Tag: prayer

A Prayer for YMCA Leaders : when we feel lost, in error and without life

In those moments, when as a YMCA leader you feel overwhelmed, adrift, lost in your spirit, alone in your anxiety, yearning to have the lifelessness of your Y transformed into vibrant energy – this prayer of Kierkegaard is for you.

“Father in heaven, let your voice come to me, be heard by me, even though it overtake me where I live secluded and alone.

You, my Lord Jesus Christ, you who came into the world to save those who were lost, look for me even in my errors where I hide myself from you and from others; let me hear your voice, let me know and follow it.

You, O Holy Spirit, breathe for me in inexpressible sighs, bring life to me though I am a barren tree.

You who bears again to life those who are already dead, you who gives youth to the aged, create in me a new heart.

You who with motherly care protects everything in which there is a spark of life, send forth the growth that you would have for me.”

based on/adapted from “The Prayers of Kierkegaard,” no 47 by Ole Anthony

Using our YMCA Core Values to stir up our spirit and mind, to rattle us and convict us, to encourage and guide us, authenticity is more about responsible honesty than unencumbered identity-declarations, about caring for ourself and others in a mutually respectful way.

Our authenticity ought to stimulate not just boundaries on who we think we are, but humility about who we really are, which includes the darkness alongside the light, the good and evil intertwined within us, the beautiful and ugly that is us.

In the YMCA our leadership is often defined by our character, our programs are successful when stories emerge of how the character-building emphasis worked; as my friend Dave at the Parkview Family YMCA quips: “transformed people transform people.”

Spiritual authenticity is more than just declaring what you believe about spirituality and expecting respect for it, it’s actually being honest and responsible for your own spirit, it’s health, and how it is doing in reality, in real life.

It’s about taking responsibility for the health of your spirit and doing the work so that it grows in its capacity to care for all in a mutually respectful way.

Authentic spirituality which doesn’t expand in its capacity to love is just a clanging gong or clashing symbols out of tune with reality.

At the YMCA, when we are authentic about our origins, about our motivations for why we got started, about the foundation we build on, about the roots which nourish our growth, it also requires honesty about the failures and hurts that have come through the YMCA. not just institutionally, but personally – the Y is all about people and building a healthy spirit, mind and body for all using Christian principles in practical ways. And for all the times we get it right, someone can point to ways we didn’t.

In those moments, when as a YMCA leader you feel authentically overwhelmed, adrift, lost in your spirit, alone in your anxiety, yearning to have the lifelessness of your Y transformed into vibrant energy – this prayer of Kierkegaard is for you.

He was writing in Denmark around the time George Williams was launching the Y.M.C.A. in England, and though his writings weren’t that popular when the Paris Basis was being crafted, Kierkegaard was “discovered” after the horrific tumult of the Great War, which was a shining moment for the Y, but also a dying of the world’s hope for peace in the world.

The Holocaust, the Atomic Bomb, the Cold War, global terrorism, genocides – this reality of YMCA members around the world ought to still way heavy on all Y members – in solidarity – and in accord with the prayer of Jesus in John 17:21 “that they all may be one.”

This means not just in our salvation and reconciliation but also in our empathy and practical actions of love.

And in that suffering is when we too often (if we quit avoiding this stark and disturbing reality) feel lost, in error, and without life. This is why the writings of Kierkegaard and his prayers continue to be sought out, for he seeks to get at the real, our actual lived existence, us, me, I – known and loved by God.

Maybe everything is fine for you in your life and family, your YMCA branch members and staff; but if we were going to be authentic, it’s not all we hope and pray for…yet; in the meantime keep honestly praying to the Lord, in humility and openness, like this prayer of Kierkegaard:

“Father in heaven, let your voice come to me, be heard by me, even though it overtake me where I live secluded and alone.

You, my Lord Jesus Christ, you who came into the world to save those who were lost, look for me even in my errors where I hide myself from you and from others; let me hear your voice, let me know and follow it.

You, O Holy Spirit, breathe for me in inexpressible sighs, bring life to me though I am a barren tree.

You who bears again to life those who are already dead, you who gives youth to the aged, create in me a new heart.

You who with motherly care protects everything in which there is a spark of life, send forth the growth that you would have for me.”

based on/adapted from “The Prayers of Kierkegaard,” no 47 by Ole Anthony

May the Grace and Peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

The 5 Steps for Young Men becoming Christians in Association – by George Williams

What kind of spiritual vitality marked the founding of the YMCA in 1844? With what we learn about Williams and his steps for building a “healthy spirit” with those who worked near him, what is God’s Spirit stirring in you? 

