peeves about Christianity has been the ways we identify ourselves in this world. For instance, we often identity ourselves by our denominational affiliations. Think about it. How many times when someone asks you "what religion are you?" do you respond by saying Baptist, Methodist, Catholic or Unified Church of the Peons? I have asked that question quite often in my life and gotten a wide variety of answers, but the number of times that answer has been "Christian" is remarkably small. It seems to feel safer to most Christ-followers to share the tradition they are part of over the Radical Man who started it all. And by using the standards and practices of these small sects, it is far easier to keep out the riff-raff who are not worthy of being part of our churches. Seriously- there are more people than you think who think that way.

Another way we often identify ourselves is by listing the things we are against. We are against gays, against war, against abortion, against wearing white after Labor Day and against anyone who doesn't agree with our point of view on any of those sorts of issues. We boycotted over the suspension of a character from Duck Dynasty, for Pete's sake!  These battles - the Culture Wars - have become one of the single biggest identifiers we have to those outside of our walls. Patriotism and political party alliances have as well- which is fine unless those things are pre-requisites for admission to our Jesus Club. For years now many Christians have been much happier to identify themselves by the labels they wear, the lists of rules they follow and the issues they fight rather than by their affiliation to Jesus. I mean after all- that Jesus dude was kind of a wild hair, wasn't he? Taking him literally about all of the loving stuff could get you in big trouble...

But recently...very recently...I have felt a new hope for the Body of Christ in USAmerica. Pope Francis gives me hope. By his words and deeds he has demonstrated a clear understanding that the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing- and that the main thing for the Church is the love of God whose name is Jesus. I firmly believe he would identify himself as a Christian who happens to be Catholic, not the other way around. I feel the same way about the Bishop of the United Methodist Church here in Florida. Ken Carter is opening doors and encouraging churches to love their communities in a language that is clearly recognizable as that of the Christ. Ken is a dyed-in-the-wool Methodist. But he is a Christ-follower first. On Twitter, I read more and more of my brothers and sisters in Christ understanding that we have been majoring in the minors for too long, and that it is time to turn back to actually following Jesus himself instead of  worshiping those who write and preach about him. He is where we find our identity. He told us 2000+ years ago that the world will know we are his disciples by the way we LOVE. We've been too busy trying to prove we are "nicer" and more morally upright to have time to show the world that kind of radical, overwhelming, unconditional love. But the tide is turning!

However...finding your identity in Jesus means walking straight into the #DangerDays. Loving the hurting, the lost and the seemingly unlovable is very scary stuff. We are used to praying, "God I want to serve you by starting a new ministry at the beach" and feeling like we are open to God's leadings. Jesus says FOLLOW ME, which turns our prayers into "here I am LORD; send me!" We are used to excluding people to "keep our churches safe and pure," when Jesus (and the 5 Man Electrical Band!) says "everybody's welcome, come on in, kneel down and pray!" Following the Christ means being a servant, not a leader. It means making people more important than possessions or ideals. It means losing our lives so that in him we can find them. And that scares the crap out of us.

Is your identity as a Christian wrapped up in things other than Jesus? Then let it go! Just like in the song, dropping all of the pretense of "acting Christian" and really finding your identity in Christ will freak people out, make them nervous and leave you stepping into the #DangerDays in a whole new way. When you love like Jesus taught us to love there will be people who simply do not understand. When you turn your back on the normal and find your identity in Jesus, you may feel rejection from doubters and Pharisees- but so often Christ comes to us in the storm. Even fellow Christians may act like you have lost your mind and give you the cold shoulder. But when your life is defined by the Risen Savior, you can "let the storm rage on...cold never bothered me anyway!" For me, there is only one identifying factor for Christians- they will know us by our love. All that other stuff? Let it go...

Because of Jesus,

Strange Tales of Student Ministry

Last week I sat in a restaurant and eavesdropped on a conversation between two elderly ("older than me") men at the adjacent table. One was doing most of the talking, telling stories of both current events and days gone by. The other listened intently, but would occasionally interrupt with his own thoughts. And his thoughts seemed to be confined to two phrases- "You've got be kidding me" and "Really?" He clearly was having a hard time buying what his friend was selling...

I sometimes feel that way when I tell old stories of my days in youth ministry, because when dealing with teenagers truth is often stranger than fiction. And it keeps getting stranger. Today I want to share with you 7 moments that fit that category. The stories you are about to read are true. The names have been left out for obvious reasons. Editor's Note: The pictures seen here have nothing to do with the stories. They are just strange in their own way...

