Catalyst, NYWC, Open Space and Future Conventions Part 3

From Catalyst's blog

There's an interview with Seth Godin by who I assume is a Catalyst staff member. When Seth is asked about the future of what's next for him, here's his response. Seth is right on the money here.

Seth: "What's next for me, is what's next for you. I think we're gonna now see and explosion of people who are going to do things that are remarkable. That are worth talking about. That are extraordinary. And everyday I'm encountering more and more people who are doing that. So this idea that we need to go to the stadium and watch Bob Dylan sing the song isn't as likely going forward as it's going to be that we're all going to set around a circle and sing to each other. that people are doing things in industries and venues that I never would have expected just a couple years ago. And this homemade model, homemade leadership, homemade insight, homemade difference making is going to explode in the next few years. I think that's where it's going to come from. Not from me."

Catalyst Interviewer: "So what's next for you is what's next for me."

Seth: "I think so."

Catalyst, NYWC, Open Space and Future Conventions Part 2

If we believe that relationships are center of ministry. That withness and incarnation and community is central to gospel then why doesn't this show in our conventions? Granted many if not most of the NYWC speakers or seminar leaders hang out at length with the convention community. There are relationships built and I think this is the best thing about the conventions in my mind. Yes these folks have something to say, and many of them spend as much time in conversation during their seminar listening as they do speaking. These folks rock. Got to love these guys. But they feel a pressure, because some of the folks in the room feel ripped off. they didn't pay $400 to attend a convention to listen to a group ask questions to the expert.

For those attending ATL this weekend. Skip a general session. Shoot, skip all but one of the general sessions. Instead stand in the hallway and gather people together and invite each other to tell stories, go get some ice cream, or a beer, or coffee. Share a meal. Open your lives to each other. Ask about family, ask about work, ask about passions... ask ask ask ask ask. and then ask some more.

Give the Open Space a try. Believe that you have something to offer the community, because you do. YOU do.

Talk about a challenge or even better yet, talk about a dream or a collective possibility. Talk about your neighborhood, or your addiction or hobby.

Transformation is never efficient. Transformation often seems like a waste.

Cop an attitude in ATL. An attitude that you will hold yourself responsible for your ministry and no seminar leader is going to give you the magic solution to your problem. Insight maybe. but that's just as likely to come form the 21 yr old or 65 yr old sitting next to you in the session you skipped.

NYWC is about you and ministry. The schedule can get in the way. rewrite the rules. find ways of meeting people.

corner speakers in hallways and get to know them.
don't accept that they know what's best for you.
If they tell you to not to quit, or to stick with it, understand that they have no idea what your circumstances actually are and they are speaking into great void.

Don't be impressed by numbers.
Don't compare yourself to others or let them subtly compare themselves to you.
No one is allowed to define success for you and your ministry, no one but God. everyone else is guessing and speakers tend to be bad guessers.

In fact feel compassion and sympathy for speakers who need to tell you numbers or drop names. Don't get angry or frustrated. These are good people. Show'em some love.

Make the NYWC your convention. do things that bring you joy with others. celebrate ever morning and evening with your peers. you get to do youth ministry. they get you. you need each other.

exchange contact info with as many people as you can. shoot for 10.

10 people you've spent time with.

thank God you're on this journey. no matter how hard. listen to the holy spirit.
keep your responsibilities yours, don't try to give them away. don't play the victim.

God is fond of you. NYWC is at it's best when you embrace you make it what it is.
NYWC isn't wonderful because of any speaker, or consultant. It's amazing because you are there, being you.

It will be what you make it. So let's do this together. What do you think?

Catalyst, NYWC, Open Space and Future Conventions

I've held my tongue for too long.
I need to get something off my chest.

The best conventions for pastors or youth ministry really aren't all that good. the world has changed and they haven't. Sure there are conventions like Catalyst that come off as cutting edge, (and maybe they are) but they will go the way of the pay phone in the next 4 years.

