the Buzz – Elevate Info
May 19, 2009
Hey Parents, here’s what you need to know:
1. 15 spots left for students on our Vamos! Road Trip to St. Louis, Sat May 30th. Please register online or email me directly. I want to see those spots gone! www.shoalcreek.org/vamos
(PS- each student needs to provide their own money for food on the trip.)
2. May 31st Parent Meeting – If you are a parent of a birth through 12th grader, we’ve got a meeting for you! 
After some discussion with the Zones, Shoal Creek has decided to have meetings for all the families of our students and children, sharing our vision of our ministries. So there will NOT be food now, and each meeting should last 20-30 minutes after 1st and 2nd services. Ours will be in the Underground. Which brings me to bullet #3….
3. SAVE THE DATE! June 15th-17th Student-Led Childrens Camp. Our Elevate students will be running and leading a childrens summer camp for three evenings. We are serving Mission Adelante, (the Hispanic ministry in KC, KS that we are developing a relationship with) and our students will be in charge of running a “Kidzone-like” program for the elementary aged students of Mission Adelante. My vision for this week is to have the different grades of Elevate (along with The Foundry Interns) assigned to run a different night of the week: either Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday night. So read below, plan ahead and save the dates for whatever grade your student is in, and COME TO THE MEETING on 5/31 for more details of how this is going to work.
Sun June 14th- 12:15-1:00 Rehearsal in SC Underground for all 6th-12th grade students who will be in charge of songs/skits/dramas/etc.
Mon June 15th- 4:30-10:30 Crash students in charge of Camp (10th-12th grade)
Tues June 16th- 4:30-10:30 Buya 6th and 7th grade in charge of Camp
Wed June 17th- 4:30-10:30 Buya 8th and 9th grade in charge of Camp
Mon June 15th- 4:30-10:30 Crash students in charge of Camp (10th-12th grade)
Tues June 16th- 4:30-10:30 Buya 6th and 7th grade in charge of Camp
Wed June 17th- 4:30-10:30 Buya 8th and 9th grade in charge of Camp
So, for example, if your student is going to be in 8th grade next fall and wanted to volunteer to run the Camp for the children, they would need to come to the Rehearsal on Sunday right after second service, and they’d need to show up to Mission Adelante on Wednesday to run the camp.
If you have any questions, email me – justin.talley@shoalcreek.org
“Without a moral compass. Young people growing up in the postmodern culture have lost their sense of right and wrong.”
“Culturally diverse. It is estimated that by the year 2050, white teens will be a minority.”
“Pluralistic and tolerant. Many young people consider judging evil to be worse than doing evil.”
“Broken Relationships. …alienation is the most common and strongest thread woven through the tapestry of today’s youth culture…”
“Media saturated. For those without positive input from parents and other adults, the media is a surrogate parent. Media’s content shapes their worldview. Get to know their media and you’re getting to know them.”
“Millennials are passive, easily bored, uneasy with quiet, often impatient and expectant of immediate gratification.” (sound familiar anyone?)
“Experience- and feeling-driven. The determining standard is what works for me and what feels good at this moment.”
“Suspicious of truth. Young people are suspicious of Christianity for the simple reason that it claims to be true…only 4 percent of teenagers claim to be born again and also believe in ‘the accuracy of the Bible, personal responsibility to evangelize, believe in salvation by grace alone, and possess orthodox biblical views on God, Jesus, and Satan.’ (even if your kids have been going to church since they were little, taking in all those Sunday school bible stories, don’t assume they really believe in the accuracy and truth of them)
“Overwhelming options. The problem with these many options is that we aren’t likely to develop loyalty to any one product, behavior, or idea.”
“Globalized youth culture. North America’s marketing has effectively spread our youth culture’s products, values and worldview around the world.”
“Pervaded by violence. Crime and violence may be the biggest problem faced by the emerging generations, particularly in North America. That reality struck me in a brief conversation I shared with a mother in Northern Ireland. While I was standing on a Belfast street corner, waiting for the traffic light to change, I turned to a woman–who was standing with a teenage girl–and asked, ‘What is it like raising your daughter in this place that has been riddled with violence for so many years?’ Without hesitation she answered, ‘Your accent tells me where you’re from. I can tell you that I’d much rather raise my daughter here in Belfast, than in your country. You are from the most violent and dangerous nation on the face of the earth.’ “
“Pushed, hurried, and frazzled. Pressure from parents, teachers and themselves is constant; there is a fear of being left behind. Their lives are sometimes structured to the point where their is little ‘free time.’ “
“Materialistic. The emerging generations have more money, more choices, and are influenced by marketing more than prior generations.”
“Street wise. Sadly, there is little the emerging generations haven’t already seen or heard. Typically, they are more tolerant of the behaviors previous generations find to be immoral or shocking. Familiarity breeds acceptance.”
“Concerned with appearance. Magazine covers are a window into the soul of the emerging generations.” (what have you seen on the covers of magazines lately?)
“Despairing and hopeless. Their is a symbolic relationship between despair and the postmodern worldview. Despair leads youth to embrace postmodernism. Postmodernism feeds the notion that there is no hope.” (and therefore, the only way to enjoy life is to do what feels good to you)
“Deeply spiritual. “…the spirituality of today’s emerging generations is entirely subjective, with each person choosing elements from a variety of faith systems and incorporating them into their own ‘religion.’(All of these quotes were taken out of Chapter 4 of Walt Mueller’s book Engaging the Sould of Youth Culture.)