1)  In 1979 I was hired to work part-time at a very small rural church in NC. I was not quite 20 years old. The couple that had been leading the youth group were really wonderful people, and I knew their children from working at Quaker Lake Camp in the summer. I found out later that rumor had it that at least part of the reason they wanted me was because they thought I would make a good husband for their (sweet & beautiful!) 15 year old daughter. There was nothing sinister about it; they had gotten married at 16 and may have been thinking she would too. I escaped unharmed...

2)  Sometime in the autumn of 1984 I received a phone call from a terrified youth, saying that her ex-boyfriend (also a student I knew from QLC and various youth events) was drunk, violent and in her yard screaming for her to come out. She was home alone with her 2 younger sisters, and was mostly afraid that her parents would come home, find the boy there... and kill him! Even though I was no longer her youth pastor, I drove over and calmed him down, got his cousin to come pick him up, and defused the situation. But not before he took a few swings at me...  Youth ministry is not for wimps!

3)  In April of 1987 I took 6 high school students- 3 male, 3 female- to the mountains  of NC on a leadership retreat. Late one night I stopped by the guys room to see if they were okay, and was told to go away. I knew something odd was going on (and that our girls were in there too), but they asked me not to push it, so I let it go. For nearly 6 years I tried to discover what was going on in that room that night, but their code of silence could not be broken. Finally, after after lots of teasing and taunting, they revealed the big secret- they had just started playing strip poker when I came to the door! Nothing had happened- they were just embarrassed to tell me. I think shoes and socks were the only wagered items lost!

4)  Once one of my students called to tell me she was afraid she was pregnant. After a lot of talking I convinced her to tell her mom and we all went to the doctor; it turned out she was not. A few weeks later I discovered she had told her friends she had gone for an abortion. In her fragile teenage mind it was easier to tell her friends she had gotten an abortion than it was to tell them she had been wrong about being pregnant. Try as we might, we cannot walk in their shoes- so we just have to love them.

5)  In the late 1990s, while on a FUMC-Kissimmee ski trip, a teenage girl banged on my door late one night and said she needed to talk to me. I stepped outside and was informed that she had just started menstruating for the first time. This was not the first or last time I was ever part of such a conversation, but they never ceased being awkward. This one, however. was particularly strange. Her father was on the trip as a chaperon and a female pediatrician (one of our Youth Counselors) was in the room next door to her. When I mentioned this to her, she said she wasn't comfortable telling them. I was horrified and honored all at once. But we got her dad and he doc and got her some help. Another time we were on a bus coming back from NYC when a young woman began to wander the aisle asking the other females if anyone "had supplies she could BORROW." Her use of the word borrow completely cracked us up, and we eventually had to stop the bus and do some shopping for her. BTW- if you can't deal with those kinds of conversations you have no business being a youth pastor. It's part of the gig. For another hilarious tale of this sort, see A Strange Night In Atlanta.

6)  My family was gone on a youth group beach trip one summer and we asked one of our "left behind" youth if he would dog sit for us. He did. About a month later we got bills from our Internet provider and our cable company for over $300 worth of porn he had viewed at our house while we were away. My wife got the costs dropped because of the situation. He and I had a "Come to Jesus" meeting, but I didn't tell his parents or anyone else. I hope he passes that grace along at some point...

7)  In 2006 I was driving a van full of Trinity UMC- Waycross students back from a major youth revival in a neighboring town in south Georgia. It was very late and we were very hungry. I said we could stop and asked for suggestions as to what would be open at that hour. One of the girls suggested a taco place; the name I have long since forgotten. I said that sounded great and asked where it was. With a perfectly straight face she responded, "South Dakota." She was dead serious. And she was totally clueless as to why the rest of the van screamed at her. Ahhhh- teenagers!

It's all true- and I didn't even include the lost bikini tops, insane parent stories, middle school boys gone wild and all of the inappropriate questions I was asked over the years. As former students keep revealing secret histories of old trips to me in my advancing age, I keep expecting to hear one start with, "This one time, on a church trip..."  I suppose the sequel to this will have to be entitled Too Hot For This Blog!  Until then, just remember- youth ministry is always stranger than fiction!

Because of Jesus,

"M is for the many things she gave me..."

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!  I want to pause today and take a moment to thank God for the three women in my life who are incredible moms. First up is my own mother, Anne Jones.  She has never wavered in her support for me and my family, offering me unconditional love my entire life- despite my many screw-ups. She is pictured below with my wife Marilyn and her grandson Will.  he and Will could not be any closer. Mom, you are one of a kind, and I love you!

The second mother on my special list is my mother-in-law, Marie Steele. I love her like she was my own mother, and I am so grateful that she and her husband Posey welcomed me in to their family some 30 years ago when Marilyn and I started dating. She is pictured below on our wedding day when she gave me a great gift! I love you, Marie- and looking forward to seeing you soon!

