[Editor's note: originally published at UYWI.org on August 14, 2011.]

This time each year, the students in your youth ministry return to school.

But do you? Return to school with them?

Jesus calls his followers, “fishers of men.”

As youth workers, the “fish” we gather congregate in schools every day. Literally, not metaphorically.

Not being much of an actual fisherman myself, I’ve learned from Deadliest Catch that you really can’t catch fish without going where the fish are. Even if those places make us uncomfortable or feel dangerous.

This may seem obvious when talking about catching shark, salmon, or flounder. But if it’s so obvious, why do so few urban youth workers spend any real time at their students’ local schools?

As you consider your ministry’s back-to-school strategy this year, these resources from our friends at 20/20 Vision for Schools may be helpful.

Select Resources

• “20/20 Vision for Schools: Transforming Public Education within a Single Generation of Students” workshop video, PowerPoint slides, and more
• “Why Public Schools Matter to God (and Should Matter to You Too)”
• “Ten Ways Your Church Can Be Good News to Public Schools,” by Adam McLane
• 20/20 Vision Case Studies, a growing collection of multimedia reports from the field showing what 20/20 looks like in different contexts in New York.
• “Leading Education Reform Where You Are: One Church’s Story,” originally published by Willow Creek Association in the conference Notebook for the 2011 Global Leadership Summit.
• Complete Index of 20/20 Resources
• Learn more about 20/20′s mission in New York, what we do to support that mission, and our vision for a world where all children can access a quality education.

Paul Curtis PS 102 Multimedia

You read about Pastor Paul Curtis last week, now hear him tell the story of the PS 102 Mural in his own words, and watch the story unfold in the multimedia slideshow.

See also the PS 102 Mural blog to experience the progression from beginning to end.

20/20 Vision for Schools is thrilled that more than 100 churches adopted schools in conjunction with our launch in September and 100 more have expressed interest in adopting. For those who wonder, “What next?” this workshop is for you. Come explore the practical next steps that will take your engagement strategy to the next level, Monday 11/10, 7-9 pm at The King’s College, Empire State Building, LL Classroom 2. RSVP by email. Directions.

Once upon a School

Dave Eggers at TED conference (2008)

Even the “best and brightest” gathered at this year’s TED conference are exploring how to engage public education reform.

Accepting his 2008 TED Prize, author Dave Eggers asks the TED community to personally, creatively engage with local public schools. With spellbinding eagerness, he talks about how his 826 Valencia tutoring center inspired others around the world to open.

About Dave Eggers:

Writing is only his day job: Dave Eggers moonlights as a publisher, philanthropist and advocate for students and teachers.

Dave Eggers’ first book, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Since then he’s written two more novels and launched an independent publishing house, which publishes books, a quarterly literary journal (McSweeney’s), a DVD-based review of short films (Wholpin), a monthly magazine (The Believer) and the Voice of Witness project.

Meanwhile, Eggers has established himself as a philanthropist and teacher-at-large. In 1998 he launched 826 Valencia, a San Francisco-based writing and tutoring lab for young people, which has since opened six more chapters across the United States. He has extended his advocacy of students by supporting their educators, instituting a monthly grant for exceptional Bay Area teachers. His TED Prize wish is for more poeple to follow him into getting involved in your local school — and talk about it — through the website Once Upon a School.

“Many writers, having written a first best-seller, might see it as a nice way to start a career. He started a movement instead.” – Time

20/20 Vision for Schools: Transforming Public Schools within a Single Generation of Students

Curt Gibson (Lave Avenue Church, Pasadena) and Jeremy Del Rio, UYWI 2008

East meets West as SoCal and NYC embrace 2020 Vision for Schools together. I philosophize and theologize while Curt makes adopting schools come alive after 15 years experience in Los Angeles.

