From the Pastor
» Harry F. Stanley Sr., 1937-2010
Harry F. Stanley Sr., 1937-2010
Harry F. Stanley Sr., 73 went to be with the Lord on Tuesday, May 11, 2010. Harry attended Jeff Davis High School in Houston prior to serving in the U.S. Navy from 1954-58, where he learned the electrical trade that he followed for the remainder of his career. He retired from I.B.E.W. Local 716, Houston, and Local 520 Austin.
He is survived by his loving wife of 48 years, Sharon. Son, Harry F. Stanley Jr. of Tomball; daughter, Susan Kubacak and husband David of Cypress; sister, Sallie Carter and husband Robert of Fredericksburg, Texas; brother, George Stanley and wife Carolyn of Houston; grandchildren; Danny, Nathan, and Katie Kubacak, and Harry F. Stanley III. He will best be remembered for his love for the Lord. He was a man of his word, self-sacrificing, and loyal to the end.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, May 22, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. at Marshall Ford Fellowship, 5000 Marshall Ford Road, Austin, Texas 78732.
In lieu of flowers a donation can be made in his name to:
Grace Outreach Family Church
2808 A, Hwy. 71 W.
Spicewood, Texas 78669
www.gofamilychurch.com
» Grace Outreach Video
A good friend of ours put this video together with little more than the photos straight from the site. Feel free to watch the video by pressing play below. Thanks to Daniel!
» Check out Peace Elephant on MySpace
I just wanted to give a quick shout to our good friend, David Crane, and his band Peace Elephant. They have some wonderful and inspirational music and it’s all available on myspace. Go check it out at www.myspace.com/peaceelephant.
About Peace Elephant (from myspace)
David Crane – originally from New Jersey and now living in Austin, TX, Dave has been playing his own material for decades in and out of various honky tonk bars and coffee house venues. His vocal is powerful, sincere and charismatic. Coy “Boy” Fuller – Coy has been around the music industry for many years, originally playing with the Grass Roots back in the 60’s with their touring band. He has graced the stage with some heavy-hitters including Johnny Winter and the likes of Rusty Weir and the Box Tops to name a few. His percussive flair and overall musical talent has brought a key element to Peace Elephant. “Jet-Lag” Jerry Benz – Jerry has been mostly playing guitar and writing songs for decades with various unknown artists in and around New Jersey. He was guitarist and founder of the original Smithereenz band, (before the name was taken by the now famous Smithereens band) Although Jerry is still living in New Jersey, he has been working with both Dave & Coy to produce the Peace Elephant.
» We have a NEW Church Sign!
After much work and effort, we were finally able to get a new church site for the front of our building. It’s a great improvement and we’re tremendously thankful to everyone who helped make this happen.
BEFORE:
AFTER (Praise God!):
» Video of Trey Wilborn Speaking
Here’s a few videos of Trey Wilborn, my oldest son, speaking to his Youth Group. Click the links to launch the videos.
» More Thoughts on Corporate Worship
My absolute favorite illustration for worship leading is an analogy shared by Gerrit Gustafson. Gerrit is a teacher, and also one of the founding members of Integrity Music.
“So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ.” I Corinthians 4:1
Scenario 1: You have received an invitation to dine with a distinguished community leader. On the appointed day, you anxiously arrive at the massive entrance to his palatial estate, ring the bell and wait. Immediately you are greeted by a gracious butler who takes your coat, puts you at ease with just the right words of how glad the host is that you have come, and escorts you down the hallway to the presence of the revered and generous host. After greetings and introductions, a great feast begins…
Scenario 2: Same invitation… same palatial estate… same massive entrance. This time, however, the butler, after taking your coat, strikes up a conversation with you in the foyer about the weather, his health, what his children want to study when they go to college, and so forth. You’re drawn into the conversation, and after a lengthy and engaging chat you take your coat and go home. On the way home, you come to an alarming realization: you never saw the host!
Why do I keep coming back to song selection? I have found in all my time leading worship that the single greatest indicator of what will inhibit or allow someone to participate in worship is feeling connected. If you think about life in general it’s mostly true as well. If you come to a new church, small group, sports team or social scene the number one thing that makes most people feel uncomfortable is not knowing anyone, not being CONNECTED. This of course changes quickly with time. However, I have listened to feedback on worship leading since 2002 when I had my first large event leading worship for a high-school retreat and from then until know, the absolute most common encouragement or praise and complaint has been something like… “wow you actually played songs i know” … or “could you play something I know”. I think the reason I feel so strongly about this and probably something to my detriment (not introducing enough new songs) is because I know that human beings desire the familiar. I even made a survey back in 2003 when I had learned a large schlew of worship songs and had the entire college group I went to fill it out. I simply wanted to serve them and make sure I had their input on the worship song selection.
