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Network Blog

What's new in the world of the ELCA Youth Ministry Network, with random other ministry thoughts scattered throughout.

Network Board Meeting

Todd Buegler - Saturday, October 18, 2008
The Network's Board of Directors has been meeting Thursday, yesterday, and today  at the St. Raphaela's Retreat Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  It has been a good meeting!  There have been lots of items of business that have come up in the last few days.  In the very near future, we will be posting the Board's meeting minutes for people to review.  

One of the highlights was at lunch today when we had 8-10 youth ministers from the Southeast Pennsylvania Synod join us for lunch.  It was casual, but the conversation was rich.  We just spent time talking about their congregational ministry, hearing their stories, enjoying their company, laughing and connecting.  Much of the thinking with these good people, as it is with many youth ministers around the country, I'm sure, is around the financial crisis and its impact on congregational finances.  Extra pressure is going to be added to congregations (and their youth and family ministry leaders) to figure out ways of raising funds.  This is going to be a significant challenge.

This is a good group of people, gathered here for this meeting.  The Network's board is really committed to the health and vitality of the Network, and of the ecology of youth and family ministry as a whole.  

More to come on their work...

Jackets?

Todd Buegler - Sunday, October 05, 2008
Much has been going on since my last entry.  Most of it has been Extravaganza related...figuring out transportation...New Orleans tours...etc...

We're launching the first promotion in the history of the Extravaganza.  We want to encourage folks to bring new-comers, and to thank those that do.  So those who bring a first-timer, who talk someone into coming...they get a jacket.  They're pretty nice.  It should be a very cool thing.  

We're also entering into a partnership with LACE that will allow their members to participate in the Extravaganza at the Network membership rates.  We're able to do that this year...we'll see how it goes after that.

Otherwise, news about other stuff will be surfacing soon!  


Ed Kay is my hero

Todd Buegler - Thursday, September 25, 2008
Ed Kay, the youth ministry staff person from the Delaware/Maryland Synod, just brought the Network display to an event to represent the Network.

Thanks for doing that Ed.  It is face to face, relational/viral conversation that the Network is going to grow.  Are you interested in bringing the display to an event?  Let me know!

Peace,
Todd. 

The new "Connect" Journal is out

Todd Buegler - Friday, September 19, 2008
The new issue of "Connect", focusing on "Servant (Trans)Formation" is out on "newsstands".  (Sort of)  Copies for members are in the mail as of Monday, and I've shipped around 300 more to colleges, etc, this morning.

It's a pretty good issue, I think.  As with almost anything, there are more questions than answers.  But there are good thoughts.

We've got to to to New Orleans

Todd Buegler - Wednesday, September 17, 2008
I was heartened to see the initial registration numbers for the ELCA Youth Gathering next summer.  According to an ELCA press release, they received over 22,000 registrations in the first 36 hours of registration.  Is this as fast as it has filled in the past?  No, in the heyday of registrations (if I remember correctly, the last time that they were in New Orleans in 1997) the Gathering filled completely in a single day and over 9000 were unfortunately turned away (including the congregation in which my wife served...I try not to bring up the fact that my congregation got in and hers didn't...it's still something of a sore subject).

Anyway, the registration for the 2009 Gathering was quite respectable.  The event will fill, I'm confident.  And I find joy in this. 

The event is in New Orleans, and in the last year, I have heard a lot of buzz and concern about the event being in New Orleans.  Concerns about safety and security...concerns about health and welfare...concerns about the new model...concerns about whether the city would be ready after Katrina...

Here's what I've decided:

Those things are important...to a point.  But beyond that, not only do those concerns diminish, the need and the necessity for us to be in New Orleans grows.

I was in New Orleans about a year ago as a part of a 'think team' about the Gathering.  We were approaching the 2nd anniversary of the storm.  The number of FEMA trailers I saw that were still being used...the piles of rubble still waiting to be taken away...the church in which we met that still didn't have postal service...2 years later.  And the would to the spirit was unbelievable.  People walked around as if they were bearing a weight that you could almost see.

When it was first announced that the 2009 Gathering was going to be in New Orleans, I took it in stride.  But I have to admit that my first reaction was "<sigh>, ok, here we go again."  I was at the 95 Gathering and  my group, housed in a hotel right ON Bourbon Street had...shall we say, some "ineresting" experiences.  I didn't share concerns related to the storm, but rather just an overall sense of resignation as to what was coming.

