I drove home later last night listening to sports radio. They were reporting on Joe Paterno declining health and I thought that I probably needed to develop an thoughtful obit for him. This morning, I found myself typing on the fly, recognizing that I’ll probably be a little late for my next appointment.
Joe Paterno lived a life dedicated to a sport and to the young men who played it. Nearly half a century as Penn State’s Nittany Lions’ head coach advanced many student athletes into professional careers as business men, lawyers, doctors, and yes, pro football players.
Yet, today he passes on from this world with a reputation tarnished and damaged because of the shadows of failure to protect young people… and that matters to all those who minister, serve, work with and care for young people. ReThinking Youth Ministry blogger Brian Kirk called the Penn State scandal the Most Important Youth Ministry Story of 2011. We must remain diligent in establishing proper boundaries people and consistent in implementing them. UPDATED: Ed Stetzer also considers Coach Paterno’s legacy.
Meanwhile, our prayers go out to everyone impacted by the news of the day… and
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
D. Scott Miller
D. Scott Miller is the dean of Catholic Youth Ministry bloggers which is a polite way of either saying that he is just plain old or has been blogging for a long time (since 2004.)
Scott recently married the lovely Anne and together they have five adult young people and also grandparent three delightful kids (so, maybe he is just plain old!) Scott presently serves at Saint John the Evangelist in Columbia, MD as the director of youth and young adult ministry.
He has previously served on the parish, regional, diocesan, and national levels as well as having taught within a catholic high school. He is one of the founders of RebuildMyChurch and has returned to posting regularly (keeping regular is important to old guys) at ProjectYM.
D. Scott Miller
D. Scott Miller is the dean of Catholic Youth Ministry bloggers which is a polite way of either saying that he is just plain old or has been blogging for a long time (since 2004.)
Scott recently married the lovely Anne and together they have five adult young people and also grandparent three delightful kids (so, maybe he is just plain old!) Scott presently serves at Saint John the Evangelist in Columbia, MD as the director of youth and young adult ministry.
He has previously served on the parish, regional, diocesan, and national levels as well as having taught within a catholic high school. He is one of the founders of RebuildMyChurch and has returned to posting regularly (keeping regular is important to old guys) at ProjectYM.
I drove home later last night listening to sports radio. They were reporting on Joe Paterno declining health and I thought that I probably needed to develop an thoughtful obit for him. This morning, I found myself typing on the fly, recognizing that I’ll probably be a little late for my next appointment.
Great post Scott. I agree, it is arguably the most important youth ministry story of 2011 for obvious reasons. Still, there’s another lesson beyond what we in the ministry profession can take from it. In teaching our young people, we can show them a poignant example of how the lessons our faith is trying to instill in them matter not only now in their teens, they matter througout their entire life. The choices we make every day in how we live our life matter. My own son, when he gets in trouble at school or with my wife and I will say, “but everything else went alright”. Of course our answer is always “it just takes one bad decision, one bad action, to undo all the good.” This is a lesson I believe many youth, heck, many adults, need to come to understand.
I have more thoughts on this but will wait to see if others post.