The Passover

I'm a young leader...ok...youngish. I've had the great opportunity to get to know hundreds of different young leaders over the years, and there is a common trait that most of us seem to share.

A desire to be noticed.

Whether it's working inside a church, with a missions organization or in the corporate world, young emerging leaders want to be seen, recognized and given the opportunity to lead.

So being the kind of guy that I am, I asked the question why? And here's what I've discover:

We young leaders are afraid.

We are afraid that we won't be seen, we may not be noticed and we may not get the chance to lead. We're afraid that at the end of our lives, we may have just been passed over. If we were really honest with ourselves, we might find the courage to not only recognize our fear, but figure out a way to combat it.

What If?

So what if we decided to be something other than afraid? What could that look like and what would it take? Here are three things I've begun to identify as growth areas for me as a young (ish) leader:

1. Humility - it's not all about me. The true measure of a faithful follower of Jesus, regardless of the setting or context, is not about personal development...it's about kingdom development. When my motivation is to make sure that "my gifts are being used" or "my voice is being heard" I might actually be in the business of self-promotion. And if I am, I'm counteracting the work of Jesus. A wise leader is a humble leader. If we would humble ourselves and pray, what would God do in us and through us?

2. Patience - timing is everything. It's supposed to take 40 weeks of gestation for a human being to be grown (sometimes shorter, and other times longer). It takes time for crops to grow in a field. It takes time for young leaders to be recognized for their character, competence and commitment. There are no short cuts to influence. Being on stage with thousands of people tuning in to what you have to say doesn't instantaneously make you relevant. If you want to be seen, stay in the game longer than you think is possible. Embrace the internal and external tension, it might just be a gift God is giving to you for a reason. The solution may not be running out to start a brand new hip church...it actually might be to weather the storm so that perseverance can develop the character God desperately wants you to obtain.

3. Grace - no one is perfect. Sometimes all we are meant to learn from leaders who have gone before us is how not to lead. And sometimes we need to learn how to forgive and to forget. What if we took the time to think the best about others instead of the worst? How might our conversations about the people who "don't see us" change if we see them with the eyes of grace instead of the eyes of frustration?

So what about you? Where are you at as a leader? Are you young and wanting to be noticed, or are you in a position to identify and develop the emerging leaders around you? What will your leadership legacy be? Let's choose not to be afraid of The Passover...we're not even certain it's actually going to happen, are we?

12 Years a Director

Last week I celebrated my 12 year anniversary as the Director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the Archdiocese of Vancouver (I replaced Father - now Bishop - Mark Hagemoen in December 2002).  I was excitable, passionate, and eager to learn.  And I had no idea what the Lord had in store for me.

As an aside, I can’t really remember why I started on a Tuesday and not the Monday prior.  Maybe it had to do with my former employer PricewaterhouseCoopers.  Or perhaps it had to do with staffing issues at the Archdiocese.  But I digress.

I inherited a staff consisting of Gerard Garcia, Pat Gillespie, Analyn Perez, and Rob Mascitti.  We quickly hit it off, as I knew all of them reasonably well – and in Gerard’s case, very well – through my involvement with the archdiocese while I was serving as the parish youth ministry coordinator at St. Paul Parish in Richmond.

What impressed me right away was the dedication and commitment that the staff had to their work and their ministry.  It truly was a dream job to be paid to do what I loved:  youth ministry!

Over the past 12 years, I’ve been fortunate to work alongside some awesome people in the office.  Rob and Pat are still serving the Archdiocese while Analyn has moved onto exciting project management with Children’s Hospital.  Krissy (Chua) Litam and Sharon Goh have filled in at times in administrative roles, while Faye McCreedy (2006) and Erwin Fung (2013) round out our current staff.  And of course, Gerard is still there after all these years...I guess we’ll never get rid of each other haha.

I’ll put our staff and our work up against any youth and young adult ministry office in North America.  This is not meant to sound cocky or boastful; I’m just very confident in what we do and in the people we are blessed to work with.  People like youth ministry and young adult ministry coordinators and leaders, teens, priests, religious, parents, principals and teachers, campus ministers, diocesan leaders and fellow diocesan employees.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Archbishop J. Michael Miller here.  A large part of our success and our desire to serve is because of his leadership and support.  Despite my humourous (and pathetic) attempts to earn his friendship, he is indeed a wonderful advocate for not only me, but for our office and for the young Church.

