Posts tagged ‘ministry’

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December 6, 2011

the other december 4 birthday

I would say “my daddy loves me and he’ll never go away”
Bull****, do you even remember December’s my birthday?

Jay-Z, Where Have You Been

Today is December 6, but for one more day this site will remain stuck on December 4. But it’s my site so I can do whatever I want. Plus, my boy Marty has a fly DeLorean that helps when there’s too much awesome to cram into one day.

December 4 just gets crowded. Elli’s birthday. Last year Oregon was playing Oregon State for a birth in the Natty. And every year since the day in 1969 that Fred Hampton was murdered, it’s been Shawn Corey Carter’s birthday.

Not that I often celebrate or care about celebrity birthdays, but Jay-Z has so woven the date into his lyrics that it’s hard to forget. That, and depending on your opinion of Jeff Bridges, he is the most famous person to share a birthday with my daughter. So the whole thing is highlighted in my brain.

My feelings on Jay-Z regarding his place in my pantheon of favorite rappers are a mixed bag. On the one hand, he’s at his best when he’s articulating what it was like to grow up without a father. To me, it’s one of his greatest contributions to the rap game, because few do it as well as he does. And with his broad appeal, there’s a lot of value in his ability and willingness to really dig into the emotions of growing up without an active father.

I had to lace up my boots even harder. Father is too far away to father.

–Jay-Z, So Ambitious

From a sociological standpoint, the issue of fatherlessness in the urban core amongst African Americans was one of the most pressing issues. That was one of my biggest takeaways from my time in urban ministry. There are certainly a lot of issues to address in urban ministry, but when you strengthen families it makes it a lot easier to chip away at the other problems*. I appreciate how Jay-Z digs into that issue, and hope that hie lyrics serve as a kind of advocacy for the problem of fatherlessness in America.

*The other most pressing issues on my list: education, safety and both economic/racial segregation. The third is especially of concern for me when looking at church demographics and housing patterns.

On a personal level, they do just that. They remind me that my duties as a father to former orphans are important. They serve as a cautionary warning that when I don’t handle my parenting responsibility with the utmost intentionality and seriousness that the repercussions can be incredibly damaging. They are the constant whisper that of all of the titles I might accumulate over the years, “Dad” is one of the most important.

 

Not that there aren’t opportunities to critique Jay-Z’s body of work. I agree with Chuck D’s assessment that Watch the Throne was incredibly disappointing on a lyrical in that it was little more than a swag album. While it realized it’s commercial and ear-candy potential, it fell flat when it came to the opportunity to make a statement. And therein lies the fundamental weakness with Jay-Z’s body of work. Much like the American Church, Jay-Z masterfully outlines problems with this life, but leans too much on themes of self-destructive themes of over-indulgence to cement his stature and place in society. Unlike the American Church however, he’s unapologetically self-aware.

Truthfully I wanna rhyme like Common Sense (But I did five mil) I ain’t been rhymin like Common since.

–Jay-Z, Moment of Clarity

Renew and Restore

 

 

 

 

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May 13, 2011

will my ‘urban entry’ class this semester hold up as my best class ever?

A couple of weeks ago I was in Kansas City and I ran into adampaul. As long as “intentionally going to a place I knew he would be” counts as “ran into”.

Semantics.

Anyway, dude was like, “It looks like you’ve found a job that’s right in our wheelhouse sweet spot.” I was like, “Yeah”. I guess. It’s not that it isn’t, but in my last two trips to KC I’ve been reminded that the job I left was pretty dang wheelhouse sweet spot. Maybe I have a big wheelhouse sweet spot. Maybe I’m a chameleon. Maybe one of the jobs is more wheelhouse sweet spot than the other. Who knows?

What adampaul was referring to is the obvious joy that I convey about my job through this site and the Twitter. It’s genuine. There is something incredibly energizing about working on a college campus. And having a job that includes many different tasks certainly fits my personality as a person who doesn’t like to sit still and who is occasionally distracted.

Hey look, a blue car.

As I wrap up my first “year” on the job (I’m on a 10-month contract) and look back on the experience, one part of the year stands above the rest as my favorite: teaching Urban Entry. It was the best of all worlds. The class serves to prepare students who may want to go into urban ministry someday. From 1:10pm – 2:00pm each Monday, Wednesday and Friday I got to talk about urban ministry, inequality, race, CCDA, hiphop, theology and history. I called it the “power hour”.

