Spring 2009 • $8.95
Journal of Youth & Family Ministry
Effective Youth & Family Ministry Is Rooted Whose Are You? You Are Rooted In Christ Rooted In The Rootlessness Of Our Lives Much more...
J-3 Ring We have designed a special Sterling Silver ring especially for the 2009 ELCA Youth Gathering. The smooth band represents that consistent presence of Jesus Christ. The beaded ring represents the unity of standing side by side with all people each one a separate being yet bound together as one people of God. The Sprit forms and transforms us like the Jazz musician transforms the music. The twist ring represents the work of the Spirit in our lives. Jesus, Justice and Jazz combine in these 3 rings and together symbolize the unique way that as people of God we live out our lives with Jesus, Justice and Jazz.
MapBannas No one should get lost walking from your hotel, to the convention center and the dome. Old Lutheran has created the MapBanna of downtown New Orleans. All the convenience of a Bandanna (shove it in your pocket, tie it on your backpack or wear it as a scarf) Plus all the information you will need to find your way around town. This map includes many of the gathering hotels, the Super Dome the Convention Center. Available in 12 colors, give one to everyone in your group and no one will get lost.
Saint Sinner This new design is a visual example of one of Martin Luther’s most famous quotes. “Simul iustus et Peccator. As we live in God’s grace, we are reminded that we are both forgiven and sinner. Simultaneously Saint and Sinner. Also available as dog tag, t-shirt, and hoodie.
AND MUCH, MUCH MORE!
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Visit the Gathering Store in the Interaction Center or order online at www.OldLutheran.com
Publication Information Published by: ELCA Youth Ministry Network www.elcaymnet.org
Table of Contents Welcome!
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Todd Buegler
Effective Youth And Family Ministry Is Rooted
For the Heart: Whose Are You? You Are Rooted In Christ
RENEW | EDUCATE | CONNECT
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Jose Valenzuela
Rooted: A Parent’s Perspective
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Debbie Sladek
Bible Study: Rooted In Grace And Growing In Love
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Winner, 2009 Thomas Hunstad Award For Excellence In Youth Ministry
A View From Elsewhere Subscription Information: call 866-ELCANET (352-2638) or visit www.elcaymnet.org connect@elcaymnet.org
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George Baum
On The Way
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Bill Bixby
Calendar of Events Contributing Writers: Mary Kaye Ashley, George Baum, Bill Bixby, Debbie Sladek, Hans Wiersma
Design and Layout: Michael Sladek Impression Media Group www.impressionmediagroup.com
Contributing Editor: Debbie Sladek
Connect Editorial Board: Rod Boriack, Chris Bruesehoff, Todd Buegler, Anna Mercedes, Andy Root, Debbie Sladek, Michael Sladek, Rozella Poston
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Vicki Foss
Interview: David Scherer (Agapé)
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Mary Kaye Ashley
Rooted In The Rootlessness Of Our Lives
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Hans Wiersma
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Future Connect Themes: Excellence (Summer ‘09) Welcoming (Fall ‘09)
Cross-Generational (Winter ‘10) Congregational (Spring ‘10)
ELCA Youth Ministry Network Board Rev. Larry Wagner: Board Chairperson Rev. Beverly Conway: Board Member Rev. Dave Ellingson: Board Chaplain Rev. Dr. Nathan Frambach: Board Member Julie Miller: Board Member
Charlene Rollins: Board Member Linda Staats: Board Member Yvonne Steindal: Board Member Bill Bixby: ELCA Youth & Family Ministry Todd Buegler: Executive Director
The ELCA Youth Ministry Network exists to strengthen and empower adult youth ministry leaders in service to Christ as a part of God’s mission.
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Network News Bites
Welcome! Dear friends, When the Network’s first Vision team did its work on creating definitions of effective youth and family ministry two years ago, one of the 10 words that we came up with was rooted. Effective youth and family ministry is rooted. Rooted in what? This issue of Connect explores what it is for our ministry to be rooted. Many will hear the word rooted and will assume that this word refers to tradition or to culture. They will hear it as limiting, as restrictive. It is not. (To download the document “Definitions of Effective Youth and Family Ministry” go to www.elcaymnet.org/resources and click on the appropriate link.) Rather, the word rooted connects us to those things that are foundational in our ministry. To be rooted is not to be tied to our traditions in youth ministry, or our traditions as Lutherans, or even our traditions within the whole of the church. These things are important, but they are not the main thing. We asked some smart folks to share in this issue their sense of what it is for us to be rooted in our ministry. But please understand that these articles are not meant to be the final word in what it is to be rooted. Rather, we want this to trigger a conversation: with your colleagues, your peers and your local networks. Take a look at the articles. Discuss them. Respond to them. Post your replies in the discussion area of our web site. Our hope is that we maintain our sense of being rooted to what is foundational in our ministry, while we continue to innovate and create in our ministry practices. Networked in Christ,
The Network is hosting the “Adult Academy” at the ELCA Youth Gathering this summer. It’s a place for adult group leaders to gather, to network, and to support one another. We’re still looking for some volunteers to help host. If you’re interested in giving an afternoon during the event, please e-mail info@ elcaymnet.org Interested in writing for Connect? The themes of upcoming issues include: • Excellence • Welcoming • Cross Generational • Advocacy For more information, please contact Michael Sladek at michaels@ impressionmediagroup.com. Is your membership up for renewal? If you need to renew your Network annual membership, please go to www.elcaymnet.org/ jointhenetwork. The Network Membership Directory is now online and accessible to Network members! Looking for a phone number? An address? Visit http://elcaymnet.org/NetworkDirectoryAlphabetical.
Rev. Todd Buegler Executive Director – ELCA Youth Ministry Network
Interested in doing a workshop at Extravaganza 2010? We’re now accepting workshop proposals for this event! Submit your proposals online at www.elcaymnet.org/workshopproposals.
Pastor—Lord of Life Lutheran Church, Maple Grove, MN Todd@elcaymnet.org
Do you know about all of the discounts you get for being a member of the Network? There’s lots of cool stuff and we’re always adding more! Go to www.elcaymnet.org/discounts for more info!
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Effective Youth and Family Ministry is “Rooted” by Hans Wiersma
Ask any number of youth and family ministry workers the question, “What is your ministry rooted in?” and you’re likely to get any number of pious-sounding answers: “Grace,” “God,” “Christ Crucified,” “The Good News,” “Prayer,” “The Bible,” “Christian Community,” etc. Ask these workers to answer the question honestly and you may get additional responses such as: “Catering to the felt needs of young people,” “Keeping the church council happy,” and “Whatever my supervising pastor tells me my ministry should be rooted in.” And, who knows, you may even get one or two folks to respond with a confession: “My ministry is rooted in selfish ambition” or “My ministry is rooted in chaos, desperation, and despair.”
