Outnumbered

Our church recently wrapped up an exciting series called  JUST MY TYPE: GOD, THE ENNEAGRAM, AND YOU. Having recently decided to dig deeper into the Enneagram, I was very excited to be a part of helping to bring this series to life! I knew it would be a perfect opportunity to bring faith to the forefront of discovering how our personalities are wonderfully designed and mutually needed.

 

As our team sat down to discuss the various elements of the series, we knew we wanted color-coded wrist bands representing each Enneagram number for our congregation to keep after discovering their personality type. We also wanted a compelling, low-cost lobby piece that would enhance the message series. As NextGen Pastor, I led our Youth Staff in a collaborative effort to develop a youth curriculum that would piggy-back onto the adult service series to allow greater conversations at home and on the go. A separate team of Enneagram enthusiasts in our church community also created a specialized leader guide for our young adult and adult Small Group Leaders to dig into. The cherry on top was that at the end of the series, we invited a lovely couple in the Austin area that are Enneagram specialists to come and do a guided Q&A session during the last week of the series. I loved everything about this series! It was exciting to be a part of helping it all come together. I want to take some time to show you some of the fun projects I got to help with along the way.

Enneagram Bands To Accompany Each Type

 

When I was asked to create the graphic for the series, I actually came up with three different options:

After some standard process edits, we finally arrived at this look:

 

The next exciting project to tackle was our lobby piece! We wanted to create an attractive, low-cost interactive piece to place in the middle of the lobby that would enhance the messaging as we journeyed through it. After many thoughts and debates on how it should look, what to include, and where to put it, I was finally able to create one of my favorite lobby interactive displays!

 

 

To create this lobby display, I took all of the IKEA KALLAX bookshelves from the shared offices on campus and picked up some extra storage cubes to create spaces for us to store additional silicone bands that we had made to pass out in our JUST MY TYPE Small Groups first and then to the congregation at large. The graphics panels are posters I designed and had printed at Walgreens (they almost always have a coupon for posters!). I trimmed them to fit the bookshelf spacing dimensions. They were then spray glued onto Dollar Tree black foam board that was also cut to size beforehand with a utility knife. The backside of the bookshelves were covered with additional black foam board from the Dollar Tree. Here is an up-close look at the graphics featured on the lobby piece:

 

 

Our Eikon Youth (EY) students were also able to take the Enneagram Test in their small group and were given resources to help them understand how to grow their personality in healthy ways and embrace the unique ways that God designed them. We also gave them the series silicone bands and created Parent Cues and eXPerience pieces to assist families along the way. The EY series graphic I designed had a more adolescent approach to it, and I love it just as much!

 

 

My favorite thing about this series and all the interactive elements was that they led to some of the best conversations both in group settings and one-on-one. I even got to talk with many parents who were wondering how to best parent the different personalities of the kids in their households. After discussing some ideas and sharing resources, they were able to make some great traction and I can see how their families are getting stronger and closer. If you want to know more about how faith and the Enneagram intersect, feel free to check out the series messages from our team below!

 

Hey Look! It’s me!

Beautiful People

“Would you help me lead our Discipleship Class?”

 

As the words poured out of the mouth of my High School Small Group Leader, I was equal parts excited, confused, and nervous. I was just about to enter my Senior Year in High School, I was fairly new to Christian faith and following Jesus, and this was not where I thought our initial conversation was heading. I sucked in a breath as the words played over in my head. It wasn’t long before the other little questions came flooding in to surround that ultimate question—Could I help? Would I have the answers? Would I be a good leader? What did it mean to lead a Discipleship Class? With all my questions and emotions in tow, I said the only thing that made sense to me at the time . . . “Yes, I’d love to help!”

 

 

This month marks my 20th year of being heavily involved in Family Ministries. I had no idea all those years ago that one conversation with an amazing ministry leader would lead to years of commitment and dedication to inviting children and their families into a bigger story of faith, community, and purpose through Family Ministries. Because of the empowerment and encouragement of my home church (GT Austin), I was able to receive incredible ministry experience and training to help me lead not just youth, but young adults, and small children alike.

 

Please know that I will be sharing some stories here, not with the intent of perpetuating guilt or shame to you as a reader, but with the hope that it will pull back the ministry curtain and reframe some perceptions that people have about Family Ministry leaders. Also, please note that when I say Family Ministry Leaders, I am talking about those that serve as the primary overseer for kids, students, and college/young adults in local churches. This includes Phase Directors, who are volunteers overseeing a particular phase of ministry (preschool / elementary / middle school / high school) I am not carelessly excluding small group leaders, event volunteers, substitutes, or those who donate supplies/food for activities, but I do want to narrow the focus for this post. For those who are not mentioned under this particular banner of Family Ministry Leaders but do support through other investments to ministries: THANK YOU! WE SEE YOU, WE NEED YOU, AND WE ARE GRATEFUL FOR ALL YOU DO TO HELP US CREATE QUALITY EXPERIENCES FOR THIS GROWING GENERATION!

