Growing Leaders

Recently, the Franconia Conference Leadership Cultivation team created a networking group on Facebook.com to connect with its young adults who are near and far. Originally started as a student based online community that allowed friends to stay in touch while away at college, Facebook is now an open community and people from all over the world can use it to connect with friends, family, and like minds. We asked two of our group members to tell us what they thought of Franconia’s presence on the web community.

There are many young adults from the Franconia Conference whom I am friends with. Since I might only connect with any one of them once a month at some random event I use the conference Facebook group to stay in touch and up to date. I also enjoy being able to share pictures. Dave Landis is a great photographer, and will frequently post highlights of his shutter escapades on the group site. I also thought it was great that many young adults were able to get together last month at Caruso’s. I was able to reconnect with people that I hadn’t seen in years and made some new friendships.

Creating a space where young adults feel welcomed and inspired is not easy. The church has a long way to go. However the conference is off to a great start. I see this new social technology as a blessing. But like many things, its not healthy to have it become your social life. It is important for the church to be creative and willing to adapt in order to meet needs and be relevant. Facebook is a great tool to keep people connected in an age where community is no longer restricted to geography.

Tim Moyer is a student at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts and a member of Blooming Glen Mennonite Church.

I joined the Franconia Facebook group so I could stay connected with the conference. It’s a creative method of using the popular culture to bring together young adults who might not otherwise have a way of keeping in touch with what’s happening in FMC. I think it’s a helpful way of building a sense of connection with others who are a part of the group and an easy way for Franconia to get in touch with us all. Even though, as college students, we are spread out in different areas, this group allows an easy way of keeping us up to date and sending out messages to a large group of people. It’s a way that many people are familiar with and can easily relate to. I think it’s neat FMC has set up a Facebook group and is trying to reach out to young adults in a practical way.

Emily Derstine is a student at Eastern Mennonite University and a member of Plains Mennonite Church.

Interview conducted by Jessica Walter

Aldo Siahaan is Associate Pastor at Philadelphia Praise Center (PPC). He has been serving with the congregation since its beginning two years ago. We interviewed Aldo about his experiences leading PPC and how he cultivates and inspires young leaders in his own congregation. The congregation is mostly made up of persons under the age of 40.

GL: What inspires you as a leader at PPC?

What inspires me as a leader at PPC is that the people choose me to lead. I never nominated myself to lead. Somehow the people here believed I would be a good leader because of the work that I have done in the congregation so they asked me to lead. Now they call me “pastor” and “brother” which is sometimes weird for me.

GL: What are your challenges in leading PPC?

One of my challenges as a leader at PPC is that I have to be a spokesperson for both the young people and the elders. I often become a mediator between the two voices. Also as a spiritual leader I have often been challenged by the young people who are not all interested in listening to my spiritual advice.

GL: How do you call out young leaders at PPC?

Taking time with them has proven to be the best method to find and then be in a position to call a young person into leadership. As I spend time with them I begin to see their potentials through observing their daily lives whether at work or school, how they interact with their family, and how they handle the tasks that they’ve been given.

GL: How does PPC encourage young leaders to stay involved?

We ask them to be a creative part of our congregation. We ask them to help us reach out to our neighbors, beyond the Indonesian community. They have helped us as we have been moving into a new building. We are really focused on strengthening our leadership and are interested and open to their new ideas for the church, its programs, and how it reaches both groups and indiviuals.

GL: What are the challenges of getting young leaders involved at PPC?

To be honest, my biggest challenge is that some of them still want to focus on themsleves. They are not all interested in investing their lives in others.

James M. Lapp, Senior Ministry Consultant

Reading these highly personal articles from a group of younger leaders all connected to Franconia Conference has been deeply moving. There’s only one writer with roots in our conference and there is evidence of intercultural perspectives represented among them. Is this a sign of things to come?

I hear in their words deep interest and commitment to God and the church, which should hearten those of us from other older generations and with historic ties to FMC.

I hear an invitation for older or more traditional leaders to give time to cultivating relationships with young adults and youthful leaders. Only with this “incarnation” of our love and care will younger people really know how much we value them. I hear this might create unfamiliar (maybe even uncomfortable)
challenges but the rewards will be great for those willing to risk it. Can we make room in our lives and congregations for those who do not “seem perfect and successful” with idealistic morality?

I hear walking across the bridge to meet a new generation of leaders will involve a new type of communication, overcoming certain stubbornness and pride. Are we ready to make this journey between the past/present as we know it and the present/future they represent?

I hear voices of youthful idealism, easily swayed by doubt and suspicion (not unlike many of us experienced in our younger years) but a readiness to trust and believe when they see credible evidence that the Gospel we claim to espouse is indeed reality for us.

I hear considerable stress for younger leaders in this transition toward a postmodern era, along with a readiness to embrace questions, mysteries, and ambiguities that are not always given space and time in our churches. Frankly this worries me – that the environment younger leaders face and the status quo in congregations might create too huge of a hurdle for prospective 21st century young leaders to cross. We are duly warned that relating to these young leaders is not for the “faint-hearted, easily winded, or precariously perfect.”

I hear honest struggle with the narcissistic societal forces around us and other quagmires in our culture that younger leaders encounter among their peers.

