Archive of "Leadership" Category
Peter Block: a story of social transformation
As I sat down for the session on Community lead by Peter Block I found myself unprepared for the experience unfolding before my eyes. Sitting down at a table like I mattered, because I brought coffee to share with the community of church leaders. As though I needed a reason to feel important. I heard Peter Block say to the Pastors in regard to their congregation, “they mistake you for God.”
He was talking about Walter Brueggemann and the journey to the center of good. It became apparent that Peter Block had done his homework on the pastoral life. Comparing the journey of the Israelites out of cannon to the promise land to our human condition in the wilderness of uncertainty.
He then went on to explain how there is a fault line in the patriarchal narrative of our society and we must decent through conversation. As an Anabaptist in trenched in Pennsylvania Dutch culture most my life I mostly felt like an outsider in the place I grew up and now live with my wife and child. However, listening to the a thought leader in the area of community transformation speak about descending and liberation I could hardly keep myself from leaping out of my seat and shouting. “Here I am send me!”
He then went on to deconstruct our view of leadership in community. Leaning up and against the systems of patriarchal hierarchy: is patriarchy held together by systems of hierarchy. Revealing the alternative future we are inviting people into when we become interested in the voices outside of the centers of power. He explained how we are not in a vocation to meet the expectation of others. In response to this perspective of expectation he stated, “I want from my boss all the things my parents can’t give.” The room erupted with awkward laughter and I felt at home…
With gentle ease he spoke these words into the open space of a beautiful church sanctuary, “Your freedom is scary.” My eyes began to well up with tears, I looked up at the stain glass to hear the voice of the images speak to me, but I heard nothing at all. In my upward gaze I say the art installation of hundreds of dreams put together in origami by people of this faith community. Professional, people with out homes, people with addictions, students, artists, activists, a community on Mission of reconciliation. HERE
Peter Block then went on to explain how in the wilderness, excess is not valued. This made so much sense to me evoking a conversation I had with Andrea several nights before about money and how certain months we bring in less and stay in our budget and enjoy the gift of life more than the months we make more money. “Why is that?” I thought… Maybe it is about well-being, and when we are more alive we need less material to fill our void. Maybe is is about Jesus’ version of the kingdom in Mark, were people can not hear or see kingdom when they are in power and are at the center of systems. Jesus is the image of transformation.
More coming soon of a community development exercise that is having profound transformational implication on how I live and work.
My_Ohi: Collaboration is our Future
A couple days ago I was sitting at a Chipotle with a good friend and missional practitioner Todd Hiestand. We were sharing stories about how we live in a state of transition as bi-vocational people. He is a husband, father of soon to be four children, Pastor at The Well and Founder/Principle of 343 Design. I have always been amazed at the quality of work Todd does to support his family and mission as a follower of Jesus. He is someone who I have looked to for clarity on my own calling and purpose in this world.
Recently, I have been able to receive some great clarity through a relationship with a local career coach Walter Sawatzky. He and are are collaborating on some work he is developing and in turn I am receiving coaching for my own vocational development. In our last session he helped me understand how I help people through ideation. I am speaking to the founder of the ideation conference tomorrow afternoon and hope to find more clarity on this recent development.
You see I have been working on a vision for over five years now and it keeps evolving. It has become apparent that there is a need in the greater Philadelphia area for new media coaching and consulting. Todd and I have ideas about what people want based on our own client interactions. However, it is our desire to design, develop and launch this organization with the collaborative effort of those who want to Open up their network, Hone their message and Ideate their dream.
A Possible Future
After reading this Time article I thought of conversations I have been having with teenagers, 20′s somethings and 30 somethings. Teenagers who are frustrated that they are not given a voice. College Grad’s and post grad’s who want to work and live in a way that is core to their ethic and values. Young families who are overwhelmed with a sense of anxiety and fear. The emergence of a reality we were taught growing up is rapidly slipping out of view. The ideology we were fed was the American dream.
Since it is clear that most of us will not see the American Dream I think it is time we take a look inward to find and develop a meaningful future of possibility and transformation.
The idea of transformation is a reality I have been living for the past year. This post will be my attempt to share some insights on how you might carve out a way of life for yourself that brings hope and meaning to others.
