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A Different Kind of Mission Trip

April 2, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 2 Comments

I have been on a lot of mission trips and I have always learned a lot from them. But one of the nagging questions I have is regarding their effectiveness in encouraging and sustaining long term transformation. A lot of mission trips are about going into a place and performing a service project with little thought to how that project will transform not only those who serve, but how the service can be taken home and help transform the community. It’s not that I think that people don’t think about this issue, but it’s sometimes just easier to go into a place, put up a wall and go home. Almost to where that has become a joke in many circles. You have probably heard the story about the village that knocks down the wall everytime a mission team constructs one and leaves town, therefore allowing the new team to construct a new wall.

Keeping these things in mind, we have been experimenting over the last few years with different kinds of trips that would really challenge our core beliefs, stretch our thinking, and keep us wrestling with the issues when we get home so that we can be passionate about transforming those we serve among.

Continue Reading…

PresbyMEME…

April 1, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 8 Comments

Neal Locke has a PresbyMEME going around and I was tagged.

Here are the questions:

  1. What is your earliest memory of being distinctly Presbyterian?
  2. On what issue/question should the PC(USA) spend LESS energy and time?
  3. On what issue/question should the PC(USA) spend MORE energy and time?
  4. If you could have the PC(USA) focus on one passage of scripture for a entire year, what would it be?
  5. If the PC(USA) were an animal what would it be and why?

Now here are my answers: Continue Reading…

How Much Time Do You Spend In Sermon Preparation?

February 20, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 7 Comments

Jon Sampson has a good post on what he is learning from other pastors. This particular topic is about what David Fitch says he wish he had done over the last several years of church planting. It’s a good read. I’m curious what you all think of David’s #1.

1. Spend less time writing sermons, more time listening and speaking truth relationally lovingly into people’s lives. My goal, when I am preaching, is to never spend more than twelve hours a week writing sermons. Preaching the Word is important. It takes skill and practice. Yet the sermon is for speaking truth over people’s lives, not for entertainment. Sometimes the “entertainment” piece takes too much extra work. The sermon proclaims the true reality as it is under the Lordship of Christ and calls people into Him. It is my opinion the reason why sermon prep takes so much time is that often pastors place too much self-importance into it. How many hours a week do you spend on sermon prep?

I’ve been thinking a lot about this issue recently. Let me outline it this way.

  1. To be honest…I don’t think I’m a great preacher. But I do my best.
  2. I spend less time on sermon prep now than when I used to, especially right out of seminary.
  3. I don’t spend less time because of laziness, but because of the demands of work.
  4. Either I spend 20-40 hours of prep on a sermon, or I actually do other things like hang out with students, counsel people, etc.
  5. Who ever came up with that rule that I have heard about 1 hour of sermon prep for every minute of sermon?
  6. And who are these pastors that have 20-40 hours a week to prepare a sermon?
  7. Most pastors I know have lots of responsibility, and don’t have the luxury of everyone doing the work for them while they sit in their office or library all week buried in books.
  8. How relevant (and I mean this in the best of terms), or grounded in the community can the sermon be if the pastor is holed up in his/her study all week?
  9. When it comes down to it, ministry places lots of demands on us, and we have to choose ultimately between very important things. In doing this, I always try and keep people first. If someone needs to meet and it will interrupt my sermon prep, then that person is first, not my sermon prep.
  10. Sermons sometimes seem to be an avenue for the pastor to put on a show or display their prowess. Not all, and hopefully not many, but I often feel like a pastor sometimes spends all that time in prep to impress with their knowledge of Greek and Hebrew.

Full Disclosure: I should probably spend more time on sermon prep myself. But I don’t have a rule of thumb. Some weeks require more, and others require very little. Some weeks I am alone, looking through the Bible, commentaries and the language tools. Other weeks I’m just in prayer. And some weeks I have laid out my whole sermon in my head from my morning commute from Pasadena into work. We all have our methods and I think that is great. But to place a rule that every pastor should do this or that for a sermon is quite unrealistic.

There is a big difference between the pastor at a smaller church who preaches, counsels, does adminstrative tasks, vistis with people, etc., and the pastor at a large church whose only job is to preach. Sometimes I wonder that the large size of a church actually keeps us from putting our hand to the task of things that should be important and that keep us grounded in the daily realities of those we minister to.

Thoughts?

Full-Time College Director Position Available

February 20, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 0 Comments

This is a reminder that I will be stepping down as the college director of The Quest at Bel Air Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles, CA. I resigned in January, but my final day is June 13.