The Buzz – Elevte Info
May 11, 2009
Hey Families, here’s what you need to know…
1. Vamos! Road Trip Registration – I have 25 spots left for our Road Trip to St. Louis. I am going to open the door for incoming 6th graders (the 5th graders in Kidzone right now), cause I absolutely must fill my spots. Please go and register, and get your payment to me, and get the 2 waivers filled out and to me. There’s a video of Sky Zone (the trampoline place we’re going to) if you scroll down below. Follow the registration link for more info, but the basics are: Saturday May 30th, 7:30am-12:30am that night, to St. Louis, 4 stops, $40–a bargain!
2. Baptism June 10th – if you have a student who is interested in getting baptized this summer at our annual baptism celebration, you need to connect with Sean Hoeflicker (sean@shoalcreek.org) and you need to have your student partcipate in the preparation classes that go with it.
3. Parents Meeting and BBQ Sunday May 31st after 1st and 2nd Services down in the Underground – Huge importance for families to come and meet with us on day! We will be sharing info with you about a Kids Camp our students will be running for Mission Adelante this summer June 15th-17th, and how we NEED your help organizing rides and dinner. You will meet with your students’ small group leader this Sunday to learn how to partner together with us this summer.
Please contact me, Justin Talley, with any questions you have (justin@shoalcreek.org)
“A Worldview Without a Center”
May 7, 2009
What parent has time to care about “Postmodernism?” In between making sure their kids are getting ready for school, and getting to their own jobs, and trying to connect at least a little bit each day with them, how can they take something that has been written about pretty extensively, and transition that into a useful way of relating to their teen?
I feel like postmodernism is this thing that sounds really fancy, and using it is trendy, and supposedly should make one sound educated, but putting an understanding of it to practical use probably rarely happens. Cause who really slows down during the day and says to themselves, “How is postmodernity affecting my reality and the reality of the relationships I am in?”
So for any adult or parent or youth worker who wants to have a little understanding of how teens see the world, here is a crash course from Walt Mueller and his book Engaging the Soul of Youth Culture.
1. “In the end all narratives [points of view] are equally valid, with no one overarching metanarrative [absolute, objective truth] explaining once and for all the meaning and purpose of life.” Translated: It doesn’t matter that they are 14 and you are in your 30′s, the way they see things should hold just as much weight as the way you see things. They feel they should have just as much say so in a decision making process as you do.
2. “In a postmodern world, emotions are the final judge of what makes something good, true and right.” Translated: What teens know isn’t as important as what they feel. Feelings trump knowledge. I think this is the toughest one. I mean, we know so much about what’s good and bad and healthy and unhealthy for us, but we’re addicted to comfort and to picking the easiest, most feel-good way through life. How are teens supposed to truly navigate those waters safely?
3. “Our postmodern world is marked by a new level of moral relativism, the view that each person’s own personal standard of right and wrong is as legitimate, true and authoritative as any other.” Translated: Whatever you choose to believe in is right, and no one has the power to tell you that your way is wrong or even misguided. If it feels right, then it is right, and no one else living on this earth has the authority to suggest otherwise. Your boundries are your boundries, and when you try to set boundries on another human, you are being “oppressive and legalistic,” even though many boundries are appropriate, and even though as a parent you have the right to set those boundries.
Nothing is more important than the experience of life. The best experience wins. Our teens crave for the most fulfilling, most satisfying experience of life possible. That’s such a dangerous, but perhaps opportunistic value for them to hold. It makes them so vulnerable to things, like, well, the most played song on the radio right now, “Lady Gaga – Poker Face”:
I wanna roll with him a hard pair we will be
A little gambling is fun when you’re with me (I love it)
Russian Roulette is not the same without a gun
And baby when it’s love if its not rough it isn’t fun
On the whole, we Christians have done an extremely below average job of making a relationship with Jesus a passionate, engaging, and life-tranformational experience. It’s not normal for me, and I’m guessing that again, on average, it’s not normal for most Christians, to wake up in the morning and be throttled by the life-giving love of Jesus Christ. It’s not standard for me to wlk through the day, my life, my actions, my attitudes, reflecting the Spirit and Power of the Living God who loves me because He chooses to. My faith more normally resembles a belief system, not an active agent of transformation, an ambassador of Christ. There are so many other experiences in the world that sell so much better than Jesus and the Christian faith. That’s not God’s fault. That’s my fault for not oozing from my pores faith, hope and love and slathering everyone I come into contact with a good dose sacrificial grace.
This experience-based belief system that our teens see the world through is like the Old Magic that Aslan talks about in the Chronicles of Narnia. The forces working against Jesus have enacted a power they don’t fully understand. On the surface, it’s treachorous and is being used against following Jesus, but truly there is no more fulfilling and satisfying experience than receiving the unconditional love and grace of a realtionship with Jesus Christ. As the world spins and continues to move forward, as our youth continue to grow up, they will be more resistant of institutions and one-size-fits-all theology, but will be more open and more driven to find meaningful, personal experiences.
As a people trying to bring our youth into a relationship with Christ, our charge has become harder and easier all at once. We must make our witness more personal, more continual, and more persistant, but once we penetrate the walls surrounding the hearts of our youth (with our consistency and by proving we really want to be there with them for the long haul) we will win access to the most vulnerable and trusting places inside. The places that Jesus longs to be brought into.
Sky Zone – The Vamos! Road Trip
May 5, 2009
Here’s a video taken at Sky Zone, one of the places we’ll be stopping on the Vamos! Road Trip to St. Louis.
Would you or would you not throw up if you could do half of what this dude is doing?