Sometimes even the best Lutheran thinkers think that distinguishing between law and gospel means separating law from gospel, and then ignoring the Law completely. Such thinkers may want to insist that effective youth and family ministry is rooted in the Gospel only, apart from the Law. But such insistence is not only un-biblical, it is also, in the end, un-Lutheran! (Irony intended.) For as Luther wrote, “The understanding of nearly the entire Scripture and of all theology depends upon the proper understanding of law and gospel.”1 The proper understanding of law and gospel is one way to describe the Lutheran contribution to the Christian witness. And the proper understanding of law in gospel is one way to describe what makes for effective (that is faithful and fruitful) youth and family ministry. So, one more time: effective youth and Family ministry is
“
Is there a place to plant all of these
motives—the commendable ones as well as the questionable ones? In fact, there is fertile soil that is more
“
In fact, it’s very possible that your perceived rootings for ministry are mixed. That is, you may be aware that you have one root in the grace of God, another in compassion, another in a desire for young people to know and walk with Christ. Along with these more saintly rootings, you may be aware of less saintly rootings as well: the need for a paycheck, the need for attention and adulation, the need for afternoons off (when in fact your church thinks that you are out meeting with kids). Is there a place to plant all of these motives— the commendable ones as well as the questionable ones? In fact, there is fertile soil that is more than adequate to accommodate both the saintly and the sinful roots for ministry: Law and Gospel. Hence the thesis of this essay: Effective (that is, faithful and fruitful) Youth and Family Ministry is rooted in Law and Gospel—and the distinction between the two. For Lutheran thinkers such a distinction is (or should be) “natural.”
Whoa. Hold on to your wayward syllogism there, Tex.
than adequate to accommodate both the saintly and the sinful roots for ministry: Law and Gospel.
The first verses of the first Psalm offer a fitting image for the exploration at hand—an exploration of the claim that “Effective Youth and Family Ministry is rooted in Law and Gospel”: “Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.” (Psalm 1:1-3; NRSV)
rooted in the proper understanding of law and gospel. Back to Psalm 1. As most readers of Hebrew will tell you, it is the word torah that is often translated as “law” in English-language Bibles. However, as most readers of Hebrew will also tell you, torah can also be translated as “teaching” or “learning” or “instruction.” It is in this sense that Psalm 1 can be understood and appreciated (even by Lutherans wary of a positive construal of “the Law”): “Happy are those [whose] . . . delight is in the Torah of the Lord…” That is to say, if your delight is in the teaching/learning/instruction of the Lord, then you will be happy, that is to say, blessed. Why? Because, as the Psalm goes on to explain, such people are like trees rooted next to streams of water . . . ” And, as the Psalm further explains, such trees “yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves
If you are a Lutheran thinker—that is, the kind of Christian thinker that likes to distinguish between Law and gospel—then these words from Psalm 1 may have already put you off. “Wait a minute,” you might say. “Those verses from Psalm 1 are all about the Law only, and not the Gospel.” You may object further: “Since the verses are about following the Law, then the passage is legalistic. Since the passage is legalistic, then this article is going to advocate works righteousness and, therefore, contradict the gospel.” 1
WA 7:502 (translation mine, emphasis mine). Luther also claimed that “whoever knows well how to distinguish the Gospel from the Law should give thanks to God and know that [s/he] is a real theologian.” LW 26:115.
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do not wither.” In fact, this passage of Psalm 1 concludes with a promise of sorts for trees that are rooted in this way: they will prosper “in all that they do!”
from the grasp of wrath, sin, death, and hell, and place them firmly in the hands of a Lord who grants grace, righteousness, life, and heaven. In other words, telling the difference between law and gospel lies in the ability to distinguish between two contradictory yet interrelated proclamations: “You are liable” and “You are forgiven.”
It should be enough to say that effective youth and family ministry is rooted in the Holy Scriptures. But, sadly, it is not. One does not have to look far to find ministries that claim to be rooted in scripture only to find that the ministries are, in fact, far from the teachings (torah!) of Jesus. For instance, the Reverend Fred Phelps of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, claims that his church’s “ministry” of picketing the “funerals of impenitent sodomites” and of “over 200 military funerals of troops whom God has killed in Iraq/Afghanistan in righteous judgment against an evil nation” is rooted in scripture.2 There are countless ministries— including youth and family ministries—that claim to be rooted in scripture but nevertheless produce fruit that is alien to the Good News of Jesus Christ. Therefore, when it comes to claiming that “effective youth and family ministry is rooted in scripture,” additional qualification is needed. Enter the confessional writings of those sixteenth century reformers headquartered in Wittenberg, Germany—those church reformers who referred to their teaching (torah!) as the “evangelical” teaching.
It may come as news to many doing youth and family ministry that the ability to recognize and distinguish liability and forgiveness, law and gospel, life and death, is part of their jobs. That many youth workers are unaware of this essential Lutheran distinction is partly due to the fact that discerning law and gospel is probably not part of their written job descriptions. (Although in your better job descriptions you will occasionally see a statement such as this: “the candidate shall understand and teach the scriptures in accordance with the Lutheran confessional writings.”4) The lack of awareness of law and gospel—and how they are to be distinguished—in the practice of youth and family ministry in Lutheran settings is the result of a number of factors. These factors include (1) sermons that are inattentive to the law-gospel distinction or that abandon the distinction altogether, (2) the influence of other Christian traditions in the understanding of ministry, and (3) the natural inclination to confuse law and gospel, resulting in legalism on the one hand and antinomianism on the other hand.5
It was the audacious claim of these reformers—led by Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon—that there was a right and proper way to read and interpret the Holy Scriptures. As indicated above, the Wittenberg reformers’ evangelical reading of Scripture consists in the art of discerning law and gospel. “There is no better art of handing on and preserving the pure doctrine than to follow this method, to divide Christian doctrine into two parts, law and gospel.” Luther elaborated this two-part doctrine by pointing out that “there are two things set before us in God’s Word . . . the wrath or the grace of God, sin or righteousness, death or life, hell or heaven.” 3
At this point it is quite possible that you are thinking, “Okay, I get that law and gospel is essential for youth and family ministry. But why are law and gospel essential? Where is the biblical support? What do you mean by “law” and “gospel” anyway? How can I tell the difference between the two? What would my ministry look like if it’s rooted in law and gospel?” These are important questions. Since the above reflections are rooted in an appreciation of the Lutheran Confessions, permit me to respond to the questions in the style of Luther’s Small Catechism.6 Article: Effective youth and family ministry is rooted in Law and Gospel.