How might you adapt these “steps” for your spirit-work in your Y, for moving the spirit-health of your branch and association forward?

  1. Each Young Man first assumed a special care for certain unconverted friends.
  2. He would then regularly and by name pray for each one.
  3. He would speak to them on serious matters.
  4. He would persuade them to accompany him to church.
  5. He would urge them to sample the prayer meeting or a Bible study group.

This list is found in chapter six of Clyde Binfield’s book George Williams and the YMCA, where he outlines the many factors that led up to June 6, 1844 and the founding of the Young Men’s Christian Association in London England (pgs. 110-111).

Binfield observes that it wasn’t just the “steps” that contributed to the early and enduring success of the YMCA, but also the character and charisma of the founding men, specifically marking the personal leadership and spirituality of George Williams. 

George Williams as a young man

The 1840’s “were ready for this” as Binfield writes, “a decade notable for movement”. And, as George Williams records in his diary “Oh shout God is at work…”

Binfield goes on to comment about the “steps”:

Such a system makes sense of aspects of William’s diary; there was something businesslike in it, at once quite rational and wholly Evangelical.

Yet no system, least of all involving ‘soul welfare’, can work unless the personalities concerned are sympathetic as well as powerful.

It might have required a system to make Williams abstain from gluttony or jump earlier out of bed.

It needed no such thing to make him deeply anxious for his fellows.

With this qualification, it is possible to see a development in intensity and spiritual awareness (which is not quite the same thing) amongst the Christians at Hitchcock, Rogers.

Here’s some of the paragraph Binfield writes about Williams:

…George Williams show[ed] the abundant geniality which impressed all who met him.

There was a genuineness about him which transcended other qualities.

Without this the atmosphere at St. Paul’s Churchyard would have been intolerable.

With it, the activities of the first Christian Young Men became natural, even unremarkable, and entirely acceptable.

There was, moreover, a persistence about Williams which only a strong character and formed intelligence could resist.

The young man was manifestly good at his job and he was no fool, despite the crevices in his intellectual armory.

From the first his ability in harnessing, utilizing, and keeping the abilities of more articulate men, and better organizers of greater men of the world, is striking.

This was partly the good businessman’s ability to delegate authority without abdicating responsibility.

Partly it was an extension of the good draper’s sixth sense – an ability to sum up and mentally to clothe his fellow man.

It was certainly the one thing needful to transmute the activieis at No. 72, St. Paul’s Churchyard into a Young Men’s Christian Association.

George Williams as a successful businessman

With what we learn here about Williams and his steps for building a “healthy spirit” with those who worked near him, what is God’s Spirit stirring in you?

How might you adapt these “steps” for your spirit-work in your Y, for moving the spirit-health of your branch and association forward?

What are some obstacles that seem to be in your way? 

What inspires you about Williams and his “steps” of faith? 

What kind of transformation might happen in you and those around you if you stepped courageously forward, like George and his friends did in 1844?

“Lessons I Have Learned In Christian Work” – by John R. Mott of the YMCA

These original 15 leadership lessons from 1948 by John R. Mott were copied from a 2006 publication written by Christian YMCA leaders; each chapter is a modern reflection and application of Mott’s YMCA lessons and experiences.

Who is John R. Mott? Why does he still matter to the Y? What can we learn from him today about leadership, spirituality, peace-making, Christian ministry, and serving amidst severe adversity?

Below are brief excerpts about his extraordinarily significant life regarding his being awarded in 1946 the Nobel Peace Prize, as well as his brilliant lifelong Christian ecumenical mission work. The main feature of this post is to highlight Mott’s 15 leadership lessons, referenced from a 2006 YMCA Christian leadership book.

Mott seems to have been mothballed, memory of his achievements have become marginalized; yet: we need to retrieve as much wisdom from him as possible in light of the “old” conflicts re-erupting in our culture and to which the YMCA is adapting still…

“Friendship among Christians Brings Peace”

“The Peace Prize for 1946 was awarded to the head of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), the American John Raleigh Mott, who according to the Nobel Committee had contributed to the creation of a peace-promoting religious brotherhood across national boundaries.”

“Mott grew up in a settler family in Iowa, strongly influenced by Puritan ideals, and took a bachelor’s degree in history at Cornell University. As a student Mott received a religious call to spread the Gospel, after which he devoted most of his life to the YMCA, to missionary activities, and ecumenical work.”