Now this doesn’t mean we’re perfect.  Far from it, in fact...we have a lot that we haven’t accomplished.  And just like any family, we have our minor disagreements and differences.  But we remain loyal to each other and faithful to our mission of providing spiritual and professional formation for those who serve youth and young adults.

Along with wonderful people from this archdiocese, I’ve also met dozens of awesome people from beyond.  I love opportunities to network and share the ups and downs of ministry with my peers from across Canada and the United States whether they be fellow diocesan directors, youth ministers, young adult ministers, or young people. 

This job has taken me as far away as Johannesburg, South Africa.  It’s taken me to numerous provinces and states.  And it’s given me a venue to learn about my faith, hone my communication skills, and become a better leader.

When you look at who we’ve met and been able to bring up to our archdiocese, it’s a virtual who’s who of Catholic youth ministry, young adult ministry, and music ministry.  People like Matt Maher.  Steve Angrisano.  Mike Patin.  APeX Ministries.  The Jacob and Matthew Band.  Jesse Manibusan.  The list goes on and on .

I may have name-dropped Matt Maher once. Or twice. Or 1,000 times.

Some of these people have become my closest friends.  They’ve mentored me, check in on me, and opened their homes to me.  And they’ve undoubtedly added to my penchant for name-dropping.

Just last week at the National Conference on Catholic Youth Ministry, Jesse Manibusan was on stage as part of the Friday night Youth Ministry Extravaganza.  In thanking the 2,000 attendees for their work in youth ministry, he talked about how all of them were “heroes” to him.  And lo and behold, he mentioned my name as one of these so-called “heroes”.

I was surprised, flattered, and humbled.  And no, I didn’t pay him to say that.

The quintessential name-dropper (me) actually got name-dropped.  It meant a lot to me given that I consider Jesse a true hero in ministry and an inspiration as a minister and friend.  And he nailed my last name to boot!

Moreover, I fully recognized that it was a reflection on the good work that our archdiocese is doing as a whole.   Indeed, we are blessed with a lot of things:  strong leadership development.  A good social media presence.  Priest support.  Strong leadership in the parishes. Hungry teens (spiritually not physically).

I reflect back to the job interview back in November 2002.  The panel asked me how long I expected to be in the role if I got the job. 

I remember answering, “I’ll give it 7 or 8 years...until the year 2010.  We’ll see if we’re still moving forward at that point.”

It’s funny how God works.  2010 was an incredibly exciting year for me and our office.  The JP 2 Centre opened wide its doors to serve as a “Catholic Hospitality Centre” for the 2010 Winter Olympics.  The volunteers primarily came from the young adult community.  And just a few months later, in the summer of 2010, our office officially added young adult ministry to its title and mandate.

I’d say that’s moving forward.

The year 2015 presents us with another big change: we’ll be moving from 150 Robson to 4885 St. John Paul II Way (at the corner of 33^rd and Willow).  The new location and new surroundings will present some unique blessings and challenges.  I’m looking forward to leading our office through the transition period.

While I refer to my job as a “dream job” it truly doesn’t feel like a job at all.  I love coming to work every day.  I love the challenge and the responsibility that comes with directing an archdiocesan office.

Most of all, I get excited to think that we are helping youth and young adults encounter Christ to live out lives of personal and communal holiness.

I know I won’t be in this position forever.  Someday, someone much smarter and more capable will come along.  And If I ever get complacent or feel that the office is not moving forward, then I’ll know it’s my time to move on.

But I’m not there yet.  

There is still a lot of work to do.

Clayton Imoo is husband to Gail and father to sons Sean Isaiah and Jacob Isaac and daughter Kayla Marie.  He has served as the Director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver for the past ten years, helping parishes develop their own youth and young adult ministries.  When not doing ministry, Clay enjoys spending time with his family, playing music, playing sports, playing naptime, and writing blogs on topics such as family, faith, and the Vancouver Canucks.  Learn more about him at http://www.claytonimoo.com or follow him @claytonimoo     

Turning Down the Noise

Our world can be full of clutter, distractions and deafening voices. How are we inviting teens and their families to turn down the noise?