Effective youth and family ministry, therefore, is rooted not only in Scripture, but in the right and proper understanding of scripture. This right and proper reading requires the ability to tell (literally) the difference between wrath and grace, sin and righteousness, death and life, hell and heaven. Therefore, effective youth and family ministry is rooted in proclaiming a Word that will snatch sinners
What does this mean? This means, quite simply, that youth and family ministry is rooted—centered, steeped, anchored—in God’s Word. God’s Word is
2
Westboro Baptist Church, “Who are you, What do you do, and Why do you do it?” http://www.godhatesfags.com/faq.html#Who, accessed on April 29, 2009. WA 39I:361. Quoted in Bernard Lohse, Martin Luther’s Theology: Its Historical and Systematic Development, trans. Roy A. Harrisville (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1999) 267f. 4 The statement quoted here is from an actual job description for a “Director of Youth and Family” in a Midwestern congregation. For Lutheran congregations, it is wise to include such a statement in the job description for any position that includes the teaching of children, youth, and/or adults. 5 “Legalism” refers to the kind of faith-talk that emphasizes adherence to the Law to the neglect of God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness manifested in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul scorned legalistic Christianity when he asserted that “if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing” (Galatians 2:21). “Antinomianism,” on the other hand, describes the kind of faith-talk that understands that exhorting obedience to the Law is a function of the government rather than of the pulpit. Paul, whose writings contain a great deal of exhortation, counters antinomianism (literally: against-the-law-ism) when he affirms the law’s sacred use: “the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good” (Romans 7:12). Martin Luther’s own struggle with antinomian agitators in Wittenberg can be glimpsed in a published letter, “Against the Antinomians” (LW 47:99-119). 6 Luther’s Small Catechism (1529) is one of the essential documents that make up the Lutheran Confessions contained in The Book of Concord (1580). The other documents (only two of which were penned by Luther) are: The Ecumenical Creeds, The Augsburg Confession, The Apology to the Augsburg Confession, The Large Catechism, The Smalcald Articles, Concerning the Power and Primacy of the Pope, and The Formula of Concord (summary text and full text). 3
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the Logos, the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ. Through Jesus Christ, God speaks a Word that puts to death the old, sinful self and raises up a new, saintly self. In other words, through Jesus Christ, God speaks a Word that kills and makes alive.7 This “killing-and-makingalive” Word is encountered in the Holy Scriptures. These scriptures are filled with divine commands and promises, wraths and mercies, punishments and blessings—that is, with law and with gospel. These scriptures inform the speech of all Christians. Therefore it is important for all Christians—and especially for Christian leaders—to be able to recognize the difference between the Law and the Gospel. Furthermore, it is essential that when Christians speak for God—that is, when they declare, preach, and proclaim—they do so in such a way that differentiates law and gospel.
ment, expectation, rule, demand, directive, and constraint. Law also implies the blessings and advantages that are gained when the laws are kept as well as the punishments and consequences that are experienced when laws are transgressed. Gospel, on the other hand, involves concepts like gift, promise, grace (unmerited favor), mercy, forgiveness, and freedom. The Law is good and necessary since it teaches us (1) how to get along with each other and (2) that we are trapped in sin and death, and that we need a savior. It is that second function (or use) of the Law that necessitates the Gospel. The Gospel—the good news that God redeems us not on account of our works but on account of the work of Jesus Christ—is declared and taught in order to save sinners being put to death by the law.
Where in the Bible is all of this talk of law and gospel written?
What does youth and family ministry rooted in law and gospel look like?
Everywhere. The scripture is law and gospel. Each book and chapter testifies to God’s activity in law and gospel, just as each book and chapter testifies to the ways in which humans experience law and gospel.8
Youth and family ministry that is rooted in this teaching (torah) regarding law and gospel cannot help but be effective—when by “effective” we mean “faithful” and “producing good fruit.” Think again of that image from Psalm 1. When Youth and Family Ministry is planted near the stream of God’s living Word, as comprehended in law and gospel, such ministry will thrive, producing good fruit. On the other hand, understanding God’s word as law only or as gospel only will produce a ministry that is ineffective, unfaithful, fruitless.
In addition, there are key verses, passages, and sections that offer guidance in telling the difference between law and gospel. One of the most important key passages is the first mention of the name of Jesus, in the Gospel of John: “The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:7). Another verse: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17). And another: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life” (Ephesians 2:8-10). In addition, there are two New Testament books—Paul’s letters to the Romans and to the Galatians—that treat the theme of the discernment of law and gospel at length.
Effective youth and family ministry, therefore, will include communicating, upholding, and modeling standards of conduct (that is, law; that is torah) for Christians. However, make sure to locate such teaching of the Law in “vocation” rather than in “justification.” Teach standards of conduct with the understanding that Christians are called to live in a certain way for the sake of their neighbors rather than for the sake of their earning personal brownie-points for heaven. For effective youth and family ministry, teaching vocation in this way includes the admonition to parents to be faith-teachers to their children and youth. It also includes an admonition to congregations and their leaders to equip parents to take the lead in making disciples of their households. Finally, it includes admonishing youth to “live lives worthy of the calling” to which they have been called (Ephesians 4:1). Of course, all this admonishing needs
How does a person tell the difference between law and gospel? Telling the difference between law and gospel is an art developed over time and by the power of the Holy Spirit. However, there are some guidelines to keep in mind. Law involves ideas like require-
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For more on the notion of God’s Word as a word that kills and makes alive, see the work of Gerhard Forde, especially Theology is for Proclamation (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1990) and Justification by Faith: A Matter of Death and Life (Mifflintown, Penn.: Sigler Press, 1991). 8 Take for example 1 Chronicles 4:10, “Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, ‘Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from hurt and harm!’ And God granted what he asked.” Jabez asks, God gives. That’s good news (gospel) for Jabez, as it would be for anyone else who prays for something and gets it. But does the verse also imply a law? A law that says that you have to ask for something before God gives it, as Jesus himself taught when he commanded, “Ask and you will receive . . . ”? What of those who receive without asking? And what of those who ask but do not receive? Are those who do not receive deficient in faith? Are they being punished for their sins? You see that from just this one verse it’s possible to discern themes of law and gospel not only in the words of the text but in the way the words function in the mind and conscience of the reader. Furthermore, without distinguishing law from gospel, it becomes possible to confuse law for gospel and gospel for law. This is exactly what happened some years ago when Bruce Wilkinson’s, The Prayer of Jabez: Breaking through to the Blessed Life (2000) was all the rage. Claiming that Jabez’s prayer was the prayer that God “always answered” and that it contained “the key to a life of extraordinary favor with God,” this book informed people about the attitudes and actions that would earn them material and spiritual blessings from God
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Hans Wiersma is Assistant Professor of Religion
to be done in a manner that is loving, caring, compassionate, encouraging, and supportive. In other words, don’t nag.
at Augsburg College, Minneapolis and is co-coordinator of Augsburg’s Youth and Family Ministry degree program. He is co-author of (the critically-acclaimed) Crazy Talk: A Not-So-Stuffy Dictionary of Theological Terms and the upcoming Crazy Book: A Not-So-Stuffy Dictionary of Biblical Terms. He is a contributor to the Lutheran Study Bible, as well as various handbooks, including the The Lutheran Handbook (vols. I and II), The Lutheran Pastors Handbook, The Lutheran Handbook on Marriage, and The Christian Handbook. Hans shares a home in St. Paul with his wife of 17 years, Kristin, and with Jacob (14), Elianna (10), Marielle (5), and Garret (5).
