Category: Vision

THE CORE: DEFINING WHO WE ARE & WHAT WE DO

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Are we developing faith within the life of students that sticks?  Are we developing a “Sticky Faith,” a faith that will continue on after the walls of this church are in the rear view mirror?

It is our desire that Westhill would be place where the foundations of a lifelong faith in Christ are formed.  A place of life change, where students are introduced to Jesus and the world around them is radically shaken by the transformation they have experienced.

ENGAGE:
Following Jesus has never been about us, it has and always will be about building His kingdom.  The church was called, then gathered, then formed for the purpose of being sent out.  We are called to go and engage the world with the message of Christ.  We engage the world through serving those around us in our schools, our community and our world.  We share a responsibility to invite people to experience the story of Jesus through our life on display for all to see, as a city on a hill.

EQUIP:
The most important relationship in the life of a student is their relationship with their parents. We highly value this relationship above all other relationships in the life of a student. Since we place so much value on this relationship, we are committed to doing all we can to help equip and assist parents in every way possible.

CONNECT:
We are not simply a Student Ministry we are a part of a church. It is vital for students to find connections outside of our ministry to build relationships with other caring adults who are willing to pour into the life of a student to mentor and disciple them in their growth in Christ.

CREATE:
We strive to create an authentic family atmosphere within WSM.  A place to belong, to feel accepted, loved and a place where they are not judged. We desire to create environments where students develop relationships with other students and caring adults, who will help them to see a bigger picture of what the Kingdom of God looks like here on earth.

EMPOWER:
We want Westhill to be a place which models servant leadership for our students and then entrusts them to serve.  These students are leaders now, in their schools, in their home and in the church. It is our desire for students not to merely be here, but to find a place to plug in and serve. We want to create a safe place for students to lead and a safe place to fail within our ministry. We want to see every student plugged into a ministry within the context of our Student Ministries.  It is our desire as 11th & 12th graders they would serve in the same ministry in the larger church.

LEADERSHIP 101: CREATING CLEAR EXPECTATIONS

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I feel like this is a lesson I should have gotten somewhere along the way, in school, grad school or a conference, somewhere but it is a leadership lesson I have been learning on my own.  As a leader what are your expectations for the people you are leading?


Often, I find the people I am leading do not meet my expectations.  Which can be very frustrating for a leader; especially, when they are teenagers.  Typically, we chalk it up to apathy or laziness and dismiss the possibly it could be our own fault they are not meeting our expectations.  This has been a challenge for me over the last several years with our Student Leadership group.  On the flip side there is nothing more discouraging than constantly trying to meet someones expectations you are unaware of.  It can only lead to failure and frustration.

This year, I decided to approach the expectations from a different angle.  I created a covenant for the students and the parents to sign, laying out exactly what I expect from students serving in this ministry.  After I handed out the expectations and asked them to sign and return, I had a conversation with a couple of our seniors in Student Leadership.  They were wondering why this was necessary, not in an upset way but a curious way.  They kind of understood these expectations.  So I asked them specifically, did you know I expect you to…  and I went through the list of expectations.  Several they understood from the beginning, some they had figured out over time and one they did not even know.  So why did it surprise me that my expectations often went unmet?

In leadership, often our greatest frustration comes from unmet expectations.  What if instead of looking at the people not meeting our expectations, we looked in the mirror at the one creating the expectations.  Expectations not being met?  Ask yourself, are your expectations clear?  How do they know your expectations?  Have you communicated the expectations clearly?  There is a great difference between expectations being clear in your head and the expectations being clear in other people’s heads.

So enter the covenant.  Here is what I came up with for anyone in our Student Leadership group.  What are your thoughts and/or feedback on the covenant?  How do you clearly communicate expectations?

Student Leadership Covenant

CRAVINGS – PART 3

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Have you ever heard, the phrase “our entire life is worship,” or something to that effect?  My guess is, if you have been a follower of Jesus for a while, you have at least heard something similar.  It is taken from Romans 12:1

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship.

