Use us or Lose us
Ok my younger brothers take a look at the following blurb (and I will have more after the quote)
Use Me or Lose Me
Recent surveys indicate that more than half of the baby boomer population wants the rest of their lives to count for something more significant. They want to invest the rest of their lives for the betterment of their families, their communities, and their world. This cohort of people is not only huge, but more than half of them want to give back to others. For the church that is aware of these realities, the boomer could well represent the largest labor force for the kingdom that the church has ever seen. These men and women will probably willingly serve in the traditional ways (ushering, greeting, sitting on boards, teaching classes, etc.), but if these are the only offerings you have then many of them will find greater opportunities to give back to the community outside the church. This is what the Baby Boomer means when he says to the church, “Use me or lose me.” He or she would prefer to get involved in something significant in the church, but if the church has little too little to offer, he will find opportunities elsewhere. Leadership Network Advance 3/25/08
There are a few of us boomers who realize we need to groom you for leadership of the church and start passing on leadership and responsibility for the future of the church (including local fellowships such as CBC). That means we need to give you opportunities to lead and not get in the way of you doing "church" different than we did. The question comes as stated above -- how will you engage the boomer labor force to do or be church.
Richie has heard me say before that I have to have a mission to be happy -- serving. Which is one reason I'm looking to go back to govt - I have a skill set that can help defend this nation. But what will I do when I'm ready to retire again at around 60? Maybe go teach? Continue coaching? What will you guys have me do for church as you are now the leaders in a decade?
Some of us don't want to be the guys sitting in the back carping about music or "we didn't do it that way"; or "Why did we stop having Wednesday night meeting or Sunday night meeting?
But my challenge to you my younger brothers is: what's your strategic plan? What would you change and why? What are things we can change now to put us on that path? What forms would you change to meet the function?
Use Me or Lose Me
Recent surveys indicate that more than half of the baby boomer population wants the rest of their lives to count for something more significant. They want to invest the rest of their lives for the betterment of their families, their communities, and their world. This cohort of people is not only huge, but more than half of them want to give back to others. For the church that is aware of these realities, the boomer could well represent the largest labor force for the kingdom that the church has ever seen. These men and women will probably willingly serve in the traditional ways (ushering, greeting, sitting on boards, teaching classes, etc.), but if these are the only offerings you have then many of them will find greater opportunities to give back to the community outside the church. This is what the Baby Boomer means when he says to the church, “Use me or lose me.” He or she would prefer to get involved in something significant in the church, but if the church has little too little to offer, he will find opportunities elsewhere. Leadership Network Advance 3/25/08
There are a few of us boomers who realize we need to groom you for leadership of the church and start passing on leadership and responsibility for the future of the church (including local fellowships such as CBC). That means we need to give you opportunities to lead and not get in the way of you doing "church" different than we did. The question comes as stated above -- how will you engage the boomer labor force to do or be church.
Richie has heard me say before that I have to have a mission to be happy -- serving. Which is one reason I'm looking to go back to govt - I have a skill set that can help defend this nation. But what will I do when I'm ready to retire again at around 60? Maybe go teach? Continue coaching? What will you guys have me do for church as you are now the leaders in a decade?
Some of us don't want to be the guys sitting in the back carping about music or "we didn't do it that way"; or "Why did we stop having Wednesday night meeting or Sunday night meeting?
But my challenge to you my younger brothers is: what's your strategic plan? What would you change and why? What are things we can change now to put us on that path? What forms would you change to meet the function?
Comments
I do, however, want to encourage you guys to make church culturally relevent to your generation and be ready to pass it on to your offspring and give them the liberty to make it relevant to them when you guys pass it on to them.
I believe in the liberty granted to us by the Spirit that we can mold our forms to different methods to execute the function and that while you might bounce ideas off of the "grey-beard crew" to get an idea of how it might come across or if there are pitfalls you might not have seen you should feel free to experiment and keep it fresh without worrying too much about offending - especially if it on preference.