Similarly, effective (that is faithful and fruitful) youth and family ministry will include the clear proclamation of the radical good news that God communicates to us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God has decided to communicate this good news through sinful human beings wielding nothing but the Word. God has attached this Word to simple, earth-bound elements: human speech, written texts, water, bread, and wine. Effective youth and family ministry is rooted in these simple elements. For it is through these elements that God “gives the Holy Spirit, who produces faith . . . in those who hear the gospel.” Such ministry “teaches that we have a gracious God, not because of our own merit but through Christ’s merit, when we so believe” and that “this faith is bound to yield good fruits.”9
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“The Augsburg Confession,” Articles V and VI, in The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, eds. Robert Kolb and Timothy Wengert (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000) 40f.
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For the Heart: Whose Are You? You Are Rooted in Christ by Mary Kaye Ashley
This is the question, isn’t it? When you or I walk into a group of people, we want to know that we belong. And because we are rooted in Jesus Christ, and his love, we can walk in anywhere. What would you do if you knew that you could not fail? You cannot fail – to be God’s beloved child. You may make mistakes, you may take a long time to learn, you may not be able to get along with a colleague, or a parent may disapprove of the way you express the Gospel. But we have been baptized in the waters of life, we are marked with the cross of Christ and we can grow or change or apologize—whatever we need to do. Youth ministry—all ministry at its best—helps others to know and feel and experience God’s love, to know where they belong and Who cares for them, to know in Whom they “live and move and have their being.” When we help kids to discover in the Psalms their own feelings in the prayers there, they know they are part of God’s people from forever. When they find out that an elder in their congregation is also lonely and would welcome company, they know they are connected to the people of God today. When they receive Jesus’ body and blood at communion and know that friends the world over share this meal, they learn of the broadness of God’s love. When they prayerfully discern the needs in their neighborhood and work with others to reach out, they learn that God has gifted them with power to make a difference in the world. When you listen to them and name the unique gifts you see in them, you suggest ways God might be calling them to serve. When you ask another adult to partner with you in Christ’s ministry in your place, kids know that the center of the ministry is not you, but where God might be calling you all to grow together to serve. The newest program or curriculum or speakers are only resources to help understand God’s will in your place—coupled with all of what you already know. You can validate questions and make a safe place for kids to wonder, but gently push them to continue to pull together the best of all they are discovering as they mature. Because you and they are rooted in Jesus, you do not need to be blown about by conflict or challenges or overwhelmed by the volume of tasks on your desk or your inbox to address. “God, help me” is a good enough prayer because you trust someone is listening. And on the days when you need to look at the note on your monitor, “Breathe. Pray. Listen. Ask. Wait. Enjoy,” you pick up the phone and call someone else who will remind you of all the things that
you need to be reminded of. You can go home at a reasonable hour and spend time with those you love. You can say you don’t know and find out. You can ask the parents of a youth what they think might connect with their child and they can trust you to care for and respect their kids as much as they do. Because you are rooted in Christ, you can help others to see their own connections— to the Word, to the world, to the church and to the Love bigger than life itself. And who knows what you can do then? “When we trust in him, we’re free to say whatever needs to be said, bold to go wherever we need to go. So don’t let my present trouble on your behalf get you down. Be proud! My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength— that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted (note: the NRSV uses the word rooted here) firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God. God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.“ Ephesians 3:12, 16–20 Message
Mary Kaye Ashley is a mom, wife, sister, aunt, friend, and in her 5th year as associate pastor of Como Park Lutheran Church, Saint Paul, MN, and in her 19th year as a parent/family educator for Burnsville/Eagan/ Savage, MN schools. As a teacher she loves working with growing people of all ages, and in ministry, she hopes to assist others in recognizing the presence and blessing of God in their lives.
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Rooted In The Rootlessness Of Our Lives:
Nepantla And The Call To The Margins And Center Of Ministry by Jose Valenzuela
During the late sixteenth century the land that is today known as South America, Central America, and Mexico was undergoing a radical transformation. This transformation was affecting the New World at every possible level. Politics, economics, language, culture and social structures were being transformed at an alarming pace. A part of the world that had functioned in isolation was being impacted by the new wave of European exploration that had arrived on its shores. As a result of the new influences that were bearing their power in the new world the systems that had long been in place began to shift. What had commonly been taken for granted and understood by indigenous peoples was now up for grabs. What had previously functioned as independent indigenous nations were now being lumped together as “Indians” that must be tamed and “utilized” for the good of the European crowns. Natural resources that had a particular value in the “old world” emerged with new value in the export economy that was being fashioned in the new world. Traditional religion that seemed to tell that the story of creation and explain how the world came to be was being dismantled and being replaced with Christianity that seemed to justify the need for conquering more than an evangelizing function that we understand today. The three C’s (the belief that commerce and Christianity would lead to civilization) of exploration were coming into play at a rapid pace. All of these factors and the growing spread of disease, primarily small pox, seemed to ensure that the advanced technology in weapons that were also employed by the Europeans would shift power bases in this part of the world forever. Looking back at this time with over 500 years of perspective it is easy to see that many of the changes that started then, continue to be in place now, and will be so permanently. This is not to say that all of this was bad, but that when looked at through the lens of the sixteenth century, it must have felt cataclysmic at the time. As this transformation was taking place, structures that had been well established and working began to shift. Individuals that knew and functioned in their respective places both politically and economically began to notice that the rules were changing. Although many of the aspects of the traditional world continued to function, they were now having to function around the influence of the emerging European structures. A new status quo was beginning to emerge. For example, a king was still a king, but he might have to ensure that the military power of the Europeans supported his rule. An indigenous practitioner of medicine might still practice her trade, 1
but payment might be made by the rules of the new economy. A fabric maker might still produce fabrics, but now they were produced for export rather than for the family or the village. If we were to pick one of these threads and follow the line of subsequent impacts, we would see the depth at which this world was being disrupted. The traditional world and its rules were clearly in play, and changing, but what clearly influenced and drove this was the emerging status quo world that the Europeans were shaping. The king was still the king, but his reign was now tied to the new status quo. Quite simply, the king was no longer the true king. The medical practitioner was still the medical practitioner, but her services were now valued at a rate commensurate with the new economy. The fabric maker was still the fabric maker and the craft was clearly traditional for therein was its value, but the purpose for fabrication was determined by the status quo. For better or for worse, a system of rules and norms had functioned in the old world. It was a system that had rooted this world for centuries, and it was all changing. If we were to examine the impact on language and communication the effects of the power shift were even more pronounced. Nations that had been rooted in ancient forms of communication were now being displaced by nations that could largely conform to communication in Spanish or Portuguese. A lackluster king that could adapt and communicate in the new language might emerge as a superpower because of his the ability to speak to the new status quo. Any person’s ability to adapt to the new influence largely determined his or her social mobility. Imagine the fabric maker that only spoke Nahuatl (the indigenous language spoken by the ancient Aztecs in central Mexico) and had never learned any Spanish. This person would be subject to the business dealings of someone that did speak Spanish, and of course this would come at a price. On the other hand, a fabric maker that learned Spanish would be able to conduct business effectively in the traditional world, as well as potentially realize a new place never imagined, among the status quo. Clearly there were opportunities for many, but the uncertainty of moving from what was familiar and known to what was new and unfamiliar could be overwhelming. What if this were having happening at every level of society? Diego Duran, a Dominican priest that had established a mission post in what is today known as central Mexico, seemed to capture the emotional pulse of the traditional world during a conversation with one of his local informants.1 When Duran asked the indigenous
Duran, Diego. The History of the Indies of New Spain. Trans. Doris Hayden. Norman and London: University of Oklahoma Press 1994.
