Saturday, August 28, 2004

The Power of the Youth Ministry Volunteer

I was miserable as a youth pastor. I hated my job, resented my boss, and feared the board, so I got out. But four years later, I'm still at the same church working with the same kids. I couldn't leave, so I changed my role. Now I'm a volunteer, and I discovered something I wish I'd known from the start. Power in the church is something you give, not something you take.

I was young, and this youth pastor position was my first real job. I had vision. I had ideas. I had energy. I had almost entirely no help—my first mistake. I set out to change the world one kid at a time, unaware of the many problems associated with going it alone.

I visited local schools, spent time hanging out at the BMX park, and called every single kid who had visited the church in the last few years. And the program started popping. We went from 10 kids to 100 in those first three years. Meanwhile, the base of steady volunteers grew from one to three. I was already in trouble, but I didn't know it.

Read the complete article here.

Wednesday, August 25, 2004

By the Numbers: Reflections on War

Numbers crowd 'round, dip their serif tips in national debate, quantify civilian deaths in far-off lands. Scoreboard statistics soften blows, protect our moral rage. Figures are our friends. False friends, they numb us. They cannot tell the story of destruction we have caused. They only count the dead.

Tuesday, August 03, 2004

Skeletal Research

NAMPA -- A Skyview High School graduate plans to make his mark on the ocean's coral reefs.

Michael Holcomb, 23, is pursuing a doctorate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and he wants to improve human understanding of how corals build their skeletons. But Holcomb said his interest in the world's oceans started with exploration of Idaho's mountains.

"Trips to the mountains and my fascination with rocks probably first kindled an interest in science," Holcomb said. "My later involvement in the marine aquarium hobby and with the Geothermal Aquaculture Research Foundation in Boise focused my interest in coral."

Scientists estimate that coral reefs support more than 25 percent of all known marine species, but the corals responsible for the intricate, undersea structures are especially sensitive to environmental change. Holcomb said he wants to study how "human-induced changes in the environment" will impact corals.

Read the full article.