What can God do in 45 minutes?

What can God do with 45 minutes in a middle school service? More than you can imagine. This year I have learned so much about effective middle school programing since our team got serious about making sure middle school students were engaging every minute of our weekly gathering. If you want to keep the attention of middle school students then you better embrace the idea that less is more. This year we forced our service time to 45 minutes and the time constraint has been an amazing catalyst. With limited time we have had to evaluate every phase of the service and make sure it works. Why...because we have 45 minutes. We have to choose the right songs. We have to promo events with limited time. We have to plan for the right game. We have to make sure the talk sets up our small groups and happens in 20 minutes. I can imagine many youth leaders right now asking for more time. I promise your middle school students do not need more they need better. If you want to engage middle school students begin with evaluating how you use the time you have in your program.

Is your ministry "social"

At our church we have been on the Facebook journey for several years trying to find ways to connect with people. Several years ago our team just realized that's where people were spending their time online so we went there. We have had a group, a page, been allowed to have a normal account people can add as a friend, and now just launched our new organization page where people can "like us" and you can check that new format out here. Of course our family ministry has also been using social medis for years. You can see our student ministry page here. We are pumped because we are about to reformat our FB presence. We love social media because it allows us to do several things...

• connect with people looking for a church or family ministry for their kids
• connect with people who have bought into what we are doing
• communicate vision and mission
• communicate with our volunteers
• provide info about events
• stay on people's mind (out of sight out of mind!)

Sure, we love our websites but they are not as interactive as Facebook and Twitter. If you want to connect with people get our there and get going. If you have not been using social media well and you want to get going check out this post from my friend Matt Mckee and start by using it to communicate with volunteers.

learning...not imitating

I have always been attracted to strong leadership and strong leaders. When I started serving in the local church years ago I was always looking for leaders who were doing great things and I tried to learn everything I could from them. I went to conferences. I read books. I listened to CD's. In that rush to learn I found myself many times trying to lead like them...speak like them...make decisions like them. Seriously I know I'm not the only person out there that found myself wanting to lead like Bill Hybles, create a student ministry like Doug Fields, speak like Louis Giglio, or inspire like Rick Warren. You know you have your list of leaders to you tried to imitate as a young leader. What I have learned over the years is that God calls us to learn from other leaders not imitate them. Learn all you can but never feel like you have to be anyone but yourself. God called you to serve Him. He wants you to lead. God already has all of the leaders you learn from. He needs you to show up and simply be you as you lead. The student ministry or kids ministry or church you lead needs you.

Learn from other leaders and become the leader God wants you to be. We need you!

Environment Matters

A few years ago I figured something out about how I'm supposed to use my time serving the church. God made it clear that he wants me to create environments, lead teams to accomplish more than they though they can, and communicate. Those three things get most of my attention these days as I work with families, kids, and teens. One thing I believe for every ministry setting is that environment matters. Environment shapes how we engage the content that is trying to be communicated. Environment either helps keep our attention or distracts us. In ministry, environment is a big deal. I serve in a church that rents the facilities we meet in and still we have worked hard to maximize our ministry environments. So I hope you get it...I am passionate about creating next level environments that will help the next generation see the greatness of our God. I am so excited to announce here on the blog that I will be partnering with an amazing organization called Worlds of Wow. These guys partner with churches to create amazing spaces for kids and teens. In the coming months I will be sharing some amazing things these guys are pulling of and helping next generation leaders process how they can best shape the environments and budgets they have to spend on environments. Check out Worlds of Wow and watch this video of some of the work they have done around the country...

The kind of organization that is...Insanely Great

Found this video on a friends blog I follow. This is Steve Jobs introducing the world to the first Apple Macintosh computer in 1984. Just watching the video inspired me and seeing the line "insanely great" come up on the screen just blew me away. What would it look like for our churches to be insanely great? What if we helped people have insanely great environments to worship in? What if we have community groups that were insanely great? What if people described our next generation ministries, communication, or worship team as insanely great? What if the life change people experienced because of our churches was insanely great? We serve an insanely great God...our church, ministries, organizations need to reflect this insanely great God to a broken world. If Steve Jobs can do this with a computer company nothing can stop us from doing the same inside the church. Are you willing to do what it takes to help your organization become insanely great? Check out this video...

establishing consistency with your small group

 

About this time every fall we have a few small group leaders say...things are not going the way I thought they would go in my small group. It's no surprise that when October hits and we have met with our group for about eight or nine times every small group leaders out there questions their choice to invest in pre-teens, middle school, or high school students because...IT NEVER GOES LIKE YOU THINK IT WILL. One promise I can make to every small group leader is that there will be challenges and surprises. Small group leaders need help pushing through. If you are out there and you are wondering if your group is going to make it then this is for you...