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neophyte how things in the community were going the informant simply responded, “Estamos Nepantla (We are Nepantla).” A term had been found to articulate the anxiety that the traditional world was living with. Nepantla was this Nahuatl term that was used to describe where people were, to describe this middle ground of uncertainty. It was not a good place, but a place where there were more questions than answers. It was a term to describe the new world that was emerging for the ancient Aztecs and the old world that was seemingly being lost at the same time. Nepantla seemed to capture the loss of rootedness that the traditional world longed for in the midst of radical transformation.
Status Quo
Nepantla
my roots, many of my roots were lost. I found myself in Nepantla. I found myself living without roots. This concept of Nepantla has been discussed for decades in various forms. In the epic poem “I am Joaquín”, by Corky Gonzales he captures the loss of rootedness experienced by living in Nepantla: I am, Of the same name, Joaquín, In a country that has wiped out All my history, Stifled all my pride, In a country that has placed a Different weight of indignity upon my age-old burdened back. Inferiority is the new load . . . The Indian has endured and still Emerged the winner, The Mestizo must yet overcome, And the gachupín will just ignore. I look at myself And see part of me Who rejects my father and my mother And dissolves into the melting pot To disappear in shame. I sometimes Sell my brother out And reclaim him For my own when society gives me Token leadership In society’s own name.2 Although my experience of the concept of Nepantla has been largely flushed out in the cultural context of ministry, I have noticed that when I describe this to others they quickly make connections to their own lives and contexts. A pastor that is preparing for retirement out of an environment of marginal success into a world where legacy will be haunting is in a Nepantla of sorts. The mother that sends her last child off to college and ponders the future she will have is in a Nepantla. A youth worker that struggles with business as usual, and the congregation that is happy with business as usual, are in their respective Nepantlas. When I describe this concept to people it never takes long for them to acknowledge that we all experience Nepantla of one kind or another. When we do find ourselves in that place it does not seem that there is an effective way to communicate our sense of being lost as well as our sense of looking and learning to belong to what is new. Along with this comes the fear of leaving something behind and the risk of never finding it again.
Traditional
The concept of Nepantla is nothing new to the Latino community; the Chicana poet and writer Gloria Anzaldúa used the term often to describe the sense of living in the areas of the unknown. Being Mexican and American and woman, she spent much time in the realm of Nepantla. This transcendence of borders is common in the Latino community. As a Mexican-American, I am able to identify with the concept in deep and personal ways. Growing up in a small town west of Phoenix, Arizona that was comprised of mostly poor Mexican and Mexican-American families, we lived in a world that made sense to us. We were all basically the same. Growing up in the Lutheran faith and commuting to a suburban Lutheran church made up primarily of middle class suburban white families, I transcended borders all the time. I actually became very good at this. It was not until my early twenties that I began to understand the costs. When I experienced a glass ceiling as a Mexican-American due to issues of race and class, I realized that the inroads that I made into the status quo community of the church were made at the expense to the traditional community that I came from. Many of the connections that I had forged as a child were lost as I put my energy into “making it” in the suburban white culture of the church. When I realized my inability to connect to the larger church and tried to return to
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The implications of this for our church are enormous in its daily ministry, in its efforts of reaching out to a world with out roots. During the course of daily ministry we will often encounter people that are living in Nepantla. I know that personally I have often been perplexed on how to approach some of these overwhelming situations. At times I even feel that they might be easier to avoid entirely. The irony of this is that to a certain extent, at various points in our lives we all live without roots. How do we connect to the young man who is not able to describe the levels of domestic violence that are happening in his home? How to meet the young woman that is struggling with an eating disorder? How do connect with that adopted child from overseas that is coming to realize that they are fully Lutheran, Korean, and middle class white suburban at the same time? In short, how do as church reach out to a world that is searching for their place?
Quoted from the Poem, “I am Joaquín” by Corky Gonzales. Taken from the book, Message to Aztlan edited by Antonio Esquibel. Published by Arte Publico Press, 2001.
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In the area of youth ministry there is what I see as a two-fold Nepantla. The first is the Nepantla that youth live in by being part of a youth culture that rebels against authority and forces “old” people like me to think about the decisions we make and the lip service we pay about participation of young people in our institution of the church. We want them here, but on our terms. At the same time, young people want to be leaders in our church and feel that they must sacrifice some of who they are to be full participants in the church. What emerges is this middle ground where we ask, “Why don’t they come to the meetings?” “Why aren’t they engaged?” And our potential young leaders are wondering and asking, “Why would I want to sit through meetings that seem like such a waste of time?” Or, “What is the point to this?” What is basically happening is that we have young people that want to belong to something and we haven’t always figured out what that is. In frustration we revert to our own status quo comfort zone and push youth back into their traditional youth positions of lock-ins, bowling trips and servant projects. Not that these aren’t important, but is this all we have to offer?
from sin and death and raises us to new life in Jesus Christ. We are united with all the baptized in the one body of Christ, anointed with the gift of the Holy Spirit, and joined in God’s mission for the life of the world.”3 Through the sacrament of baptism we are forever rooted in God’s grace, and love and family. In baptism, we, lives that are seemingly out of God’s reach, come into God’s kingdom through no work of our own. We are saved from the Nepantla that sin causes through this act of grace. The challenge we face as a small slice of God’s workers is that we must to be willing to acknowledge our own brokenness and be open to God’s healing grace for ourselves before we can effectively share this with others. We live with the promise of living in a life-giving relationship with a God that cares deeply for God’s creation. We are in relationship with a God that desires to be in relationship with God’s people. Because of our desire to feel comfortable we often forsake many that find themselves in this middle ground. However, our call as a Christian community is to seek out the afflicted and provide comfort and care. Our own rootedness in Christ is a call to the un-rootedness of this world.
The second area of Nepantla in youth ministry affects the individuals that sense a call to youth ministry. This is especially challenging in that even the best-intentioned people will call a youth ministry professional with the hope that the congregation will be transformed. When the person arrives they are handed a list of projects and activities that they “have always done” and then are given a list of the “most active youth” and told to get to work. Even with the best intentions this struggle between status quo adults and traditional youth culture comes into conflict. Youth workers seem to get caught in the cross fire while sitting in Nepantla.
Nepantla has been this middle ground for the missing in action for generations, but when we stop and listen for a bit we can hear not only the call from Nepantla, but also the call to Nepantla. As many continue to live, grow and survive their own Nepantla, we need to be willing to accept Nepantla, not as a good or bad place, but simply a place. A place to simply be. A place that by the simple fact of survival we see the evidence of God at work.