Of course I believe it, but it is entirely different to live.  To have every aspect of your life and mind focused on Christ.  To make decisions, not based on what “feels right,” but on what Christ said.  I know every Christian over the age of 25 probably still has a WWJD bracelet tucked away in a drawer.  Who stops to think, before every little decision, what would Jesus do?  For that matter, how many of us stop to think before the big decisions?  Many times we make decisions based on what our mind believes to be the best option, based on our or others personal experiences.  So many times, I hear Romans 12:1 read or quoted, and the person will stop at verse 1 or simply glaze over verse 2, with little attention.

However, there is a phrase in verse 2, which is coming to mean more and more to me over the last couple weeks.

2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but BE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Over the past several weeks I have begun memorizing larger sections of scripture.  Right now I am working on memorizing the beatitudes as I teach through them.  We are going section by section through Matthew 5 through 7, so I am memorizing one section each week.  As you memorize something, it is amazing how much it is on your mind.  As I am driving down the road or cleaning the house, these passages will come to mind, I will begin to recite them.  They are constantly on my mind.

These passages are so familiar to me, but as I have been quoting them more and more, I have begun to see more and more in them; things which somehow I have always missed.  I am seeing how passages connect to other parts of scripture and bring new light to my understanding on God’s word.  What is amazing to me is how my mind is being renewed.  My mind is being changed and my life is beginning to see transformations.  Small transformations, but my life is being changed.

Our minds are powerful and we make a choice as to what we will fill them with; Facts, movie quotes, song lyrics, conversations, sports statistics.  And not that these are bad things remember.  Is it transforming your life?  Of course it is, in some way.  But, does it draw you closer to Christ?  I can’t answer that for you.  What I do know, is that God’s Word has begun to consume my thinking and His word has the power to change who I am!

CRAVINGS – PART 2

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The question I asked yesterday, will define who we are, do you crave the Word of God just as badly as the next breath you will take?  The Psalmist David says it this way…

O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.  2 I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.  3 Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.
Psalm 63:1-3 NIV

This past week I preached on the story of the Prodigal Son.  It is a story which has become so familiar to us we can easy gaze over it and miss much of the significance of the story.  So I decided instead of reading the story, I would memorize it and tell it just as if I was telling any other story in my sermon.  What was amazing to me, as I spent more and more time memorizing it, details and thoughts which I never picked up on began to become clear.  The more I dug into the story committing it to memory, the more depth I began to find.

I have always memorized scripture, although to some extent, over the last several years I have stopped focusing on the discipline specifically.  However, most of the time I memorize scripture it is a verse or two, never had I done a complete story from the Bible.  Yet, it blows my mind that I don’t.  Think about this, a person who really fights food cravings, always has food accessible.  They can always get to it and many times carry it with them.  Why not make God’s word so accessible.  So easy to access, you don’t have to turn on a phone or open to a chapter, you just know it to the point it is ingrained in you.

On Wednesday nights this Fall I am teaching through the Sermon on the Mount, so I decided this past week I would begin memorizing it, section by section as I teach through it.  I have a little catching up to do, since I am 3 weeks in, but I got the first two sections down yesterday afternoon and this morning.  As I said, I have gotten away from the discipline of scripture memorization over the last several years.  Not sure why, just lazy I guess.

What I am finding amazing is how much Matthew 5:1-16 is continually coming up during my day.  As I am driving in my car, I just keep repeating it.  It has been on my mind all day.  The same thing happened last week, memorizing the prodigal son.

I am constantly having conversations with others where they will say something and it will trigger a Seinfeld quote or Tommy Boy line.  The better we know the words of the Gospels the better equipped we are for the Spirit to speak to us during difficult times and through tough choices.  So here is where I am (all from memory)…

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountain side and sat down.  His disciples came to Him and He began to teach them saying,

Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil about you because of me.

Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven.  For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who came before you.

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt looses it saltiness how can it be made salty again.  It is no longer good for anything, than to be thrown out and trampled by men.  You are the light of the world, a city on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl, instead they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before all men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your father in heaven.