HOWEVER, there is a balance. Everyone’s favorite song had to be new at some point… I love new music with a tremendous amount of passion and I listen to it generally ALL day every day, as I work from home. When I hear a “Christian” worship song that gives me chills and continues to move my heart time and time again, that is simple (easy for the average person to learn), has a strong message of exalting God then I take notice.
In my time of leading worship I have introduced songs, for the FIRST time at church that blew the doors of the place with the amount of Holy Spirit inspired connection and participation. Some of these songs, right out of the gate become instant “classics” at our church. The entire church immediately from the first, to every other time played connects with God. Other songs I have played once and seen a blank look coming back to me from the body. You can call it an off day for the band, an off day for the church or whatever. But the more I think about it I really do think that some songs carry the Holy Spirit on their wings more than others. Who knows though because I thought “Healer” had that God “mojo” until I found out the guy who wrote it lied about his entire cancer story and how he wrote the song… so who knows.
Let me emphasize the point I’m trying to make is NOT new songs as much as it is connection with God. I have found that if you introduce something new to people you have to have an extra level of special care, explaining the song briefly, the parts, what’s coming, what the song means to you (again briefly) and carefully lead them through. Like a butler taking someone through a house they have never been. If you have been to the house and you know the route the butler can just turn around and say follow me. But if you’ve never been there and there are a few complicated parts or it’s a little confusing the first time it can help to have him turn around and say … now watch for this and do this right here.
Goodness this is getting long… I’m realizing as I go that I keep thinking of more things to add so I’ll try to wrap up this rant if I can.
God is amazing. Worship is a gift and a blessing that God gives us to connect with Him. It just so happens in our modern ipo-ized culture that music is more important than ever. How awesome that we get to do something we love already like sing and play music and mix that with worshiping and connecting with God. I’m tremendously thankful everyday that God gives me the ability to serve in His kingdom, especially in worship. I try not to take it for granted, though I know I probably do daily as well… sigh. At the end of the day, all we can do is our best with what God gives us, live honest lives full of integrity and trust God for the rest. Praise God for being able to shape and craft the minds of youth for God’s kingdom.
» Thoughts on Youth Worship in Music
My desire is to have the kids engaged in worship at all costs. We have no reason to expect any less response than what we might see on, say, the last night of camp. How does the last night at camp happen? In part, I think the realization that a fun week is coming to an end leaves kids emotionally vulnerable, and more often than not this corresponds with an openness to the Divine touch. Additionally, both the speaker and worship leader want to close with a bang, so they add something to their normal routine. Hearts collide, tears are shed, and hands are raised. So with Ignite.
By no means am I asking for emotional manipulation. But I certainly would expect any worship leader to be sensitive and responsive to two factors:
1. The heart of God.
2. The hearts of the worshipers.
Such awareness should result in balance. I think a worship leader should be equally concerned about both lethargy and hysteria on the part of the congregation. Both are extreme emotional responses, and both are good indications of imbalance. The leader’s subsequent direction needn’t necessarily be dramatic, but it should definitely be purposeful.
So – how does this translate into action? Three broad suggestions:
1. Song Selection. Make sure that the majority of the audience will be familiar with the majority of the songs to be played. Don’t open or close with an unfamiliar song, and if called upon for impromptu worship, avoid unfamiliar songs entirely. A leader cannot expect to be followed if he has not met his followers where they are. (To help the band with this, we must supply them with the entire catalog of songs common to the attending youth groups.)
2. Performance. Keep the focus entirely on The Lord God. Dispense with the needless stage banter and solos – this is not a concert or standup routine. Most of these worshipers are not yet spiritually mature enough to maintain their focus, so their attention can easily be swayed be a careless leader. Once the leader has met the audience where they are, it is his duty to continually point them in the right direction.
3. Approach. Don’t rely too heavily on a formula. There is no Scripture that says the setlist must open and/or close with a fast song, or that there must be at least three slow songs in the key of G. Be prepared to throw out the book altogether. If the first song has got God’s people on their knees, don’t be afraid to stick with it for a while. So what if we end up preempting the lesson? So what if we don’t get to do the skit? The leader expects the unexpected and is ready to respond.