Complicating this further is that we oftenhire/call individuals that have no business in youth ministry. Under the guise of providing a good person to lead our youth we hire or volunteer the first warm body that wants to hang out with our kids. Sometimes we get lucky, but most of time an entire congregation grows frustrated because the de facto program/social director isn’t getting anywhere with the youth. Yet congregations are not able to connect the dots to realize that they created this situation. The conflict between status quo and tradition seems to overpower any opportunities for real ministry. In this case, Nepantla becomes this place where the Holy Spirit is rooted and our blindness squashes life. Fortunately our theology is one that is entirely rooted. Our faith is rooted in our baptism. Our sense of belonging is rooted our baptism. Our identity is rooted in being a child of God. Through our baptism we are brought into the fold of God’s family and are full participants in God’s mission in the world. “God, who is rich in mercy and love, gives us a new birth into a living hope through the sacrament of baptism. By water and the Word God delivers us 3
Evangelical Lutheran Worship Order for Baptism
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“I am Joaquin” from Message to Aztlán.
I conclude with the final words of Gonzales’ poem: I am Joaquín. The odds are great But my spirit is strong, My faith unbreakable, My blood is pure. I am Aztec prince and Christian Christ. I SHALL ENDURE! I WILL ENDURE!4
Jose Valenzuela is Lead Pastor at Alleluia Lutheran Church in Phoenix, Arizona. Jose has worked with youth in parishes in El Paso, TX, Albuquerque, NM, Brooklyn, NY, and most recently Alleluia. Prior to coming to Alleluia, Jose served as an Assistant to the Bishop in the Grand Canyon Synod. Alleluia is a growing and multiculturally diverse community comprised of life long Lutherans, Mexican immigrants, second and third generation Latinos, Asians, and Africans.
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Rooted A Parent’s Perspective by Debbie Sladek
Here in the northwest we are often buffeted by severe wind storms, sometimes with hurricane force winds. Living in the midst of what is basically a giant forest can be dangerous because the wind can uproot trees and toss them around like toothpicks. The most vulnerable trees are the ones that are isolated or grow within a vary small or narrow forrest stand. Despite being rooted into the earth, their roots have very little to hold onto and are not well-anchored or sheltered by connections to the roots systems of many other trees. Our winter gales easily rip these trees from the ground. I believe that this is a good metaphor for how we root ourselves and our children in God. For children within our congregations, youth ministry plays an integral role in the rooting process. Growing roots that are deeply sank into the fertile soil of faith and well-supported by the roots of others of faith, especially those who are older and more experienced in withstanding the storms of life, is essential. A solidly built youth program isn’t reliant on any one person
that seeks to provide a safe place for youth to grow and establish a wide web of connections with others in the faith. Well-established and strongly-connected roots help youth weather the challenges they face as they grow and mature in their faith. And those providing the support can also strengthen and nurture each other,
(most often the youth director or pastor) but seeks to connect
which is also another key part of any healthy youth ministry. We,
youth to a network of people in the congregation or church at
the church, the network, the congregation, we must be rooted
large, both young and old. It connects the young father whose
together so that all may grow strong in God.
own children are still babies but who volunteers to take the high schoolers out for Sunday morning coffee and and discussion. Or
Debbie Sladek is the Communications Manager
maybe it involves the parents of a junior high girl who offer to
at Children’s Institute for Learning Differences on Mercer Island, WA., a freelance writer and editor, and a volunteer master gardener. Her favorite thing in the world is spending time with her husband and teenaged son at their home in Sammamish, WA.
go along on a summer mission trip as chaperones. Or the senior gentleman who, although his “official” duties as a confirmation prayer partner ended a few years ago, remains actively involved in the life of the youth he partnered with. It’s not always easy for youth leaders to seek out and enlist the help of others (it’s a whole lot easier sometimes to simply do things yourself) but its necessary for growing a stable ministry
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Bible Study Rooted In Grace And Growing In Love by Vicki Foss
The Point In our current lifestyles of throw away or replaceable things, God offers us something different: a deep, solid and abiding love thru Jesus Christ.
Opening (10-15 minutes) Form small groups of students with 3 to 4 students in each group. Each group should receive a paper bag filled with identical numbers of popsicle sticks, a stapler, tape, a couple of forks, some paper clips, rubber bands, a couple of pieces of paper, pipe cleaners, etc. (You know, the random stuff that piles up on your desk and in the corners of your office.) Give each group 5 minutes to build the tallest free standing structure using only what is in their bag.
Ask: What was the hardest part of this activity? What was the most useless item in the bag to build a structure? What is needed to build a solid structure? What kinds of things in the bag did you use as a foundation for your structure and why? Why are some things better than others for foundation building? What kinds of things do we rely on to be our “foundations” in our lives?
Listening & Reflecting (10-15 minutes) Read together Matthew 7:24–27 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” Building on sand is easy. You just pack it down, level it out, and start building. But as anyone who has walked on the beach with waves lapping at their feet can tell you, sand foundations quickly dissolve. Rock is very hard to build on. There is a lot of preparation that goes on before you can build on it. You have to anchor onto the rock to set your footings to begin your building. A lot more work, but worth it! No little wave or rain is going to disintegrate your foundation. No matter where you build your house or what kind of foundation you are on, storms of life come at you. How you weather these storms depends on your foundations. In this passage, what is Jesus promising to people who are willing to live by his words? What does the sand symbolize in our lives? What are the foundations we are to build our “houses” on?
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One More Passage Of Scripture Share: In Ephesians, Paul writes to the church and shares prayer for a deeper experience of God fullness and grace. Ephesians 3:14-19: For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Share: As Lutheran Christians we are a rooted people. We are rooted in the Word of God, which centers our faith on the love and grace of God. We are rooted in Word and Sacrament, receiving the gifts and the promises that God gives freely to all of God’s people. And we are rooted in the Great Commission, which calls us to reach beyond ourselves to people in need to serve as witness to God’s love.
Ask: When have you felt overwhelmed by the love of God? Why would a person need to be rooted in God’s love to understand the depth and breadth of God’s love for us? Can someone with shallow roots or no roots at all understand the same way someone deeply rooted in grace does? Why or why not? How does someone get “rooted” in God’s grace? Is getting “rooted” a one-time deal? Why or why not? How do we continue to grow in God’s love and grace? (Introduce the idea of discipleship habits such as daily prayer, scripture reading, worship, living a life of service to others, stewardship and evangelism.) How can these habits help us continue to grow in faith? (Work as a group to integrate discipleship habits into member’s daily lives as appropriate to each person/groups lives.)
Wrapup & Closing (10-15 minutes) Have students stand up and form a line, shoulder to shoulder, without touching, and hands to their sides. Instruct all to stand on one leg and try to maintain balance as leader gently pushes the student at end of the line, with the idea of trying to make the line crumble and fall. Now have students stand two-footed while the leader gives the end of the line a gentle push.
Ask: Why is the line stronger the second time? (Better footing/foundation.) Say: There is an old hymn that we sing in our congregations called “My Hope Is Built On Nothing Less” by Edward Mote. Here is the first stanza and refrain:
My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand; all other ground is sinking sand.