My plan, following the Sermon on the Mount, is to begin working of Jesus prayer in John 15-17.  I want to challenge you, pick out a section of scripture and begin memorizing it in its entirety.  I would love to hear about your thoughts and experiences.

CRAVINGS

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This Fall I am teaching a Sunday morning class of older adults in the auditorium.  I am really enjoying the class so far.  We are working out of the book of 1 Peter.  As I was studying this week for the class and preparing to preach something hit me.  I was reading in 1 Peter 2:2, Peter writes…

Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.[1]

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our 3rd child.  He is EXPECTED in mid October.  While we are so excited about his arrival, there is another side we are not so excited about.  The lost of sleep!  The first few months of a newborn are extremely daunting.  Late nights, early mornings, and little sleep, because your life now revolves around someone else’s schedule.  A newborn baby, whose only possible way to communicate with you, is to scream and cry until their needs are met.  Yes, there are upset stomachs, dirty diapers and more, but most of the time, it is simple, they are hungry and want to eat.

Peter tells the believers, just as a newborn baby craves milk, you as a follower of Jesus should crave the Word of God.  Think about this.  A newborn baby craves milk because that’s what it needs to sustain them right now.  They are not asking for milk, because they understand how important milk is to their development and growth, but because they are craving food right now.

Do you crave the Word, as baby craves milk?  Can you go a day without it?  If you do go a day with out, does it consume your mind in the same way it would if you messed an actual day worth of meals?  Does it completely consume your life, in the same way food does.  We have an obese nation because of the way we consume food.  Do you crave God’s word in the same way you do a burger from your favorite fast food place or a great pizza?

We live in a time when the Bible is more accessable than ever before in the history of Christianity.  You can read it anywhere you are, in any format.  Print, Kindle, YouVersion, take your pick?  So the real problem is not can we get our hands on it but how could we possibly keep our hands off it?  So if the Word is our source of spiritual nutrition, how are you doing?  My guess is a lot are starving, the more important question, are you really missing it?  When the word is not at the center of our life, we spend a great deal of time making decisions based on what we think and feel.

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. (Psalm 119:11 NIV)

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119:105 NIV)

What I crave most about God’s word is when He through His Spirit speaks to me.  When he uses His word written centuries before, to speak life into me today.  When He uses His word to challenge my thinking, to confront my indifference and rebuke my self-righteous attitudes.  His word is not just how we know about God, it is how we know HIM!  It is how He speaks to us.  Do you crave the word?

Part 2 will follow tomorrow!

[1] The Holy Bible: New International Version. 1984. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

5 Reasons Transit was My Most Successful Ministry Weekend

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Forgive me for the lack of posting in the past several weeks.  I have been putting all of my time and energy into getting ready for Transit this past weekend.  It was an immense success for our ministry, and I see such a bright future in this ministry.  We focused on three relationship over the course of the weekend, spent time in worship and family prayer.  So what made the weekend so remarkable?

1.  Family – the majority of our incoming 6th graders and their parents made this weekend a priority.  Moms, dads and their 6th graders spent time worship together, playing together, sharing together, praying together.  We focused on relationships.  The Relationship with Christ.  The relationship with family.  The relationship with friends and mentors.

2.  Established Mentors – each of the 6th graders invited 3 or 4 influential adults to join us for a special ceremony on Saturday as we concluded our weekend.  The students selected these adults because they have seen them as significant influences on their life up to this point.  For the ceremony, the student, parent(s) and mentors sat in a circle.  The student began with some of the highlights from their school year and thoughts about moving forward.  Then the mentors and parents shared with the student the following 3 things. 1. Share with the student the Godly qualities you see in this student.  2. Then you will give them a charge to follow Christ and remain faithful to Him. 3. What is your hope and prayer for this student as they go through junior high/high school.  These mentors were then given a charge to walk with these students through, Jr High, High School, college and life transitions.  My dream is these relationship would last forever.