It’s an amazing job, with some amazing students. If you are interested, or have any questions, please feel free to contact me. But if you want to apply, see the information below.


Bel Air Presbyterian Church is seeking a full-time Director of University Discipleship to lead a worshipping community of university and college students at BAPC and a dynamic ministry to students across the many campuses of Los Angeles.

The ideal candidate will have a healthy relationship with Jesus Christ, a passion for sharing his word, a desire to make disciples for him, administrative gifs, and an infectious enthusiasm to mobilize students to make Christ known in Los Angeles and around the world.

Please send resumes to: kelley.dundon@belairpres.org.

Bel Air Presbyterian Church
16221 Mulholland Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90049

Websites: www.belairpres.org, www.thequestbelair.org, Facebook: Bel Air Quest

Dealing with the criticisms of Emergent…

February 13, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 6 Comments

I agree with Andrew Jones that I AM JOSH BROWN is “the blog to watch this week.” Josh is dealing with the criticisms of Emergent.

Read:

Challenging the Critiques of Emergent: Introduction

Challenging the Critiques of Emergent: A White Man’s World

Challenging the Critiques of Emergent: Trend/Denomination

If this opening paragraph won’t get you to read, then I don’t know what will.

Here’s the deal. It’s become sort of fashionable to bash Emergent. It used to just be the crazy, old school guys like Dobson, MacArthur, and Carson. I think of these guys like my crazy uncle sitting in the corner who babbles on about conspiracy theories and minorities and the evils of the world. His behavior borders on tourettes and I sort of expect it. But then some guys, who oddly enough have a following among younger people, like Driscoll, jumped in on the pile-on. And then all the Puma wearing, soul patch, mid-life crisis, youth pastor-esque guys decided Driscoll was god and agreed with him. The trickle down from there has been that now even those who like and affiliate with Emergent like to throw a few punches every now and then.

Anybody Want My Job?

February 9, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 1 Comment

So I will go into more detail later, but I officially resigned from my position after 7 years as the college director at my church back on January 11th. I am staying on through June 13 and the end of the college school year for my students.

It’s been an amazing time, and I will share more about that later, why I resigned, and what’s next. It’s an exciting time. But for now I want you to either apply for my job or pass the word on. Because I love it. And because if you love college ministry, then it’s a great position and a great opportunity to work with students from UCLA, USC, LMU, CSUN, Santa Monica college, musicians, actors, etc.

If you have any questions feel free to email me at rhett@belairpres.org, but for now. Here is the official information.

Bel-Air Presbyterian
Seeking a full-time Director of University Discipleship to lead a worshipping community of university and college students at BAPC and a dynamic ministry to students across the many campuses of LA. The ideal candidate will have a healthy relationship with Jesus Christ, a passion for sharing His word, a desire to make disciples for him, administrative gifts, and an infectious enthusiasm to mobilize students to make Christ known in LA and around the world. Send resumes to: kelley.dundon@belairpres.org. For more info, check out www.thequestbelair.org.

You can also find our Facebook page at Bel Air Quest

Exploring College Ministry…

February 9, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 0 Comments

I’m going to blog more about this after the weekend, but I just had a great lunch with Benson Hines, who runs the blog Exploring College Ministry. Ben is on a year long road trip across the country checking out college ministries, so it was great to have lunch with him today and confirm some of my own thoughts and beliefs about college ministry and what is taking place, and it was good to hear his thoughts on what is happening around the country.

I left lunch feeling very encouraged. Also I left lunch knowing that college ministry is not about having a church job, but it’s about caring about college students and working with them and using your gifts in whatever tangible way that is.

Check out his great blog….he has some great thougths and insights, and who knows, he may be posting about your church or college ministry.

Contact him if you would like to pick his brain along the way, or if you would like to have him come out and visit your ministry….or if you would like to treat him to a cup of coffee.

Ash Wednesday: The Journey Begins (from March 2006)

February 6, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 1 Comment

ash1.jpg

Growing up in a non-denominational Bible church as I did, I had no concept of Ash Wednesday. Rather, that was something my Catholic friends did, but not Protestants, and certainly not evangelical, Bible church goers.

It was not until about 1999 that I attended my first Ash Wednesday service at a Lutheran Church, where my friend was a youth pastor. I remember to this day being very nervous at the prospect of going. What would happen? What did they do? Did I have to get the ashes on my forehead?

