Creating Concise Opportunity

I spent this morning working on Young Life St. Louis’ strategic vision for the next 5 years. How many students will participate in Young Life events this year? How many volunteers will be recruited in year 3? When should we plan to expand beyond Washington University to another college? What is our definition of success?

I remember leaving Northern Ireland in 2003 with a very misguided confidence in my preparedness for my life’s mission. I’d studied the King James Version of the Bible for seven years; I’d trained how to work inside a Northern Irish independent evangelical village church and was experienced as an evangelist reaching the urban and rural poor of a war torn land divided by religious fanaticism. How deeply naive I was about how little of that “expertise” would translate directly into my new life. 9 years later and I’m still coming to terms with the fact that a fulltime evangelist needs skills and gifts more commonly found in a small business entrepreneur. Strategic plans, administrative skills, management skills, financial planning, fundraising, public speaking on the vision and mission purpose of the new ministry. The capacity to contextualize and translate that vision and mission for a multitude of unique audiences.

I once thought my job was to tell people about Jesus. How utterly quaint and old fashioned an idea that is now. My job is to help create, lead and sustain a multi-generational, multi-cultural, multi-faith ministry for college students in St. Louis. To find a way to produce a safe place for students and those in the community with a heart for students to discuss and explore spirituality. “Telling people about Jesus” is transactional. Creating a safe place for people to do their own exploration into Spirituality can be Transformational. Because of the possibility of Transformation I’m delighted to develop a multitude of skills and competencies that will help create a concise opportunity for young Christian men and women to enter in a conversation about spirituality with their peers from a multiplicity of world-views.

The Rhetoric of Labeling

I attended a lecture by Professor Mark Jordan at Washington University in St. Louis yesterday entitled “How Christians learned to talk about Homosexuality.”

As I’m someone who feels a compulsion to be early I found myself sitting beside an older American gentleman named Tom. As we introduced ourselves his first question was whether I was "Orange or Green." The question demonstrated he had a familiarity with Northern Irish “issues”; but the question also revealed a pronounced lack of tack. As I belong to neither side of that tragic dysfunctional family dispute I failed to be easily labeled by his question.  He moved on to explain why he attends these Wash-U lectures that he clearly disagrees with. His goal is to keep "them" (liberal professors) “intellectually honest” by being a dissenting voice in the room. Tom is obviously intelligent; well read, and passionate, but I just couldn’t take him seriously. I continually had to police my facial expression to keep from smiling at his loud rhetorical questions, podium-like pronouncements and body language. Despite his intermittent questions about what I thought, the 15 minute conversation was almost completely a monologue from his point of view. I politely disengaged myself and entered the lecture hall to ensure I had a good seat and to also escape the pre-lecture Tom had just delivered and if left unchecked it seems would have continued to deliver for only God knows how long.

In contrast to Tom’s tirade the lecture I had come to listen to was insightful, respectful and engaging.

Professor Jordan really challenged me about how we use words; rhetoric, sound bites and narrative to defend our position. It is such a tragedy that there isn’t enough time to study everything that I find interesting. I feel so under-educated and ill informed. I ache to know, to be conversant in every aspect of life, yet it is impossible to even skim the surface of every discipline, to grasp even the most simplistic principles from the multitude of academic streams. I’m a starving man invited into a banquet who knows he can only nibble on the most bland of food or risk intense intestinal disruptions.

Ok, I got sidetracked by my love for learning….. I’ve wiped the drool from my beard, taken a deep breath and can refocus on where I was going with today’s blog.

It bothered me that I found Tom so foolish. So I thought about him more than all the other interesting people I met yesterday. It wasn’t that he disagreed with Professor Jordan, it wasn’t even that he was a member of the extreme right on American political thought. It was because he so obviously disrespected everyone else at the lecture. He arrived in T-Shirt and Shorts, was loud, and accosted people with questions he didn’t want answers for. He had labeled us all before he arrived into two distinct categories. The ignorant who were victims that just swallowed what the professors had to say and the professors who were cast as the 1930’s diabolical bad guys. Big moustaches and hats for them all with a convenient train track to tie their victim to. Tom said he has been coming to these lectures for at least a year. I find it so tragic that after all of that time listening to experts in so many fields of learning he probably hasn’t been challenged by what they had to say because he came already knowing what was “true” and what was “false.”

