Unofficial Everything

This past week was the Verge Conference in Austin, Texas.  For more information on Verge, check out www.vergenetwork.org.  

During the conference, and living in the age of social media where people know you and things about you before ever meeting you, I was contacted by a number of other Connections Pastors from other parts of the country.  I felt it necessary to lead with, “I’ve had this job for less than 90 days…I have more questions than answers.”

So I took every meeting.  Why?  First reason, Connections Pastors PROBABLY know how to party.  Second reason, there’s so much to learn.

What I’m finding is that the role of “Connections Pastor / Director” is gaining momentum in the United States.   

This is encouraging.  

At the core of every one of my conversations with other Connections Pastors / Directors is that there is a desire to raise the banner of hospitality in the Church.  The fundamental command from Scripture that says “Wecome one another as Christ has welcomed you,” cannot be glazed over.  It is a necessary component and instruction, intentionally embedded in the Gospel.

Granted, I’ve had under 90 days to think through and shape a philosophy but I’m learning there are some essentials to ensuring that men and women who visit the Church are welcomed as Christ has welcomed us.

1) Set the culture of People over Process.  It can be said that if process is the first thing that we are thinking about on a Sunday, a new person that enters our line of sight will feel like they’re in the way.  Example (and I learned this in student ministry): On a Wednesday night, our student ministry was underway.  The band was leading on stage and I noticed that one of the lights was out.  I immediately went into “perfect program” mode and started running about, looking for a radio to tell someone to fix the glitch.  As I frantically started running around the building, a parent walked through the doors.  They were early to pick up their student (which is an unspoken indication that they were probably new).  I noticed they had walked in, stopped and did the obligatory introduction.  The parent, noticing the radio in my hand and my frantic pace, quickly and graciously responded, “Oh you’re busy…go ahead…I’ll just wait for my kid.”

What just happened?  I communicated with my body language that this parent was keeping me away from the urgency of LIGHTS!

The next week, we swung the other way.  Yes, the lights are important but the common thread in all of our language and action must be, people.  

Stop.  Put the radio down.  When someone walks through the door, pour out your life on them.  This will create culture.  

2) Personalized Follow Up.  The automated email response to someone wanting more information about the church is NOT wrong in theory.  It becomes WRONG if we begin to believe that we’ve effectively “done our part.”  The rate of response of 9% increased to 90% when we began following up the automated email with a personalized message that simply said, “I would love to hear your story.”  Personally, this helped me in remembering people because instead of just a name, I had a story.  

Now, it can be said that the idea of personally following up with a host of visitors every week can become overwhelming and time-consuming.  

It is absolutely worth the time.  

Over time, this level of personalized attention will raise the banner of hospitality and those you come in contact with will immediately adopt the philosophy that the extra mile is absolutely worth it.  Friends, this is how you build a team.

3)  The Extra Mile.  A friend of mine hooked me up at a 5 star hotel in NYC when I was in college.  For a college student, the pampering which I received was not-of-this-world, and there was a specific experience that has stuck with me to this day.  

That night, my friends and I wanted to take in a Broadway show.  We went down to the front desk and saw the Concierge sitting at his desk.  I walked up to him and said, “Can you tell us where we can get tickets to a show?”  He smiled, introduced himself as Barron, and responded, “First time in New York?”  I nodded and he said, “Hang on,” and picked up the phone.  He spoke quietly and softly into the phone and then quickly hung up the phone.  He then said the following:

“You and your friends have reservations at the following restaurants.  Try any one of them and then come back here when you’re done.  I’ve got you guys taken care of.”

Ok?  

After dinner, we walked back to the hotel and Barron was sitting at his desk smiling.  I walked up to him and before I got a word out he said, “Here you are sir,” and handed me an envelope.  I looked in the envelope and saw 5 tickets to RENT.  Before I could speak, the concierge said, “Do you guys need a car?”

