Updates Abound

Just sent my sister, Beth, off on a train to Virginia. She came out for a visit and to check out two Dietician programs at Beth Israel and Mount Auburn Hospitals. We rocked Boston hard…a free Harpoon tasting, a tour of the ICA, program check out day, Angela’s Cafe (Rino’s was closed this week), McGreevy’s with friends for the Niners game, REUNION, and some good chats around the dinner table. We are not so secretly rooting for her internship process to lead her out here!

Amy’s sister, Stacey, arrives on Thursday…a permanent move! We are excited to have some family move closer and, even more, we are excited for this new adventure for Stacey.

Boston University starts class tomorrow and UMASS-Boston gets it going next Monday. It’s go time! I am looking forward to many things this semester, but perhaps the thing I am looking forward to the most is the leadership development plan we are putting into action. In particular, Amy and I are prepping (see pic) to spend 10 weeks with 7 prospective leaders at BU reading this and talking about this and this. I CANNOT wait to get started!

Quote of the Week

Actually, two quotes…

As a staff we’ve been reading through Stephen Lutz‘s excellent book College Ministry in a Post-Christian Culture. I met Steve at the first Leadership Network Leadership Community for University Ministry last fall.

His book has been a great resource…it feels like Sojourn in a book. Among other things, he also provides some great material and reasoning behind the importance of campus ministry.

For example: “It may be an understatement to say that ‘perhaps the most important mission field in contemporary America is the college campus.’ [quoting David T. Olson, The American Church in Crisis] Higher Ed students make up nearly 7 percent of our national population (20.5 million undergraduate and graduate students according to 2006 census data). But because these people grow to be leaders in every sphere, the impact they have on the world far exceeds their numbers…College ministry is the most strategic mission field in the world today.”

Perhaps, he overstates the case, but I’m with him!

As important as Campus Ministry is, it can be overwhelming…how does a team of 7 staff and 25 student leaders reach 250,000 students (in Boston)? If you include our Providence team, how does 9 staff and 30 student leaders reach 350,000 students?

Seems daunting.

I’ve also been reading a biography of Herb Brooks, coach of the 1980 “Miracle” Ice Hockey team that won the gold medal. You might have heard of this before.

I find a lot of inspiration in that story, and here’s a quote from the book that sums up that inspiration perfectly:

“An imaginative tactic, when executed by a team totally committed to it, can upset a vastly superior opponent.”

Yes!

It’s Good…

Things that are good:

A team that gathers together to plan, dream, read and talk about Scripture and good books and what excites us about the Spring semester
The privilege and honor to speak about Jesus and Scripture and Resurrection with our community
That feeling of good butterflies, of anticipation, about a new year, and new semester and a plan that might be a little crazy, that might fail, but feels spirit led
Risking together
Students who are raring to go and who have been working on plans and dreams over the break and who can’t wait for school to start, so we can get going

This is going to get interesting…