And finally, you have all know about my amazing wife, Marilyn.  She is a wonderful mother and truly a heroic woman. She works so hard to keep our family afloat, and Will and I both love her her very much. She makes every day about our family- so today is all about her her!

And for all of you moms who may be reading today, I want to share some lyrics to a famous Mother's Day song as re-written by my old cohort Alan Brown and I many years ago.  In our own extremely odd way, we were seeking to let you know just how special you are...

M is for the MANY things she gave me...
O is for the OTHER things she gave me...
T is for THE things that she gave me...
H is for the HAPPY things she gave me...
E is for EVERYTHING she gave me...
R is for the REST of the things she gave me...
P is for the PLENTIFUL things she gave me...
Put it all together they spell MOTHERP (?)
A word that means the world to me!

Thank you, God, for all of our mothers. They do indeed give us everything, and they are truly a blessing!

Saturday Shout Outs!

If today seems like a good day to cut loose with a whoop, a holler and a WOOHOO, then it must be a great day for a new edition of the Saturday Shout Outs! The first shout of the day goes out to all of my readers who are moms! Tomorrow is Mother's Day, the day set aside to recognize you for all the amazing things you do for your families 24/7, 365. My prayer is that it will be a special day for each and every one of you, and that even if for some reason you cannot be with your families that you will feel loved and remembered. We are heading up to Leesburg to see my mom tomorrow and looking forward to a great day. Moms- you are the greatest!  Now on with the shouting!!!

• Marilyn and I had a great dinner with Wayne & Janet Cook in Plant City on Thursday night. They were a part of our youth ministry family of volunteers at FUMC-Kissimmee back in the late 90s and dear friends ever since. Wayne is an ordained UMC pastor these days, and when the new appointments begin in July he will be BACK at FUMC-K serving as Senior Pastor! We are so excited for them, for the church and for ourselves as they come back from Tallahassee to Central Florida. Our prayers are with them as they prepare for a big move and a fresh start in a familiar place.
• We were so happy to connect with Jennifer Simmons Morrell (Springfield Friends Meeting) on Facebook recently! We have lots of great memories of Jennifer, and the picture she posted from YouthQuake '91 in Vermont this week was a hoot. Looking forward to catching up, Jen!
• It was great to hear from a few of my old New Garden Friends Meeting youth this week after I posted about the retirement of David Bills. I served NGFM as youth leader from 1978-1983, starting when I was 19 years old. But even with that knowledge it was somewhat of a shock this week to realize that some of my former YOUTH are now turning 50. Which makes me feel like one seriously old dude...
• Two of my very favorite people from my days at Wesley Memorial UMC here in Tampa - Nina Mock & Zach Wehr- have birthdays coming up on May 16. Early happy birthday, my friends! I hope you both get to celebrate in style!
• A couple of births this week in the wider youth ministry family, both on Thursday! David & Emily Mercadante (Springfield Friends Meeting) welcomed daughter Hope Elizabeth to the world, and Sara Thacker Reiter (FUMC-K) and hubby Mark were blessed with a son, Caleb Stephen. Congratulations and best wishes for many blessings to you all!
• A little over a week ago I got to travel over to Disney to hang out with my Twitter sister Jenn Ganley and her hubby Alan for lunch. We had a great time and lots of laughs, and I was impressed so much by Jenn's great heart for serving God in ministry and mission. The experience made me excited to connect with so many of the other Twitter friends with whom I have been so impressed, and certainly the rest of the #StraightJacketMafia!
• I am literally chomping at the bit to hit the road and go see all my NC friends! The list is nearly endless, but this week I have had so many of my Springfield Friends Meeting buddies on my mind- several of whom have also been invading my dreams on a regular basis lately! I just know there are many hugs to be given, much pizza to be eaten and and many laughs to be shared, and that it has been far too long since any of that happened. I may see some of you sooner, but be looking for info on an August reunion of the old SFM youth gang. And several other NC -based "reunions" may be coming in August as well. If I can wait that long...
• I loved this quote on Twitter this past week as shared by Kevin Weatherby- Jesus promised his disciples three things—that they would be completely fearless, absurdly happy, and in constant trouble. - G.K. Chesterton If you know me at all you know how much that speaks to my life! :)  
• To all of you who live in the Orlando/Kissimmee area- let's do lunch!!! Call me (813-919-3755) text me, tweet me, leave a comment, use a telegraph- just let me know when and I'm on my way!!! 
• I was a little stunned at the joy expressed by so may in my Twitter feed on Thursday night as Johnny Manziel fell lower and lower into the first round of the draft. I felt great pity for the way he was being treated by fans and media alike, so I made a bold proclamation. I announced that I would become a fan of the team that picked Johnny Football. So Cleveland Browns, you are stuck with me. Alan Brown (Quaker Lake Camp), it took a lot of years, but I am now on your side! And if Johnny wins Rookie of the Year next season I have a whole lot of friends who are going to need to eat an WHOLE lot of crow!!!
• I still need guest post writers for the #DangerDays series. I am not above begging or bribing. Just let me know which will work best for you!
• Speaking of writers, my old buddy Brent Bill (Quaker Lake Camp & beyond!) has a birthday tomorrow. For his birthday you should give yourself a gift and get his classic book, Sacred Compass. It's a wonderful book about finding your way- spiritually- in this crazy world. I wish we could all read it together and discuss, like a book club. It's that good. Happy birthday, Brent!
• You ask what's on my mind today? Calabash seafood. A milk shake from Cookout. Seeing the Betsy B and walking on North Myrtle Beach. Biting into a Ghassan's steak & chesse or a Bojangles chicken biscuit, then washing it down with a Cheerwine. A barbeque (the noun not the verb!) sandwich from Stamey's. Pizza Inn with my buds. As you can tell, both my heart and my stomach are sooooo ready for some time in the Carolinas!!!
• And finally...if you were ever in one of my youth groups, I have a poll question for ya. Which trip did you go on as a youth that you would be most excited about taking again as an ADULT? Myrtle Beach? New York? Spanish Wells? Atlanta? Sam Levering's Orchards? Disney World? Or some other mission trip site or weekend destination? It's your choice! Inquiring minds want to know! Just leave me a comment with your vote- and your name!