God continues to reach out to us with something that is solid for us to stand on. God’s love, grace, and mercy is not going to be taken away, won’t fade away, won’t become obsolete, and will not ever change. Life comes at us fast, with all sorts of sandy options that sound good and easy for building our lives on. But good and easy aren’t eternal and that’s what’s different. God’s love is forever and God loves us and that doesn’t change.
Vicki Foss is the Director of Youth and Family Ministries at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Pine City, MN. tions in Brainerd, MN, West Fargo, ND and Rapid City, SD in the past 15 years.
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She has served congrega-
February 4-8, 2010 • Charlotte, North Carolina Extravaganza is for the professional and the volunteer. It is for the old and the young. It is for the urban, the suburban and the rural. It is for pastors, it is for laypeople. It is for all who share in the adventure we call youth and family ministry.
stay tuned at www.elcaymnet.org/extravaganza
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David Scherer (Agapé) 2009 Thomas Hunstad Award Recipient Interview Q: Tell us about your ministry. What do you do? DS: I am a musical minister in the church. I do hip hop, rapping, dancing, story telling. I weave them all together. I try to serve churches, predominantly Lutheran churches, although I do work with other denominations. I try to inspire young people and spread God’s love through hip hop. Q: How’d you get started and how long have you been doing this? DS: I have been doing this full time for nine years, but I’ve rapping since fifth grade and break dancing since first grade. It’s always something I’ve been into.
But the way that I started out professionally was by recording a little three song demo in my room and somehow Kelly Chatman got ahold of it. At the time, Kelly was the national lutheran youth person, and he’s like, “We gotta get this guy to our gig.”
And so he brings me, first gig ever, is in Puerto Rico. Every gig after that has not been quite as fancy as that one... He flies me down to Puerto Rico and I do the gig. At that time I was just a college kid and didn’t have a clue what I was going to be when I grew up. Kelly sees me do my thing and he says to me when I’m done, he just speaks prophecy, “God is going to use you in big ways. God has given you gifts.”
And, I’m like, “Really? Ok!” I’m just sitting there like picking my nose... And when somebody recognizes gifts in you that I didn’t really see and he was able to name it for me, it was like, “Yeah, that is who I am! Maybe not everyone does know how to rap.”
That was the realization wher I said, “Yeah, I’m going to do this.” So, I call my mom up, and I’m like, “Hey mom, guess what I’m going to be? I’m going to be a Christian rapper when I grow up!”
And my mom’s like, “How’s the health insurance? How’s the benefits for a Christian rapper? Have you checked?”
Q: What were you most nervous about? DS: You know, all the questions that Mom brought asked, like, “Are you going to be able to pay your bills?” And of course, is the church ready for this? Are they going to accept it? Am I going to get booed off the stage when I go to Minot, North Dakota?
But I found the opposite to be true. It was this real validation. I remember doing this Winterfest with Charlie Roberts right after I has decided to go full time, and I just remember this outpouring of people saying, “You need to do this.” It was like God saying, “You need to do this.” It just felt really good and doors started to open, and I was like, “Why did I ever doubt? This was meant to be.”
It just felt right. When you’re doing something that God has gifted you to do, it feels like cheating. My work feels like, “Did I really just get to do that?” Every time I walk out of or church, or when I used to do schools, I’d always walk out feeling like I robbed the place – getting a check for what I love to do and what I would have done for free. “They don’t know this, but I would have done this for free.” That’s a good feeling to have. It just feels right.
Watch the entire interview with David Scherer at www.elcaymnet.org/Resources, then choose “Streaming Video Resources”
I said, “I looked at the ELCA pension for rappers, and it’s not good.” So, I just stepped out in faith. And was very nervous at first. But I felt like this is what God wanted me to do.
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The Oasis Convention Center Rooms 220-222 & Rooms 228-230 A decompression chamber for adult leaders and a place of Sabbath. You’ll find couches, comfy chairs, and a place to rest and recharge. Come and sit for a bit. Charge your cell phone, fill your water bottle, and be welcomed.
The Table Convention Center Rooms 217-219 & Rooms 225-227 Bring your lunch and grab a seat. It’s a place to talk with your peers. Your welcomed (but nor required) to enter into conversation about how your group is experiencing the Gathering. Get coached in how to help them process their
Even Superhero
experience. Troubleshoot group problems. Talk together about how to bring this experience ‘home’ so that it
Adult Leaders Need A Place To Take Off Their Masks
strengthens your congregation’s ministry.
Computer Lab Convention Center Room 224
Welcome To
Need a place to check your e-mail? Got something you absolutely need to print? Looking for a card reader to upload
The Adult Academy!
photos for your congregation to see? This is the spot!
The Adult Academy is a space for adult group leaders at the 2009 ELCA Youth Gathering to come together for renewal and connection.
The Resource Room Convention Center Rooms 231-232 Interested in resources for youth and family ministry? Our partner resource-providers have materials out on display
The Academy will be open daily from 12:00 pm-5:00 pm and is located in the Convention Center rooms 215-232.
for you to take a look at. You might find stuff to strengthen your work with young people!
It’s a space just for you.
The Adult Academy is a partnership between the ELCA Youth Gathering and the ELCA Youth Ministry Network. The Network is an independent organization of professional and volunteer youth ministry leaders from congregations throughout the ELCA. Information about the Network can be found at www.elcaymnet.org.
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DID YOU KNOW? We value your membership in the Network. And so do lots of other folks. As a Network member you have access to some tremendous discounts from the following organizations who want to support you and your ministry:
Discounts from resource & service providers:* • • • • • • • •
Center for Youth Ministries at Wartburg Seminary Impression Media Group Lutheran Life Coaching TXTSignal Trinity Lutheran College’s Children, Youth and Family Ministry Center The Youth and Family Institute Youth Leadership Center for Youth and Family Ministries Youth Specialties
Network Members also receive: • • • • • • •
A registration discount for the Network’s annual Extravaganza! Discounted tuition for the Network’s Online Training Initiative (beginning in the fall of 2009) Online access to a National Youth Ministry Network Directory A subscription to “Connect”, our quarterly journal for youth and family ministry The Annual Salary Survey results A free Hertz #1 Gold Club Membership Access to video of keynote speakers from past Extravaganzas
* For more information on discounts, visit www.elcaymnet.org/discounts
Youth in Mission programs for 2009 Serving Christ in the World—June 13 – July 4, 2008
Current high school sophomores and juniors will explore how God is calling them to serve in the world. This three-week immersion takes youth to Chicago, and Mexico. In the classroom and in local communities the youth discover ways to serve Christ in the world. Applications are due ASAP.
Beyond Belief—Year-Round Opportunity
Beyond Belief connects high school youth groups with the seminary and with Chicago’s service organizations for ministry opportunities. Youth group leaders are able to mold the program to fit their group’s spiritual and scheduling needs. Please call to inquire about Youth Center housing availability prior to registration.
