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What prompted you to write Reverse Mentoring?
My own younger mentors have been one of the most transformational forces in my ministry and life. I stumbled into this discipline several years ago and began practicing it without even knowing the words "reverse mentoring." In my case, younger leaders came to my rescue as I was drowning (unaware) in obsolescence. They have taught me so much about life, spirituality, and leadership that I felt the book just had to be written to share reverse mentoring so that other leaders could experience its benefits.
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How is this book different from Off-Road Disciplines, your first book that introduces this concept?
This book has all new stories because I've had a lot more |
experience with reverse mentoring now and have had the chance to think it through in more depth. Plus, I discuss specific benefits of the discipline for evangelism, communication, and leadership. The book also lays out practical ways that individuals and ministries can implement the reverse mentoring discipline as a systematic part of developing themselves.
The first chapter is titled Identity: "I am not cool." What are one or two lessons you've learned about being cool?
Mainly, I've learned to be OK with the fact that I am not cool. Also, my young friends have taught me that Boomers trying to be cool are doomed to failure. But I've also observed that cool has the shelf life of the average ripe tomato. That means it erodes very quickly for all of us. My wife Janet and I love the moment when we get to tell an audience of Millennials that their younger brothers and sisters already see them as hopelessly obsolete, that in fact they will grow up to be us--only sooner.
In a backwards way, then, the decay of cool is what we all . . . |
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The traditional definitions of "churched" and "unchurched" often don't tell a complete story about how Americans attend religious worship services, according to a recent Ellison Research study.
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40% of Americans are "Unchurched" (those who say they don't regularly attend services) who actually attend on occasion. |
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37% of Americans are "Churched" (those who say they are regular attenders) who don't attend at least weekly. |
For the second quarter of 2008, American mobile subscribers sent and received on average 357 text messages per month, compared with making and receiving 204 phone calls a month, according to a Nielsen Mobile survey.
In the first quarter of 2006, Americans sent and received 65 text messages per month. The surge in text messaging is being driven by teens 13 to 17 years old, who on average send and receive about 1,742 text messages a month. Even kids under the age of 12 are also heavy text users, averaging about 428 messages per month.
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| People Still Moving, but Staying Close |
Between 2006 and 2007, 37.5 million people living in the United States moved to a different location. But they tended to move relatively short distances as shown in these figures:
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67% (25.2 million) stayed in the same county. |
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20% (7.4 million) moved to a different county within the same state. |
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13% (4.9 million) moved to a different state. |
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| Innovation3 Schedule Now Available |
Nearly 100 innovators and guest speakers will make Innovation3 the gathering to attend in 2009. Hear from leaders such as Tim Keller, Mark Driscoll, Nancy Ortberg, Chris Seay and Matt Chandler (just to name a few). Visit the website for a detailed schedule and to register, today!
| Free Webinars from Leadership Network |
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A Closer Look at Internet Campuses--Wed., Nov. 12, 2008 |
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10 Tips to Building a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church--Thur., Nov. 13, 2008 |
(Click MORE for information on these events.)
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America's largest churches have experienced considerable change in recent years, according to a recent study co-sponsored by Leadership Network. Their attendances have grown larger but their sanctuaries have remained the same size. Instead they've added services and more have gone multi-site.
Virtually all use electric guitar, drums, and visual projection in worship, and they're continually adjusting their style in worship. They're also now placing a greater emphasis on small groups. An amazing 69% run internship programs for training future staff. These churches describe themselves as having a clear mission and purpose (94%) and holding strong beliefs and values (98%).
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| You can peruse more than two years' worth of Leadership Network Advance feature articles, and get valuable information on a variety of ministry topics at the newsletter's Archives. Select VIEW ARCHIVES LIST for the full list of Advance archives. |
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