There is a guy named Lewis Pugh who is the first person to complete a long-distance swim (19 minutes at minus 2 degrees Celsius) in the North Pole. 

Why would anyone do such a thing?  I mean this is kind of taking a polar bear swim to the extreme.

Pugh took his frozen plunge to highlight the fact that it was possible to swim for a kilometer in a place that should be solid ice.

All of this should call our attention to the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change which shares the US Bishops’ “call for a civil dialogue and prudent and constructive action to protect God’s precious gift of the earth’s atmosphere with a sense of genuine solidarity and justice for all God’s children.”

C’mon, folks, we gotta be better about this stuff or I’m never gonna get a good, solid snow day.

Leave it to Stephen Colbert to note that the economic crisis might be something that we in church would want to address.  (see video here)

In the land of ArchBalt, we did prep resources for parish and school folks to address the economic crisis.  You can access them here.

Also, Pittsburgh’s Bishop Zubic put out a pastoral letter, The Church Sharing,which addresses provides a perspective on our history of community and generosity on tough times.

In the video clip, Father Jim Martin reminds us,”People feel more vulnerable, like in times of recession and poverty; their defenses are lower, so it’s easier for God to sort of break through.”  This Lent, during these challenging times, allow God to break through.

We are concluding our run of segments of R. Scott Rodin’s reflection on leadership at the end of his five years in the presidency at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary. 

One axiom of leadership I have come to appreciate reads, ‘leaders do not inflict pain, they bear it’.  In the same manner, leaders to not absorb praise, they re-direct it. The success of any Christian leader lies significantly in their ability to keep this two-fold movement of leadership in balance.  Leaders who inflict pain lose trust and dishearten their people.  Leaders who absorb praise produce resentment and sacrifice motivation. 

Two significant temptations come to play here.  The first is the fear of rejection that causes us to run from confrontation.  The second is the desire to make everyone happy and to measure our performance, our effectiveness and our ‘leadership’ on that scale.  The two are very closely related.  The first temptation is motivated by the idea that good leaders will not generate conflict, and that rejection of our performance in our role as leader is a rejection of our personhood and character.  These are significant pitfalls for a leader.  They are generated from that deep-seated desire to hear the applause of all with whom we work. 

The second temptation is to lead by reacting. We see which way the wind is blowing and steer that direction, regardless of the situation.  We do not want our people to be anxious, to question our decisions or disagree with our reasoning.  We want harmony and unity, which is commendable.  But left unchecked, this desire will cause us to sacrifice courage, vision and risk-taking.  It will bring us momentary applause, but will ruin us in the end.  To use a variation on a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Some leaders worry themselves into nameless graves, while here and there some forget themselves into immortality.”

So we must ask ourselves just what kind of applause are we seeking?  If it is human applause that validates, that affirms and that encourages us, we will also find that same applause binds us, boxes us in and ultimately strangles the life out of us.  When our daily self-worth and the measure of our effectiveness come primarily from the reaction of those with whom we work, then we are finished as Christian leaders.

We’re #58!! We’re #58!!

If Lent is meant to be a season of humility, well, then, so far. . . I’m not doing so well with it.  We’re #58!!

I recently received a note that the Catholic Youth Ministry Blog is listed on christiancolleges.com among 100 Enlightening Bible Study Blogs.  I know, I know, I share your confusion as well, but they have a sub-category for “Catholic Bible Study” (yep, still confused?) where the blog is named as a place to “Find inspiration to get involved in the recently revitalized Catholic youth movement.”

Whatever!  Thanks, Kelly, for the mention.  I hereby commit to living up to the listing and mentioning bible study more often!

We are continuing to lift pieces of R. Scott Rodin’s reflection on leadership at the end of his five years in the presidency at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

I am a doer.  I have the reputation of going 100+mph always focused on accomplishing objectives, meeting time-lines and crossing things off my infamous ‘to-do’ lists.  I like results over process, action over deliberation, the tangible over the theoretical.  And I like to lead people to accomplish goals and realize vision.  What gets in my way are processes, people with ‘issues’, using time inefficiently, and undertaking work that seems irrelevant.  I am committed to transformation, as long as it can get done on schedule and show some real results.

