CAPTAIN'S LOG:Day 16 in uncharted waters
10:00hrs
Location: Patio, Coffee shop, known by locals as "MT Cup"
Current Status: vexed. terribly vexed.
we have made contact with the natives on numerous occasions and have begun diplomatic discussions. we are confident our efforts to learn the local language and customs will reap many rewards in the days to come.
however, the locals seem to believe the can extort us by charging a dollar for a coffee refill when they have previously charged only 50¢.
this has led to much consternation amongst the officers on the bridge. will continue to report developments as situation progresses.
ok, on to business:
so where is the line between "dive in and put your own fingerprints on this" and "don't change everything at once"?
this will be the recurring question i will surely ask many times in the months to come.
as my lead pastor, mark, put it: i am more free to make changes quickly since this is not a typical church setting. here, i do not have to deal with sister bernice, who has played the organ for 30 years, or brother leroy, who has lead the music from the pulpit for 20. however, the downside is that i have a high turnover. any semester i might lose someone that i have groomed for months or years.
honestly, i do not see a whole lot i want to change. i think alex (the last guy to work this position full time) and michael (the intern last year) left this ministry in great shape. i have some personality and procedural differences that will be apparent right away, but nothing that will rock these student's worlds.
philosophically, i think i have landed right where i should have. the stance on "worship" here is very practical and holistic. mark (and i'm assuming alex as well) have very broad interpretations of worship. everything we do on a sunday is worship to them. the question is, how do you get that information from the leaders and transmit it to students? how do you get them to take it back to the dorms? yes, we are worshiping all sunday morning. but what about monday? how do i get my praise team, the student leaders, and the rest of the students to take hold of this idea?
worship is an act.
worship is a lifestyle.
worship is a state of mind.
worship is a philosophy.
sigh.
why ever did i choose an occupation where i must lead something that can be a noun, verb, adjective, adverb, abstract noun, and other word types that i have forgotten since my last grammar class?
somehow i need to balance the practical day-to-day things i'm responsible for (music, tech stuff, teaching, etc) while also trying to teach new people and old topic in a new way.
this is going to be more complicated than i thought.
