An Interesting Thought From our Leadership Retreat

Allen manages and leads within a local agricultural business.  He stated in our Elder retreat, (or leadership team) he has discovered younger people whom they hire are entering the job market with a different mindset.  “Younger people want the freedom to do what they want.”  They don’t want to do what we want them to do.  Maybe more appropriately they don’t want to do something to maintain an institution or organization to which they are not loyal, hold suspiciously and have no ownership.  Instead they want to do what is on their heart and in their imagination.  How do we allow for the younger members of our congregation who did not grow up with us to do what they want to do within the current organizational structure?  Or maybe how do we cultivate their imaginations around the Kingdom or what God is up to in our community/neighborhood rather than in our church?  In Allen’s business organization, they have adapted.  Rather than giving interviewees the job description they want them to do, they ask those being interviewed to discuss how they will impact the organization, what will they bring and given their abilities what do they want to do.  Once hired they have a stake and legitimate say in what they want to do.  In other words instead of giving them a job description, they ask them to write one.  Instead of telling new members what we expect of members and our description of appropriate member behavior could we ask them to write their own descriptions?  Could we immediately begin to stir and cultivate their imagination around God’s activity and call?