I hear a call for the church to be more honestly self-reflective about who we are and our priorities in ministry. We can speak passionately about the need for younger leadership in our churches, but will we incarnate our talk in actions (especially time) and relationships that authentically connect with younger people and leaders? Why is it that we have few credentialed leaders under 30 in our conference?

What I do not hear is a desire to disconnect, a readiness to walk away from the church, or even a pessimism about what God is doing in our world today. I also don’t hear a call for lots of programs to be planned for young people and younger leaders. Rather relationships and space to navigate the stages of life seem to be the gifts most desired. These younger leaders offer a window into the challenges this presents to those interested enough to hear and respond.

I realize that these writers are hardly a cross section of younger leaders. These four (Landis, Walter, Kriss and Siahaan) are an exceptionally gifted and motivated group of leaders. More than likely they do not speak for all young leaders. But we ignore their voices at our own peril as a church. I am grateful they wrote and for the vulnerability with which they shared their perspectives. My greatest hope is that pastors, church leaders, boards and all persons who claim to be interested in young people and enlarging the circle of young leaders will pay prayerful attention to what they have shared. The test of interest might be if this issue of Growing Leaders shows up on the agenda of church boards and elders in the next few months.

By James M. Lapp, Senior Ministry Consultant, Franconia Mennonite Conference

Missional preachers face new challenges in the five years following 9-11. It is not merely the ensuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that create troubling agenda for pacifist preachers. Nor is it simply a heightened nationalism that follows with its resultant provincialism. Or the economic struggles that follow in the wake of war. All of these make life more difficult but are not unexpected effects of international wars.

Instead, I see two primary challenges for missional preachers: the globalized fear that permeates and seeks to shape every aspect of our nation and our lives; and second, the way the missionary task is being redefined by the 9-11 events. Many of our national leaders adeptly use fear to build support for intervention within the Middle-East. Getting on an airplane offers grim reminders of the ubiquitous nature of fear. The paradox is that we are told the world is safer now while fear is used to promote support for stringent security.

To be sure there is enough to substantiate a policy of fear in our 21st century world. In no way should we minimize the realities of violence that threaten our lives. The recent shootings in schools across the United States grimly remind us that future generations are at serious risk. The stakes are high.

If we wish to heed Jesus’ word, “Be not afraid,” pastors will do well to saturate their hearts and minds with the preponderance of Biblical texts that call us to faith and hope, and toward a “perfect love” that casts out fear. Beginning with Psalm 23 and winding through Scripture, God’s people are invited to an alternative attitude and posture. What greater witness can we give than a counter-cultural lifestyle of deep security in God, and not in “homeland security” or the massive systems of defense that complicate our lives? Let this steady diet pervade our preaching in a multitude of ways.

Within the evangelism task, we are exposed to the realities of alternate faiths, especially Muslim adherents that comprise a significant part of the globe. This opens territory with which many of us lack familiarity. Since Muslims pray to the same God as Christians, and since Muslims are loved by God as much as all other humans, how will we extricate ourselves from the so-called “war on terrorism” that tends to castigate Muslims as our enemies? At the heart of the Christian witness is respect for others, including those that we pray will come to faith in Christ. Respect includes learning to know those we hope might become Christian believers. What might we do to inform ourselves about Islam and the Koran so that respect and understanding will characterize our interactions with Muslim people and our preaching?

In our preaching, might we find regular opportunities to encourage love for enemies and people of other faiths? The historical challenge of the medieval Christian crusades left a lingering bitterness toward followers of Jesus. Do we appreciate the reality that Arab people are also descendents of Abraham through Ishmael? What attitudes do we reflect when we speak and pray about the longstanding conflict between Israel and the Palestinians? Just as some of us are quick to point out how we differ from popular stereotypes of Christians, can we allow for the same variety among Muslims and the various factions represented in Islam? Do people in our congregations know of the positive actions of Muslims embodied in the formation of Muslim Peacemaker Teams trained by our own Christian Peacemaker Teams?

The missionary task became more complicated though the events of 9-11. As God’s people we are called to exceed a mere survival posture in the world, and to keep central the witness Christ commissioned the church to give. For this to happen we need not travel far. How many of us already have Muslims neighbors who feel deeply conflicted and are anxious about how they are viewed?

A first step for many of us might simply be to become acquainted with our neighbors. In doing so, we will likely need to scrutinize our language in ways we never considered before. Perhaps the recent offense caused to Muslims by Pope Benedict can alert us all to the need for care in communicating with those from different religious traditions. It may be deeper than language, though; some of us may need attitude adjustments. Any stance that implies we are right in all ways and others are wrong in every way, making us the judge of the eternal salvation of others, can only distract from our witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Given the iconic position 9-11 has been given in our society, and the impact this icon has on almost every aspect of our current culture, preachers face an enormous challenge.

Thankfully the life and message of Jesus remains good news. But it will only be good news if we can rise above the prevailing fear that pervades our lives, and if we can speak and act with respect toward those we wish would be part of the body of Christ.

Jim Lapp is currently Senior Ministry Consultant for the Franconia Conference, having served for ten years as Conference Pastor. He lives in Harleysville, PA with his wife, Miriam Book, who is a pastor at the Salford Mennonite Church. They have three children and seven grandchildren. Jim’s current assignment is in leadership development and Anabaptist identity issues.