Fall Updates 2012: Day Three

Now you might be rubbing your eyes and saying, "Wha-a-a-at?" I thought she just threw the Westmont logo up there. Now's she sporting the APU logo? What is up with that??"

Indeed. What is up with that? I am able to make the strange claim that I am indeed a Westmont Warrior (thanks to extremely part-time, adjunct faculty status) AND an Azusa Pacific University Cougar! What do I mean by that? Well... I'm currently enrolled as a student at APU Seminary. Crazy talk, I know.

Allow me to explain. I already have a Master's in Theology from Fuller Seminary (Go-o-o-o-o.... oh wait, Fuller doesn't have a mascot). In the last year, through my work with the Free Methodist Church in Southern California, I have been working with administration, faculty and staff at APU on various projects (I'll talk about that in a later post), and have been very impressed with the caliber of folks I have met. Every single person has been creative, intelligent, energetic, entrepreneurial and generous with their time and support.  In talking with some faculty in the School of Theology, I started feeling that familiar itch, that growing desire to be back in school again, despite my tortoise-like pace in getting my MAT. I started poking around for information on what a Doctorate in Ministry (aka "DMin," but if you say that quickly, it doesn't sound good for us Jesus-followers... "I'm getting a DMin.") could look like. It didn't take long before I was hooked.

HOWEVER (isn't there always a "however"?), I also found out that my lowly MAT lacked a few credits to qualify me to start. So despite being a Fuller audit-aholic (I think I audited eight courses after finishing my degree) I was told I needed two more seminary courses to apply.

Since I love going to school, PERIOD, I was not too bummed by this news. Granted, driving down to Azusa once a week is no small accomplishment, but I have a carpool buddy (one of my summer interns who is just starting her seminary education), so it's all good. I'm taking Pastoral Counseling for Adolescents, and I am loving it. Yes, despite all these years in youth ministry, I still have plenty to learn.  It is awesome to be reminded of this. So far, the entire class has been worth it for one book: Becoming a Healthier Pastor by Ron Richardson. Outstanding! I've already referred it to a few "come-alongside" clients, who have echoed my praise. There are several other books, and a couple of them would get "Not a Fan" status from me, but overall the lectures have been A+ and I am already gathering notes for my research paper. If it goes well, maybe I'll even post it here!

So... Go Warriors, Go Cougars... heck, Go Gauchos! I'll be quick to admit it: I'm a lifelong student. And pretty darn happy about it.

Two Articles in January

When I moved on from my long-term youth ministry position in February 09, one of my hopes was to be able to write. I didn't have complete clarity as to exactly what I wanted to write about, but I felt itchy to get some things written down.

Soon after I resigned, I was at a conference and unexpectedly "met" (ran into, really) an editor from InterVarsity Press whose writing I had admired. Feeling like this was my one shot, and that it would pass very quickly, I blurted to him something to the effect of I've always wanted to write and I don't know if I'm even any good but how would I start if I wanted to get published...

Feeling like a fool because I'm sure he hears that ALL THE TIME, I still pushed past my insecurities somehow and just put it out there ~ I'm so grateful he didn't blow me off.

In reply, he said very simply, Start a blog. I told him I felt like there are a million silly blogs out there and who in the world reads them, and he patiently explained that having a blog provides the impetus to write. When you know it's there, it's embarrassing to not regularly post content on it, so it kicks you in the butt and gets you motivated. Tell a few friends you've got one, and go from there... and with that, he moved on.

That's all I needed. No, I haven't become famous, and I certainly haven't written that great American novel. But I have started writing, and it started with this blog (well, it started with AP English in high school, but that's another story). The practice the blog gives me has been a great discipline. I'm not sure I could tell you precisely how I ended up writing some articles after that, but I did. It's all still a work in progress ~ but it feels great to turn some ideas into reality.

That provides a bit of context to then say that I had two articles come out this month. One of them is on the Fuller Youth Institute website, which represents the youth ministry research arm of Fuller Seminary. The article is titled, Friends & Frenemies: Love, Pray, Eat. I enjoy writing for FYI because the editors push me hard to back up my big sweeping statements with actual research, gosh darn it. Last month I was stoked to find out that one of my articles for them last year was part of their "Top 5 Resources for 2010"... Regardless of whether I have articles in there or not, bookmark this site because it is a tremendous resource for anyone who cares about teens, families, education, and most importantly, youth ministry.

The other article released this month is in Youthworker Journal, and it titled Teens, Texts & Tweets: Helping Parents & Youthworkers Understand & Address Technology. This one is on page 34 and the link here is a digital magazine... you may find it a tiny bit tricky to navigate (let's be honest, I DID), so I hope you're able to read it. As with an article from last September, I got a good laugh out of seeing my name make the cover of the magazine. (If you squinch up your eyes real tight you'll see it... Should I mention that the lady in the photo sort of creeps me out?)

If you read this blog periodically, you have been part of this process of learning. Thanks. If there is something on your wish list that you hope to do "someday," all I can say is, Don't wait any longer. Get going, y'hear!?

Article Published on "Two Whom"

Another article related to youth ministry has been posted online with Fuller Youth Institute (FYI), an excellent research institution connected to Fuller Seminary, its School of Theology and their program in Youth, Family & Culture. I met with the Executive Director Kara Powell last month to talk through future projects we might work on together, and she asked if they could post my story about our "Two Whom" project.

I care about the Two Whom event because it was my best attempt to help students learn how to live out their faith in the midst of their everyday life. Kara and I really connected on a passion of FYI -- to work with students in understanding "deeper justice" issues. In other words, when we take that summer missions trip to Tijuana or Costa Rica or the inner city, it's easy to dive in and work with the poor when that is all that we are doing. We have both found that students are energized to serve and sacrifice for the next few days or weeks after such an experience, but that it is difficult for them to sustain that commitment because the trip was so... "other."

Two Whom was a step forward because it asked students to grapple with poverty, injustice and our faith right in their world -- heck, right in their kitchen! May we keep seeing ways to live out kingdom values in our lives and relationships, bringing grace, justice, humility, love and peace to those we see daily.