One of the most memorable nights of my life and it was simply because Barron went the extra mile

The minimum expectation for me as a visitor was that I would be given information to get where I needed to go.  With Barron, the least he could have done was hand me a schedule and then a phone number and then a place where we could get tickets. What he actually did was beyond my wildest imagination. 

Can the church be this gracious?  At the minimum, the expectation is that visitors be given the specific information they need to be connected.  That’s the MINIMUM!  I say that because there is an actual worst case scenario.

Consider this for a moment:  What if Barron had said, “There’s a pay phone across the street.  You can call information to get the information you need about tickets.”  

For the church, the worst case scenario would be for us to simply say, “Good luck,” to a visitor and then give them a general direction to walk.  

To exceed the expectation would be, “I’m going to walk with you every step of the way and together we’re going to try a new Missional Community and I’m going to set up a meeting with the leader this week.”  

“Also…will you need a car?” (not really)

3) Environment matters.  This is for a later and longer post but know that every environment for your church should communicate, “We were thinking of you (visitor).”  I am welcoming you the way Christ has welcomed me.

Dear friends,

For the past seven years, I have had the honor and privilege of serving students and families at The Austin Stone Community Church. At the outset, I was tasked with building and shaping a student ministry that “when you look back on all the years, the only explanation to all that has happened is that God did something powerful.” God has indeed done something powerful. In our students, in our families, in our church, in me, and may He continue to do so in His grace and mercy.

As such, it is with great confidence in the future ahead, that I inform you all that I will be transitioning out of my role as Minister to High School Students. Hearing first from the Lord that my time in student ministry was coming to a close, I sought council, confirmation, and permission from my Elders, who graciously and prayerfully led me into the next phase of my life.

As to what I will be transitioning to, the Lord has opened up an opportunity at The Austin Stone in our Connections Ministry where I will be diverting my attention to ensuring that the multitudes of people that attend our church get “connected” and “plugged” into Missional Communities and thus set on mission to seek the lost in this city. Without a shadow of a doubt, I believe the Lord is calling me to this, and has also designed me for this role. I look forward to pastoring people as they seek and find depth and relationship at The Stone.

In terms of the future leadership of TeenRock High, I cannot express to you the joy that I have in my heart that the Lord has raised up a new Minister from within our midst in Scott Frazier.

Scott has been a regular fixture in our church for years and has been faithfully leading TeenRock services for the past semester. He is a dynamic communicator, a determined individual, and most importantly, a man in love with Jesus. He and his wife Chelsea will be an unbelievable addition to the TeenRock team. Along with John Murchison and Matthew Hanvey continuing to lead Children’s Ministry and Middle School Ministry respectively, the ministry to families at The Austin Stone is in good hands for a very long time.

On a personal note and without any ounce of flattery, I say that I cannot think of a better successor for me than Scott.

To close, while sentimentality and sadness begin to creep in on me, I am most overwhelmed by the grace of Jesus in all of this. The memories of the past seven years are indelible in my mind and I count it all as His rich mercy on me that He would call me to such a worthy calling. Our race continues.

Grace and Peace,
Tyson Joe

“It is what it is.” 

There was a period of time in my life when I absolutely grew to hate this response.  It was the first year of my life after I got saved (in college), and now faced with the new reality of a brand new outlook on life, I heard this answer a lot in response to a host of questions I still had.  

I wholeheartedly embraced Christ in my life now, but the chains of my skepticism in my past life still bound me - skepticism that instead of being pugnacious was now bathed in a healthy curiosity.  I had basic practical questions and “it is what it is” was NOT a good enough answer.

“Can someone fall away from the faith?”

“Who decided what books go in the Bible?”

“What does ‘forever’ mean?”

“What’s the deal with angels and demons?”

“Where are dinosaurs in the Bible?”

The landing spot of my questions by default went to my new Christian community, who wisely and graciously taught me about self-feeding and studying Scripture.

