This past week 22 students attended Certification School held at Wartburg Theological Seminary. The school includes high ropes activities which are reflected upon afterwards. We discussed how easy it is to be immobilized by fear, and how we, as Christian leaders, must move beyond it.
Suggestions for moving beyond fear included creating a network of colleagues and cheerleaders to encourage us to along the way. Others mentioned keeping focused on the reward rather than the risk. Another suggested staying focused on the next step and blocking out everything else.
In what ways does fear immobilize your ministry? What can you and others do to move beyond it?
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Fear of not being enough. My position is DCE. This position was created for me. I was doing all of this on a volunteer basis at the church. Then 9 years ago, the church came to me and said that they wanted to pay me for what I was doing. Great! Right? Or not…….I now quite often fear that I am not enough for my position. I need to put that fear to rest. I need to learn and grow. AND most importantly I need to reflect on where I was to where I now am. I have grown!…..but the fear continues to be there.
I use the element of fear to motivate me to press on to the reward that is waiting for me on the other side, whenever I finish the task that presented me with the fear. For me the high ropes course represented all the people from my younger years (21 and younger) that always told me that I would never complete anything in my life. Well when I got up on the grapevine and only made it a 1/3 of the way the first, I knew I had to get harnessed up again and climb back up (and I did complete it the second time). Man that was a great feeling to complete that.
Since, I am not in a ministry position but do work with at risk teenagers that are receiving treatment in a group home. I help them deal with their fears on a daily basis, and their fears more traumatic then my fear of completing a “grapevine” high ropes course.
In what ways does fear immobilize your ministry? What can you and others do to move beyond it?
I think the only real “fear” that hinders our youth and family ministry is that we want to please everyone. We have to look out not to step on the toes of the Choir director, we have to make sure that the parents are happy, and the kids are going home with a lesson. We want to try to “please everyone”, and that simply doesn’t work. Whenever our Sunday School Superintendent needs a vent session, the door is open for her. Whenever we want to try something new, we bounce ideas of of eachother to try to think of the possible reactions. We can’t please everyone but working together on the same goal on the same page is helpful for us to satisfy the hearts of those ready to worship God through our children’s programming.
Fear is huge in congregations ~ fear of trying something new, fear of letting go of the old, fear of inviting people in because they might take over and change things, fear of failure, fear of success, fear of hurting somebody’s feelings ~ the list goes on and on. The trick is to approach people with an awareness that we all live with fears, and to speak of something new while at the same time voicing an appreciation for what was done before. It’s a bit like walking the pole on the high ropes ~ a balancing act, while still trying to be brave! The balance I must keep is to go forward, but not as quickly as my enthusiasm would take me. If I do, then it will become “my program” or “policy” and will fail. That is my fear, so I must take it slower than I would like, inviting others into the enthusiasm so they can embrace the ideas as their own. Coming to cert#60 sites and seeing the names of my rope-walker friends continues to encourage me, just as you all did on the ropes! God is good ~ all the time!
What comes to mind in thinking about fear and how it immobilizes me caused me to reflect back to last week when I returned to work (Thursday) in ”Corporate America” and my curious coworkers innocently and politely asked me about my time away as if I had been on vacation. I was happy jump right in and share openly and enthusiastically about the incredible experience but in doing so I began to receive very strange replies and comments that I was not expecting. This happened with several interactions and I found myself feeling misinterpreted, misunderstood, and defensive. I began to feel fearful of what others might think of my experience, my path, my life and as a result I began to respond to my coworkers in ways that were not my best and finally shutting down to being open and willing to share. Honestly, I would rather have been on the ropes course jumping for that cow bell knowing that my classmates and instructors had me covered safely, fully and wholly (holy) accepting me for who I am today by appreciating my God given gifts and my shortcomings. I miss you all!
The great news is that I have received so much positive support from my family, our church members and pastors and the youth! They loved the “Faith Talk” Cards and the game that Kelly L. told me about with the balloon tied to their ankles! Thank you Kelly!
What I do (now) to move beyond my current fear and pain is to read my Bible (given to me at Wartburg and inscribed by my gracious classmates) every morning along with my daily devotions book, Jesus Calling (Thank you Rosie and includes all of my classmates birthdays), pray that I respond to my coworkers in ways that make sense to them, and thank God that I am having an incredible experience with such awesome people in Cert School #60! You have all given me so much strength and encouragement and for that I am incredibly grateful!
Cydney, I can relate to the uneasiness of explaining what we were doing at Wartburg. Even in my setting as the pastor, I received questioning looks sometimes as I explained what we did, especially the low ropes and high ropes. Many people are used to the “old” ways or “traditional” ways of learning and don’t understand hands-on, group participation activities that include a great deal of learning in them. Be true to yourself, and don’t discount your experiences when others do. You did AWESOME work at Cert School, and I just know you are making a big difference in the faith lives of those around you! Blessings, my friend!
It is easier said than done, but I try to use fear as a motivator. Usually when I have a fear about something, once I work through it, it ends up not being as scary as I thought. If I look back on things that have scared me, if I didn’t face the fear, I would have missed out on some wonderful things. I try to keep that in mind when facing a new challenge.