Adding to the experience was the fact that class members were so very enjoyable to spend time with. The class only had five students, even though I spent the better part of a month hyping the experience up to anyone who would listen. While my lobbying increased the class population from 4 to 5 students (a whopping 25%!), my hype machine wasn’t widely embraced. No worries. It worked out. It created a family atmosphere in the class, and allowed me to really get to know the five students who were there. We grew so tight that everyone had a nickname. The homies, in the order which they sat from left to right, included:

  • The Hipster – The most enthusiastic and engaged member of the class. He grew up in the suburbs of KC, which gave us the opportunity for some interesting and deep discussions. We share an appreciation for Gil Scot Herron. He also pulled the coup of all coups one day when he found out that Meg Dogg was going to suck-up to the prof by sporting a Star Wars shirt. He covertly slipped a superior technicolor Wookie shirt on under his hipster cardigan and dramatically revealed it during class. Awesome.
  • Meg Dogg – We share a special bond. Over the course of two semesters, she took three of the four classes I taught. And because she went on two weekend retreats I helped lead, we ended up seeing each other on 24 days over a 26 day span this spring. Meg Dogg just finished her Freshman year, and has impressed everyone with her work and leadership. The force is strong with this one. Call me in three years if your ministry has an opening. You’ll want to interview her.
  • Hicks Picks – Of all my students, he’s probably the one most like me. Sometimes that’s a good thing. Sometimes. He picked up the “Picks” moniker thanks to his purchase of a guitar pick puncher which he anticipated would be his goose laying the golden egg. Eventually, he came to realize that it’s hard to become financially self-sufficient when your business model includes hand-punching guitar picks and selling them for a quarter. Live and learn. +5 style points for seeing me in the caf one day and running back to his room before class to change into an argyle sweater that matched the one I was wearing that day, thus upstaging Meg Dogg’s bid that day to impress me with her own argyle selection.
  • Barbie Hands – At first I didn’t embrace BH’s nickname, until I found out it wasn’t making fun of him for having effeminate hands. We share the common bond of love for soccer. He’s a Rapids fan, and ended up attending the Timbers match I road tripped out to in March. He was gracious enough to not mock me mercilessly at halftime when his club was up 3-nil on Portland. That showed a lot of character. He’s actually going to be doing urban ministry this summer, and I think he’s going to be awesome at it.
  • J-Lo – The most musically astute of all my students. She has a budding vinyl collection that included 808′s & Heartbreaks as well as Wake Up! Normally quiet and reserved, she did go off on Hicks Picks one day in class regarding the lunacy of his business model. Very thoughtful student who has an incredible grasp of all things Star Wars and watches tons of soccer with her boyfriend. That’s a winning combo.

So yeah. We had a good time together this semester. I’ll have other groups of students that I enjoy spending time with over the years, but this group set a high bar for “Best Class Evah”.

Renew and Restore

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February 2, 2011

a little theory i have

Comments on posts are great, because they can be effective writing prompts.  Like,

how has your experience in KC and the stories of injustice helped you move closer to God?

I have a specific answer to that question, as well as a general theory on intimacy with and obedience to God that I’ve been pondering. I haven’t worked out any of the details of this theory yet, but here it is in all of its Version 1.0 glory.

As Christians, we should strive to be in a place of understanding and spirit that cultivates intimacy with and obedience to God. My theory is that this involves embracing certain ratios of four paradigms:

  1. God’s Character and Power
  2. Our Brokenness
  3. The Brokenness of the World
  4. Hope in God’s Redemptive Work

Now, I’m not convinced that these paradigms need to be grasped in equal proportions. In fact, I’m not even sure that each person or community needs to have the same exact ratio. But I am convinced that our ratios tend to be skewed and that a big part of our journey consists of responding as God opens up opportunities for us to get our ratios where they need to be.

When I started doing Urban Ministry, I was high on #1 and #4, but very low on #2 (especially) and #3. But the more I started working with the kids, the more I learned about myself and the world I live in. As with just about everyone I know who does urban ministry, there was a time a few months in where #2 and #3 (especially #3) spiked too high. I wanted to give upon the Church because the task just seemed too impossible and as though my in-group wasn’t perceiving the reality I was living.

