Dear Santa,
I know it’s a busy season for you–what with all the making of the list, the double examinations of it, and the discerning between the impish and the admirable. And with nearly 2 billion children in the world, that’s quite a feat!
In a couple of days, you’re going to be making the rounds from rooftop to rooftop all around the world. So, I really hate to stack anything on you in the middle of the mayhem. BUT, I hear that you take requests, and well, I have a few…
First, as you probably know, Northside is searching for a youth minister. We are in no rush about it, so he doesn’t need to be under the tree Christmas morning. We’re looking for the right guy. We might even call him a youth & family minister. He should be sincere about Jesus, enjoy being with teens, and be committed to working with parents and families. He should be passionate, talented, responsible, and trustworthy. Perhaps you have such an elf on your team looking to move to warmer climates than the North Pole? Oh, and, in the meantime, we have a team of adults filling in the gaps. They are doing a great job. But, they have many other responsibilities, so I know that can be a tiring job. Please be sure to put some extra gifts of gratitude in their stockings as well.
Second, Northside wants to be a family-building church. Northside has been blessed with a lot of young families. And with world-class children’s classes, Loft 252, and an active youth group, more and more young families have been becoming a part of Northside. We are grateful for them and we want to partner with them for God’s purposes. We want to help families by providing them all the help they need as they raise their children into spiritually mature Christian adults. Any people, classes, and other resources you could get down the chimney would be greatly appreciated! We want to ensure we are supporting families and empowering parents in their role as disciple-makers. They have a tough job to do, and we want to help them do it well.
Third, Northside wants to be a next-generation church. We have a lot of the next generation here today. We want to be good stewards by making sure that the next generation is also here tomorrow. Experts tell us that the next generation is leaving the church. We are not okay with that. So, we need to learn best how to do that and understand how to love and lead the Millennials well.
Those are the main three. And they are fairly large requests, so I realize it may not all get in the sleigh this Tuesday. But, thanks for getting your team of elves on it.
I know most people leave you milk & cookies, but you know I’m a Chick-fil-A™ guy, so I’ll be leaving you the Spicy Deluxe Chicken sandwich because we all know that’s really your favorite!
-Toby