 

I consider myself honored to stand alongside great leaders at the current church I serve at (Eikon Church) and in the trenches with millions of other Family Ministry leaders who serve graciously, sacrificially, with determination to point this growing generation and their families to faith in Christ. I recently attended a youth camp with some of our students and leaders. One of the evenings at this camp is dedicated to gathering all of the Youth Pastors together to share a time of connection and enjoy some breathing room. At this gathering, one Youth Pastor from a small Texas town shared with us that he is a volunteer youth pastor who works part time as an electrician, while also going to college and raising his family. His passion for his students was evident, as was his concern that he simply wasn’t doing enough for everyone he loved and the exhaustion he faces to make ends meet while serving the local church. As I sat and offered encouragement to Him, I wished that I could road trip out to his area and babysit his kids while he and his wife had a date night. I wished that I could sit down in a room with all of his students and paint a picture of the hero of faith they get to see week after week—even in the moments they don’t see him hustling hard to bless them and point them to Jesus. But we are all in the same boat. We all stand side by side, knowing what it’s like to be bi-vocational (All but the past 2 years of my ministry leadership commitment has been either volunteer or part-time) and making personal financial, emotional, physical, and emotional sacrifices to fuel ministries that help this next generation live a bold and vibrant faith.

 

 

In recent days, I’ve also gotten to sit and sip coffee with another local Kid’s Ministry Pastor. During our time together, they asked questions about how they can help volunteers understand the value of leading kids to experience God’s love for them in Kid’s Church. They asked if I had ever dealt with the stress of leaders calling out at the last minute—or just not showing up even though they said they’d be there. I had to admit that yes, I had dealt with it time over time, and even still continue to navigate those choppy waters. I shared with them that I know what’s it’s like to have to miss out on attending a worship service for months on end because of volunteers not showing up. I know what it’s like to feel the panic when none of your emergency subs are available to fill that spot so that you can attend service. (Thank the Lord for podcasts!) It’s part of the experience of leading a large team of ministry volunteers, and we have to be willing to create some breathing room, feed our faith, and stay the course even in the middle of the disappointment. 

 

 

I’ve also gotten to sit and hold space with Young Adult Small Group Leaders who feel the call to reach out and lead their peers and those who are younger than them rising through the college ranks. There are times that they end up sitting in empty living rooms with a spread they’ve prepared for all ten people who signed up for their group because each of them had a last-minute reason why they couldn’t attend that evening. In years past I have listened to other Young Adult leaders entertain the idea of quitting because although they lead to the best of their ability, they later discovered that the people in their group had been spreading rumors about them or trash-talking their living environments. I cry and pray with them, knowing that the struggle is real. Still, they press on, because, to them, faith community matters more than the hurdles they face. So instead of throwing in the towel, they decide to sit and pray for the people who didn’t show up or those who put them down. They reach out with phone calls and text messages, hoping to try again the next week to be a warm, welcome, safe place to navigate the complexities of faith.

 

 

To me, Family Ministry Leaders are not just Kids Pastors, Youth Pastors, Phase Directors, or Young Adult Leaders. They are heroes. Again, I write this not as a cry for personal sympathy, but as a request for you—whoever and wherever you are—to reach out and check in on those leading in Family Ministries in your local church. If you see them in the hallways at your church, give them a hug or a high five. Let them know that you see them. Invite them out for coffee and encourage them. Shoot them a text to let them know you’re praying for them. Send them a funny meme to brighten their day. Write them a note to let them know that they matter and that despite all the stress they work under, they are making a lasting impact in the lives of young people and their families. 

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A SPECIAL NOTE FOR OUR TEAM

 

To my Family Welcome Team Director, Jenni Alexander: THANK YOU for going above and beyond to help your team create intentional connections with new families. When you moved into this role, I felt immense joy not because someone is filling role itself, but because that someone is you. I am thrilled with the opportunity to watch you grow and shine in the gifts and talents that God has given you! You light up my life both on Sundays and at our random coffee meet-ups. You not only serve our eKids team with your 100% best, you equip your team to treat our guests with a VIP treatment. I cannot thank you enough for bringing your whole self to our team on top of running a charter school PTO, working a job, and parenting—you are a CHAMP!

To my Elementary Director, Melissa Townsend: THANK YOU for all that you do to create a safe place for our ‘little scientists’ to discover an authentic faith that lasts. As a Middle School teacher and mother of two preschoolers, I know that your time is limited. I also know that all of the love and attention you pour into preparing the Elementary lesson plans and Small Group activities is not a small token—it’s a giant gift, and we don’t deserve it—but God blesses us through you regardless. Every time you adapt activities for our kiddos with special needs and walk kids through grief and anxiety, you are truly Jesus’ hands extended. Thank you for pouring out your love and grace over these kids and their families!

To my Youth Director, Ashley Layer: THANK YOU for showing up time and time again! You not only plan, prep, and personally purchase everything to help create an irresistible experience for our youth, but you also serve faithfully and willingly in our two-year-olds Small Group on Sunday mornings. Even as you are pregnant with your first child, you are paying it forward by investing into the faith of the kids growing right before our eyes. And all of that on top of serving crazy customers at Chili’s and powering through college courses at TXST! Your time, your energy, your prayers, your dedication to making faith meaningful for the youth and our 2s is incredible—just like you!

To our Young Adult Small Group Leaders, Malik Ostos + Olivia Wigley + Katherine Sawyer + Bekah Belt + Daniel Belt: THANK YOU for leading the way in helping our Young Adults community widen the circle in their faith. You consistently pour out time, energy, resources, and love so faithfully to your ‘few’ and it doesn’t go unnoticed. The faith that you share and the discussions you facilitate are paving the way toward great and mighty things. Thank you for helping our most transient community find a place to land even if only for a semester at a time. I praise God for bringing you to our church and inspiring you to lead the way you do. I am grateful for every ounce of care and compassion you are investing in this next generation. (Cue the party poppers.) Y’all are amazing!