Team

Team. Many thoughts and images come to mind when I think of "team" and also many questions.

• what are the key ingredients of a team?
• how big or small should a team be?
• what personalities/experiences/spiritual gifts are required for that team?

Watch this video and think of all the elements of team that you see. This video is of a barn being built by the Amish from the foundation to completion. It is a 10 hour job time-lapsed in to a 3:30min video.

Here is what I see:

1. they have the right resources for the project.
2. they have the right materials to accomplish the project. Foresight: someone organized the materials and the workers to be there for that day
3. they even take a meal break showing there are other people working behind the scenes to assist the build team. The team is much bigger than shown.
4. they picked the right day to accomplish this project.
5. they finished the project. 

Share what others things you saw about team from this video in the comments. 

Many Hands Make Light Work: Amazing what can be accomplished in a 10 hour day.everyone knows what they are to do on this project. 

@JeffSmyth

Spirit Day 2014: How I Know God's Building

Last Friday night, I had the opportunity to address 150 of our Spirit Day volunteers at their orientation prior to the big event on Saturday and Sunday.  The majority of these volunteers were in grades 10, 11, and 12.

“How many of you went to Spirit Day as a grade 7 student?” I asked.

I’d guess that 75% – 80% of the students raised their hands.

I continued, “So why are you volunteering this weekend?”

“To give back,” one student replied.

“So the grade 7s can experience the same joy that I did when I attended,” answered another.

“To make new friends.”

“To share my gifts.”

And then, amidst the excited chatter, one answer spoken softly and humbly shot right through me:

“God.  Everything we do this weekend is for Him.”

It was a simple yet profound statement.  The previous answers were really good and certainly inspiring and affirming.  But the “God” answer seemed to energize me as I went into preacher mode.
I reminded the volunteers that this would be the first taste of the “bigger Church” for many of the grade 7 participants.  That they would be not only the hands and feet, but the face of Christ to everyone they would encounter.

I implored them to recall their fond memories of their own Spirit Day.  I encouraged them to step out of their comfort zones.  And I reminded them to never underestimate the influence and impact of every encounter they would have.

Having said what I needed to say, I left them to continue on with their meeting.  Thanks in large part to the service of all our volunteers, the entire Spirit Day weekend was a tremendous success.  All in all, there were 2,100 participants (students and chaperones) and close to 200 volunteers.

The theme of Spirit Day was “God’s Building.”  Throughout the event, we stressed that each of us is God’s building with Jesus as our foundation and cornerstone.  And that God is dwelling in each of us and building us up to be stronger witnesses of our faith.

There were countless examples of how God’s building some wonderful things in our archdiocese:

• I know God’s building when I witness the joy and hope in the faces of the grade 7 students…a true spirit of wonder, awe, and excitement to be there.
• I know God’s building when there are over a dozen priests present to celebrate Mass along with another dozen seminarians serving alongside them.
• I know God’s building when young adults write an intelligent and entertaining script that springs to life on stage via the Stage Team complete with costumes, choreography, and genuine emotion.
• I know God’s building when members of the Logistics Team stand outside all day in the cold and rain just to make the experience a tad more enjoyable for the participants.
• I know God’s building when our Spirit Team are hoarse and dog-tired because of 2 days of screaming, shouting, playing and singing.
• I know God’s building when our Production Team humbly and tireless works behind the scenes to make everyone else look and sound good.
• I know God’s building when our ushers check 2,100 participants for name tags and food at the door…only to pick up after them after each session.
• I know God’s building when people challenge themselves by taking on new leadership roles causing them to push themselves like never before.  Similarly, I know God’s building when other leaders take lesser roles for the sake of leadership development.
• I know God’s building when one of the band members tells us that this is the smoothest youth conference he’s ever been a part of.  Or when a venue employee tells us that we are the most well-organized group that they deal with.

I know that it sounds like I’m bragging.  In fact, I probably am.

But we give all the glory, praise, and honour to God.  For through Him, with Him, and in Him, all things are possible.

Everything we accomplished on the weekend was indeed for Him.