I was really impressed with everybody who worked through their fears to face the high ropes course. One person willing to ‘risk it’ in turn gave others the courage to try as well. It was very inspirational!
I am in a situation where decisions are being driven by fear. Fear of not having enough money for next year’s budget, or enough members to sustain 3 worship services. When discussions are held about what to do, there is almost unanimous agreement that we have to do something. But when it comes down to it, the decision is to continue doing what we have always done. Change creates a fear that totally immobilizes. If we don’t change something, if we continue down the path that most obviously isn’t working, how will things get better? As a leader, (which I am not in the position to do at least for this part) the question they need to ask themselves is, what is our vision? How do the programs that we are offering now fit into that vision?
You hit it on the head Heidi with money and status quo being what keeps us from growing in whatever capacity. And it is here that faith is a key factor. Faith that Jesus’ lessons were true – he always sought to change or live outside of the status quo and he lived riding on donkeys – and we can live like that as well. Mother Teresa, Martin Luther, Martin Luther King Jr, and others all come to mind. Churches forget this and live by today’s rules. You may feel like you’re not in a position to lead but you can be a gentle reminder and thus a leader.
While my fear of heights prevents me from doing the high ropes, I am always willing to try and this is perhaps what’s important. I felt badly about not making it on the ropes until another team member said “If you hadn’t tried a second time I won’t have and I would have never reached the top.” Not only was that helpful to me but it expressed the thought of the importance of trying. One of the youth I was most appreciative of was one who was always willing to try a new event, idea, etc. I credit him with the success of our group because he led by example.
We talk about that willingness with Sam, our kid, who will try any food once, unlike most 11-year olds. I have to say mapping the real physical fear of the ropes course onto the more abstract fears is sometimes too much for me – if I’m honest, the ropes course was an ideal situation, with ropes and safety and encouragement all around, and that just rarely happens out here in the real world. But it’s also true that I don’t often come to those places of real fear…
We’re actually starting a new contemporary service on Sunday, and there is hesitance if not true fear about the whole thing. I think for me the way to overcome fear is through trust – I am blessed to say that I have been given a great deal of trust by my church family, and I think maybe they’ll rely on that trust to experiment with this contemporary thing. We will see…
My will to please the father causes fear in me because I get scared that I’m not doing his will. My fears and doubts creep that I’m not doing ministry the way he wants me to. So that fear can cause me to be immoble as well as the fear that what I’m doing just isn’t clicking with the students. If it’s not clicking then they’ll stop coming. To my fear number one Jesus is so much bigger than my mistakes and lack of following His will to a T. As long as I am seeking, asking, and trying God honors that. He loves my students way more than I do and He wants them to know Him more than I do so why wouldn’t he move? He’s got this. To my second fear, my same response to my first fear, God does the growing and changing. But also I have to accept that my ministry may not click with all students that doesn’t mean they won’t come to know Christ or that I’ll stop praying and hoping for them. In Him I trust and He can do anything!
Kelly, I had a discussion with a teen a couple weeks ago about following God’s will to a “T”. Its not possible. We can’t look into the future. He didn’t give us the tablet with His written plans for our life. He declares that He knows them (Jeremiah 29:11)-our job is to TRY to live a Godly life the best that we can. From the conversations we have had, I have no doubt that you are trying your hardest to reach as many kids as you can. You are sharing God’s word through EPIC to so many kids that may not have ever heard it. Keep on praying and hoping because God hears it!
It’s hard not to let the fear take over at times. My fear of late is that I am in way over my head and skill level.
Yeah baby, been there!! Gotta say, doing cert school has helped address some of that – teaching new skills as well as assuring me that, while I came to them from a different direction, I actually do have some skills for this job!
I have worked really hard on not letting fear immobilize me in my ministry. Keeping focused on the vision of creating peace, love, and justice in a world where these things are much needed, and that continues to move me forward.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about fear and the role it plays in the evolution of organizations and leadership. Fear-based decisions are almost always too reactionary to be well-thought out and strategic. The Christian story teaches us to move through fear, and, as Geri said, follow Jesus, even if we are still a little scared. Jesus and other Biblical writers reminder us over and over again to, “Fear Not!”
The picture above is a wonderful metephor. In Rachel’s right hand is the promise of the living God to provide all we need to do his work. In her left hand (the one that is gripping SO tightly) is her own understanding and ability. Until we are able to “let go of the pole” and trust that God’s is “there for us” we are just going to be stuck at one end of the tightrope.
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Yeah Rachael and everyone who took on challenges over the week. I think it is also important to remember that it’s ok to be scared. We can trust in Jesus fully and still be scared. The important thing is to not let that fear stop us from moving forward.
Yeah Rachel!!!
I think that staying focused on the fact that it is Jesus’ ministry, and not our own keeps me moving forward. I cannot do this alone, but by the power and grace of Christ, I can move forward. I think Kelly L. said something like this after the last day of high ropes also.