1. What is going on around you that represents your values?
2. How can you get involved?
3. Begin to pray about that specific area you discover.
4. Share it with someone who will support your way of life and worldview.
5. Live your future now, don’t wait for permission.
Recently, I spoke with an associate pastor in my town and I asked him, “do you want to do the work you are doing.” He told me, “I would like to do 50%-75% of the work I am doing now.”
I then took out a piece of paper and wrote:
1. Identify the work you want to do.
2. Pray about it with your support group of friends and family.
3. Meet with your leadership and ask them to free you up to work in that way.
The reality is this young leader was working a lot of hours, not being paid enough for his investment and sacrifice. It is my opinion that during this recession, people have a great opportunity to design a better future. This is possible because employers can not give raises or will not. They are taking the approach of cheep labor and pushing more and more work down channel.
Our economic system is broke. I do not want the American dream, I think it is a lie. I think it is a major part of the problem. I believe people want to live out their design and desire. We all have so much to give and our systems often do not ask us the right questions for real transformation and growth.
The possibility of a great awakening is now, it is all ready happening. I am living it with my wife, daughter and community. In order for the grassroots movement to continue we will have to join together, naming the voices of fear and the systems of power that so easily enslave. By naming these voices and systems we will awaken the deep spirit inside of all our souls, the part of us that was designed by a Creator who longs to see creation restored.
I have a worldview and context that promotes a view of a loving Creator, who represented itself in Jesus Christ life, death, resurrection. However, one of the greatest systems that keeps people from this kind of transformation from death into new life in the institution I love, the church. It is my hope to be an voice in the wilderness pointing to a third way. A way of possibility, where we can face our fears through the power of the resurrected Lord, remember our past and hold on hope to the future.
Breaking Free From the “Cages”
I am listening to ELLUL as I write this. I invite you to listen to the song “Cages” as you read this post.
Passing notes to the devil
Fear masked in barbell denials
Taping our hands to reduce the strain
Passing notes over ashes
Bury memory in the bright lights
Tape my eyes to mask the shame (Lyrics from Cages by Ellul)
We are in transition as a society and this is having an effect on our lives. Some of us are feeling this more than others: possibly in our inability to find work that pays us “what we are worth” or in finding any work at all. This economic crisis has allowed for great possibility of transformation, revealing the lie we have believed for the past decade. This begs the question: how will we live the possibility of what’s to come for the next decade?
A new way of thinking, believing, and bahaving in this world we no longer belong too.
We can no longer belong to the kingdom of God and keep the system alive. WE HAVE BELIEVED THE LIE and now we have to go through a time of transition.
This past weekend I spoke with some young people about how we follow stories from our society or social spaces. I was asking them what stories do they want to tell? It is in the following and telling of stories we create reality.
Here is a movie that makes the point about what type of messages we send and how they reveal our motives:
If you have not seen The Green Zone and you like conspiracy war movies. I highly recommend it…
In this story as the unfolding of a lie is revealed to the main character and truth emerges. That truth cuts to the core of this characters purpose in being a soldier and belonging to the U.S Military. In this story the reality the media and systems of power create has massive consequences.
If your anything like me, it is not hard to look at your own life and see how telling stories or living certain ways has created a mess of chaos and confusion. Recently, I have returned to a faith community(Mennonite Church) as well as a world view where there is an overarching story of belonging to God’s Mission through Reconciliation represented in the life, death resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is in the telling and retelling of this great story of judgment, sacrifice and love that I find hope.
Here is a video from a song I shared this weekend: Mumford and Sons
As you listen to this song maybe you want to ask yourself:
What stories am I following that are no longer bringing life?
What stories am I telling myself or others that are lies?
Maybe naming the fear, judgment, cynicism and regret we begin the process of transformation…
I see a darkness, and a light…
This past weekend I spent Friday night and Saturday morning with 15 teenagers and 7 adults in the woods of South Eastern Pa. I was invited to be the speaker/teacher for the group. My vision was to facilitate an unlearning of the stories we follow and tell, through the Jesus narrative in the book of Mark. The theme was: “The stories we follow, and the stories we tell, become real”. We worked through three themes: Act 1: The Call in the Wilderness; (When messages and narratives are given to us, how do we decide what to follow?) Act 2: The Journey: (When the stories we have followed are choked by selfishness and despair.) The Garden: (The tension between letting go of stories we do not want to carry and stories we want to let come in.)