But now, after being there a year ago, I am completely resolute:  We need to be in New Orleans.  That city needs the hope of the Gospel, and we need to be there with them in the midst of it.  There needs to be a witness to the serving heart of God for the people in New Orleans, and there needs to be some serious work done.  And our community needs to experience the lives of the city and the people.  Our community needs to see how people have lived in the midst of a grace of God that has often felt hidden after the storm.  

I am glad to be in New Orleans in February for the Exravaganza, and I am even more glad to be there with the Gathering and with the young people of my congregation next summer.  I hope you'll be there alongside us.

Pax,
Todd. 

Let's Stop Saying "Student Ministry"

Todd Buegler - Friday, September 12, 2008
Dr. Christian Smith, the Director of the National Study of Youth and Religion recently submitted a short article to Group Magazine about the language we use to describe the ministry we do.  I've long been troubled by the phrase "Student Ministry", but could never put my finger securely on the reasoning why.  

Dr. Smith does a great job putting into words, an argument about paying close attention to how we refer to young people.  I wanted to share that with you.  To see the complete article, please see the September 8, 2008 copy of Group.

In 2001, when I began to ramp-up my work on the National Study of Youth and Religion(NSYR, youthandreligion.org) by immersing myself in the world of U.S. ministryto teenagers, I was shocked to learn that the terms youth, youth ministry, andyouth minister had been replaced by student, student ministry, and studentminister. I don’t know how or why the terminology changed—I suspect it hassomething to do with an undercurrent desire to increase youth ministry’srespectability in comparison to other church ministries.

In any case,calling teenagers students is a travesty that must stop. Please, please changethe language back to youth and teenagers. Here’s why:
  1. A lot of teenagers are, in fact, not students. Many are school dropouts. Are they not worthy of Christian youth ministry? Do we want to systematically exclude them through our labels? Also, some teenagers are home-educated. Do they not belong in the youth group because they’re not students like their peers who attend traditional schools? Jesus is for all teenagers. Why adopt the constrictive student ministry when not all youth are students?
  2. Student ministry subtly (and oddly) singles out teenagers from the whole people of God. No church has an Employed Adult Ministry or a Home-maker Minister or Retired Seniors Minister. So why should the church define its ministry to youth around the institutional social status of student? I think this label subtly isolates youth as a subculture to be treated differently. The church needs to be moving in the exact opposite direction when it comes to teenagers.
  3. Student lingo passively allows the culture’s dominant institutions to define for the church who youth are and how the church thinks about them. Young people, especially in view of the gospel, are fundamentally persons, not students. Their status as students is only one aspect of some teenagers’ lives, and often a very unhappy one at that!

Why should the church embrace the categoriesand vocabulary of our schooling society, with all its performance-basedstructures and practices? We should, instead, push back on society’s labels byinsisting that teenagers are referenced by the full depth, richness, andcomplexity of their personhood. They should be hearing from us: “Unlike most ofthe rest of society, we understand and value you in the fullness of who you are.Here among God’s people we know you as real human persons—you don’t have toperform to be accepted here. Please be your real selves.”

When I talk toyouth ministers about this, most tell me they’ve never reflected on theimplications of tagging teenagers with a student label. Well, I think it’s timeto think about it. There’s no good reason to define youth through the lens of asingle social role. Our terms shape what we assume and how we think. I’m askingChristian youth workers all over the country (you!) to change your “shaping”language—to use language that honors teenagers as whole human persons in God’skingdom. Please stop calling teenagers students, and ask everyone around you todo the same.
______________________________________

Chris is the director of the National Study of Youthand Religion, co-author of the resulting book Soul Searching, William R. Kenan,Jr. professor of sociology at the University of Notre Dame, and director of theCenter for the Study of Religion and Society. He lives in Indiana. 

Extravaganza Updates

Todd Buegler - Monday, September 08, 2008
Yesterday we discovered a problem with the online Extravaganza registration process.  We had a small piece of bad html code that meant that when you clicked on "submit" at the end of form, it DID register you, but it did NOT take you to the onlne payment section.  That's a problem.  But we're pretty sure we've got it fixed last night.  Now I'm just waiting for someone to try to register for the E so we can discover if there is a problem.

Waiting.

