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Communicating For A Change Part 11

Engage Your Audience

It's a new year, so what are your plans to capture and keep your audience's attention in 2011?

Communication can be compared to taking people on a journey, and then it is imperative that we actually take them with us.  If you have ever sat through a presentation of any kind and counted ceiling tiles or played mental games or worked on your own to-do list it is probably because the presenter had broken a fundamental rule of communication.  They drove off and left you standing at the station.  They failed to engage you and keep you engaged.

So how do we make sure our audience is with us?  How do we engage an audience and keep them engaged throughout our presentation?  Before we dive into some specifics over the next few weeks, we need to review a basic principle.  A principle that every world-class ad agency and film-maker embraces, but doesn't always sit will in the religious community.  Here it is: Presentation trumps information when it comes to engaging your audience.  Another way to state the same principle is:  Attention and retention is determined by presentation, not information.  It's all in the presentation! 

*Information complied from Andy Stanley's Communicating For A Change."  

What Millennials Want In Leaders

As we continuously strive to be better leaders to the people that God sends to His church,  let me share something I read and found hope in.  The hope we have in the Millennial generation, and how it can affect our leadership.

Who are the Millennials?

They are America's largest generation, more than 78 million in number.  They are slightly larger in number than the well-documented baby boomer generation.

They were born between 1980 and 2000, though most research includes only the older portion of this generation, those born between 1980 and 1991.  However, that being the case the sampling gives a good representation of the generation in total.

The leadership factor

In a recent study done by Thom Rainer, and his son they were able to conclude that there were four major leadership foci among the Millennials.  They simply dubbed it "What Millennials Want in Leaders."

1.     Mentoring.  This generation has great respect of those older than they are.  Most of them have good relationships with their parents.  They have learned from older people all their lives, and they don't want to stop now.  They want to be led and taught in their place of work, in their churches and in their families.  They particularly want to learn from couples that have had long and successful marriages.  Many Millennials see such examples as heroes to emulate.

2.     Gentle Spirit.  This category is easier to describe by what Millennials do not want in leaders.  Divisive, loud and acrimonious persons turn them off.  They loathe politician and political pundits who scream at each other.  They are leaving churches to some extent because they see many Christian leaders as negative and prone to divisiveness.  They are repulsed by business leaders with harsh and autocratic spirits.

3.     Transparency and authenticity.  As one Millennial once said, her generation "can smell phony and pretentiousness a mile away."  They don't want phony; they want authentic.  They don't want pretentious they want transparent.

4.     Integrity. The Millennials are weary of politicians who don't keep promises.  They are tired of Christian leaders who fail basic moral standards.  They are fed up with business leaders who are more concerned about personal gain than serving others.  They want leaders with integrity.

Looking for a few good leaders

The millennial generation has much to offer.  As a whole, they desire to serve others.   Most of them are very family oriented.  And they really want to listen and learn from others,  they are looking for a few good leaders to follow.  When they find them, they will follow with commitment and enthusiasm.

Are you (we) this type of leader?

The largest generation in America is watching us closely.

*above articles was compiled from Thom Rainer's "From My Perspective" in Facts and Trends Winter 2011 publication.

Yes you read the title correctly. If you have not heard, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is now offering three undergraduate degrees. They are as follows; Bachelor in Biblical Studies, Bachelor of Arts in Humanities, and a Bachelor of Arts in Music. 

Dr. Paige Patterson was quoted as saying that there were three main motivations that brought about the seminary's decision to present a "...program that would uniquely prepare students called of God to the Lord's work for seminary to follow."

Motivation One - Was based on the fact that statistics show an alarming number of young adults who abandon their faith during their college years.  So, the question was asked, "Is there no place that we can send our child where he/she will be exposed to every aspect of the world's knowledge and yet come away with a Christian worldview, a love of Jesus, and a loyalty to God's inerrant word?"

Motivation Two - "Provide a program that had been available but simply was found nowhere - when I was a college student..." Dr. Paige Patterson

Motivation Three - Students are arriving to graduate level work, who, though with degrees from some of the finest universities in the country, were unable to produce a viable essay.

The College of Southwestern is a tough school, but it is really fun!

For more information on the College of Southwestern please visit their website at www.swbts.edu.

*Information compiled from the - Fall 2010, Volume 69 No.1 Southwestern News Publication

 Brent Pound
Interim Director

 SWBTS Acquires More Dead Sea Scrolls Fragments

FORT WORTH-Less than a year after acquiring three fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has added three more biblical fragments, making it the largest collection at an institution of higher education in the United States.

The new fragments were obtained from a private collector in Europe through a gift from an anonymous donor and friend of the seminary. "The acquisition constitutes another significant milestone in the development of our programs in biblical studies and archaeology," said Paige Patterson, Southwestern's president. "We are especially grateful for the friends of Southwestern who have made these acquisitions, as well as three other fragments, possible." Patterson also credited his wife Dorothy professor of theology in women's studies, and Ph.D. student Candi Finch for having worked "tirelessly to get them to Fort Worth."

The set of six fragments is one more than those owned by Azusa Pacific University near Los Angeles, which acquired five pieces in 2009. The Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago also owns a fragment.

Steven Ortiz, associate professor of archaeology and biblical backgrounds and director of the Charles D. Tandy Archaeology Museum at Southwestern, noted that having one fragment would be just as important as owning six.

"It is not a face to see who an collect the most fragments," Ortiz said. "The goal is to get these out of the hands of private collectors and make them available to the public, especially scholars ...."

Our institution has been entrusted with an important role to play in biblical scholarship and the archaeology and history of ancient Palestine. In addition, since these are some of the oldest biblical texts. Southwestern has a sacred trust to see that these are properly studied and preserved for perpetuity," Ortiz said.

Southwestern worked with the University of Southern California's West Semitic Research Project in September to digitally image all of Southwestern's scroll fragments as well as other rare ancient texts and artifacts in the Tandy Museum for future study and scholarship. Southwestern students were trained in the latest technology and methodology of imaging ancient pieces. Study of the documents is already underway.

*Information taken and compiled from the - November 15^th, 2010 issue of the Southern Baptist Texan publication.