But that service was a real turning point for me, and marked the beginning of a real transformation in how I celebrated the life, death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I had always grown up just going to the Easter service where I celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And of course, that aspect is vital to our faith, and is in fact the pivotal event on which our faith is built. According to Paul in I Corinthians 15, that if we don’t believe in the resurrection, and if Christ did not rise from the dead, then our faith is basically in vain, and we are to be pitied.

But there was something mysterious and life changing as I started my Easter season, not with resurrection Sunday, but with Ash Wednesday, where I marked the beginning of Christ’s journey of suffering to the cross. Those 40 days to Easter (not counting Sundays) was a time of intense reflection….of ups and downs, but each day constantly moving us closer and closer to Christ’s death.

As Christ’s crucifixion was the culmination of many events along his journey of suffering and betrayal, Ash Wednesday places us as Christians on a journey as well. It puts us on a 40 day journey to reflect and explore our sin, our suffering, our trials, our joys, our mountains and valleys. And as the pastor or priest puts the ashes on our forehead, the words are a reminder to us that:

“Remember, man, that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.”

It is a reminder of our position or status before God. That we were created out of the ground of the earth, and that one day we shall return. Those are sobering words. But those words are words that set us on a journey for 40 days to really bring us closer to the miracle event of resurrection.

There is no resurrection without death. And as we are reminded of our own mortality, we know as Christians that resurrected life awaits us. But do we really ever think and ponder and pray about these things, or are we so quick to move to Easter.

The journey from Ash Wednesday…to Maunday Thursday, to Good Friday, and then to Black Saturday is quite sobering. We start with a reminder that we are but dust….we move to the betrayal of the Last Supper…then to the dark Friday of Crucifixion…and finally to Saturday….silence. As Christ is in the tomb. We know as Christians that Christ will rise on Sunday, but think what that experience must have been like for the followers of Christ and his disciples. All of their hopes and dreams dashed….death, and then silence. This Lenten journey gives us the opportunity to reflect on the journey of Christ and his followers, and for us to really take more seriously those events.

When I do come to Easter it is a most amazing day….it is most amazing because I have been on the journey, and the culmination of any journey is only worth something because we have been on it. To simply move us to Easter without reflection on Christ’s life, suffering, betrayal, crucifixion and death, is to rob us of the importance of that resurrection Sunday.

There are many traditions that do and that do not celebrate the Lent Season. I grew up without it, but I am now thankful that I am a part of a community and tradition that celebrates it. The Lent season has brought me more meaning to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ than it had in years past. I think that as Christians we often take for granted many things, as we sometimes too often have the luxury of hindsight and history. But for the first followers of Christ they did not have this luxury. And sometimes I wonder if we too often take for granted the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the Lent journey that I think can make our Easter, our life…more meaningful.

Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble for the day of the LORD is coming, it is near–a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness spread upon the mountains a great and powerful army comes; their like has never been from old, nor will be again after them in ages to come……Joel 2:1-2

Read Mark Roberts How Lent Can Make A Difference In Your Relationship With God

Female Drinkers in College, Wikipedia Ban, and Professor-Student Relationships…

January 30, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 0 Comments

These stories are courtesy of Ivy Jungle’s Campus Ministry Update for January 2008.

  • Female Drinkers: A recent report in the journal, Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research confirms that male college students consistently out drink their female counterparts, with one exception: parties with themes, especially sexual themes or costume parties. Those who play drinking games also drink more than those who do not. The report has special interest to researchers on alcohol consumption as it is not based on self-reporting but researcher observation at more than 60 off-campus college parties. (Inside Higher Education January 4, 2008)
  • Wikipedia Ban: Professors continue to ban Wikipedia as a research tool, citing too many incorrect entries. Designed as a user generated and edited encyclopedia, anyone can contribute to or change a Wikipedia entry. One professor at the University of Brighton has gone even further, banning the use of Google. Calling it “white bread for the mind,” she objects to the easy answers to complex questions with little sorting of shallow ideas from serious referenced work. She states, “Google is filling, but does not necessarily offer nutritional content.” (Inside Higher Education January 14, 2008)
  • Professor – Student Relationships: UCLA is one of a number schools which have restricted or banned relationships between professors and students with whom they have – or may have direct supervision. However, Dr. Paul Abrahmson, a married psychology professor at UCLA has drawn criticism for saying that as places of liberty, universities ought not restrict the behavior of consenting adults. He suggests students and faculty sign waivers, similar to a medical release that would warn of the dangers of power difference and favoritism in such relationships and not hold the university responsible for failed romances. Critics point to limits on dating in many work situations and believe the restrictions are important to protect students who may feel victims of harassment if and when a relationship ends. (Chicago Tribune, January 4, 2008 p. 5)

