Team work

This is Ed Bowen, he is our new Volunteer Team Leader. At 39 he is ensuring that I'm not the only old person on the team. Along with the impressive fact that he has managed to live for 39 years he also brings some remarkable skills and experience to the team. Ed has a Masters in Apologetics. Below is the definition Google supplies.

apologeticsplural of a·pol·o·get·ics

Noun:

Reasoned arguments or writings in justification of something, typically a theory or religious doctrine. 

Having someone trained in reasoned arguments or writings in justification of Christianity is obviously a handy person to have around. Add to his academic inventory a passion that may exceed my own, a long history of leadership from his time served in the US Army as a staff Sergent, to his leadership in the local church and you have as well rounded a team player as anyone could wish for. We've been working together now for a few weeks and while it is awesome having a guy like me in leadership with me I know having two guys as passionate as us may mean we need some leavening of solid, sensible team-mates, but right now I'm just enjoying having a guy who is delighted to be as excited about life as I am.

 

Next Thursday Ed and I will launch "Core" the weekly YLC event that is for Christian students and those interested in being volunteers with YLC STL. It is the first of five "C's" that make up YLC STL's ministry. We have Core; Crust, Club, Camp and Church. Core is as I just said a Christian focused discussion group/Bible study. Crust is the time we devote to building authentic relationships with students. Club will be our weekly Spiritual discussion group that is for those students outside the Christian world-view or those who would say they have issues with that belief system.  Camp will be when we and our student friends go out for a week on a service project to help create something for those less blessed with material wealth. I'm hoping to go into rural Missouri and build playgrounds for economically depressed communities. It is something we did in Europe with great success. Taking western European students to eastern European countries to build playgrounds for kids who have almost nothing. Church is the last and also the first in many ways. The unending circle of YLC STL. Our members come out of the Church with a hope of being part of the larger world and creating safe places to have conversations about life, spirituality and humanity. As we actually believe in our chosen world-view we hope our friends would reach a point in their life where they too see it as the most compelling of the world-views on offer. If that happens we get to introduce them to the Church. That group of eclectic people who have usually only one thing in common. Jesus Christ!

 

So we're starting the cycle by taking Christians out of their safe, small world of "Church" and helping them join the rest of humanity in a discussion about how we should live together with respect, open-mindedness and tolerance.

I had a couple of awesome young men at my place for breakfast yesterday and the conversation turned to how we can believe we have found the "Truth" yet be authentically open minded about other world-views. I threw my usual mental hand grenade into the conversation by stating that I am completely open to one day hearing someone present a different world-view that is more compelling and logical than Christianity. Until then I'll hold fast to the belief that I actually have a compelling belief system that is both personally compelling and well thought out while remaining open to the fact that I might be completely wrong. Anything less than that would mean I would be asking everyone else in my life to be open to change their mind and embrace my world-view without having the courage to have the same open mindedness. I think that may well be one of the best parts of my job. I get to be exposed to a multitude of world-views and because of my proximity to university students I also get to hear some of the most erudite and compelling advocates of other view-points state their case. If there is a better way out there I'm in the perfect place to discover it. And if there isn't then I'm in the perfect place to reinforce the belief system I hold to now. I love my job!

 

Hope life is bringing interesting people into your sphere and changing how you see the world.