Rotundus.com

Thus saith The Barna Group:

One of the reasons that many twentysomethings struggle to find their place in churches is that many young people may feel overlooked as potential leaders. The study showed that just 4% of young adults currently serve as a lay leader at their church; only 12% have been a leader at any time in the past two years. Older adults are three to four times more likely to serve as church leaders. The age group with the greatest number of church leaders are those in their 50s.

How often in the corporate world would / should you really expect the twenty-somethings to be running the place? In the last decade or so that's sometimes been the case in the high-tech industry, but I would call that an anomaly rather than the norm. Experience isn't the sole determining factor but at the same time I tend to think that it's an important one.

... Despite that, young people do not lack confidence in their leadership capabilities. The study showed that people in their 20s and early 30s are actually more likely than are older adults to think of themselves as leaders - and they are much more likely than mature generations to want additional training to become better leaders. Yet, young leaders were also the least aware of any leadership training opportunities provided by their congregation. Nevertheless, young leaders are a challenging target for leadership preparation since they are busy, skeptical of churches, and often unwilling to commit to such development, especially to classroom-style training without hands-on leadership opportunities. The research points out that mentoring is the most appealing form of leadership development for young adults.

Sounds like what you'd get from an education with a strong emphasis on self-esteem - people who think that they can do things whether or not they're actually good candidates.

In wonderfully ironic fashion the Barna Report notes both that twenty-somethings are "much more likely than mature generations to want additional training to become better leaders", while at the same time they are "often unwilling to commit to such development".

(Note that I do say all this as part of the "twenty-something" crowd)

Is it a good thing if your child starts lying at a young age? I promised Jen on my trip to B.C. that I'd try to dig this article back up:

It starts very young. Indeed, bright kids—those who do better on other academic indicators—are able to start lying at 2 or 3. “Lying is related to intelligence,” explains Dr. Victoria Talwar, an assistant professor at Montreal’s McGill University and a leading expert on children’s lying behavior.

Although we think of truthfulness as a young child’s paramount virtue, it turns out that lying is the more advanced skill. A child who is going to lie must recognize the truth, intellectually conceive of an alternate reality, and be able to convincingly sell that new reality to someone else. Therefore, lying demands both advanced cognitive development and social skills that honesty simply doesn’t require. “It’s a developmental milestone,” Talwar has concluded.

This puts parents in the position of being either damned or blessed, depending on how they choose to look at it. If your 4-year-old is a good liar, it’s a strong sign she’s got brains. And it’s the smart, savvy kid who’s most at risk of becoming a habitual liar.

(From New York Magazine, via Albert Mohler)

Seen in The Mail Online:

For generations, the French have fiercely guarded their language against the horreurs anglais. But France's education minister yesterday admitted for the first time that the secret to success is speaking better English. Xavier Darcos claimed poor English is now a 'handicap' because all international business is conducted in the language, and said French schools would offer extra lessons during the holidays. He also admitted that, because of globalisation, very few people outside France will being able to speak French in the future.

"Let's face it, there's not a lot of skill in our forecast, either"

- David Phillips, senior climatologist for Environment Canada
(commenting on the Weather Almanac in the Calgary Herald