» Tasks of a Youth Pastor
On Sundays:
- Interaction with Young People
- Activities after services
- Youth Services
Weekdays:
- Preparation of Talks
- Preparation of Activities
- Resources
- Discipleship
- Evangelism
- Bible Studies
- Visitation
- Counseling
Monthly Activities:
- Coordinating Youth Calendars
- Finances
- Communication and Advertising
- Family Ministries
- Involvement at Local Schools and Youth Centers
Quarterly and Annual Activities:
- Special Events (mission trips, camps, etc…)
- Formal Youth Leadership Training
General Activities and Responsibilities:
- Building Relationships and Responsibilities
- Coordinating and Integrating Youth Ministries
- Integrating Young People into the Life of the Church
- Leadership and Direction-Setting
- Evaluation of Youth Ministry
- Worship and Music
- Pastoral Staff Relationships
- Administration
- General Assistance
- Community Involvement
- Identifying and Tracking Youth Trends
- Being Available
» Four Qualities of Youth Pastor
1. Diligence
2. Stability
3. Vision
4. Integrity
» Seven Roles of a Youth Pastor
1. Work under leadership and vision of the church
2. Act like a pastor
3. Teach the Bible
4. Equip, not entertain
5. Invest time with parents
6. Build relationships
7. Pray
» The Making of Ignite Youth Gathering
INITIAL EVENT IDEAS…
A. There are a few things about this event that I’d like to stress from the beginning. I’ve been involved in a number of different events, some successful, others not, and I believe the most important thing we can do is also the most obvious. Namely, don’t try to create something of our own merit and our own agenda but instead, concede to the Spirit to lead all of us, AND help us come to consensus on important decisions. I believe then and only then will we find the ultimate result of a stronger bond between us as leaders and a closer vision to what God has laid out and wants to accomplish.
To sum it up… let’s listen to God on this gathering most of all!
B. It does seem that everyone has a different take on why we should have this but we all agree on the reasons behind it. I’m thinking we use this intermingled passion to create a multi-pronged approach to the event. Something that allows us all to agree on a common purpose but also highlights goals that are perhaps unique to each group but that could help and inspire the other groups. An example to me is the passion Jake has for the high-schools as a battle ground and mission field. This is great and to be honest we’ve just been trying to get our kids on a path toward God first but this is equally important. I really like this idea and think it could really benefit our group. I also think that I have good ideas for outreach and also “inreach” that could possibly benefit the other groups. Let’s use this “melting pot” to let the best ideas rise to the surface, while at the same time making sure that everyone gets heard.
To sum it up… get everyone involved and go with the great ideas!
C. In my opinion the one thing that is going to immobilize us is trying to over-complicate the ideas we have or get too fancy with the curriculum or agenda of events. This isn’t a multi-thousand dollar event planned with well budgeted staff and dedicated volunteers. We’re all busy guys and we have to believe the reality that if this gets hairy and complicated things are going to go wrong, people are going to get frustrated and we’re all going to lose site of the purpose of the event in the first place. To love God, to love others and to bring the this message to others.
To sum it up… let’s keep is as simple as possible while having an excellent event!
D. Another problem I’ve found with single day events where the kids don’t have very much time to get to know each other is that there is a disconnect with the MAJOR point of the event (like this). People stay in their comfortable and known groups of friends, and why wouldn’t they. On average most people aren’t going to inteject themselves in a strange group unless forced. I think we’ll need to be clever about how we handle this so it doesn’t seem so “forced”.
To sum it up… the kids absolutely need to connect with kids from other groups or we miss the point of getting together!
3. WHAT IS IT ABOUT…
A. I really do like the idea of keeping the message clean and simple. Love God, love others and share this with others. I believe, however, that there are many important and powerful tangents that we can and should go down in order to be effective in this task. A good example is the thoughts Chris had about breaking down the lies we are so quick to believe about the world around us. These mis-truths pollute our perspective on what it means to love God, others and even ourselves.
B. I like the idea Jake mentioned, and Brian concurred on, regarding our main purpose as youth pastors. We are called to equip the next generation of warriors. It’s a HUGE task but I really do think it’s critical that we look at ourselves this way and it also helps when making decisions on how to approach youth ministry in general.
C. In addition to equipping, I believe we are also in the role of empowering and overseeing. It’s just as important to keep the kids going, because from my experience, teenagers don’t have a great track record of reliability when it comes to sticking with things for long periods of time. (not being cynical here but simply openly truthful…)
D. Here’s a few words to describe the event we’re wanting to do in no particular order… connect, powerful, gathering, momentum, equip, empower, prepare, encourage, big picture, oversee, high-school mission field, challenge, breaking down lies, leadership, breaking new ground, unity, united, keeping it simple.
4. DURING THE EVENT…
A. I believe kinetic energy of youth is infectious in a positive way. I think we use this momentum through games, mixers and upfront activities with the most outgoing from each group to create a common bond between the kids. I think team building activities are a little cliche but they work and even if every kid has done a specific team building activity, everyone loves a challenge especially if they’re competing and there are “prizes”.
