Unstuck: Amazing Momentum for Christian Leaders through Improv

By Mike Weaver

Do you feel stuck?

Christian leaders face a myriad of challenges today. Fear, disappointment, and confusing times can shake your confidence and may prevent you from moving forward-or in any direction at all.

How will you respond? What will your next step be?

With more than two decades of chur

• Language: English
• Publisher: Author Academy Elite
• Release date: Oct 25, 2022
• ISBN: 9798885831130

Mike Weaver

Mike Weaver, a pastor and leadership coach, has been called an "improv artist in the pulpit." He has published articles in The Lutheran magazine and The Little Lutheran. Mike leads preaching and leadership workshops for pastors, and has facilitated workshops in applied improvisation around the world.

Book preview

UNSTUCK

Amazing Momentum for Christian Leaders through Improv

Mike Weaver

UNSTUCK

© 2022 by Mike Weaver

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Printed in the United States of America

Igniting Souls Publishing Agency

40 Grace Drive, Box 43,

Powell, OH 43065

Library of Congress Control Number:  2022915099

ISBN (Hardcover): 979-8-88583-112-3

ISBN (Paperback): 979-8-88583-111-6

ISBN (eBook): 979-8-88583-113-0

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked (NASB) are taken from the New American Standard Bible, NASB® Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org

Scripture quotations marked (NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.

To my beautiful wife, Darcy, my improv partner through the ups and downs of life.

CONTENTS

My Story

Introduction: Are You Stuck?

PART 1

Chapter 1: Create Momentum

Chapter 2: Stay Open to Change

Chapter 3: Be Extraordinarily Ordinary

PART 2

Chapter 4: Stoke Your Inner Fires

Chapter 5: Just Be

PART 3

Chapter 6: Lift Others Up

Chapter 7: Choose a New Attitude

Chapter 8: Harness the Power of Co-

Chapter 9: Leave the Comfort Zone

Appendix A: Value Words

Appendix B: List of Positive and Negative Attitudes

Appendix C: Improv Games

Acknowledgments

MY STORY

Why improv? You may wonder how an ordained pastor with a seminary degree became involved in this performing art. It started while getting ice cream one evening with my family. I saw a flyer that simply said in big, bold letters: IMPROV FOR PROFESSIONALS. That’s me, I thought to myself. I’m a professional. Check. The flyer briefly described how improv could help professionals with public speaking, thinking on their feet, and adapting to change. I do public speaking weekly. Check. I think on my feet. Check. I need to learn to adapt to change. Check. Plus, I knew a bit about improv from watching the popular network show, Whose Line Is It Anyway? With all the boxes checked, I reserved my spot.

A dozen men and women of various ages and backgrounds filled the space. After initial glances and polite introductions, we gathered in a circle. Carolyn, our teacher, welcomed us warmly. Her openness and generosity of spirit radiated through her bright smile.

Within minutes, she had us moving, laughing, and creating through simple improv exercises. Inhibitions melted as the genuine acceptance of the group warmed us. Over the next seven weeks, relationships within the group deepened. The simple act of playing together connected us in ways no one expected. I had found my creative home and discovered my tribe.

I attended the improv classes for the entire year and helped form our first improv troupe, named Easily Amused. As time went on, I experienced not only the value improv brings to professionals but also the connection between improv, God, the Church, and Christian life.

Subsequent years found me reading every book I could find on the subject and taking many more classes in improv theater from some of the best schools and teachers. For instance, I studied with the Upright Citizens Brigade in New York City and the Bay Area Theater Sports in San Francisco. Additionally, I continued to perform regularly with Easily Amused Improv and taught improv in Central Ohio.

I also became a member of the Applied Improvisation Network (AIN), a global group of professionals dedicated to the application of improv’s practice and philosophy in the world around us. Personally, it became clear to me that my mission as an applied improvisation practitioner was to connect the dots between improv and the church. This is the work I have continued since I stepped into my first improv class.

Improv has helped me maintain my composure in stressful situations, create and deliver compelling presentations, and connect with people on a deeper level. It’s kept me grounded, connected, and it’s helped me see and appreciate the beauty all around.

One example stands out: Holy Communion on the top of Masada. My friend Will and I were co-leading a group from our two churches to Israel. On the days leading up to Pentecost, we made our way south past Jerusalem to visit the Dead Sea and the first-century Jewish stronghold at Masada. Situated on top of a rocky plateau 1300 feet above the nearby Dead Sea, Masada was the scene of mass suicide by Jewish defenders during the revolt against the Romans in 73 A.D. It still holds important spiritual and historic significance to the people of Israel.