 8 We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. (1Th 2:8 NIV)

3. Involvement – This weekend involved a lot of our students.  Our Student Leadership help with greeting and leading a session by themselves with the 6th graders.  Our students in our worship ministry led worship for the weekend and did an amazing job.  Students also ran media support for the weekend.  David and Michelle  along with 3 of our middle song teachers led a round table discussion with the parents.  So great to see so many serving.

4. Connections – Entering Jr. High all of these new 6th graders have mentors they are now connected to as well as one of our student leaders.  Parents took time to sit and pray with the students.  Hopefully this is happening a bunch already but is great to have really intentional and focused times.  We also got sevre helpful resources in the hands of parents and student.  Each parents went home with The Space Between: A Parent’s Guide to Teenage Development, Shepherding a Child’s Heart,  Creating an Intimate Marriage: Rekindle Romance Through Affection, Warmth and Encouragement, 99 Thoughts for Parents of Teenagers.  Each Student went home with Surviving Middle School: A Hilarious Guide that Will Help You Avoid Being a Dork.

5. Money – I asked our congregation to help support this weekend.  We were given enough money to pay for all of the resources for the students and parents and have a nice catered meal of Friday evening.

Our first Transit weekend was a huge success.  I will spend some time later this week processing ways we can improve heading into next year.

This is the transit_blessings parents and mentors received prior to the weekend.

Our Schedule
Schedule:  Friday, May 18th

6:00 PM – Worship (Relationship with Christ)
7:00 PM – Dinner
7:45 PM – Parents Session 1
7:45 PM – Students Session 1
8:45 PM – Worship
9:00 PM – Go Home for the evening

Saturday, May 19th

8:30 AM – Breakfast at church
9:00 AM – Worship (Relationship with Family)
9:45 AM – Parents Session 2
9:45 AM  – Student Session 2
10:30 AM – Worship & Prayer (Relationship with Friends & Mentors)
11:00 AM – A Rite of Passage
12:00 PM – Go Home

FREE MINISTRY RESOURCES

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I have talked a little over the last several weeks about a new ministry we are beginning called “transit.”  It’s purpose is pair up students with caring adults to shepherd and mentor them through junior high, high school and into life following high school.  Once our incoming sixth graders are set I will turn my attention to the other grades.  My goal is to have all grades set up by the end of next school year.  If you want more details of what I am envisioning you can check out this post, “Creating Meaningful Relationships in Student Ministry.”

I thought I would make the resources available to other youth workers in the process as I am putting it together.  Feel free to use, adapt, and make better.  Here are a few letters, one is to the congregation, one is to parents and one is to sixth graders.  As I get more finalized this next week I will add them here.

parent_invite

mentor_letter

collection letter

FINDING PEACE IN THE SILENCE

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It is surprising how intimidating silence can be.  If you ever work in a group setting silence can be downright awkward and even a little annoying.

Most of the time we do not know what to do with silence.  For many, we long for silence until we experience it.  A few weeks ago I took a personal retreat.  Time to get away, pray, plan, read and focus.  I found it ironic the exact thing I was seeking to experience in my retreat was rather uncomfortable at first.  I wanted to get away, to unplug, to focus, and as I sat, beginning my first morning, I was annoyed by the silence.  I wanted to turn on some music, to have something happening in the background.  It is remarkable how ingrained noise has become for our society.  Our world is constantly running somewhere, and there is always background noise.  There are constantly deadlines to meet and work to do.  So, when is it we slow down?

Churches go to considerable efforts developing theologies that explain why God no longer speaks.  I am convinced God still speaks, we have just stopped listening.  To be like Jesus means we commune with the Father.  For Jesus, it meant getting away from everything; withdrawing to lonely, quite places and praying.  Silence can be difficult, but I am learning to enjoy it, I am learning to hear the voice of God just as Elijah did, in the silence.