B. The music has to rock! I lead worship at my church but I’m generally not ROCKING out so much. However, I know we could pick a very common worship set list (e.g. open the eyes of my heart, lord i lift your name on high, etc…) and just straight say … we want you to think about worship different. Here we are all gathered together with a group of strangers yet everyone is singing the same song. Everyone knows the same words and everyone is worshiping the same God. I think if done right it could be very powerful. I’ll be happy to concede this responsibility to a real rock band but until then consider this an area where I can give my abilities (and our kids) in full use…
C. I believe the first event should really feature a few things. Namely the kids themselves. This might require a lot of work on our part but I think it could be powerful if executed correctly. Whether it’s kids being the MC for the night. Kids leading prayer at certain points in the night, kids giving testimonials, announcements, introductions, offering prayer, organizing the events, helping with food, you name it. Get the kids involved. They might grown but at the end of the night if we plan right they’ll talk about the event forever to come.
D. Secondly, I think we should make sure that all youth pastors get a chance to introduce themselves. I don’t think this needs to be a full life testimony, but I think the more creative we are the better. We could all come up and just lamely introduce ourselves or we could have some really cool but simple (and hopefully VERY funny) skit that introduces us. Perhaps, finding all the things about each youth pastor that their respective kids know is annoying but funny and really blowing it out of proportion. Like I’m terrible at answering my phone or I never update the youth web site. Something that you know your kids and others might connect and laugh at. It personalizes all of us to our kids and the other kids. Just an idea… 
E. What about names. I’m not really sure so I thought I would just throw a few out there. Tminus6 (shuttle rocket ignition). United (obvious). Austin United (i like the idea that if this takes off there could be one for every city!!!). Cornerstone. The Bridge. Revolution. Relentless. Unshakable. Lift. Rise. Rock Austin. Elevation. Core. Basic (becoming a soldier in christ). Ignite. Ablaze. Ascend. Stand. Unite. I have favorites but I’ll withhold until I hear from you guys so as to not taint the judgement…
F. Lastly, some message or whatever that connects all the above ideas and ties it to Jesus Christ. If we do ONE thing right it would be to proclaim the name of Jesus Christ. Then lift up His name and make sure the kids know that everything this is about is by, because of and for Jesus. All our ideas of campus ministry, equipping kids and empowering them will fall flat if our kids are not on fire for God themselves. So this is where we will need to come together and think about what we want to do.
5. AN ACTUAL AGENDA…
This is the most loose of all my ideas because I want to work with everyones ideas on how they want to execute the event. Perhaps I might be a little predictable but since it’s new and they are going to be in a strange environment it might be good to have a little familiarity. So here it goes…
Date: Sunday, October 26
Event Time: 6pm – 9pm
Location: River in the Hills Church (Lakeway Plaza)
Suggested Event Agenda (VERY Preliminary):
SETUP:
3:00-4:00 Prayer (all adult and student leaders)
4:00-6:00 Preparation & Setup
FUN STUFF:
6:00-6:30 Food & Fellowship (great pizza and maybe fun intra-group personal information scavenger hunt)
6:30-6:45 Games & Mixer (super fun and challenging contests…)
GETTING IN THE ZONE:
6:45-7:00 Brief introduction of event (will take a bit to gather kids)
7:00-7:10 Prayer from Kids
7:15-7:45 Worship (open with 3-4 well known songs)
TO THE POINT:
7:45-8:00 Introduction of Youth Pastors
8:00-8:15 Message From Kids (coordinated on point of this meeting)
8:15-8:45 Message From Leadership (coordinated on point of meeting)
FINISHING UP:
8:45-9:00 Worship (close with 2-3 songs)
9:00-??? Fellowship & Prayer
6. YOUR FEEDBACK…
I know that Chris is currently using his vast intellect to coalesce all the information from us into one BLOB of a cohesive, inclusive and all things “sive” document so we can look at it in all it’s glory this thursday and say, “yes, that’s it, let’s just make THIS happen”. But if you’d like to respond to anything I’ve mentioned please don’t hesitate. Just copy everyone else so that we can all share in the feedback love.
I can truthfully say that although I don’t know, Jake and Brian that well, that I love you guys for your passion for young people. What a joy to spend our effort and time on this earth helping the next generation do the same. Jesus is amazing and I’ll be praying for you guys, this event and our “coming together” that it be a success and a whopping achievement for unpaid youth pastors everywhere!!!
PRAISE GOD!!!
