From Our Interim Minister…

 

Dear Friends,

     Once again this past Sunday morning folks came into my office, saw the two Tinker Toy boxes on the floor behind my desk, and asked what they were for. I explained that I had used them for a program I did with our Youth Fellowship during their 30 Hour Famine on Saturday. You divide the group into two teams, give them identical boxes of Tinker Toys and then give them 15 minutes to build the tallest structure they can. The rule is that the structure must be able to stand on its own and the team that builds the tallest structure wins. 

     Now I first encountered this enjoyable and educational exercise when I was taking a course in Organizational Development at The New School in New York City. On the second night of class our professor walked in with a couple of Tinker Toy boxes and we had our little competition. When it was over we spent the rest of the class talking about the way the groups had worked together. Did one person on the team dominate the process? Did anyone on the team feel left out? Were there group members who had ideas about how to build the structure who weren’t listened to? Did the group create a plan first or go right to construction? And of course, all this discussion was to learn about the way people work together when they have a task to do.

     It should come as no surprise that the groups that listened to each other, valued each other’s opinion and worked respectfully together usually won the competition. This is the wisdom I hope the young people I do this program with begin to learn. But it is great wisdom for any group working toward a common goal. I think about this often at the church, especially when something works really well or when something sort of falls apart. But this wisdom works with any group including families, community organizations or the people you work with. To listen to each other, to value each group member and to work together are qualities of generosity and caring. To see those qualities in our young people this past weekend as they built their Tinker Toy Towers was truly inspiring.

 

                                                             JOHN