That's it for now! Take care everyone, and just like Mickey Mouse I hope to see you real soon!

Because of Jesus,

30/30: A Favorite Book

The 30/30 Vision Blog Challenge continues today with an easy task. Or at least an obvious one. The prompt and description I wrote back in December says this: "A Book You Could (or have) Read Over & Over Again - "If you could only take one book to that aforementioned deserted island..." The obvious answer, the simple answer and the correct answer is The Holy Bible. I have read it over and over again. It is full of history, great adventure, heroes & villains and of course the story of our faith. It is written in a myriad of styles so it seldom get boring (begots excepted) and it is constantly revealing new truths and new people to connect with to me. I love the scriptures, and the Bible is the clear choice as the answer to this prompt. But that is too simple and perhaps too cliche to just leave my answer at that. So let's go a step beyond. What would be the 2nd book I would choose?

Let's look at some of the books I have read multiple times at as adult (not counting Dr. Seuss, who should get more credit here than he is going to receive!). I have read the 3 books in The Lord of the Rings trilogy at least 4 times since college. I have read Brennan Manning's The Ragamuffin Gospel and Mike Yaconelli's Dangerous Wonder several times each. I have read a dozen books in Lee Child's Jack Reacher series and could easily choose Jack to be my island buddy. But after giving is some serious thought, I think my #2 choice for the One Book would be The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. I am certain I have read it 6 or 7 times in my life.

Why do I love the Musketeers so much? It is a story of great loyalty and bravery in the face of long odds. There is plenty of excitement and adventure, and a good dash of romance. There is a struggle with theology, particularly through the character of Athos, who has a long history with the Church. But the primary draw to this classic novel for me is friendship. Athos, Porthos and Aramis share a bond like few others in literature, and as this story progresses they add a young D'Artagnan to the mix. Throughout the tale you see the relationships they build, the love they have for one another, and you hear them shout those famous words- "All for one and one for all!" It is inspiring, and it always causes me to remember how blessed I am to have so many friends in this world who have my back no matter the circumstance.

The other reason I return to this book so often is that every few years they make another movie version, and I always give them a try. A number of them over the years have been very good (For me, the best was the 1973/74 films The Three Musketeers & The Four Musketeers in which they split the book in half to be more able to tell the entire story. Not prefect, but very good!) and quite enjoyable- but none of the will ever equal the depth and details of the book. So I return to the source to get my "Real Musketeer" fix nearly every time, and I am always glad I did.

So my task for today is complete, and I'll even throw in a bonus. The Bible wins, The Three Musketeers are second. The Lord of the Rings are third. So tell me...what's your go-to book?