The isolated fortress offers only two options to reach the top—visitors can hike or use the cable car. That morning, the guides told us to take everything we needed with us. It would be impossible to return to the bus once we reached our destination.

The night before, Will and I planned how and where to celebrate communion on Masada. Will would bring a bottle of wine, our tour guide would bring bread, and I would bring a cup to hold the wine. It would serve as a common cup out of which all would drink the wine, the blood of Christ, during the sharing of the feast.

Once on top, as we began our tour of the archaeological site, I noticed Will carrying the wine in his bag. At that moment, I realized I had forgotten the cup on the bus! There was no way for me to retrieve it. I swallowed hard as I recognized my forgetfulness may prevent us from sharing in the Lord’s Supper in this deeply meaningful place. As we continued our tour, I considered my options. Maybe we could open the bottle of wine and pass it around to drink from? No, too crude. Perhaps we could cup our hands and the wine server could pour a bit of wine into our hands to drink? No, too messy. As I trailed behind the group, I searched for a workable solution.

I suddenly became aware of a half-filled plastic water bottle in my right hand. Wait a minute, I thought, this bottle could be cut in half and serve as a cup to hold the wine! But how was I going to cut the bottle in half?

I jogged to catch up with Will, confessed my mistake, and offered my idea. Unfortunately, he did not have anything to cut the bottle in half, but I was determined to find a way.

I left the group and headed back to where the cable car had deposited us. Maybe a worker could help. On my way, I saw Israeli soldiers heading in the same direction. They had been on Masada earlier for training and were on their way down. I stopped one of the soldiers and told him what I needed. He swiftly produced a knife to cut the bottle in half.

I ran back to the group, my new improvised cup in hand. Within the hour, we were celebrating the Lord’s Supper together on the top of Masada.

I learned a lesson that day: sometimes the solution to a problem is right under our proverbial noses. In our possession, we already have what it takes to move into the future creatively and confidently. We simply need the ability to notice what’s in and around us and a willingness to act.

My training and experience in improv allowed me to step into the unknown and uncertainty of the moment with greater confidence and creativity, which allowed me to connect with others.

Whether it be a great disrupter like the global pandemic, a threat of war, an unwanted phone call, an unexpected diagnosis, the death of someone close to us, or a host of other things that shift our plans, we are all called to improvise our way forward. I hope this book will give you some tools and insights to help you expand your capacity to adapt, strengthen your resilience, and find the courage to move out of your comfort zone to help create a bright future for you and others around you.

INTRODUCTION

ARE YOU STUCK?

He’s done. Alex looked at me as we leaned on the chest-high dugout fence in front of us. Look at his body language. He’s frustrated.

Jake had given up three hits in a row, and two runners had scored. As the next batter walked confidently to the plate, Jake stepped off the mound and moved toward the first-base-line dugout, where we were standing. He stopped, shoulders slumped, frustration in his eyes, ready to hand the baseball to the coach, who would go out to relieve him. His body language spoke loudly: Jake wanted out of the game.

Over the summer baseball season, I noticed a propensity in Jake to want to quit when the game got difficult. He was one of our best, hardest-working relief pitchers. When the game was going well for Jake, he was energized and confident. When the game began to slip out of his control—pitches missing his target, giving up too many hits, or the umpire not calling balls and strikes consistently—he felt stuck and quitting became his escape.

Jake’s experience mirrors what many Christian leaders encounter today. The challenge of being the Church can be quite disconcerting. Our methods and expressions of worship seem to have become less and less effective. We feel overwhelmed, tired, and burned out. The shifting sands of post-modernity have left us unstable, uncertain, and stuck.

As a Christian leader, how do you handle adversity? Criticism, conflict, and the myriad of other challenges, personal and professional, can leave us feeling like Jake. Where do you find yourself stuck?

Some get stuck in nostalgia, hoping the future will look like the past. Others feel stuck in resentment or blame, eager for the person or persons who harmed them to feel the pain they feel.

Perhaps you are stuck in fear of the unknown, afraid to move forward because you might make mistakes. We get stuck in frustration, feeling powerless, and the cycle of guilt and shame that manifests itself as thoughts of woulda, shoulda, coulda.

You could physically