Pastoral Care for Youth: A Conference for Youth Ministry Workers— April 20–22, 2009 Our first annual conference for youth ministry workers and clergy will be held at LSTC. This year’s topic, chosen by a panel of youth ministry workers, is Pastoral Care for Youth. The keynote speaker will be Prof. Robert Dykstra from Princeton Theological Seminary. Registration closes, March 20th. More information about our programs and events can be found by contacting us at: 800-635-1116 ext 725 or 773-256-0725
youthinmission@lstc.edu www.lstc.edu/yim yimad09.indd 1
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12/8/08 2:43:57 PM
A View From Elsewhere On Being Rooted And Grounded by George Baum
As a child, I often found myself in trouble. (Gee, how’s that for a
communion that we called our youth group, I did find some people
passive-voice dodge?) I guess you could say I was an unruly child—
who were rooting for me. Though I spent Monday through Saturday
Maybe because I was a middle child, maybe because I was left-
staring at the purple walls of my attic bedroom, on Sundays I found
handed, maybe just because my father and I were so very opposite
myself surrounded by people who seemed to care, who heard my sto-
in temperament and outlook on life—I wasn’t a particular color of
ries and felt my pain. In that windowless church basement I found
sheep in our family; I was more like a goat.
a group that could ground me in the midst of being grounded and
My father, exasperated with my behavior and poor grades in
ground-down. A group that rooted me, and rooted for me.
school, did what any stoic, German-Lutheran, only child with four
My youth group didn’t erase my pain, or even lobby my father for
boys would do: he beat me and grounded me. Not to excess really .
early release for good behavior. (After all, that would’ve required
. . except for the grounding. I spent entire semesters of my teenage
some good behavior.) But they met me in the midst of my pain, ac-
years confined to my bedroom. Grounding became a way of life me
cepted me as I was, and gave me hope that somehow things might
. . . the solitary confinement of a wayward youth. In my isolation, I
be different in the future.
was constantly grounded, and being ground-down as well. What would become of me? How would I ever learn to survive
And you know what? Things are different. Obviously, I am no longer grounded in my room and from the telephone. But I remain
if I spent my formative years locked in my bedroom? As I rooted
grounded in the sense of seeking out communities of faith, wherever
around for answers, I sensed no one was rooting for me. I was
I am. After being grounded and ground-down as I teen, I am now
very much alone, much of the time. Having played piano nearly
grounded as I grind-on in adulthood. In rooting to find meaning
all my life, I turned to music, and began writing songs. Since I
in my teenage isolation, I encountered the One rooting for me,
couldn’t possibly do my homework and admit that the punishment
throughout my entire life.
was working, I spent hours writing lyrics and fooling around with
My, oh my, the meaning of words . . .
chord progressions. (Those eventually paid off, but that’s a story for another time.)
George Baum plays in the band, Lost And Found
The one thing I was allowed to do outside the house was go to
(www.speedwood.com), and lives with his family in New York City, where he is in his fourth and final year (Godwilling) of seminary.
church. I’m not going to say my pastor’s sermons led me to Jesus or that our incomprehensible confirmation class was a window into the God of the universe, but I will say this: in the tiny dysfunctional
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On The Way by Bill Bixby
We took a risk with our gardens this spring. Sandy and I are reshaping our garden beds and redesigning our plantings. So, on one gorgeous and sunny (rare in Chicago, in April!) Saturday, flush with enthusiasm and utterly lacking in gardening sense, we transplanted several species of perennial wildflowers and small shrubs. We knew it was a risk. But we couldn’t hold back. And within several weeks we noticed something. A few of the species, predictably, had a really hard time. Duh! We stressed them in a period of furious growth, when bulbs and root balls are sending fresh probes and filaments into the warming soil and sending green stalks up and leaves out into the warming air.
by the many relocations and dislocations that make up contemporary experience, we are made resilient and courageous by a deeprooting in the Word. Through the Book of Faith Initiative (www.bookoffaith.org), we are claiming and extending the many ways that the church is deeprooted—for life!—in God’s Word. I hope that you are finding ways to open Scripture and join the conversation—with young people— for sending new roots down and new shoots up, for good growing.
You’re a tree replanted in Eden, bearing fresh fruit every month. Never dropping a leaf,
We knew it was a huge risk—premature death for otherwise sturdy plants—a gardening scarlet letter for us.
always in blossom. (Psalm 1:3, The Message)
Amazingly, though, some of the other perennials—the wild phlox, and the dwarf peonies—struggled for ten days, then stood tall and got right on with good growing. “We be back!” they shouted.
In the Way, and the powerful Word, with you,
(They’re still watching us closely, however.)
Bill Bixby, who has been an ELCA pastor for twenty-two years and a blessed-by-youth minister for even longer, lives and serves in Chicago, IL as Director for Youth Ministry. From 2000 to 2007, Bill served (and sometimes taught at) two ELCA seminaries in a lively project of theological and vocational discovery with teens.
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This issue of Connect focuses on effective youth and family ministry being rooted, being grounded: in the Living Word, in the justifying Word, in the love-storying and love-sharing Word. The very good news about this grounding in the Word which is Jesus, the Word which is grace-full promise, and the Word which is the whole story we love to tell, is this: this grounding is portable. When this Word is worked into the marrow of our spirits, the very fabric of our lives and faith practices, then it moves with us wherever we go. When our lives are grounded, when our formation ministries with young people are grounded, in the Word, disciples don’t just survive transplanting; they thrive! So then, whenever our lives are uprooted
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Calendar of Events 2009
2010
2009 ELCA YOUTH GATHERING: JESUS JUSTICE JAZZ July 22-26, 2009 (Gathering) New Orleans, LA Information: www.elca.org/gathering
ELCA Youth Ministry Network Extravaganza February 4-8, 2010 (Intensive Care Courses Feb. 4-5, Main Event Feb. 5-8) Westin Hotel, Charlotte, NC www.elcaymnet.org/Extravaganza
July 19-22, 2009 (Definitely-Abled Youth Leadership Event and Multicultural Youth Leadership Event) New Orleans, LA DAYLE information: www.elca.org/lyo/dac MYLE information: www.elca.org/lyo/mac July 26-30, 2009 (Triennial Convention of the Lutheran Youth Organization) Hattiesburg, MS Information: www.elca.org/lyo/
The Fund For Theological Education in conjunction with The Calling Congregations Initiative fall conference: “Awaken Young Lives to the Call” October 8–10, 2009 Georgia Tech Hotel & Conference Center, Atlanta, GA Information: www.thefund.org/conference/
Council of Synod LYO Presidents (CSLYOPs) 2009 November 5–8, 2009 Hosted by South/Central Illinois Synod at the Lake Williamson Conference Center, Carlinville, IL Information: www.elca.org/gathering
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2010 Ecumenical Youth Workers Summit December 1–4, 2010 Walt Disney World Resort, Orlando, FL
ELCA Youth Ministry
your Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday partner in ministry.
ELCA Youth Ministry
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 8765 West Higgins Road Chicago, IL 60631 1-800-638-3522 www.elca.org/youth www.elca.org/lyo www.elca.org/gathering 23
ELCA Youth Ministry Network 11821 98th Pl. N., Maple Grove, Mn 55369
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