The problem with this style of leadership is that is denies the truth of the gospel and our creation in the image of God.  If we are truly made in the imago Dei, then our perception of God will significantly influence our own self-understanding.  If we view God as a solitary Monad, an individual being known for his power and transcendence, then we will be leaders who reflect those characteristics.  We will be lone rangers, seeking power and focusing on doing.  We will see people as means to an end and value the product over the process.  We will see relationships as tools for our productivity and community as an asset only when it contributes to the bottom line.  This productivity model of leadership is the result of a conception of God as the sovereign, detached monarch.  In that image, we lead as monarchs.

If, however, we are true to our Trinitarian historical commitments, we see instead a God who in his very nature is defined by relationship.  We see Father, Son and Holy Spirit as distinct persons yet also interdependent in their perichoretic relationship.  The mutual indwelling of the three persons of the Godhead gives us a different understanding of what God values in us and desires from us.  Here we learn that relationship is what defines us.  We learn that to be God’s people we must focus on who we are as people in relationship.  We learn that leadership must be concerned with the whole person, and that God’s intent is for us to do the work of the kingdom within and through the community of believers. 

All of this we come to know from only one place, namely, in the person of Jesus Christ.  If our epistemological starting point is solely in the incarnation, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, then our focus as leaders must change drastically. For Jesus was concerned about people over product, relationship over output, and transformation over transaction.  And from beginning to end, Jesus was a servant. 

And, so we begin …  forty days

A period to get our lives in order because these days will end in death and invitation to new life.

A time to crawl out of our winter slumber and walk towards the new dawn, the new springtime.

A time to address the temptations of our lives.  Enclosed is a favorite set of images of Jesus’ forty days.  He had to address his time in the desert and face the challenges of the anti-Christ (wait until you see his portrayal!) 

A time to reconcile, seeking reparations for hurts and perceived slights.  More especially, a time to seek forgiveness and mercy and offering penance in hopes of leading better lives, leading lives of more integrity,  Our diocese is keeping the Light On for such moments, let’s find ourselves back in confession this season.

Happy Lent, folks. Check out this USCCB page for resources, podcasts, etc.  UPDATE:  The NFCYM has a page worth or resources as well!

We are continuing to lift pieces of R. Scott Rodin’s reflection on leadership at the end of his five years in the presidency at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary. 

Truly godly leaders empower their people, give away authority, value and involve others, seek the best in and from their people, and constantly seek to lift others up, push others into the limelight, and reward those they lead.  All so that God’s will might be done in a more powerful way.  They seek no glory for themselves, but find great joy in seeing others prosper.  They take no account of their reputation, but seek that Jesus’ face be seen in all they do.  Max De Pree’s famous definition is worth repeating, “The first responsibility of the leader is to define reality.  The last is to say thank you.  In between the leader is a servant.”

Lots of sports related news on the wires this week….   Which make for a great time to remind ourselves that Catholic Youth Ministry still includes sports in many areas.   Resources for this ministry can be found at National CYO Sports www.nationalcyosports.org

BINGHAMTON, NY — St. Patrick’s turned two steals and a free throw in the final 15 seconds into a 52-51 victory over St. John Neumann in the championship game of the Catholic Youth Organization boys’ varsity basketball tournament title at St. John’s.  More here

WILKES-BARRE, PA — A pair of Dallas girls are state meet-bound after they finished one-two in the District 2 Class 2A 1-meter diving at the Wilkes-Barre Catholic Youth Center on Saturday. Sarah Zerfoss of Dallas finished second in the District 2 Class 2A diving competition on Saturday at the Wilkes-Barre CYC. She qualified for the PIAA Championships at Bucknell University. More here