It has become apparent that teenagers want to be heard, they want to give their talents and ideas to help solve social, environmental and other problems facing their world. However, my hope for them to be effective was dwindling by the fire when I heard how much their social spaces expect, pull and demand from them. Near the end of our time together as we were sitting by a kindling smoke fire by a stream. I saw a darkness. Listen to it here Bonnie Prince Billy, sings a Johnny Cash song
The time was affirming in the development of my speaking, teaching and spiritual formation. But I went away more convinced that we need a grand story, something bigger than our own individualism, consumerism, materialism and nationalism to give us meaning and purpose. But if our social systems do not provide the means for reflection and development, we will create disconnected individuals in an information tunnel of isolation.
(A side note: I was impressed with the students and leaders on this short retreat. There is light in the darkness, but we have to be willing to uncover it.)
Letting go is not giving up
One Village Coffee has grown organically and it has always had an experimental factor to our development, but with out the team this would not be possible. The relationships and partnerships we develop along the way are the key factors to growth and sustainability. When looking at our relationships and our team it was clear certain people belonged in specific positions and I had to get out of the way. Any one on our team would tell you this is not an easy task for me to accomplish. I might have a bit of OCD or mania that provides my neurotic nature with just enough fuel to keep me “hands” on. However, any expert in the face of growth would tell you, “if someone can do it better than you than have them do the job.”
What was left providing me with a high level of anxiety, because without stuff to do, I needed to find new opportunities to build relationships in the coffee culture. The part left was the area most enter in first: Coffee Shops. Most people get into this business because of their passion for the brew, I entered this world because of my passion to create community and possibilities for new categories of business. Ways to build equity, while solving social issues like poverty in small villages around the world.
I believe in the power of groups of individuals and organizations working together to raise value in the exchange of goods and services while providing tools necessary for economic growth of human capital in overlooked and under resourced community’s like what I experience in Nigeria.
Long story short, I have contemplated firing myself for the past several months for the sake of the growth of OVC’s Mission. Recently, I had a conversation with a friend who is the President of a local insurance company in my town. He is in his early 30′s and has a lot of wisdom, his answer was simple after I asked him what he thought: “I do not think firing yourself is in the job description”.
Since then I have come to believe I have personal weaknesses in the area of competition, this was found out after a recent Volleyball match in my junior high gymnasium. I looked at pictures of my fellow classmates from over 15 years ago. In that moment, it seemed evident: I am one of those guys who has been given a lot and when my whole person is on the line. I tend to give up.
Addendum: Since stepping down from One Village Coffee I have found hope in the possibilities of a better future and this is why I started blogging again: to share those stories with you.
Building a brand
This is not an easy task…
Lately I have spent most of my time telling the story of one village coffee and sampling to people who have yet to tasted the brew.
Here is what I have found:
People want to support something more than a product. The people who use their spending power to buy One Village are doing it out of a desire to build a community of change.
When I was a youth pastor I was trying to build a brand of my own image, I now find myself working inside a market around the idea of using commerce to solve social problems. The problem we are directly involved with is that of poverty.
The question that pleagues people much smarter than me: Why does Capitalism not work in underdeveloped countries?
I have my beliefs which are limited to my experience an understanding, coming from a white middle class perspective. Although my struggles have mostly been interpersonal or pyschological, I have had the luxury of such a challenge, when most of the world is looking for food.
Now a large majority of Americans are looking for work.
The tension I feel in building a brand that represents social change + value given to poor communities. Life valued as human dignity and value quantitatively given outside the realm of the traditional bottom line.
This is the tension of building a brand like One Village Coffee. A brand that needs others to believe in outside of myself. People who purchase the coffee and tell the story is a desire. The role I play in our collective, is becoming increasingly important and here are the questions I have:
Who are the people who want to do this with us?
Where are the channels of networks that will help to grow this cause across our country?
How do I mobolize, those who are involved and want to be involved in a greater way?
Wanting the Best for People
I had a conversation with one of the people on our Sales Team.
This is an amazing person with a heart to serve others. He is caught in a place I have found myself in several times. A place where hard work is just not enough of a motivation to do everything in there power to succeed.
I know he wants to do what is right and I believe he will.
This is how I know I want what is best for people.
When I surrender the right to tell them, when i believe in more than my own instinct.
I would like to be like this more often…
How about you?