Courtesy: UYWI

Related

+ PowerPoint Slides
+ 20/20 Resources
+ The Concept
+ “20/20 Vision for Schools” article

Dr. Tony Evans Endorses 20/20 Vision for schools (Full Event Video 2 hrs)

May 29 @ Christ Tabernacle
New York, NY

20/20 Vision for Schools activates people in faith communities to engage public education reform. 50-80% of each congregation is already directly connected to public schools, as students, parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts , uncles, cousins, teachers, custodians, administrators, support staff, coaches, and more. As such they are positioned already to be agents of positive change. What moves a church from status quo lack of engagement to a transformative relationship with a school is an embrace of vocational calling. On May 29, Dr. Evans captured this idea in a classic, Dr. Evans speech as only a master orator can. Enjoy.

Operation Backpack

“Mommy, can you take us to see the good people?” My son chimed in, “Yes, Mommy! Please, I want to see the good people.” So I promised them that I would take them and I did.

Here’s the backstory to the mother’s testimony of the “good people.” The video captures how one church (Christ Tabernacle) embraced its call to engage public schools last fall. Their 20/20 Vision relationship with this school and others is still evolving.

Tony Evans on Being “Salt” and “Light” in our Schools

May 29 @ 20/20 Vision for Schools

20/20 churches activate people in their pews to do the work of ministry. In the context of education reform, that begins by recognizing that 50-80% of each congregation is already directly connected to public schools, as students, parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts , uncles, cousins, teachers, custodians, administrators, support staff, coaches, and more. As such we are positioned already to be agents of positive change.

What moves a church from status quo lack of engagement to a transformative relationship with a school is an embrace of vocational calling. On May 29, Dr. Evans captured this idea in a classic, Dr. Evans sermon as only a master orator can. Enjoy. Download or listen:

Courtesy: Christ Tabernacle.

If you could impact a local middle school in the following ways, would you?

• 77% of the students now consider their actions or words prior to acting or speaking.
• 66% now have a desire to be a person of good character.
• 60% say they now make better choices.
• 85% of the students now feel that they will not quit when times become rough.
• 47% increase in average academic marks and test scores from the start to end of year.
• 92% increase in individual self-esteem from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

What if the plan only cost $10 per student per year?

It does.

Related

20/20 Vision is looking for 2-4 churches to join Citivision and Manhattan Bible Church in piloting the Heart of a Champion character curriculum in 5-7 public middle schools during the 2008-2009 academic year.  Go here for more information.

Christ Tabernacle, a 20/20 Vision partnering church, shared the following email from a parent at the Tony Evans event last week. For context, the parent coordinator of a local public elementary school asked the church for help acquiring school supplies for its students last summer. In response, the congregation launched “Operation Backup” and acquired new backups and supplies for every student at the school — almost 900 total — and presented them to the students the first day of classes. Nearly a full academic year later, on May 28 of last week, the mother sent them this note:

My children were so excited to see their brand new backpacks filled with school supplies. I was so touched and overwhelmed with emotion to see my children’s joy. My son, who was 6 at the time, asked me, “Mommy, who gave these to us?” and I responded, the people from a church” And my daughter, who was only 4 at the time, said, “But why? They don’t even know us.”As I searched for the words to explain to my children the kindness and generosity of total strangers, my son put it best as he said, “Those are some really good people.”

My daughter then asked, “Mommy, can you take us to see the good people?” My son chimed in, “Yes, Mommy! Please, I want to see the good people.” So I promised them that I would take them and I did.

From the moment I stepped into Christ Tabernacle, I felt something great. It was an indescribable feeling. I knew that the Lord was in this place. I’ve never felt his presence so strong in my life. And it just drew me and my kids in and we started attending services regularly. Christ Tabernacle has become such a big part of our new lives in Christ. My kids absolutely love the Just Kidz Ministry. They were in last year’s Christmas production. In January of this year, I took the CL-101 class for 6 weeks and became a proud member of Christ Tabernacle myself. In April, I was baptized.

