Great job Foursquare! Thanks for passing on their ideas Ed. I am on the verge of not being a younger any more. And the older I get the more I think that younger need to pay attention to wisdom of the older, but the only way to do that in a healthy way is to make sure that the younger and the older are interacting. I hear lots of complaints that minority and young aren't coming to meetings, but often there are two issues. One is that many younger and minority don't have time or money to come. Second, many of the meetings deal with things that younger and minority just aren't interested in. Have to deal with both problems, not just one or other.

I could not agree more. The 'Rooney Rule' in the NFL ensures minority candidates get an interview for coaching jobs. I once heard a pastor say they were intentionally trying to diversify their staff. He said he wanted to be an example to his flock that were business owners because how could he expect them to get it unless they see leadership paving the way.

With no plan in place, there is only rhetoric about how awesome it would be reflect the diversity found in the body of Christ. Step 1: How awesome would it be to have a plan.

Adam, I used to be young once too. ;-)

Chavez,

Good to hear from you. Praying for you guys. Thanks for the good word.

Ed

I so appreciate you Ed. You have a wonderful platform to communicate such powerful messages and I pray God will always lead your steps. Thanks for this important message today about our future.

Gratefully,
Tom

Here's something else Foursquare is doing to proactively engage and release young leaders. http://www.emergingleadernetwork.com/ What is going on in our cabinet and leadership is awesome. How those changes materialize on every level of leadership will ultimately determine the lifespan of this denomination.

This is true of every church, organization and denomination. To be viable now and in the future, great emphasis must be placed on recognizing and releasing a diverse mix of leaders, young and old, from all backgrounds and ethnicities. If leadership is held tightly by a few who all think, talk and dress the same, the flow of leaders will bottleneck. And as many of us have seen or experienced, leaders who are not recognized and released in a healthy, timely way, will give up or move on to find other places to lead.

thanks ed. i applaud you pointing this out. for some reason, this often gets neglected. Rah's book is very helpful, and his discussion on the emergent movement is alarming. Why are so few non-whites on panels/conferences? Why is this issue so sorely neglected? The HUP needs to die a quick death. The only thing I would like to point out to you is the use of the word "ethnic". White churches are ethnic also, just "ethnically" e.g. western european. The word "ethnic" should be used as a synonym for non-white. I think the goal is a Multi-ethnic church that includes whites, asians, black, etc with leadership both in local churches and presbyteries, denominations etc that reflect that. Thanks again Ed.

Tom,

Thanks.

In regards to ethnics, the word is actually used in both ways depending on the literature. In the social sciences, it usually refers to those who see themselves (and are considered by the larger society) as distinct by their culture or other factors.

Either way, we just don't want a bunch of predominantly Anglo denominations thinking they don't need to be more ethnic because they already are. ;-)

God bless,

Ed

i understand that it's the way it's used. as a minority I can tell you that it's offensive. actually i think it's helpful for majority cultures to see themselves as ethnic as well. Many of my friends who are also "ethnic" also find this use of language offensive.

Thanks, Tom.

I've been working on the website for "MainLine Call" (http://mainlinecall.org) so I found this entry quite timely.

The point I'd like to see you pursue is not so much how to integrate new young and ethnic leaders so much (as important) as that might be, but how to recruit young leaders for the work of Church Revitalization.

I hope you'll address that too!

Ed, this is who first baptist church weston, fl is. that is why i wanted to get you down here to see and interact with our people. we have over 60 nationalities in our church and over 50 young people entering full-time christian ministry. want to take a look at what this looks like on a local church level. check out fbcweston.org

I think one of the simple reasons the SBC has a problem getting younger leadership is that they are more concerned with self preservation and duplication than re-creation. They bring younger leaders to the table only to give them advice or get them involved in something already established by the status quo. It seems to be the "Hey look, we got one!" approach rather than really allowing younger people to lead. It simply becomes a re-packaging of old ideas. I have talked to 3 different gifted leaders who grew up in our denom. and feel called to plant but wont do it with the SBC because they dont feel that their vision and ideas are welcome... sad.

Thanks Ed, for joining our Foursquare conversation. Hopefully some of the innovations we are utilizing in the presidential selection process will translate broadly throughout the organization. We are contending for more women in senior leadership, younger pastors, and broad ethnic representation, not for the purpose of being politically correct or diverse for its own sake, but to better serve God and the needs of harvest.

Thanks Ed, for joining the Foursquare conversation. I am hopeful that innovations in the context of the presidenital selection process will translate broadly thorughout our organization. It is my desire that we multiply women, youth, and ethnic reps in senior pastoral leadership in Foursquare, not to be politically correct or diverse for its own sake but to better serve God and the needs of the harvest.