Drew Boswell

a place for us to share ideas, talk about life, and learn together.

Storytelling and Teaching

Today I had lunch with a good friend and we exchanged “preacher” war stories. Sometimes the conversation was serious and at other times it was a disruptive time of laughter, snorting, and giggling. At the heart of our time together was an understanding that church work is not always easy, encouraging, or enterprising (sorry for the alliteration but I am talking about preachers).

But my friend was able to share several life lessons, one “young” preacher learning from one “not-so-young” preacher, through his stories.  It was through the use of storytelling that a lunch turned into an extended lunch, and knowledge and wisdom was passed from one generation to the next.  Before I realized it, I was learning while I was laughing.

Those that tell stories well will always have an audience.  People as a whole, (young and old) love to hear a well-told story.  Even if your topic may not be all that exciting, if you can tell a story, people want to know how it will end. If you can get them caught up in moments that can’t be easily predicted, twists and turns, and an unexpected outcome, or even if they can predict what’s coming to keep them in suspense of the conclusion, then they will listen for long periods of time (and may even learn something).

It’s been said that “there is nothing new under the sun,” but storytelling is making a comeback. There are church conferences that teach missionaries how to use it as a way of sharing the gospel.  But, as a people, we crave to sit around a fire, to feel the night air, to see the embers float into the black velvet sky, to listen, and to allow our minds to race along to a storyteller’s cadence.  It just seems to be apart of our DNA makeup.

So as a professional communicator, I find those that do it well fascinating. Even if their subject does not hold my attention, their story telling will.  So here are a few tips for those that have to stand up in front of others and speak.

1. Tell the story with passion.  The difference between a good storyteller and a bad storyteller is the good storyteller person isn’t concerned about what people will say when they speak in different voices, jump up and down, talk’n loud, or when they talk about their coon dog.

2.  Tell the story with detail.  Good storytellers fill their stories with a detailed description of smells, sounds, how things look, and are able to transport people to a moment in time and the people forget where they are for a moment.  Those details will lead to some kind of emotion.

3.  Tell a story from your life. Lewis Grizzard, Andy Grifford, Jerry Clower, Justin Wilson, etc. tell stories from their lives. When you try to tell stories about somebody else’s life that’s called a “sermon illustration” and can be found on the internet by the hundreds. When you tell a story from your life people want to know how it will end.  Just make sure when you tell the story from you life, that you give lots of details, and tell it with passion.

4. Listen to Other Storytellers. The most successful leaders are those that are lifelong learners. Listen to others and try to learn from them. Laugh, crack-up, giggle, or shed a tear, but listen and learn.

Click here for an example of a master storyteller.

Click here for an article about storytelling.

 

Staff Members and the Support of Their Church

First Baptist Church Valdosta has an interesting and wonderful tradition. When the church goes through the calling process of hiring a new staff person the candidate goes through a series of meetings where he meets with various committees and groups of people.

Eventually, on the night of the church vote there is an option for discussion by the congregation and the candidate is then asked to leave the room. The church votes, typically unanimously, and the candidate is then asked to return.

Here’s where the tradition becomes interesting and wonderful. When the candidate enters the room there is thunderous applause, smiles, and cheers. The candidate enters with thoughts of uncertainty, apprehension, and unknowing only to be met with great encouragement and support.  Then the congregation lines up to shake his hand and give him words of encouragement. What a wonderful way to begin a ministry; to begin with unanimous support and a great show of love.

______________________________

Why Staff Members Need the Support of Their Church

1.  It is a symbiotic relationship. The Lord gives churches to pastors and the Lord gives pastors to churches. If both love each other, then there is peace, mutual growth, and the church accomplishes it’s God given purpose. (Matthew 22:36-40, Matthew 28, Revelation 2, etc.) When there is disharmony, distrust, a lack of submission, or when the relationship breaks down, there is only trouble.

2.  It is a trusting relationship. Often times when a church hires a new staff member they travel great distances with their families to serve the Lord and the congregation. The new pastor must trust that the church will take care of him and his needs, and the church trusts that the pastor will do his job and do it well.

3.  It is a growing relationship. Just as congregations go through stages of growth, maturity, and changes so do their pastors. Men of God are constantly changing. While their essential theology may not change, their philosophies of ministry, ability to handle difficult situations, abilities to minister to other people, and countless other life lessons that God teaches all of His servants does change. A pastor and church change over time (sometimes for the good, sometimes for the bad).

4.  It is a relationship. As with all relationships both sides have to put forth effort for it to work. Most pastors that I know work countless hours, do tasks few want to do, and truly love their jobs. Most churches have a desire to do something great for the Lord and are looking for someone to lead them. When both work together, “even the gates of hell can not stop them.” This a special blessing from the Lord.

Your church staff needs to know that you are behind them. For one young man, his family,  and a church in South Georgia it all began with thunderous applause.

Pottery Nights in March at Valdosta Kids on Mission

 Sunday nights at 6pm Valdosta Kids on Mission will be learning about pottery from a pottery professional. They will discover how God is the Master Potterer and we are but clay in His hands (for the book of Jeremiah).