Clayton Imoo is husband to Gail and father to sons Sean Isaiah and Jacob Isaac and daughter Kayla Marie.  He has served as the Director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver for the past ten years, helping parishes develop their own youth and young adult ministries.  When not doing ministry, Clay enjoys spending time with his family, playing music, playing sports, playing naptime, and writing blogs on topics such as family, faith, and the Vancouver Canucks.  Learn more about him at http://www.claytonimoo.com or follow him @claytonimoo    

REVIVE US SERIES: Mentoring and Succession

It's amazes me how many different streams there are in the Christian faith. My good friend attends a church that has a similar expression and fundamental beliefs. Often when we are conversing about what God is showing us this line occasionally pops up in our conversation,
"Are you familiar with __________ (Insert name of well known ministry leader in the US)"
"No. I've never heard of them."
"What! What do you mean you've never heard of them?"
 Different streams, different thinkers serving the same God. I love that diversity.

I want to introduce you to a preacher and author that some of you may be unfamiliar with Dr. Myles Munroe. Dr. Munroe pastors an influential church in the Bahamas. He is a leadership giant in the Caribbean, US & Africa. For those of you who are not familiar with his writings or his teachings Mr. Munroe has a way of taking right brain concepts of the Spirit and converting them into left brain practical logic. At least that's how I describe it.
This past Sunday afternoon he was hosting a leadership summit on the other side of the the island when due to bad weather Dr. Munroe's private plane tragically crashed killing all 9 people on board  including his wife, his right hand man who pastored the church along with his youth pastor and his wife and child to name a few. Tragic.
Myles Munroe was a firm believer in securing your legacy. When you die, does your legacy and all that you've built crumble to the ground or do you have successors? These past few months, discipleship has been on my heart and that's what this blog series Revive Us is focusing on, our personal journey with Christ which naturally overflows onto our students.

Youth pastor, Youth Worker, Minister of the Gospel, Man & Woman of Influence, when you die or decide it's time to leave your church, your small group, the youth centre, or that incredible program that you started WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO IT?

In a message he delivered earlier this year in February Myles Munroe powerfully and poinently speaks directly to this issue. With the recent tragic events and upon hearing the message posted below I am challenged to change things up.
In his message he asks, What kind of leadership is needed today? I've extracted some statements he made and formed them into questions that have challenged me to once again examine and now change what I'm doing. My prayer is that this will also cause you to re-evaluate your priorities and dominant concerns.

WHAT KIND OF LEADER ARE YOU? 
1.    Are You Preoccupied With Protecting Your Occupation Instead Of Your Legacy?

2.    What Do You Spend More Time Thinking About The Next Generation Or The Next Position In The Organization?

3.    Do You Feel That You Owe A Great Debt To The Future Or Are You Still Telling Those Stories About Your Church Battle Wounds Or 'Sheep Bites' From The Past?

4.    Are You More Dedicated To Shaping History Or Making Money?

5.    What Are You More Interested In People Or Private Ambition?

The leadership summit organized by Myles Munroe that he was flying to the day he crashed was to address the concerns of leadership not being passed on properly to the next generation. He was concerned for his country and nation.
Oh Canada, we sing 'God keep our land glorious and free' and He will do His part, but He who  chooses to partner with mankind you and me. In order for Canada to stay glorious and free we must pass on Godly values, biblical world views, and have students walk with us so they catch many glimpses of our personal relationship with Jesus, to turn around and personalize it for themselves.

To hear his whole message and the powerful dream that God gave Dr. Munroe about passing the baton, watch the rest of his message titled The Leadership Principle & Power of Mentoring and Succession. Let's go and make disciples and make Jesus proud.

To bypass the intro cue video to 8:05



Youth Speaker & Founder of the Young Woman of Power (YWOP), Alison hosts conferences and develops programs that are designed to build the confidence of youth such as the YWOP PivotFWD workshop which she delivers in Calgary’s Youth Judicial System and the citywide Young Women of Power Conference. She considers herself to be a pastor to those who don’t want one or don’t know they need one. For more info or to book Alison as a speaker visit www.ywop.ca 

Catholics, Protestants & Everything Related to Christian Post-Secondary Options

This week we interviewed Sarah Buckham, who grew up in the Catholic church and also is a part of the admissions department for Trinity Western University. Listen, watch, share & collaborate!