And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
1 Kings 19:12-13 NIV

Try to find time this week to step out of the busyness and noise of life and simply sit in the presence of your creator.  Don’t know where to begin… open up to one of the Psalms and pray the words of the Psalmist.  It is a perfect place to begin and find focus in the uncomfortable silence.  As ministers and church leaders, it is impossible to lead people into a relationship with Christ if we do not have a relationship with Him ourself.

CREATING MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIPS IN STUDENT MINISTRY

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How well do you remember Middle School?  I hated middle school.  The world around me was changing and even my own “world” was changing, if you know what I mean.

Then there was high school and college.  From the age of 11 through about 25, your world never stops changing.  Throw into the mix unstable home environments for many, bullying and the constant desire to advance up the social ladder, it is no wonder why these can be some of the most difficult years in a young person’s life.  What if the church had a different way to respond to the problems?  For years youth ministry has seen the incredible value of creating adult relationships within the context of student ministry.  Now others such as Chuck Bomar (Slow Fade) are coming in and saying the relationships are the key to the transition from High School to College.  What if student pastors and ministers had an even bigger picture of the life of a student and possible impact of their ministry?

The national average tells us around 60% of church kids will walk away from their faith before they graduate from college.  I believe there are several reasons this is happening.  However, instead of just stating problems I want to talk about solutions.  I want to help equip parents better disciple their own children.  I also want to help teenagers connect and develop relationships with other adults in the church, to encourage them and help them to bridge the gaps during times of transitions.  This is where TRANSIT comes in.  Transit will be focus around several key transitional times in the life of a teenager.  First, the move from 5th to 6th grade.  This is an enormous jump in adolescences.  The second jump is from 8th to 9th grade with the transition from Jr High to High School.  The next significant transition is moving from Junior year into Senior Year.  The final key transition comes as they make the jump from High School to college.  Of course there are other milestones that will occur along the way, but I want to focus on these four times.

At Westhill, I have been thinking through transitions for students.  The one thing I am discovering is the transitions are constant.  But what if the relationships we were creating for students to transition from High School to college were the same relationships the student had when they transitioned from 5th grade into 6th when they entered our ministry?  How could this work?  What would it look like?

So here is my plan is to begin this May with students who are finishing 5th grade and moving into 6th grade.  We are going to have a memorable weekend designed for parents and their students.  We will spend time worshiping together as families; and praying over each other, helping to equip parents and students for this huge time of transition.  The weekend will end for the new 6th graders with a Rite of Passage Ceremony.  Parents will sit down with their son or daughter and help them to pick out 3 or 4 adults in our church they consider to significant in their life.  The adults along with their parents will make up the group.  During this ceremony, the adults which the student has invited will share some positive character attributes they see in the student and each adult will give the student a specific charge.  The ceremony is built around 6 key topics, FAITH, HOPE, LOVE, PURITY, INTERGRITY & FAMILY (Concept taken from James McBride’s Rite of Passage).  To close the ceremony, I will give these adults a special charge to walk with these students through Jr. High and High School.  The mentor’s goal becomes helping in their transition into college and career and to them get connected to a church, no matter where they end up.  My desire is this relationship is one that will last a lifetime.

So how do we keep these relationships fresh and the commitment strong?  My hope is to come back each year through Jr. High and High School and have something geared toward the 6 key topics.  Not a full ceremony every year because I think it would lose significance.  Still having something every year to pull the student, parents and adults back together to re-commit to their walk together.  During these events I want to provide parents and students with resources that will be helpful to them in their journey.  My desire for our student ministry to start focusing as much time on the mentors and parents as we do the students.

Here is what I am thinking right now as far as special weekends.

  • 6th Grade – Ceremony – Transition from Elementary to Jr. High
  • 7th Grade – Purity Covenant with parents and the group
  • 9th Grade – Transition from Jr. High to High School
  • 16th Birthday (Equip Parents to do their own Rite of Passage ceremony with their son or daughter.  Rite of Passage is a great resource for the ceremony.)
  • Finishing 11th Grade – Preparing for the next step
  • Finishing 12th Grade – Tying this into our Senior Sunday and allowing the group of mentors to each give a charge, a blessing and a gift to each student.