“As general-secretary of the International Committee of the YMCA and president of YMCA’s World Committee, Mott sought to advance understanding and reconciliation. He organized youth exchanges, set up study groups, and arranged international youth camps. Mott was at the same time a leading figure in the field of international Christian student and missionary cooperation, and took part during both World Wars in relief work for prisoners of war. He criticised the oppression of colonial peoples and was a pioneer in the struggle against racial discrimination.”

The Nobel Peace Prize 1946 was divided equally between Emily Greene Balch “for her lifelong work for the cause of peace” and John Raleigh Mott “for his contribution to the creation of a peace-promoting religious brotherhood across national boundaries.”

After a lifetime in Christian work and extensive travel in eighty-three nations, I would suggest for your consideration fifteen basic lessons that I have learned:

from remarks by John R. Mott at the North American Association of YMCA Secretaries meeting, May 25, 1948 Grand Rapids, Michigan
  1. Jesus Christ is the Foundation: He provides the direction and the zest for life. If we understand his teachings and his personality, he will make his own impression on our lives and it will be revolutionary.
  2. Rule by the Heart: People are reached “via the heart” – There is no substitute for love and kindness and sympathy.
  3. Study priorities: No human can do all the good to be done in the world. We need to list and study our own priorities daily.
  4. We Can Trust Others: We can afford great acts of trust. I can testify that I have never had others disappoint me.
  5. Study and Promote the Use of the Bible: It has been said that the cause of all evil is the lack of interest in religious writing. If I were to stay longer, I would give a frontline place to reawakening interest in the religious writings of Christianity. There is nothing to take their place.
  6. The Discipline of Prayer is Essential: “He departed a stone’s cast beyond the Apostles, and kneeled down and prayed.” I need only to say that we must make prayer one of the primary objectives of this brotherhood.
  7. Do “Multiplying” Work: “He that does the work is not as profitably employed as he who multiplies the doers.” Enlisting volunteers is one of our greatest tasks.
  8. Use the “Heroic Appeal”: A heroic appeal often gets a heroic response. It is good to have difficulties because it calls out the most in you, it drives you to get the cooperation of others, it drives you to God.
  9. Strategy Is Important: There are strategic points which if captured, make easy all that lies behind them. There are strategic classes and strategic races, strategic times, strategic methods, strategic places. We must know what they are.
  10. We need to Get into the Field: You cannot develop a Christian from an office chair. We need to be out meeting and dealing with personalities.
  11. Small Groups are of Great Value: Christ sent them out “two by two.” At one time, he had five disciples, at another time three, another time eleven, and at another, twelve. Why did Christ attach importance to small groups? I long ago decided that it was wise to follow Christ in this method.
  12. Adolescence is a Crucial Time: If I had my life to live over I would spend much time on the adolescents age group. These are the habit forming years, the years of determining life attitude and tendencies, the years of creativeness.
  13. Don’t Overlook Old People: Here is wisdom and experience for our asking. Here, also, is a group to whom we must give kindness and affection.
  14. Emphasize the Immediate: We need to live under the spell of immediacy. What other time will there be? What other generations than the present can we work with?
  15. Be Attentive Unto God: “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.” And, “My soul, be silent unto God,” say what I mean. We must put out other sounds – noises of selfish ambition – prepare ourselves to say, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.”
These 15 lessons from John R. Mott were copied from this 2006 publication written by Christian YMCA leaders. Each chapter is a modern reflection and application of Mott’s YMCA experiences; featured are extraordinary Y leaders I’ve befriended: Eric Ellsworth, David Byrd, Tim Joyce, and Paul McEntire – purchase your copy online today!

And more about Mott the missionary leader:

“Born shortly after the American Civil War, which ended in 1865, his life spanned almost ninety years, ending in 1955 when Dwight Eisenhower was president.
During his life Mott interacted with eight American presidents, most notably Woodrow Wilson, who called him “one of the most nobly useful men in the world.”
When Mott declined to succeed Wilson as president of Princeton University, Wilson commented, “Mr. Mott can’t afford to take the presidency of a great university; Mr. Mott occupies a certain spiritual presidency in the spiritual university of the world.”
Although he declined several diplomatic positions, he did serve on Wilson’s Root Commission to Russia in 1917 and became the president’s most trusted advisor on Russian affairs.
In 1946, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work.”
[Gordon R. Doss, John R. Mott, 1865-1955: Mission Leader Extraordinaire]
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