It was a time of ups and downs, really. But looking back it was one of the most formative spiritual experiences of my life (right along with Elli’s adoption and working under some of the profs I worked with in undergrad). It was a time where I was invited into a new reality and God taught me a lot about what breaks God’s heart and how God is working and wants to work in the world.

And it really, really, really forced me to rely on God in a way I never had to before. There was this realization that I could not save the world. Not by myself. Not with a group of half a dozen people. Not with a group of a hundred people. But I could respond to the redemptive and reconciliatory work that God is doing in the world, and in accepting that invitation I could learn more about the character and the work of God.

Renew and Restore

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November 1, 2010

a response to lebron’s new nike commercial

 

Dear LeBron~

I’m not one to give unsolicited opinions to celebs.  But you asked, so here we go.

When I was doing urban ministry, one of the things I had to fight against was the teenage black boy paradigm that they didn’t have to be accountable to anyone.  They phrased it as “I’m just being me”.  And thus, free license (in their minds) to do whatever they pleased without acknowledging how their actions might affect others.

Who do I want you to be? I’m not sure.  To be perfectly honest, the bar I’ve set for pro athletes is pretty low.  I’d be happy if they didn’t say racist things, didn’t text pictures of their junk to women, and generally set a good example for kids.

From what I’ve seen, you’ve done a good job on those three fronts. As a result I’ve liked watching you play basketball. I thought the movie about your high school years was pretty sweet.  In fact, I made all of the kids I worked with watch it because I thought it taught good lessons about life and relationships.

I don’t want you to embrace the role of bad guy or enemy.  But I don’t understand why you have to be so standoff-ish about “The Decision”.  Everyone makes mistakes.  I get that.  And nothing is 100% good or 100% bad.  It’s cool that you raised all of that money for the Boys and Girls Club with the special.

But surely you can see in hindsight how it came off, can’t you? It just seems like it would make you seem more like a real person if you came out and said it wasn’t a good idea.  That it rubbed some things in Cleveland’s face.  That you had a good time there, but that you were excited to play basketball with two of your best friends in a trendy town while getting paid a lot of money.  And you could even throw in there that you wish you could have won a title in Cleveland before you left.  I think that would be a true statement.

Acknowledging those things in that way would make you seem like more of a person.  It would teach kids a lesson that even LeBron James makes mistakes, but he owns them.  They could see someone larger than life shuck the whole “I have so much bravado, I don’t have to answer to nobody” act that malignantly defining black manhood.

But then considering the low expectations I have for pro athletes, I won’t get all worked up when you don’t come around.
Renew and Restore

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June 18, 2010

this changes everything…literally

When I was a wee little lad, my grandpa would bounce me on his knee and impart to his eldest grandson nuggets of wisdom.  For as long as I can remember, he would always say, “Remember, Christian.  Nothing in life is official until it’s Facebook official”.

Or something like that.

I’m sure he was referring to blogs too.  And Twitter.

All of this to say, it’s finally official.  Two weeks from today a handful of guys will pack all of our junk worldly belongings into a truck and drive said truck four hours West and South of Kansas City.  The next day they will unload all of our stuff into our new house.

In Sterling, Kansas.

Even though this process has been in motion for a long time, I’ve made nary a mention of it online.  I couldn’t really say anything until we told the kids I work with, and that didn’t happen until yesterday.  So now the reality of our situation can hit the interwebs, the internets and the Googles.  And I can go back to keeping it real and writing about the stuff that I spend most of my spiritual and mental energy on.  This whole process has been taking up most of that energy, which has reduced this site to hilarious videos and fairly shallow subject matter.  As funny as viral videos and Star Wars takes are, they aren’t really why I enjoy having this space.

This whole story is a really cool one about how God opened doors while forcing us to live in uncertainty for periods of time, but it’s too long for one sitting.  And it’s an exciting story for us as a family for a number of reasons.  Stacy gets to job-share with one of her best friends from Med School and Residency.  She gets to do full-scope rural medicine like she always dreamed.  We get to live a slower pace of life in a town of 2,000 people.  I have a job at my alma mater as the Director of Campus Ministries that I’m totally jazzed about.  And I also get to teach a couple of classes.  Even jazzier. And we love our new house.