Still waiting.

Register please.  And then e-mail me at Todd@elcaymnet and let me know...

The link to online housing is also not up yet.  The Sheraton in New Orleans is just moving back from the last evacuation, and it appears that there will be a city-wide evacuation again later this week.  I figure we're not going to get that link until late next week at the earliest.  Check back to the housing page.

I heard from a new youth director who was a college roommate of one of the youth who was in my group.  That's pretty fun...and makes me feel pretty old.

Peace,
Todd.

All Good

Todd Buegler - Wednesday, September 03, 2008
It appears that everything is working properly!  I'm thankful for that!

Good buzz about the online training project.  The e-news put the word out this wee and we got great feedback, good questions and lots of enthusiasm.  Also thankful for that!

Linked to New Orleans

Todd Buegler - Monday, September 01, 2008
The Lutheran church has always had, I thought, a kind of a strange link to the city of New Orleans.  When I started in ministry 21 years ago, the old ALC (pre-merger) was just a few years from their most recent national youth gathering in New Orleans.  Just a few years later, we were there ourselves for an ELCA Youth Gathering.  The Extravaganza has been there, and our sisters and brothers in the Missouri Synod have been to New Orleans for youth gatherings at least twice.   Since Katrina, countless ELCA groups have been to New Orleans to assist in clean up and rebuilding, and of course, in 2009 the both the Extravaganza and the Youth Gathering will be back there.

That's why I've paid special attention to the news in the last 48 hours.  I know that city.  I've been to the spots where the national reporters are reporting from. 

Many of us will be in New Orleans next summer for the gathering, and to serve.  We've had in our mind what it's going to be like, and the kind of work that will need to be done.  But we forget:  nature is still at work.

Gustav is, as I write this, spinning through New Orleans and the gulf coast region. 

And we, as a community, are connected.

Please pray.  For the city...for the people...please pray.

"The Web Site" and "Toxicity"

Todd Buegler - Friday, August 29, 2008
The Web Site
Well, the Network web site project is mostly done.  We think most of the bugs are taken care of.  A couple of people have reported some trouble logging in, but that may be a product of the security settings in their browser.  We added tonight the "lost your password?" link on the main page and worked on a few other minor details.  I'm not yet completely confident that the online "store" is working completely, we did test it twice today and it worked fine.  But I'm waiting for someone else to register for the E or to renew/join so I can see if it will work.

Toxicity
I have a friend who works in a neighboring congregation.  On Tuesday, his sr pastor called him at home in the evening and asked him to come in for a meeting.  At that meeting, he was told that his position was being eliminated because of budget problems.  My friend wasn't completely surprised; there had been signs of financial trouble.  He is a good man, and he was a gifted youth minister.

And I understand that this happens to people every single day.  Lots of people get laid off.  But this is somewhat different.  In the 21 years that I have served in this community, there has been significant turnover.  Probably 7-8 youth ministers, and another 8-10 pastors.  

There are root causes for everything, and I can't pretend to know what is going on internally in that place.  But I do know that there is a level of toxicity there.  There is conflict.  There is a breakdown in communication between the members and the leadership.  What happens in congregations that allows a spirit of divisiveness to become dominant?  

  • So now, in a community with a very young demographic, there is a congregation with no staff person assigned to youth ministry.  
  • So now, there is a good man who is job hunting.  I fear that the scorch marks that surround his psyche might keep him away from the congregation.  While he would serve well wherever he goes, I grieve for the congregation that he doesn't serve in if he chooses to leave congregational youth and family ministry.
  • So now there are young people in a congregation and the primary leadership has been let go.  Not that it's dependent on one staff person.  It's not.  Volunteers can probably pick up some of the slack.  However, what kind of a message does this send to the congregation...to the community.
Sometimes I wish we could publish a list:  "Congregations that are unhealthy and you should stay away from."  Probably not wise.  But is there something we can do to support these individuals?  To help congregations grow?  Is there a way we can walk alongside people in this process?  I'd love to hear your suggestions. 

I don't have answers.  Books have been written on the subject. 

I ask you to pray for this congregation.  Pray for this man.  Pray for their young people.  And please pray for all congregations who are in conflict.  Pray for a Spirit of grace to be unleashed.  Pray for a Spirit of forgiveness and tolerance to become dominant.  Pray for peace in communities.

Thank you!