Yelo

Well, we've got one day under our belts here at Mosaic. "Yelo" (I don't know how to put the funny accent mark over the O) is their way of doing "Network" (Willow) or "S.H.A.P.E." (Saddleback) in their context... I have some reactions:

• I'm more addicted to "spiritual" language than I thought - even though the leaders & the content are clearly Biblical, and the desire is obviously to enable people to lean into their God-given uniqueness for the good of the Kingdom, they very specifically make this open to those who have not yet chosen to follow Jesus. I could tell you intellectually how cool I think that is... and yet, I still find myself wanting more "spiritualized" talk. (I don't think this is their problem - it's mine. "Hi, I'm Mark, and I'm addicted to sounding like a pastor." "Hi, Mark!" "It's been 12 hours since my last...")
• It's really sweet to get to do something like this with Aaron (our worship pastor). I'm growing in appreciation for the way he's wired and how God made him to function.
• The Clifton Strengths Finder (administered by Gallup) is impressive in how it both helps you see your own strength "themes" and in how it informs the process of working together, inside or outside the church.
• My Myers-Briggs, as usual, comes out INTJ. (Yes, there are lots of pastors who are introverts - trust me on this one.)
• The key piece of Yelo is that "character determines how you use your strengths" - and the stuff they use for that is based out of Erwin's book, Uprising.

More on this later... I need to mull a lot of it over. (And figure out how to help the leadership at NewLife grab on to these concepts.)