But it’s not all sunshine and giggles.  We’re finding it takes a lot of hard work to move a family that far.  And there was a lot of discussion about whether or not I should leave a job that I love and fit really well.  And I hated having to tell my coworkers I am leaving.  And a while later I hated having to tell my volunteers I am leaving.  And over the last 24 hours having to tell the kids and their parents that I’m leaving has been all kinds of sucky and emotional for me.

By now I’ve learned that life doesn’t happen in a vacuum.  Even when you make the life decisions that you are excited about and feel called to, there can be long periods of dissonance, murk and discomfort.

And with that, we’re off.  Just about ready to start the next chapter.

And it’s Facebook official, so there’s no turning back.
Renew and Restore

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May 18, 2010

the voice of the poor and the oppressed

I love it when Hip Hop and art come together.  I also love it when artists find a way to effectively share what Hip Hop is in a way that helps people see there is some depth in the genre.

20 seconds into the film I was stopped cold by a series of statements.

It’s the only voice the young people have.

It’s the only voice the poor people have.

It’s the only voice the oppressed people have.

I was engaged by those statements on two levels.

Are those statements true?

Does the church have a legitimate claim that it is a dominant voice for those three groups?

With regard to the first question…No.  Hip Hop at times can be an effective voice for the young, poor and oppressed.  Some have proclaimed that Conscious Rap is dead and buried.  I tend to think that point of view is a bit too Chicken Little, but it’s true…mainstream rap certainly doesn’t seem all that prophetic.  Between 1/3 and 1/2 of Jay-Z’s catalog tells the story of the urban black experience.  They you have The Roots, Mos Def and a handful of others who spit depth from the fringes of the mainstream.  But for the most part it’s just so…How does K’Naan put it in his live performances?…”If it wasn’t bling bling, then it was N’Sync”?…Yeah.  Like that.

Dealing with the corpus of work, it’s easy to argue that hip-hop as a whole does more to hurt the plight of the young, poor and oppressed than it does to help.  As an institution it perpetuates dysfunction and oppression.  So it’s probably more accurate to admit that certain segments of hip-hop are A voice for the young.  A voice for the poor.  A voice for the oppressed.

And that’s probably where The Church stands as well.  It’s A voice.  And quite frankly, it’s a far better voice for the young than it is for the poor and the oppressed.

This is the point where people freak out and drop me as a Facebook friend.  I’m sure I don’t understand, because the Church gives money to the poor and the oppressed and blahblahblah.  And your church has a strategic partnership with an urban ministry.  And a bunch of churches got together to do a serve day recently.

Neat.

I’m not saying the church doesn’t do anything for the poor and oppressed.  I’m just saying they aren’t a dominant voice.  Dominant voices have platforms, and platforms require means.  And when you have the type of means that get you a high platform, you risk a lot when you are really, truly a voice that advocates for a group of people who look demographically very different from the group you roll with.

Look, every year we do Year End Wrap Ups with our leaders.  And the one thing every single first year leaders says is that they never really understood what kids in the ‘hood face until they came down and worked with them for a year.  And at that point, some of the leaders tend to become more passionate.  They do become a voice for the poor and oppressed, and that voice has an authenticity to it because it tells real stories and resonates with real experiences.

And then those leaders get frustrated because the people who sit in the pews with them are either deaf to or misconstrue the urgency of this new voice.

Hip Hop has a potential to be a loud and resonant voice for the poor and the oppressed.

The Church has the potential to be a loud and resonant voice for the poor and the oppressed.

Both have a lot of work to do.

Renew and Restore

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May 10, 2010

looking back

Last Thursday The Hope Center threw the annual Awards Ceremony bash. It’s my favorite day of the year at work. The neighborhood comes together and we get a chance to celebrate all of the ways that the kids have grown over the last year. As the kids get older and we have more teenagers, the joy is magnified as that demographic at THC stands apart from their peers.

When I think back on the year, I tend to be drawn to the academic improvements the kids make. Those achievements tend to be more measurable. GPA’s, reading levels, class attendance. All very measurable and packageable.

