Leadership Retreat

We had our leadership retreat on Monday and Tuesday with over 100 of the 140+ TSC leaders.

Gasp... (at the thought of mentoring that many college students)

Here are some rockstar leaders (Above: Mary, Carley, Lydia. Below: Kent and Aidan)

The retreat was rockin'. Our best to date. Here were some highlights:

1. Our goal: simple and helpful.

That was totally accomplished as we often repeated the theme and focus of our year, "Just Care." We also consolidated everything a leader needs onto one sheet, entitled, "The One Sheet You Actually Need." We have a long history of overwhelming leaders with tons of information.

Was that tradition started under Jeff Dodge? Probably. And Paul Sabino was glad to carry it on.

Someone's got to get us back to the good old days of life under Troy's leadership.

Actually, I hear his leadership style was pretty hardcore- most akin to Hitler.

I hope none of those guys read this blog. I could be in trouble.

2. Confession time

If there's one thing that has marked this ministry over the years, it has been ruthless authenticity. That begins with confession, which requires a safe environment where people, even leaders, are allowed to struggle with sin. It also must be a place where grace abounds.

I felt strongly that we needed an extended time of confession. Monday morning started with a sobering challenge by Pastor Tom (Nesbitt) in our staff meeting. He referred to a story of a long time Christian who was stuck in sin, refusing to come clean. He challenged us not to keep secrets, but to gladly expose our sin by bringing it in the light. It's impossible to be "free in the dark."

We encouraged students to share in private with a trusted brother or sister. One student I talked to told me he almost didn't come on the retreat because he was overwhelmed by guilt about something he had done a week before the leadership retreat. I assured him if only the righteous showed up to the retreat, no one would've come.

3. Michael Jackson dances

We're always looking for competitive, yet non-athletic games to loosen students up while helping them build relationships. This was perfect. We gave 11 groups each 90 second clips of Michael Jackson songs. They had to come up with a group dance and perform in front of everyone.

4. The food

I don't think we had this kind of food at the Y camp or at Hantesa. I guess some good did come out of Paul Sabino's leadership (i.e. moving it to Hidden Acres).

5. Connection group practice

We did a mock connection group sign up to get the leaders in the mentality of going after people at the kickoff. The staff did some role playing. I was the guy who picked one guy to be in my group, while neglecting everyone else I met. My one guy was Andrew...

Here are some non-highlights. There's really only one.

1. The drinking fountain outside the chapel.

lame.

Nobody enjoys hitting the bar and realizing they'll have to put their lips on the spout and start sucking to get hydrated.

When I resort to complaining about the water fountain, that's a good sign I'm due for another trip overseas.

Our leaders rock.

God is good.