I’ve found love, peace, strength and happiness that I never knew I was missing in my life until I found it at Christ Tabernacle. Yes, my children and I found the “good people” at Christ Tabernacle and more importantly, we found our Lord and Savior. So from the bottom of our hearts, Thank You and God Bless You.

Register today.

About last week, I wasn’t able to debrief the Tony Evans event until tonight because I left for the LPAC TY Retreat Friday morning. Herewith, Thursday’s play-by-play.

Morning

+ 8 am: Personal plans changed. Judah claims to still be sick (from the day before, when we picked him up early from school due to some kind of stomach bug). Meanwhile, Diana is completed wasted. She caught whatever Judah had overnight, with bathroom visits seemingly every hour or so. Combined with ongoing pregnancy issues, she’s bed ridden for the rest of the day. What to do with our son?

+ 10:30 am: Crisis semi-averted. Diana’s still wiped out, but Judah’s illness mysteriously vanishes about an hour after school starts. He’s up and about, so I draft him to become my personal assistant for the day.

Afternoon

+ 11:30 am: Judah and I meet Chuck Klein from Campus Alliance at MS 34 in Manhattan’s lower east side. Chuck flew into NYC to film the Tony Evans event as part of a documentary-style feature on 20/20 Vision for Schools as a national model of public education reform. Chuck recruits Judah as his grip, and — despite begging to be “one of those kids who walks behind you on camera” — Judah fills the role ably. We spend 2.5 hours filming interviews and B-roll around the school, and yes, Judah gets his wish to walk behind me and with me in a few scenes.

+ 2:00 pm: Drop Chuck off at the subway and Judah at grandma’s, and begin navigating brutal traffic to Christ Tabernacle for a scheduled Coalition leaders meeting at 3.

+ 3:15: Finally arrive for the meeting. Debby and Walter are there already, but Kevin and Edwin are stuck in the same mess I was. They don’t arrive until 4.

+ 4: Improvise Coalition meeting and arrange for Chuck’s audio/visual needs at CT. Walter and Edwin, as co-chairs, do a great time facilitating. I pitch in with logistical details about the evening’s programs. Prayer time and wrap-up before networking at the Pastors dinner.

Evening

+ 5-7: Co-host and emcee the pastors gathering. As usual, Pastors Michael and Adam Durso, Ralph Castillo, and their team at Christ Tabernacle do a phenomenal job welcoming the guests. Listen to Dr. Evans share his own personal journey as a pastor of a church that has adopted 60+ public schools in Dallas and launched the National Church Adopt-a-School Initiative. Reunite with Judah, who arrives with grandma and grandpa. Enjoy watching him smile and wave at me from his seat and work the room like a seasoned charmer.

+ 7-9: Co-host and emcee the public meeting. Sit captivated by the stories of local churches that have begun adopting public schools (testimonies to follow); inspired by three rousing CT Choir numbers; and then mesmerized by a classic Tony Evans oration on what it means to be “salt” and “light” — metaphors Christ used to describe his followers’ role in society. Dr. Evans is truly one of the great American preachers of his generation, in the tradition of both Dr. King and Billy Graham, but with a style all his own. Even more special, he began his message with a five-minute, unequivocal and thorough endorsement of 20/20 Vision, and weaved 20/20 as an illustration throughout his sermon. Audio (and hopefully video) to follow.

The opportunity to share the platform with Dr. Evans was another of those surreal dream-come-true moments for me. Dr. Evans was one of the few radio preachers I actually enjoyed listening to in high school, and the two times I heard him live before last week were at the 1996 Promise Keepers pastors conference in Atlanta (attended by 40,000 ministers), and at the 1997 Promise Keepers Stand in the Gap event at the Mall in Washington (alongside 1 million or so other spectators). Who’d-a-thunk then that we would be collaborating now?

Event Sponsors

The Coalition of Urban Youth Workers, Latino Pastoral Action Center, New York City Leadership Center, Concerts of Prayer Greater New York, New York Faith and Justice, and Christ Tabernacle