beaconchurches

Wow!
This is a winner.
I'm already seeing a difference in our kids. They are less focused on themselves and more focused on Jesus. We have 12 youth and four adults here and I think the investment our church made to send the kids will pay all kinds of dividends down the road.

Another bonus, I've gotten to see many friends from around the country. Wallace Smith who is planting a new church is one of the leaders. Also got to see Glynnis Labarre who is on NM staff working with the missional church movement in several regions. Several other folks from the Central Region are here as well.

We are at 8000 + feet, so tying one's shoes is still an aerobic event for me. The gathering is at the YMCA camp just a couple of miles outside of Estes Park CO.

Duffy Robbins from Eastern was the speaker for worship service yesterday. Think Tony Campolo in terms of presentation, but the focus is on youth and youth ministry rather than social gospel issues. (Not sure he'd be pleased to hear me make the differentiation). Still he did a great job helping the kids know that they are called by God and that call depends on His grace, not our works or looks. Sure wish we'd had an altar call...

Duffy is worth going out of your way to hear. Our Youth Pastor has heard him several times at the National Youth Workers Convention, and I think his presence was one of the reasons our Youth Pastor was so excited to bring the kids.

I'm looking forward to David Laubach on The Ancient future Spiritual Discernment. the only word in the title not a hook for me is The.

Ace is supposed to be here on Thursday. There are a few folks who are part of that system that might not be glad to see me, but this is huge place and it is packed.

Also Reid Trulson is here and teaching all week long. I haven't gotten to say hi to him yet, but look forward to that today.

God bless you all!
Art

Art,
Praise God! I am so pleased kids are away from the busyness of life and are able to connect with others, get some quiet time, have some fun, and focus on their spirituality. We had some first time dedications this week and are ecstatic.

One thing we do is schedule on one times with the kids. We have a little cash to buy a coke and spend a few minutes chatting.

My 1:1 questions go something like:

How has this experience been for you (or compared to other years)?
What is your favorite thing(s) here? (this tells a lot)
How has God been speaking to you?
How can I and the rest of the Youth Staff help you after camp?
How can I pray for you?

We will be praying for your kids. Let's keep reminding ourselves: they are not the future of the church--they are the church.
chip.

Art,

I'm glad things are going well for you and the youth out in Colorado. I'll be anxious to hear how the rest of the week goes. As a veteran of these ABC youth gatherings (starting with Providence, and then on to Quest, Venture, Raise the Roof, ID2K, etc.) I've got lots of stories pro and con. I've been a youth participant, a peer leader, and adult chaperone, and adult group leader. The good and the bad is that they try to please everyone across the ABC. They'll throw in some evangelical speakers, some denomination speakers (of all ilks), and some left-wing speakers as well. The same is true of planning committees and other leaders. I was uncomfortable with people from W & A churches in leadership (though not as head honcho or anything) influencing our next generation of church leaders. Those folks probably weren't that thrilled with my influence either. I felt like my participation was used by denominational leaders to prove that these were "evangelical" events i.e. "See, even hard core ABE folks like Cindy think it's great and are behind it." These events were always a very mixed bag, albeit in a very cool location!

Praying hard that Jesus is lifted up and glorified in CO this week!

Cindy

Hi Cindy,
I've experienced that dynamic as well. It does little good to bring youth to an event that is 90% orthodox and 10% heterodox. They come back with the what ifs ruling their life rather than the solid ground beneath their feet.
That dynamic of sneaking something in is one that, so far at least, has not been present.

There are still some NM people to arrive. Ace's seminar is on Thursday.

Still, the over all tone is extrememly helpful. The under story is a call to real commitment to Jesus. The sermons are straight forward Biblical. It is impacting our youth very positively. This really does look like a winner.

There are very few W&A people here and their agenda has not shown up, outside of them showing just a little peckishness when I'm around. And that might not be anything personal at all. Some folks are just naturally unhappy. (So much better to be supernaturally happy) The effect of their presence on our kids is not to give legitimacy to them or their agenda. The kids much prefer the positively oriented folks.

artjaggard wrote: . . . outside of them showing just a little peckishness when I'm around.

Art

Am I reading some paranioa here? Surely no one would be upset by your presence at any function!?!

People have taken to calling me the happy guy. And I really love being that guy. Are a very few folks really unhappy to see me? Well maybe, but then again, maybe they are just unhappy period. In any event, whether they are unhappy with me or just unhappy, their disposition is largely irrelevent to me.

Over all I delight in the very many friends who I've been able to visit with, many of whom still work in NM. And several former NM people too.

It's important to remember that it is the system that is bad, and that there are many many good people in that system. Even when I ask for a pair of resignations from the heads of the system I acknowledge that these are good people, just caught in a system which prevents their leadership from blessing this part of God's family.

Two of our youth made decisions to enter the ministry tonight. One youth has decided to be baptized. Jesus has been so powerful here this week. May He be the one this week is about!

love
Art

So....wondering how the week went over all. In the ABC press release it said that one of the event co-leaders was Jackie Saxon who was a pastor for many years at an AWAB church (University Baptist in Austin, TX). I was interested in the curriculum designers too. Seemed again like a mixed bag, trying to get a little bit of every part of the spectrum in there. Was the event really solid or more of a theological melting pot with a 21st century flavor?

Cindy

Cindy wrote;

one of the event co-leaders was Jackie Saxon who was a pastor for many years at an AWAB church (University Baptist in Austin, TX).

I had written;

There are very few W&A people here and their agenda has not shown up, outside of them showing just a little peckishness when I'm around.

Actually, Jackie was not the only AWAB related person in leadership. I enjoyed a little run around with another. I'm not sure if she was a co leader or not, she didn't appear on stage as did Jackie. While our kids noticed a distinct lack of joy in her, they never were aware of her theological bent.
All this being said, I'm standing by my report. This was a solid event. The AWAB agenda was not apparent. Our kids were hugely blessed. Another one from the trip came forward yesterday during the altar call.

Art