Some of the awards we give out are academic. A lot of them are character based, and reflect characteristics of God that we want to reinforce when we see them lived out by the kids. Service. Leading peers in a positive direction. Kindness. Love.

There are stories behind each of those awards. Stories about the kids who won the awards this year. Stories about kids who have won the awards in the past.

What the awards don’t do is tell the stories of how the kids have grown as a GROUP. I had forgotten that until I got a text today from one of the adults who helps out with the Teenage Bible Study. She and her husband bring their pre-school age daughter (J) and pre-pre-school age son (W) each week. It’s a good program for accompanied shorties, because they love to worship with the teenagers. And with the worship at TBS looking similar to Black Church worship, the kids aren’t a distraction. There is already swaying, dancing, hand-raising.

Clap with me, now.

Which all brings me back to the text I got this morning from J’s mom…

Thought you might chuckle knowing that w TBS as Js only real worship exper, she was a hand raiser yesterday in catholic mass.  Oh man…

I did chuckle when I found that out.  And I was taken back to that place.  That room on Wednesday nights.  The little kids are there and so are the teenagers.  They are worshiping.  TBS is the only real worship experience for those teenagers because only one of those kids goes to church with any regularity.  Three summers ago when we started teaching this group of kids what worship looked like, it was a struggle.  An epic struggle, even.

You don’t notice it on a week-to-week basis.  But as a group the teenagers grew in both their understanding and expression of worship. They’re getting it.  As I look back it makes me smile to think of how much they’ve grown.  As I look ahead it makes me smile to think about what the kids will look like as individuals and as a group as they continue to grow spiritually.

We don’t have a group worship award at THC.  So that story doesn’t get told, and I don’t remember it unless some little girl raises her hands to worship during mass and her mom texts me about it the next day.

Thank goodness for texts.
Renew and Restore

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April 28, 2010

wednesday watchlist: where to work

When we talk with the kids in our leadership development program, we spend a lot of time sowing the dreams of college.  I believe in higher education and would love to see every kid have the chance to set foot on a college campus.  But there is a reality that college isn’t for everyone.  So as the kids get older we start having other conversations with them about what they can do after high school if college isn’t in the cards.  Vocational school is always a good option, but even then there are some kids who will need a year or two before they can fit that into life.

Over the past couple of years I’ve been making a mental list of places I’d like our kids to try to get jobs with if they have to work right after high school.  Not every job out there is a good job.  And certainly, the list of good jobs one can get with just a high school diploma is limited.  But there are some out there that will allow you to earn a livable wage while working in a safe environment.  If you have other suggestions, you should post them in the comments section as a contribution to this week’s Watchlist…

Best Jobs for a High School Graduate:

  • Costco – My understanding is that Costco pays well.  It’s also a well respected company that looks good on a resume and has decent hours.
  • Quick Trip – I know, I know.  A gas station?  Seriously?  Yes.  Seriously.  Whenever I go into a QT (which is on a regular basis now that it’s slushie season), I am struck by how professional the staff is.  This leads me to believe that they pay well and that they have other ways to attract quality employees.  It would be an especially good second job since it is open all of the time.  And, quite frankly, QT’s are by far the cleanest of any gas station chain.
  • Auto Parts Stores – This option is good because it provides practical knowledge that can save money.  If you can work on your own car, you are doing yourself a huge financial favor.  Even in the ‘hood, I notice that the auto parts stores attract quality personnel.
  • Chic-Fil-A – guaranteed to never go out of business as long as I’m around.  This is one of the top franchises we would like to draw into the neighborhood.  It’s a higher quality product than most fast food.  The Christian ownership makes sure stores are closed on Sundays.  They promote from within.  They have a scholarship program if you decide to go back to school.  And you can even get on an ownership track to get your own franchise.  A lot of chances to move up as long as you work hard and prove yourself worthy.
  • The Gap Family of Companies  (Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic) – Old navy has an awesome program where they will bring in groups of kids and do a couple of hours of training with them, and then let them work the floor for two hours.  During that time, they get to try out all of the different jobs you can do in the store.  Our kids did it last summer, and it was phenomenal.  Old Navy will hire you if you’re still in High School, and it’s the kind of company you can move up in if you do a good job.  Plus, between the three stores there are hundreds of locations all over the country. And you get a nice discount on clothes.  Would be a better deal if they sold more ManPris.
  • Starbucks – Ok, so there’s this little tension with the Big S.  I don’t go there anymore. Haven’t for about 5 years.  I don’t like their coffee, and I prefer the intimacy of non-chain coffee shops.  And yet, they have a generous benefits plan and a handful of people that I like and really respect either work or have worked there.  I would also suggest that our kids apply there because of the opportunities to advance (see a theme here?), the number of stores and the fact that the clientele forces you to interact in a very professional manner.