Because of Jesus,

Creating Holy Chaos

How many of you have sat through meetings in your churches that were supposed to be Planning Sessions? You know the ones I am talking about. The idea is that you gather the people in leadership roles to think about the future of your church. These things happen on the local level and the denominational level. People are encouraged to think outside the box, to bring new wine to the old wineskins. You arrive under the assumption that whoever put together such a meeting understands that there are things that need to change and improve. You might even need to go in a different direction than the one you have been going in for the past 100 years. And yet...at so many of these conclaves any idea that is truly new, truly different, or the least bit radical tends to be shot down by the 7 last words of a dying church- "We've never done it that way before!" Churches are often so ordered, so driven by rules and traditions, that no one can remember the last time anything really new ever happened there. In a Church founded by and devoted to "The Radical Man" himself, Jesus of Nazareth, it seems rare that anything radical ever takes place anymore. These brainstorming sessions are often where ideas go to die. In my opinion, what our churches need are a few more wild and crazy moments where rules fall away and the Holy Spirit takes over. What we need is some Holy Chaos!

Somewhere along the way in my youth ministry career I attended a Critical Concerns Course at the National Youth Workers Convention led by Craig McNair Wilson.  McNair had been a guru in the imagination think-tank of the Walt Disney Company, originating many of the street theater groups you see in the World Showcase at EPCOT and at one time serving as a personal assistant to Michael Eisner. He taught us the creative brainstorming system used by the Imagineers at Disney. I used it over and over again during the last 10 years of my ministry, and found that it works on many levels to help your team actually be creative.  I share it with you today. It can be a wild and woolly process. It may just create some Holy Chaos in your midst. And it may be just what your church or ministry needs. There are 7 steps- and the order matters greatly.  They are:

The list you see above is from a 1998 strategic planning booklet I did for FUMC-Kissimmee. (Note the excellent use of a 1995 version of Print Shop!) Now here's what it all means:

1. Before you gather for brainstorming, there needs to be some agreement on why you are getting together. Are you tackling a specific issue, or looking at your ministry as a whole? Are you just "thinking out loud," or do you actually intend to do something with the ideas you come up with? People need to know these things in advance so they can do some some personal creating ahead of time and be prepared for your session. And the entire process should be bathed in prayer- before, during and after. You want and need the energy and creativity of the Holy Spirit to fill the room.
2. Allow people to throw out ideas and concepts with total disregard to cost, feasibility, practicality or any other judgement. To accomplish that, you must do this...
3. Begin every statement with the phrase "Yes, and..."  This does 3 things. It prohibits people from being negative and using their usual opening phrase, "But that won't work!" It allows for the expansion and enhancement of ideas already expressed, and it gives people the freedom to piggyback on ideas. This is a very important step. We would often put a jar on the table (like a swear jar) and make anyone who didn't begin with "Yes, and..." make a donation.  :)
4. Again, no negative thoughts allowed. No matter how ridiculous or impractical an idea may seem, this is NOT the time to point out flaws. It is also not the time to wimp out. If you have an idea, share it- and share it boldly! The idea is to come up with ideas!!!
5. Just when you think you may have drained your brains of ideas, give one final push. You don't want a flurry of ideas. You want an avalanche!!! If people seem tired, then push even harder. I remember McNair saying something like "exhaustion often precedes inspiration."
6. The wackier the better! Your wildest dreams may inspire someone else to share THE idea you have all been waiting for. To get some of your church members out of the box, you will have to SHATTER the box first! Some of history's greatest inventions began as wild ideas. Never discount the outrageous. Allow for the Holy Chaos!
7. By this point you should have covered all 4 walls of whatever room you are in with ideas, from the brilliant to the silly. Now is the time to pull out your vision/purpose/mission statement and decide which of these ideas can best help you accomplish your goals. You can follow these steps: List the needs you are hoping to address, and then group similar and related ideas into categories under the needs they might address. Pick one area of concern and then select the ideas that best respond to your church's particular needs. Expand on the ideas selected, helping others to see the possibilities they hold for your situation. This is the time to express doubts, to look at practicality and to raise questions. It is also a time to be very honest with yourselves about where your weak spots are as a church. By now you should be deep enough in the process that you know better than to discount an idea simply because it seems too big or too expensive. Keep brainstorming how you can make it happen given your reality. Keep thinking about which ideas will bring you closer to fulfilling your stated purposes. Reach a consensus about which ideas you want to go forward with or explore further. And then repeat the critical thinking with the next area of concern.

I led youth ministry teams, church councils, church staffs and a couple of business groups through this process, and I can tell you that it bears great fruit. If you would like to know more about it, email me at youthguy07@aol.com or find me on Twitter @Youthguy07 anytime and I would love to help your group experience the thrill of true brainstorming. through it. Our churches need to think in new ways. Our churches need to experience the radical call of Jesus and the wonder of Holy Chaos. Let me know how I can help you!

Because of Jesus,