So these are my initial thoughts and I would love to hear yours as I continue to develop these ideas in our ministry.  As I mentioned, I am beginning with our 6th graders this May so give me some of your thoughts.

RE-VISIONING YOUTH MINISTRY

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If you look back to the prototypical youth ministry model of the 80’s and 90’s, the model I and many of my ministry friends grew up in, we saw churches pulling the teenagers out from the church as a whole and segregating them.

There was the church and there was the youth ministry.  Unintentionally conveying to parents, it is the “professional” youth ministers job to disciple your children.  Teaching students this ministry is here to serve you and meet your needs.  Over the past decade we have seen the overarching problems with this model.  Ministers are trying to frantically reverse the direction of youth ministry that became so ingrained in the DNA of churches through the 1980’s & 1990’s.

The goal has become connecting students back to the church, trying to convince parents it is their responsibility to disciple their children, and trying to move students back into the role of leaders and planners.  Now don’t get me wrong, I loved the youth ministry model I grew up in.  I had a blast but, with all we are learning about what youth ministry has been producing, I think we have some serious questions we must answer moving forward.  According to Barna Group research, 59 percent of teenagers who are active in their youth groups today will stop attending church at some point between the ages of 18 and 29. Show how do we begin reconnecting?

Connecting to the church – The problem comes for most teenagers in the transition from High School to College/ Work.  Chuck Bomar & Reggie Joiner address this issue specifically in “The Show Fade,” and is well worth picking up a copy to better understand the problem.  Part of the job of a successful student ministry must become connecting students with older mentors in the church who will commit to a relationship with a student. It is key that the relationship must be built to continue after high school, regardless of whether the student goes off to college or stays home.  This year we are allowing incoming 6th graders to choose 3 to 4 significant adults in their life.  These adults are going have the opportunity at a special ceremony to give a charge to the 6th grader.  Then each of the adults will be given a charge to commit to walking with this 6th grader and building a relationship with him through Jr. High, High School and into college.  These students need significant relationships with other adults who believe in them and who they look up to, to challenge and encourage them.  Connecting students to the overall church body is not simply throwing together a few all together events; this is about building meaningful relationships.

Partnering with parents – The goal is not for the minister to disciple the students, rather the new goal becomes equipping and encouraging the parents to take ownership of their children’s faith.  The idea scares so many younger parents because they were not discipled by their parents.  They grew up in the same model of youth ministry that we did and so it was not modeled for them.  Our job is to help parents connect with their kids.  With so many other obstacles including overcrowded schedules, not knowing how becomes the final reason not to.  So we walk along with parents simply pointing out some ways to disciple their children in the time they have.  Parents are great about praying with their children when they are younger or reading them a Bible story but as they get into their Jr. High and High School years they freak out at the idea?  In reality, nothing has to change.  Read and pray together, grow together and I promise it will strengthen the relationship.  Don’t make things more complex than they are.

Plugging students into ministry – We live in a narcissistic world and we have drug our churches into the same mindset.  If you are looking for a place to point the finger, look no further than the church leaders.  People show up with an expectation to be fed, after all it is the “mission of the church” we have unknowingly conveyed.  It is the expectation of adults and it’s no wonder why it has become the expectation of the students as well.  We must teach students, especially the leaders, to come not with the expectation of being fed but with the expectation of feeding and serving others.  Students will grow more in their faith through self sacrificial service than they will ever learn showing up week after week, holding a sign that says “feed me!”  My goal is for our students to be serving in the safety of our youth ministry, for it to be a safe place to learn and even make mistakes.  Our ministries are set up to reflect the ministry structure in our church.  My hope is during their junior and senior year they would be serving in that ministry in the larger church context.

I believe these connections are vital to building more effective student ministries.  What are some other ways we need to be working to connect students back to the church?  What are some ways we need to be working hard to partner with parents?  What are some ways we can be working to plug students into ministries?