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The
Importance of Saying No
Thanks
for your partnership in the work of the gospel! How are you doing with
your time management? We want to please people, we are here to serve,
but where do we draw the line! Where will we find more time? Is it hidden
somewhere? Can I buy some? Do others have more time than I do? Most of
us as leaders would agree that we cannot add anything more to our lives.
Our agendas are already full and there simply is no room for anything
else. What will we do? Part of the answer comes from Todd Duncan in his
book, Time Traps.
He observes, "The only thing that will get you out of the swamp you're
in is changing what you spend your time on."
What do we spend our time on? If you are a pastor you have the privilege
of controlling much of your schedule. If you are a lay leader in a church
you are giving time to the ministry of the church plus your full-time
employment. We also need to find time for our families, hobbies, community,
etc.
How good are we at managing our time? Duncan suggests that we divide our
work into three groups. (Time Traps, pg. 62)
1. Unnecessary tasks- these are the things that keep our ministry from
moving forward. They take a good deal of our time and yet have little
to do with what we are really about. These activities could include personal
phone calls, e-mailing friends and reading things that have little to
do with our work. We need to stop doing these activities so we can find
time to do what is really important.
2. Necessary tasks- these are activities that are important to help you
find direction in your work, but they are not essential for what you are
doing. Duncan says, "these activities are a good use of your time, but
for strategic direction only." It is essential that each of our churches
spend time in strategic planning. We have to find a way to balance what
is necessary from what is truly productive.
3. Productive tasks-These are the activities that God will use to move
our work forward and are the best use of our time. What are these tasks?
Christian leaders need to make time to pray and study the scriptures.
They also need to be in conversation with church leaders to both listen
and equip leaders in the church. We need to be reading in the area of
leadership so that we are equipped to lead in this fast-changing world
in which we live.
All of us are spending too much time each week on unnecessary tasks. We
can find a number of hours each week that we are currently wasting and
use that for that which is both necessary and productive. I am working
on this and I encourage you to do the same. Let me know how you are doing
at saying no to some things and give a strong response to that which is
most important. May God give us the wisdom and discipline to be good stewards
of the time he has given us!
--Jim Fretheim
Northwest
Conference Youth Ministry Learning/Connecting Opportunities 2005-2006
Youth
Pastor's Connection (YPC)
YPC is a great time to gather as Youth Pastors and Youth Workers to
support one another, to stay informed and to pray for youth ministry
in our conference. We also are developing other ways to disseminate
content from these meetings for those who may have difficulty attending
any of our scheduled sessions.
We meet at the NWC office on Thursdays from 11:00-2:00 pm. Please
bring a lunch with you. Here are the dates for 2005-2006:
November 17, January 19, February 16, March 16, April 27
Youth Workers' Connection - Jan. 28-30 - Chicago
Youth Workers' Connection is the denomination's annual gathering for
youth workers prior to the Midwinter Conference. It is a time for fellowship,
inspiration, training and recharging.
Youth Pastor's Retreat will be May 15-17, 2006 at our conference's
camp- Adventurous Christians/Covenant Wilderness Center (AC/CWC) on
the Gunflint Trail just outside of Grand Marais. This is meant to be
a time to relax, to enjoy fellowship with your youth ministry peers
and to experience renewal in a wilderness setting before the busyness
of summer sets in. For more information on AC/CWC visit their website:
www.adventurouschristians.org
New
Leadership Development
Jesus'
ministry demonstrated a priority on leadership development over short-term
efficiency. He could have responded to the press of urgent ministry
needs on his own, and at certain times he did. But he invested significant
amounts of his limited time on earth developing a close mentoring relationship
with his disciples. Ron Sider, Phil Olson and Heidi Unruh in their book,
Churches That Make a Difference suggest to us that it
was this investment of Jesus' time that laid the foundation for the
explosive growth of the church after His ascension.
So what should we look for in prospective ministry leaders? A few things
to look for might be a person who consistently demonstrates a willingness
to serve; a person who demonstrates an ability to witness to others
in spontaneous, natural ways; someone who takes initiative or maybe
tends to attract a crowd; someone who has had an experience of stepping
out on a limb of faith or weathering a period of ambiguity and change;
or maybe the person who has experienced life transformation through
the ministry of the church or through one of its members. In addition,
you will want to make sure that you select people who are willing to
share the vision and mission of the church.
Tools like gifts inventories, temperament and personality instruments
can also be helpful in assessing a person's potential place in leadership.
A tool that I was introduced to early in ministry was an instrument
developed by Donald Laird. He identifies this tool as,
"A Test to Measure Leadership Potential." It comes in the form
of five questions:
1) Can you take a reprimand without blowing up?
2) Can you take a turndown without becoming discouraged?
3) Can you laugh with others when the joke is on you?
4) Can you keep your spirits up when things go wrong?
5) Can you keep your cool in emergencies?
Laird suggests that if you can answer "yes" to all five of these questions,
then you are on your way to being a leader. So how did you fair with
this test? I think you can recognize that with this instrument Laird
zeros in on some significant character issues or traits that impact
one's ability to lead. Well, however you approach this area of assessment,
it is an important step in the overall process of leadership development.
It's also at this point that Sider, Olson and Unruh identify one other
critical point for us. They remind us of the fact that no matter how
much information we gather or know about another person, we must recognize
that there remains an element of art and mystique to identifying and
developing leaders. Because of this dynamic, we recognize that discerning
God's guidance for current and prospective ministry leaders must be
rooted in prayer. It requires prayer before selection is made, prayer
for those who are selected and prayer for future generations of leaders
raised up through the faithfulness of current leadership.
Following the selection process, we must provide emerging leaders with
further information about the theology and skills necessary for
ministry and formation as disciples and whole persons through
mentoring relationships with other leaders. Maybe we will pick up on
these components at another time. But let's not forget that this was
the journey that Christ took with His disciples and is the challenge
before each of us as called leaders of God's church sent to transform
the world.
--Jon Kramka
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October,
2005
Volume
II, Number Three B
Contents
The
Importance of Saying No
Youth
Ministry Opportunities
New
Leadership Development
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