We are continuing on with this great study by Elihu, RaisingGenNext. Blessings and enjoy!

This article is part of the series “Building GenNext.” You can read the previous post by clicking here.

photo-1458696765561-12142eaead13.jpegThe preacher looked wearily at the building as he shifted into park. When he had begun the work here, he’d had such high hopes of helping the tiny church grow into a massive group of believers. Over time they could establish elders and deacons and have the youth participate in community outreach.

He pressed his fingertips into his eyelids and slowly rubbed his temples. What is the point in going on? He had been doing all the visitation, hospitality, preaching, building repairs, teaching classes, evangelizing—and to what avail? He hadn’t been on vacation in four years. His wife had taken the kids to her mom’s house, with no mention of a return date. He slid a crisp sheet of paper from his laptop case and wrote out his resignation.

A young man shifted in frustration as he read the assignment sheet for August. Another month without his name anywhere. He had tried volunteering to fix things around the building, but had been rejected in favor of contractors and other men. Only the “A-Team” was permitted to do anything. He had tried to get involved, but the deacons and elders had repeatedly shut him out. Sometimes he was “too young” or other times too “inexperienced.” And the worst was offering to help and being put off, only to find out that person did it themselves behind his back.

He let out a soft snort of derision. Thirty-five years old and these people think he’s too young to serve? Too inexperienced to fix plumbing when he’d been doing that for years professionally and personally? Too dumb to observe what was going on? He shook his head, rose from the pew and exited the building, tossing the crumpled assignment sheet into the trash……read the rest of the post here: Expanding the Core of Workers