• Keep showing up >  really this is 90% of being a great small group leader. Show up prepared to connect, to lead, and to listen at group. Show up at ballgames. Show up and try not to be distracted by other opportunities that would cause you to miss group. Your small group is wondering right now if you are going stick with them and be there. Keep showing up.
• Push toward fall retreat > shared experiences build connection. If you can make it and go to fall retreat with your student ministry you are going to build some powerful bonds with your small group. Fall retreat is like small group magic...it will help take your group to the next level.
• Keep connecting > keep sending those weekly texts, emails, and Facebook posts. In time it really does mean so much to your small group. Maybe even try to set up a movie night or bowling night. Go do something with your group just to connect.
• Keep listening, learning, and praying > this is the hard part of being a group leader. You have to lead out in your spiritual disciplines as you invest in the group. Pray, prepare, listen to the Holy Spirit, and be ready to lead strong as God opens the door.

When small group leaders push through the difficult task of establishing consistency good things happen. Life change happens. Mentoring happens. Community happens. It's worth pushing through October to see what God can do through your small group over an entire school year!

Youth Ministry News / the origin of pizza!

Every student pastor in the universe has helped teens embrace the glory of pizza. Every event, every retreat, every leader meeting must be accompanied by glorious pizza. Why? Because it is cheap and someone will bring it to us. This morning my mind was blown when I discovered the possible true origins of pizza. Seriously...this is really funny and your welcome.

developing a theology of leadership / BOOK REVIEW!

The methods of writing and sharing great ideas are changing now more than every. Technology is shaping how we get information and how we share information. Tony Morgan has published a series of ebooks that are free...yes free...and great resources for every leader working in a church or non-profit setting. You can go check out all of the recent books he has released here on his blog. I recently read Developing a Theology of Leadership on my kindle and I wanted to share some of my favorite ideas Tony shared. Go check out this book and the others he has released recently. This is a guy who is serving in the trenches of church life and he is a voice you can trust. Here some of my favorite quotes from Tony's book...

• Leadership isn’t leadership if it isn’t released to others.
• Leadership is less about the words or actions of the leader and more about the character of the leader.
• We are all followers, but not all of us are leaders.
• Character is proven over a lifetime.
• Leadership is less about the words or actions of the leader and more about the character of the leader.

Are you empowering teens to serve AT CHURCH?

If you want your church to be a place where teens want to be then you need to begin to find ways to help them serve. Think about all the amazing things teens do every week at middle and high schools across the country and then ask yourself this simple question. How are we challenging teens to do amazing things inside our church? Every church around the country needs high impact volunteers and the sad fact is that many of these same churches are herding teens into classrooms on Sunday mornings instead of giving them significant opportunities to make a difference through service. Six years ago at Grace Community we chose to empower teens on Sunday morning to serve and worship with their family instead of creating a separate Sunday environment for them. Six years later we now believe that we made the right choice and we hope we can help some other churches rethink the idea of letting teens serve now. Here are some reasons I think teens should be empowered to serve...

• Teens that serve open themselves up to new mentors // teens need other adults speaking into their lives and serving opens up an entire new group of influences. I love that our tech and kids ministry teams gets to invest in the lives of our teens!
• Teens are some of the most innovative volunteers you will have // seriously we watch teens run cameras, monitor sound boards, greet visitors, create videos, and lead worship every week. Teens are so talented...let them lead and let them create.
• Teens who serve connect with the church not just your youth ministry // youth ministry that does not help teen connect with the church as a whole it simply self centered and has a short term perspective. Serving allows teens to belong at church!
• Teens have a deep desire to contribute not just sit or participate // something in this generation wants to take action...give them permission, training, and support and watch what happens.
• When teens serve they grow // this is true for all of us. Serving leads to spiritual growth.
• Teens that serve and find community at church look for it when they leave church // teens that leave our church and have served look for a new church when they leave for school. Because the served they had more than just our student ministry.

How can you start opening more doors for students to serve on Sunday mornings? I promise, your church will win when you empower this generation. Remove the red tape, dismiss the doubters, and allow teens to serve now!

Yep...we're looking for some amazing volunteers!

Not sure about your church but at Grace Community we are trying to find new volunteers all the time. This week is our event we call ServeNow. We really believe that every teen and adult in our church needs a place to serve in our church and in the community if they are going to grow in their faith. We believe serving is connected to spiritual growth because it opens our hearts to the needs of others. What we try to do with ServeNow is have one place, one Sunday where people can sign up to "test drive" a place of serving. When people sign up they are only signing up to try out serving out in one of our ministry areas by hanging out with a seasoned volunteer for a Sunday and if they feel like that is the right fit they can commit. If they don't like the experience...they can simply walk away. We have found that if  we make serving a priority of the entire church (not just our ministry areas!) we can fill our volunteer needs and help people grow spiritually at the same time. This is how we are helping people make a difference with their time and talents. What are you doing to help people serve in your church?