This is long and strongly stated but not a flaming. I agree that Commanders ought to
be cross trained.
I understand what you are getting at by not calling Royal Rangers a program but for the sake of use of words I often refer to Royal Rangers as a program yet, I often refer to it as a ministry. When I was first told this by a freind and an outstanding Commander as well, as well as FCF member. I kept kicking myself everytime I said program. Kind of like when I became a Christian kicking myself everytime I used those colorful, proverbial expeltives that referred to something vulgar or unwholesome, that meant nothing at all. I had an excuse everybody around me used it, even the man wearing the Smokey The Bear Hat taugth me all kinds of new combinations of colorful language. It was a way of life, so I thought.
I have come to a more truthful use of the words ministry and program.
If it is only a program it has no purpose, if it is just a ministry it has no direction. We use a program whether we realize it or not to teach in the ministry. The overall picture is a ministry the mechanics of running the ministry is a program. I no longer stumble over the word program.
As far as rotating every quarter I think this is too short of a time,
maybe every two years. I have minstered as a Buckaroos Commander and now
am ministering as a Pioneers Commander. I served in both as a Lt. Commander
even after I got the blue captains bars to get acclimated to the program.
It takes me at least a quarter to get warmed up in a new age group but
then it took those old steam engines a while to get warmed up and when
they were they had awsome power. I am now over 45 so I may be compared
to an old steam engine.
I also like staying around for awhile to build relationships with the
boys I am mentoring. I have made some good freinds with the boys that I
followed from Buckaroos into Pioneers. I may want to let them go on to
new Commanders when they get into the older groups.
I also found that I can relate to Pioneer age boys much easier than
the Buckaroos. I can teach the Pioneers more rugged stuff without them
getting scared or too weak yet, to do anything really challenging. I can
teach the Pioneers more abstract concepts about faith in Christ, even though
I still tend to get deeply philisophical for them as well.
I liked doing the Buckaroos because their faith and loyalty is simple
and not as complex as 11 year olds. I also like the Western theme of Buckaroos.
I can pretend with the Buckaroos more than any other group. The Buckaroos
loved it one night when I turned out all of the lights in the room, lit
my FCF lanterns and plugged in the campfire with cast iron cookware surrounding
it, to the background music of Ryders In The sky and Sons Of the Pioneers.
The boys went on a cattle drive by leading them around the classroom several
times and then sat down to coffee (fruit juice), beans and biscuits too."Oh
we got the biscuit blues". I can't remember what we used as beans but I
was wise enough to know that the boys wouldn't eat real beans. When we
got them absorbed into the act then I sat down with them and taught them
the good stuff, the devotion.
I may not be an effective Straight Arrow Commander because I never
being a father, would have difficulty attending to the needs of boys that
are still rather tender and still need a lot of care.
I may have difficulty with some of the Trail Blazers and Challengers
because often, they are ready to undermine authority. I can spend some
great times with the FCF boys and we can talk about some pretty complex
issues about God and tell some really bad jokes but those are the elite
of the elite and mature well beyond their years. The FCF Young Bucks seem
to really have their act together. This works out well with Young Bucks
but to deal with a teenager that will go to great lengths to make me look
like a bumbling idiot would drive me nuts in a hurry. I know that some
of the Challengers can be a real challenge.
As Commanders some of us work better in some areas than others.
Maybe we can get into one of those deeply philisiophical debates. You
already know I can tell some really bad jokes.
Onward In Gods Service
Randall A Hermanson
Pioneer Commander
FCF 1998
OP#1 Woodstock Il
Part 1.1 Type: Plain Text (text/plain)
Encoding: quoted-printable