This and other conventions are put on by big-hearted good people.

Loving people. People who are using their creativity and gifts.

But it's killing the church.

If you think the best way to be a catalyst is to gather 15,000 people, sit in a big room facing a stage for 3 days then I'd like to revisit your understanding of transformation. It also says a lot about how much you actually believe in the 15,000 people you talk at/toward for days on end. It says a lot about your understanding of discipleship. It says a lot about the potential the 15,000 have to make a difference for those in the room and the world. The way you gather people says something to me. No matter what you have to say. Inspiration and motivation is nice. Giving lip-service to leadership or empowerment though is laughable. The way you convene says volumes about what you really think about the abilities of the people in the room. You know what they need. And you give it to them. You hold all the power and you probably feel a great deal of responsibility. To be fair, the people have bought in. They don't think they can do it with out you. They'll pay thousands of dollars to come hear you, the experts, speak to them and tell them the answers. The leaders need you. Their churches need you. Maybe you should supply preaching thru video to them... You and the other conventions are full of passionate people who believe what you say. again, all these are good people.

good people who believe the lie that there is an illusive answer to their problem, or situation that will save them. You save them from their ignorance and in doing so, you add to it by feeding the monster.

For years conventions have made leaders into followers and disciples into consumers. Whether it be a breakout session/lab or a main stage, church leaders give you the responsibility for their decisions and in doing so, they get to play the victim rather then the empowered. in doing this you get to meet their needs, but in reality you get to justify your own style of leadership or service that you provide. Convention attendee's collude with you by accepting your terms and definition of their needs. This is the breeding ground for entitlement. The convention providers feel the stakes raise every years (is the a world record to break? a guy to dive from a 30 ft tower into a 1 ft deep kiddie pool or the next cool artist or speaker?) Not only do the convention speakers feel it, but so do the attendees. They want more. and why not? They can burn thru a steady stream of products that claim to have the answer to all that ails them and feel the freedom of not being responsible for the actual answer.

All this in the name of the kingdom.

There's a need for a new kind of experience.

One in which power is given back. In which people are given back responsibility for their ministry and their lives and the way they gather shows it. Where the people of the church is actually valued in practice, not simply as the hope of the world. The kingdom isn't build by great leadership, but by great disciples.

Disciples empowered by God, not by you. You have no power to give them that doesn't already belong to them. Unless you've been hording it.

So it's time. Stop building pay phones. Stop stock piling quarters.

Open space at the NYWC is a good start. it's a step in the right direction.

What say you?

For my tulsa friends

I'm wondering if the idea of a church in Tulsa is able to talk on different, less traditional forms. At least organizationally.

What might a church in tulsa look like if it empowered it's people to be the church. Instead of the starting point being centralized with a grandiose agenda, or mechanism.

What might church look like if it believed in people, viewed them as generally competent to make good decisions for their lives?
What might a church look like if people of a church believed this about themselves?

What might church look like if the viability of the community was completely dependent upon people holding themselves accountable (individually and maybe corporately) for the well being of their neighbor?

What might a church look like that gave away every penny it brought in for the real needs of those neighbors?

What if church was a way of life, something you live into each moment of the day, something you are, and/or something we call the space the people of the way inhabit every room they enter?

What if this local community was defined more by the way they believed rather than what they believe?
What if the people were self selected themselves to be in this church because of how they live, rather than where they meet?

What if this way was committed to a variety of expressions and even competing agendas of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness?


Eikon in tulsa has taken a few forms and I'm wondering aloud here about it's future. MY original plan was to have multiple houses for groups to meet and be the church. I don't have time to make my plan happen. I'm not sure my plan is all that great.

What would you see as a benefit to you in a church like this?
What do you see as the connecting point to your dreams for this community?
What are the characteristics you currently live in your life and how might a connection to this kind of church be helpful or not?

What say you?