Please dress your children in old play clothes because they will be getting dirty. Our goal is for the children to make one vessel to keep at home, one to decorate our children’s building, and one to give away as an act of love.

Please note that we will walk over to the pottery room at 6:10 pm.

Don’t miss a single week in March.

Advice for the Rookie Staff Person

3-25-2014 Update

I wrote this article a little over two years ago. It was for the incoming youth pastor, and it was my desire to help him and to build a relationship with him. FBCV hired a new youth pastor a few weeks ago, and he will began this week. Most of the points of the article that I wrote earlier are still true (except for #6, I do to know what happened to the chair. It is probably on a garbage pile somewhere).

Jared, I will be praying for your ministry; you are about to begin a very rewarding and difficult journey. My two sons are looking to you to be their pastor. As their father I need you to do well. Men before you have laid a road that you must repair and move forward on. I will lay whatever bricks on that road you need, and carry whatever load needs to be carried. I want to help you in any way that I can. I will have your back, and I will love your family. I will put my shoulder to work and will move mountains for you. Your success is inseparably linked to mine. If you fail, I fail. If you win, I win (and my children). Too much time has been wasted, now it’s time to change the world. Let’s get going.

_________________________

Here’s the original article.

This coming Sunday, First Baptist Church Valdosta will vote to hire a new youth pastor after almost a year search process. Barring some unforeseen drama the church should vote to hire him. His office will be next to mine in the church, and I am wondering what is going through his head right now. I remember how nervous and apprehensive I was the first week I started.

I will get to move from “rookie” status and he will now sit in that chair (thanks man.) Since I am now a well-seasoned veteran after six months, I now feel fully capable of giving some advice, so here we go.

Tips for the “Rookie” staff person

1. Let people know what you are doing, especially your boss. This is not bragging, instead you are letting people know what direction you are headed. Because people have this information, they are able to warn you of troubled waters ahead, or how that did or did not work years ago the last time it was attempted. When people are informed there is less of a chance for people to read-into situations, your motives, or where you want the ministry to go. I have discovered at FBCV that with its many years of ministry there are few things that have not been before done in some form or another. Some of my “cutting edge” ideas are just re-packaged and re-branded ideas from years ago.[1]

2. Be aware of those that have served in your position before you. Sometimes this is good, and sometimes this is bad, but knowing what they were doing will help you to know what relationships you need to focus on, where you will need to spend your initial energy, and beginning steps into your ministry.

The initial first steps have the capability to put people at ease, or to exacerbate an already aggravated situation. You could also reach back to a well-run ministry before and link it to what you are doing to add some continuity to the ministry. With continuity (of success) brings predictability, with predictability brings trust, with trust ministries can be built. If the one serving before you did a poor job, then this trust building will take more time and vice versa.

3. Balance your life with ministry. There will be a huge temptation to make a huge impact as soon as you can. You will want to work long hours, go to every meeting, and get involved in everything. But remember that ministry is a marathon, not a sprint. In order for your ministry to be solid, long lasting, and life impacting your family has to be solid, long lasting, and life impacting. You will fall into a predictable work week before you know it.

Talk with your spouse about your commitments, scheduling, and how you plan to balance everything. Build some extra time into your schedule, because new and unpredictable things pop up constantly. If you have maxed out your schedule, you will be stressed to add one more meeting, one more counseling session, one more “opportunity” at the expense of a child’s ball game or concert.

That being said, work and get things done, when you need to work and get things done. If you slack and say, “I’ve got this extra time built in,” then it never fails that a crisis will arise when you also need to write a sermon, or teaching lesson, or whatever.

4. Remember you are apart of a team, a staff. When I first started at FBCV, I was contemplating setting up an office in the Children’s Building and just using the office in the main building as storage or something. But, I have now learned how bad of an idea that would have been. You need to stay plugged into what other staff are doing, and how you can help them (or they can help you.)

If everyone sets up offices all over the campus in their “areas” then there is little chance of people interacting with each other. It is that daily interaction and doing ministry together that creates a bond among the staff. If you rarely see each other on a weekly basis, then there is also little accountability. Offices are just an example of a mindset of how you will work with others.

Make the extra effort to engage them, ask them to go to lunch, spend time on the weekends with them, etc. Even though you are the “rookie” make the extra effort to be friendly. The staff are not there for you, you are a part of a team to serves the church as a whole. Take the first step to build a friendship, don’t wait on them.

5. You are a professional, be a professional. How you act, dress, and relate to people in the church environment directly impacts the rest of the staff and the direction the pastor is directing the church as a whole. You represent a larger congregation, and they are counting on you to lead in your area of responsibility and to be professional in how you do it. Be on time, dress nice, and think about what you say and how it will reflect upon others.

6. My office Chair. Along with all this information that I pass on to the “rookie,” I also pass on the office chair that was in my office when I got here. It needs a little “adjustment” and there are also some other ministry essentials (junk) that I moved out of my office to make your life easier. So, good luck with that.

Rookie, I hope this helps. My office is next door any time you want to roll over.

 

[1] Ecclesiastes 1:9 “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.”

"For by grace you have been saved through faith." Ephesians 2:8

Contact Drew