Thoughts:

  1. Is it surprising then that it seems like every fraternity on campus is constantly hosting costume parties with sexual themes (i.e. toga parties, “pimps and ho’s party”, sexy Halloween costumes, etc.)? This is for another post, but when alcohol consumption is up, well, usually sexual activity is as well in college. It’s also no surprise that many of the situations that we have had to counsel women in college about over the years were about the experiences at parties such as these where they drank too much and things got out of control. I think that’s why I’m sad, and generally grieved when I see some of the photos that pop up on Facebook with my students, especially the female students who look like they have drank too much, and guys are mobbed around them. Enough said.
  2. I love Wikipedia, but I think it should not be used as a serious research tool, cited in studies….but, it is a great launching pad to head in the right direction; to find good resources; and to get some easy, general information. I use it everyday.
  3. Glad to see that the school I work with is debating professor-student relationships. I’m surprised that it’s a psychology professor standing up for them. Yeah, not really. Seems to play into every movie stereotype about psychologists, especially in campus settings.

I Can’t Listen To Another Sermon!

January 28, 2008 in Ministry-Theology with 11 Comments

I believe that the time of long lectures, when someone spoke for an hour and the audience was condemned to sit and listen to whatever they were given, is…perhaps over–not just for me but for everyone. What we need in theology and in the church is–Oh, I don’t want to use that wretched word again–”conversations”. What I mean is simply that we should talk together and try to arrive at answers together, instead of someone trying to present something to other people as though the Holy Spirit has dictated it to him in person.

I posted that quote by Karl Barth back in August of 2006 when I was really wrestling over the topic of preaching. And I’m still wrestling over this topic.

You can see some of my thoughts on this topic below:

But it just seems like I can hardly sit through a sermon these days. This is probably more a statement of my own heart and disposition right now than it is anything about a sermon. But maybe also, I’m just tired of the way we have been preaching sermons for years and years. My students are probably pretty sick of the way that I go about preaching sermons as well, that’s why I have been wrestling over the topic for years.

But what you have is a vicious cycle that continually reinforces itself. You have the tradition of the typical expository sermon, presented in three steps or points, coupled with the expectation from the audience to hear that same method of presentation. But while this cycle continues, I often get the sense, and often hear the conversation, that both the preacher and the congregation are wanting something different. We just don’t know how to get out of the cycle. Or maybe we do, but we just don’t have the courage to try something different, take some risks, fail at some things. So what you have instead, is people literally bored out of their minds every Sunday while someone up front speaks at them in a very non-engaging style. And what you probably have as well is speakers and pastors up front bored out of their minds as well.

As I mentioned before, my former student, Brian Kiley, who is now a college pastor, has been posting some fascinating stuff on the topic of preaching. Read his posts Am I a Speacher? and Implication vs. Application. In these posts, Brian is reflecting on Doug Pagitt’s book, Preaching Re-Imagined.

Drew Sams is trying to figure this out as well, as he is in the midst of a blogging series on the use of story in youth ministry.

I’m obviously a firm believer in preaching….I’m just wondering if we need to change some of our methods. I know I need to. So let me leave you with another quote from Barth about the power of preaching.

This is why the movement of the Word as preaching was so crucial to his interpretation of the Word as threefold event. By the logic of his doctrine of the Word, it was only as Christian preaching that the Word remains ongoing. The Word becomes present as preaching in the same way that the Holy Spirit makes God present to us. That is, just as the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, the Word as preaching proceeds from revelation and scripture. Barth’s point was not that the revelatory and scriptural forms of the Word cannot be made present. Rather, just as the Father and Son are made present only through the movement of the Spirit, the Word as revelation and scripture are made present “in, with, and under” preaching and only through preaching.

By “preaching” Barth meant more than Sunday sermonizing or even the general ministerial work of pastors. Preaching included all forms of genuine Christian witness, including, “whatever we all ‘preach’ to ourselves in the quiet or our own rooms.” It included even the work of theologians, insofar as they understood and practiced theology in a ministry of the Word of God and therefore a form of preaching, he argued. (The Barthian Revolt in Modern Theology: Theology Without Weapons, pp.78)

I would love to hear your thoughts on preaching? What do you think? Is it just me, or are you feeling the same thing?
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