November, Classes, Meetings, and Safe Places

Good Morning Family, Friends, and Internet Wanderers!

I hope this message finds you well! This most recent month has been a really positive one in addition to still being quite full. This month has been full of finishing classes and assignments, meeting with friends, mentors who speak life into me, and those who I seek to speak life into.

Thanksgiving:
Last month one of my prayer requests was regarding an increased feeling of anxiety I have/had been having. The anxiety itself usually revolved around the feeling like no matter how hard I tried it would not be enough.Which is actually a pretty accurate reflection of any ministry position. As some of you may know I have started meeting with a Spiritual Director, which is essentially someone who helps you listen to God. Through my most recent session I felt strongly convicted that my daily devotions were not enough, at least the way I was doing them. During this hour long session I felt oddly compelled to add something to my morning devotions, a short walk. So since November 15th I have been walking for about 10 minutes every morning, as a way to center myself for my devotional time. This has been a profoundly life giving exercise for me as I start my days simply praying and offering my day to God, and while I would not say I am free from anxiety or concern about it, this has definitely been helping. Because honestly if I try to do anything out of my own power, well that power will run out really quick, but if I give it to God then everything works out so much better.

Speaking of anxiety, one of my biggest sources of it this past month was a 3-part governance project. This project is not only worth a significant part of my grade but it is about intentionally critiquing the leadership of the church I serve. So while there is and has been a lot of value in this exercise the whole process felt like a potential minefield, especially when the pastor asked to read it when it is done. Now I have no reason or expectation for this to have any unpleasantness, yet it appeared to be a nice breeding ground for my anxiety. So with it and many other things due around the same time, I asked for an extension on part 2 which is something I have never done before. Even that simple request felt like I was backing down and surrendering to my fears. Yet the extension itself was valuable as it freed me to think about one less thing for a week, and after finishing this part and submitting it I received my first ever A+ in University! (not just MA program but in my entire university career)

Speaking of positive things, earlier this month our youth group reached double digits, as one of our newer attendees brought some friends! Some of you may remember that when I started the youth group was 4 students. But this year because of some kids growing older, and new people attending our church we are seeing some pretty cool growth. Now this has so far only been  once, but our core group is now 9, which is still awesome to see. One of the things I am consistently praying about is that our students would be interested in inviting their friends. I would love our group continue to grow both in size and in their faith and while it is still slower than I would like, it is happening!

Prayer Requests

So please join me in praying for our youth group and the leaders who make it happen. As our group grows the expectations on the other leaders grow as I can not engage with everyone, especially because our group is now predominantly young girls. Please pray that I would share the gospel well with students and that they would know the love of Jesus from our gathering. Lately I have been shifting our youth nights from being predominantly fun to 50% fun and 50% teaching/praying, and most students seem to be hungry for more sharing, and praying. Please pray that I will know God's will for our group and not just stick with the easy fun and games even though that is all some students attend for.

Along these lines our denomination is discerning a new Safe Place policy. For those who may not know this policy is all the rules and regulations regarding ministry to minors. Ostensibly it is about making sure minors are protected, yet as I read through it, it appeared to be much more about protecting the church from cases of inappropriateness than about the students. Of particular note, under the proposed plan it would no longer be acceptable, under any circumstance, for someone like myself to meet with a student 1 on 1. This would make listening to students, mentoring them, and creating a safe space for them to share what they are struggling with, incredibly difficult. Please pray for the leaders of my denomination as they pray and plan around this. In a meeting with church workers on this there was significant push back, but I do not know how much of a difference that will make. I do not want to minimize the necessity of a policy like this, but not to the exclusion of ministering to students.

Finally please pray for me as December is now upon me and I am almost done school, and picking new classes. The next few weeks will be a little slower than the past few months, please pray that I use this time well to rest and prepare for the next semester of class and ministry.

God Bless
- Stefan Klassen