PACIFICA, CA — In a battle for first place of the Catholic Youth Organization fifth grade basketball league, St. Peter squeaked out a close one on the road to remain undefeated at 11-0 and clinched the top seed in the playoffs.  Jared Milch poured in a season high 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for his fourth straight double-double to pace the Celtics in the 26-22 victory.  More here

STATEN ISLAND, NY — March is cheerleading month on Staten Island. To that end, the Catholic Youth Organization will host a cheerleading expo on Tuesday from 7 to 9 p.m. in the CYO’s Community Center, 120 Anderson Ave., Port Richmond. More here

We are continuing to lift pieces of R. Scott Rodin’s reflection on leadership at the end of his five years in the presidency at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary. 

When John the Baptist saw Jesus walking in his presence, he made the declaration, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”  Most Christian leaders would say that in their hearts they would wish that Jesus would increase and they would decrease.  But it is hard to decrease in a leadership position.  There are natural trappings that distinguish those in leadership such as salary, title, prestige, priority, power, influence, honor and advancement.  And in each area there are tempting opportunities for increase. . .

Perhaps the hardest place to decrease is in the influence and the power we hold over people and decisions.  For this reason we find Christian leaders who are overly directive at best, and autocratic at worst.  And as a result we produce churches and ministries that are rife with ‘learned helplessness’.  By overestimating our own worth, we help our people depend on us for everything.  And that dependence feeds into our need to be needed, to be the “idea person” and visionary, and to be in control.  We tell ourselves that the more we lead in this way, the more our leadership is valued and our presence desired. 

Of course, this is not real leadership, but a counterfeit that gives us our increase and expands our kingdom.  It also, however, does a terrible disservice to our people, leaving them uninvolved and under-developed.  It wastes resources and limits our ministry, all under the guise of strong leadership and the use of our God-given talents for ‘getting things done.’  Robert Greenleaf reminds us that the difference between a true servant-leader who is servant first, and the leader-servant who seeks leadership first, lies in the growth of the people who serve under them.  The test question is, “do those served grow as persons; do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?”[The Servant as Leader]

I wish I could remember who to credit for discovering this link.  R. Scott Rodin offered this reflection on leadership at the end of his five years in the presidency at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary.  It’s a worthwhile read and I’m gonna run some quotes from it throughout the week.

Five years ago, if you had asked me for a Scripture that epitomized the leadership ideal, I would likely have pointed you to Nathan’s directive to King David, “Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the Lord is with you.” (2 Samuel 7:3) I could identify with David as ‘God’s man at God’s time’ and I believed that God would pour out his wisdom and favor if I could be such a man. After all, there were kingdoms to conquer and people to be led. There were great things to be done for the Lord and no vision was too limited and no goal too small.

Now, five years later, I would point to a different verse. In speaking of Jesus’ incarnation, Paul tells us, “he made himself a man of no reputation, taking on the very nature of a servant.” (Phil 2:7) The verse does not say that Jesus became a man of bad reputation, or questionable reputation, but simply of ‘no’ reputation. That is, reputation, image, prestige, prominence, power, and other trappings of leadership were not only devalued, they were purposefully dismissed. Jesus “became” such a man. Not by default or accident, but by intention and design. And it was only in this form that he could serve, love, give, teach, and yes, lead.

In reflecting on these past five years, I have come to believe that true Christian leadership is an ongoing, disciplined practice of becoming a person of no reputation, and thus, becoming more like Christ in this unique way. In his reflections on Christian leadership, Henri Nouwen refers to this as resisting the temptation to be relevant. He says, “I am deeply convinced that the Christian leader of the future is called to be completely irrelevant and to stand in this world with nothing to offer but his or her own vulnerable self.” [In the Name of Jesus] Five years ago I rejected this idea outright. In doing so, I was wrong. Today I see and affirm this important notion that lies at the heart of godly leadership.