Today was the first day of being a satelite host for the Willow Creek Leadership Summit. Aside from saying hi to friends from all over the state, watching the sessions, and eating…I was running around doing all sorts of things to make things go off without a hitch. I’ve been going since 7am and now its 9pm. Wow! What an awesome day.
Special thanks to those of you who came out for dinner after wards, so great to connect and meet new people.
Lots of the Leadership Summit is on philosophy, ideas, and vision casting. It is heady stuff. My highlight of the day was when Wendy Kopp spoke about how her idea for Teach for American began to take root. Her target group for workers: college seniors from elite universities. This idea came out when she was a senior at Princeton University. Her advisor thought she was crazy. These students generally graduate to six-figure salaries and she was trying to recruit them for a salary no where close to that.
Here was my first thought about her idea: genius.
You see I’m only a year and half removed from undergrad education. Most of my friends from college graduated to dead end jobs, or were working endless hours just trying to move up. Most of them have now decided to go back to school for a masters or have moved on to a more meaningful, low paying job.
If you wonder why your church doesn’t reach college graduates, I think I know why. College grads are qualified enough to be given respect, power, and leadership. Most churches don’t give any of those to people who are 22. Wendy Kopp and Teach for American is a success story because she knew that college grads don’t just want money, they want to work for meaning and signifcance.
Question for you: Would you rather do a meaningful job or a high paying job?
