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about 23 hours ago.
Excited to announce that Travis Prouty has joined the High School Team at Saddleback Church. He’s a great volunteer-turned-staff who is going to be a great minister. Travis has been working on Saddleback’s facilities team for close to 8 years, so knows servanthood and has a big heart for students. Pumped about working alongside this guy!
JG
Posted By Kurt Johnston
I apologize for the distance between my last post and this one…been a bit crazy.
A sixth contributing factor to my longevity is to simply choose to lead differently. Here are a few ways I have tried (I don’t always get it right) to lead over the years: Here?s a new idea: SERVANT LEADERSHIP! I‘m shocked at how many Christian leaders preach and teach about servant leadership, yet fail to actually practice the concept. Here’s my hunch: Everybody starts as a servant leader because we have to in order to gain the trust and respect of our fellow leaders, to earn the trust of people we lead and, frankly, because we are low man on the totem pole….servant leadership isn’t an option early in a ministry career. But as we move up the ranks, gain influence and responsibility, it becomes very easy to slip into a leadership mindset that is just about everything except servant oriented (dare I say “Jesus oriented”?). Don?t ask others to do something you?re not willing to do (everybody says this, but few mean it) Again, I hear it all the time, but don’t see it in action. I think most leaders used to do the stuff they now ask others to do, but many are simply unwilling to re-engage at that level. Obviously, you can’t always do the stuff you used to do, but a healthy leader gets his/her hands dirty…a lot!
Empower, Empower, Empower Leadership gets [...]
You are right, there are far more dangerous jobs than youth ministry. I am extremely thankful that my husband does not stare down the barrel of a gun. I cannot imagine the kind of strength a wife would need for that. No matter what the job each one of us, including myself, has and will face great tragedies. Just in each day there are so many ups and downs. Our lives are sprinkled with many different feelings and emotions from happiness to thankfulness, to frustration to sorrow. My hope is that not one of us would deny ourselves the right to feel validated in each and every feeling that we have that gets mixed up inside of us. I hope that in some small way this blog may be a place for someone in ministry to feel heard, connected, and uplifted through a comment, a funny story, or a serious post. And what I love so much about this community of women is the honesty shared about their lives, and the tone that we all take loving God and our husbands seriously but don’t take ourselves too seriously.
I write this in no way with a defensive voice, but with so much concern that many pastor’s wives are told that their feelings are silly or not important. Whether from someone at church or their own inner dialogue. Our “perspective” should be to accept and embrace our feelings whatever they may be and then with God [...]
Our good friend (and founder) Thom Schultz has an interesting take on one of the ongoing debates in youth missions – Are they really worth it?
Short-Term Missions A Waste?
What do you think? Did Thom get it right?
Enjoy the sneak peek of the next issue of Group Magazine! This issue includes the exclusive Salary Survey, interview with Rachel Cruze of DaveRamsey.com, and the NEW Digital version of Group Magazine! (Oh and something called the youth worker lifestyle magazine is coming soon!)
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I just posted a new free download on CollegeLeader. It’s an inside look into a college students struggle with an eating disorder. It’s her own articulation of it and is a paper she turned in for a counseling class she was taking. It’s very insightful into this struggle and I think can provide a great help to us who want to know more about this issue and how we can help. To download, click here
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