So I studied….and studied…and studied.  

What soon happened was my head became filled with information and facts, giving rise to a feeling of superiority and pride.  It was as if I had a vendetta against someone for never telling me this stuff and now the world was going to hear about it, even if it meant hammering them in the head with it.  

It was not until I started in vocational ministry when texture and the “pastoral” voice began to develop…out of sheer necessity…when I realized that most people were afraid to ask the same questions that I had when I first came to faith.  Students especially.

It is with this motivation, in concert with the leading of the Holy Spirit, that beginning in January in TeenRock, we will be going through a new series titled, “No Such Thing as a Stupid Question,” where we address pressing questions on the hearts of our students. 

Most important in the delivery of this series will be an emphasis on the Gospel and how the answers to questions must undergird and not replace a heart to see the lost redeemed.

This is going to get fun.

1. I love my friends.

2. As an exercise for my 21st birthday, someone challenged me to write out a 10 year plan.  The items on that list will shock you and will have to be another blog post.   

3. Courrier left today on a national tour with a big name band.  I’m sad they can’t celebrate with me today but there’s no more fitting birthday present than seeing them “make it.”

4. The Manor experience may be coming to an end.

5. Psalm 31:14: “But I trust in You, Oh Lord. I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in Your hand.”

6.  ”This is the year!” - John Paik says this to me every year, and this year, he’s never been more right.

7. In my lifetime, the Houston Astros have won 1 pennant.  Their Win-Loss record in my lifetime is 2596 - 2471.  They may never win another game again much less another pennant.  

8. I moaned and groaned about taking piano lessons as a kid.  All these years later, I don’t for one second regret those lessons.  

9.  However, I have yet to use calculus since high school.  Sorry, it’s just true.

10. Speaking of calculus, remember TI-82’s?  What do kids use these days?

11. The moments that I believe that I have things figured out are actually the moments where I actually have no idea what’s going on. Another blog…another time.

12. I have yet to comment on a YouTube video.  I don’t ever intend to.

13. After all this time in ministry, I’ve finally landed on what environment I want for our team.  Entertainment 720 (see Parks and Recreation).  This is NOT a joke.

14. Irrational fears that I have yet to get over: Germs, Clowns, Saying the word “Rural.”

15. Irrational fears that I have gotten over:  Heights, Flying, Dinosaurs.

16. In all my life, I have never been more bothered musically than by the Pit Bull Dr. Pepper Commercial.  It even tops Lou Bega’s Mambo #5.

17. Looking over the past year of my blogs, the topic I’ve written about the most was: Rest.

18. The most played song on my iTunes playlist was “Background” by Lecrae.  I would NOT have guessed that.

19. The second most played song was “All This Time” by OneRepublic.  I would have guessed that.

20. The answer is yes, it’s probably from J. Crew.

21. I have read more books this year than I did all through college. 

22. For the record, the internet site I visited the most this year was www.austinstone.org.  I should also mention it’s my home page so maybe that’s why.

23. The Ray of Sunshine Theory is not a theory any more.  It’s a law.  (Ryan Cecil and Courrier are available for comment and clarification).

24.  For every 4 stories that I tell, there’s one that I can’t for a variety of reasons.  I actually did the math on this.  This means that 25% of the moments in my life are probably only shared with 25% of the people I know, and with me becoming increasingly private these days, that number is probably dwindling.     

25. Every day I thank God for surrounding me with a host of wise and Godly men.

26. I’m considering switching from a hockey stick to a baseball bat this year.    

27. I’m absolutely infatuated with Downtown Austin.  It’s like I never knew it existed before.  

28. October is the greatest month of the year.  End of statement.

29. I’m running out of thoughts.  Not just for this list…but in general.

30. 2011 (as a 30 year old) was THE most cathartic year of my life.  Search the blogroll…you’ll see.

31. The next year holds great promise.

32. Grace and Peace to you, from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.