I think Tom is perhaps a caricature  of American society. From the moment he met me he was trying to stick a label on me. It frustrated him intensely that I refused to be labeled. I wasn’t Orange or Green; I was neither Conservative or Liberal, I could see both sides of the argument and felt the jury was still out on each topic he felt strongly about. Whether it was abortion or the death penalty; Immigration as a “property rights” and “civil rights” issue, or homosexuals in the military, that I could see valid arguments for both sides in all these positions seemed to confound him. Despite the fact that I have strong opinions on all of these issues I realize that those on the opposing side have genuine hearts; logical reasons and good motives for their position and I’m open to being convinced my position is morally, intellectually and socially untenable. It seems to me if we could all take the time to carefully demonstrate we respect those we oppose it might restore a level of civility to the conversation. If Tom had arrived in clothing appropriate for the event; had used tone and volume appropriate to his surroundings and if he had asked questions to discover answers rather than to create clear demarcation lines between him and everyone else I might have found him less ridiculous. I think the only response Tom elicited at yesterday’s event was sympathy.

In stark contrast to Tom the professors I spoke to after the lecture were polite, interested in who I was as a person, tolerant of the fact  that I was a "Christian" College minister who was wanting to create a place for spiritual conversation with their students at their university. I think it helps that I was dressed correctly, spoke with an in-door voice, used civility in our conversations and recognized both their authority and ownership of the lecture hall and lastly was clearly interested in their view point.

I wonder if I should just wander around trying to be someone who is sans labels? The naked Irishman!

Just some thoughts on my American experience

We're not in Kansas any more

I spent a large portion of this week in Kansas City, Kansas. I was at the regional conference for the Gateway region of Young Life. 20+ fulltime staff representing three states. I'm the newbie and as such needed to be intentional to find my place in this new world. It's occasionally uncomfortable to be surprised by the strangeness of Oz, but with a clear yellow road to follow it loans a level of comfort to the strangeness.

I spent this morning unpacking a large number of boxes containing our books. They're now settling into their new home in my study. I love our books! They are like Toto, someone I can look to as a friendly face from what was familiar. We chose to sell or give away almost 100 of our friends when we moved. It was sad to say goodbye to friends who had been with us for years. So our friends who made the long dark journey across the Atlantic and then sat for months in boxes must be delighted to have finally arrived in their new home! It’s definitely not Kansas but at least we're meeting new and interesting people who are on the same quest of self discovery and redemption.


I finally finished the immigration process by receiving my Social Security Number and successfully being hired by Young Life. One more large stone to shift and the road is clear to proceed on the journey. I need to take and pass the MO driving test!

So that's been my week. Lots of starnge new things, people and facts coupled with big yelley roads, friendly books and the resources to keep walking the path before us.

Hope your week is unfolding as eventfully!

Shades of White

We bought this awesome antique dining table off of Craigslist last week. After sanding it down and cleaning it up, I then had the confounding job of finding the right shade of white to show Bethany for her approval to repaint it.

I was temporally stymied by just how many shades of white are available to a prospective painter! We finally settled on "Woodrow Wilson Putty." I wondered what the 28th President of the United States would make of becoming a part of the off white color scheme?  

You might be wondering how I have such free time to restore old dining tables and re-clothe them in shades of early 20th century progressive presidents. The great thing about my weird brain and awesome job is that I can prepare complex Bible studies and Banquet speeches while sanding wood and tracking down presidential sounding paint. I have friends who find they need to sit in a dark study and stare pensively at a book-lined wall of heavy tomes to suck inspiration from. While I need that room for the final prep I'm relieved that I can do almost all the heavy lifting while doing something diverting. Thank God! So part of this week was filled with creating something wonderful from something that was worth only a $100 on Craigslist. Much like my job…. Taking the time to show the potential in what seems old and worthless to many students. Christianity is like our dining table. It was once a valuable and intricate part of family life, it was a focal point for community and for young people to discover their identity and become inter-dependant and individuate into the adult community. Now it is anachronistic, left behind in the wake of surging TV dinners, internet and personal game consoles, all creating isolated individual living. But some time sanding down the ugly veneer the previous owner subjected beauty to, adding some updating with a trendy presidential paint scheme, and what was obsolete is now Shabby Chic and can again be relevant! It will be placed in pride of place in our new 1920’s duplex 2^nd story apartment. It too has been rehabbed and reborn.

I’m hoping Christianity is in the process of a much needed sanding and repainting so it can again become relevant and valued.

But it might take me longer to refurb my Faith than it will to refurb my dining room!


Another week in paradise!