My list is exclusively in the retail sector.  What should I add to diversify it?
Renew and Restore

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April 27, 2010

basketball and life

Life is about more than basketball. But basketball can sometimes tell you a lot about life.

In the group of kids I work with, there are four eight grade boys. It’s hard to get boys from the inner-city to and through high school. There are distractions. There are family issues. There is an incapacitating lack of black male role models to point boys toward manhood. But these boys are on the cusp of getting to the 9th grade. It’s a big accomplishment.

There are a lot of parts of their story that matter more than basketball, but basketball can tell you a lot about the men these boys are becoming.

When I first started this job, playing basketball with the kids was pretty brutal. They didn’t know any of the rules, and they treated the entire exercise as an audition for the AND 1 Mixtape Tour. Except they had no chance of becoming the next Hot Sauce, because they were terrible. They topped this exceptional mix off with poor attitudes and bickering. It was a joy.

Not that any of the boys are amazing players even now. The best baller in the whole center is a 7th grade girl, and it’s not even close.

But the boys have gotten a lot better. They had to. Day after day they would challenge the adults to games. And game after game they would get waxed. I never went easy on them. Never let them win. Not once. Yeah, part of it was a character flaw on my part where I hate to lose. But part of it was that the boys lacked any sense of humility and realism in terms of where there game was.

So we whipped them. Hit them with back door cuts and touch passes. Rebounding, defense and court intelligence. Then two things happened.

First, the boys started to take on characteristics of the adult game. It became less about the ‘me’ and more about the ‘we’. They started passing and cutting and rebounding and defending. They gained spatial awareness and balanced the court.

Then, they started mixing the teams up. Instead of always playing against the adults, they decided it would be fun to play with the adults. And it was fun. Because the boys were now good sports and good teammates. All of that was coming together with increased skill to provide for fun games. Games where the boys were growing and playing the game like it’s supposed to be played. All the while they were learning to encourage each other and be good sports.

I doubt any of those boys will play in college, seeing as though none of them are yet to play on a competitive team. You will not find Jesus Shuttlesworth here. And if I were to make a list of things about the boys that make me proud, basketball probably wouldn’t be in the top 1/3.

But basketball helps demonstrate a lot of what the top 1/3 of that list would look like.

Renew and Restore

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December 1, 2009

middle school moment: who yo’ daddy, jesus?

Next week we have our big Hope Center Christmas party. All of the kids and their families are invited for a night of celebration, and the kids put on a Christmas program complete with singing and acting. Quite the big deal.

As much as I love the party, I hate the prep. It’s just not that fun getting middle school kids organized and motivated to do a Christmas play. It’s like pulling teeth of kittens you are trying to herd. I get a minor case of the hives just thinking about it.

Fortunately, whenever you work with middle school kids there are always moments of joy to be had in the midst of even the most difficult of tasks.

As we were practicing last week, we were having a dickens of a time getting “Joseph” to act like he actually loved “Mary” and baby Jesus. All of our pleas and encouragement fell on deaf ears. Finally, we got blunt.

“Dude. That’s your baby. You love him. This is your wife. You love her. Look at them with affection, because they are your family.”

At which point Mary pipes up. “That ain’t even his baby. Joseph just the step-daddy.”

Oui.

To her credit, Mary had a point. Jesus wasn’t technically Joseph’s baby. And (according to Matthew) Joseph freaked out for a minute until an angel of the Lord appeared to explain everything.

But, man. There wasn’t an adult in the room that was able to keep from cracking up. Not then, nor when Mary got tired of all the walking rehearsal required and thus asked why they weren’t riding camels.

Renew and Restore

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