Connect teens to your church

Many people spend tons of time looking at the statistics of how teens respond to the church when they graduate and head to college. The statistics can be discouraging and we are all trying to find ways to help teens discover faith in Jesus that endures beyond high school. Here is one idea that we all need to begin to embrace. If we want teens to be a part of the church after high school then we better connect them to the church during high school. If teens are a part of the church and not just a youth ministry during high school then they will look to connect with the church in college. Here are a few ways we are trying to make this happen week after week in our context...

Empower teens to serve now // we make every effort to give away important leadership roles to teens. Serving connects teenagers to other adult mentors and the heartbeat of the church.

Mission trips and serve events connected with the church // anytime a teen goes on a foreign mission trip they go with other leaders from the church. Our student ministry also joins our church in serving our city through several events we do every year uniting the church and our youth ministry.

Plan your worship gathering with the teen in mind // we try to always keep in mind with our service plans, series, worship sets, and stage look that teens will be worshiping with us. Allow teens to have a voice in your planning. This also allows teens and parents to worship together. We believe that makes a difference.

When we serve with teens, worship with teens, and encourage teens to be on mission with the church then we begin to place healthy adult relationships around them. Connecting teens to the church is not just about a healthy youth ministry it also demands a vibrant church who will make an effort. Teens know when they are wanted. Lets start making the connection.

the power of a series

In every environment the use of series or themes is a powerful way to communicate big ideas and connect the dots with your teaching. I really feel like the use of the series is a needed asset for every next generation leader when teaching. The other option is to do a regimen of one night talks that struggled to help teens and kids connect where you are going as you teach. It really does not matter if you subscribe to an exegetical or topic approach to teaching, the right series title and graphics help communicate your end goal for the series. Here are 4 reasons why the use of series is important...

1. Grabbing Attention / the use of series help capture the attention of your crowd because you are communicating a big idea with the series theme.
2. Promoting Something New / people love things that are new and the use of series help you always have something new to pump every 3 to 6 weeks. (we try to not go longer than 4 weeks)
3. Planing Better Talks / when we use a series we learn to spread out our content. Using a plan for your talks allows you to break what you teach down into segments and not be tempted to teaching everything at one setting. Less is more.
4. Guiding Creativity / creativity thrives when there is a framework to work from. Boundaries actually help us see true creative potential. When you use a series your whole team has a guide to work with.

Would love to know if you use series in your next generation environments?

"Freeing" Your Volunteer Team

One of the best parts about the Orange Conference is getting to meet other leaders from across the country who are constantly thinking  about and leading next generation ministry. One guy I have been blessed to be able to learn from is a guy many of us call Shef. Check out this these ideas from Shef about how to change your volunteer culture...

"Freeing your volunteers." That statement can mean a million things and it really sounds good when you say it. This afternoon Tom Shefchunas helped us wrap our minds around creating ministries full of volunteers who are pumped to be there, using their talents, and seeing progress. Many of our ministries simply just have volunteers serving out of obligation. Freeing volunteers means we are actively create a culture where leaders thrive. Freeing your volunteer team is not about changing people it is about changing the culture. Here are some steps to creating that kind of culture...

Resolve yourself that this will take time. >> You don’t see a culture change your realize it has changed, change takes time. Changing a culture takes intentional long term attention and focus!

Get great people in the room. >> organizations have to get the right people on the team, the right people off the team, and the right people in the right seats. Nothing defines your team like the people on your team. A healthy culture can push people to be more! Look for people with time (willing to give their time), mature faith, and character.

Decide this is not your ministry >> Leadership is a stewardship and I am just leading once small part of it. We often build our ministry around our personality with no other foundation of a volunteer team. Not a good idea. Will my ministry outlast my time leading it? We have to empower team to the point when we leave it moves forward with strength!

Simplify your strategy and define the volunteer’s job and role. >> If you want your leaders to feel like they are important give them something important to do.

4 ways to be a better speaker for teens

Speaking in any environment is challenging. Speaking to a room packed with wild middle school students is a entirely different experience. Every week all of us who lead teens face the same challenge of connecting with a generation that demands effective communication if they are going to pay attention. Seriously, teens tune out poor communicators and it does not matter if you are leading a game, making announcements, or giving the message for the night. Teens demand effective communication so it's on us to get better at this speaking thing. Here are 4 ideas we stress with all our communicators in our student ministry...

1. Set a time limit // seriously, 20-25 minutes is enough in your weekly environment. If you can't communicate your message with effectiveness in 20 minutes to teens they probably will not be able to retain it. Sure you will have weeks when you go over with a closing illustration but seriously set your timer because less is more when speaking to teens.
2. Teach one BIG IDEA // we call this teaching toward a bottom line. Teach every message so teens can walk away with one big idea for the night. Teaching one big idea forces you to focus your talk and limit what you say. Focus leads to better communication.
3. Be real // seriously teens just need you to be you. Nothing turns teens off like someone trying to be something they are not. Just be real, be you, be transparent. They need to hear from you not Andy Stanley or Louis Giglio. Nothing wrong with mentors but God wants to use you to be an effective speaker.
4. Teach truth // I should not have to say this but never shy away from teaching the Bible to teens. They need to hear you teach the Bible in way they can grasp not 4 tips to be happy or have a better attitude in life. Teens need truth...have the courage to teach the Scripture with passion. If you have 20 minutes you better make it full of truth!

after night ONE

Last night we had our first night of the semester for our middle and high school ministries. We put hours and hours of work into publicity, planning, practice, and preparation. (that is a lot of P words!) We prayed and we wondered what God was going to do. Last night came and God honored our efforts and today we are excited about how everything went. Night one is very important but what you do the day and week after is also critical. Night one reveals so much that you can work on for the weeks to come. If we learn from night one and make adjustments we set the ministry we lead up for health for the year to come. Here are a few "after night one" areas every student and college ministry has to evaluate...

• Environment // what was the energy like in the venue? Were people connecting? What was the vibe in the hall and in your large group room pre-service? Was there proper signage and volunteers spaced through the facility? Make time to process how you did creating the environment you wanted to create. We learned we needed a few additions to our main hall and we are working on that this week.
• Parking and People Flow // our parking situation was terrible on night one and we had some issues moving people around. We worked on a new plan this morning. This is a big deal to parents so it has to be a priority.
• Band and Production Teams // we try to see where our band is at and where we need to go. Night one is always a challenge but we can also learn where we need to head as a worship and tech team form night one. Proud of our team last night but I am already excited to see how our team responds next week.
• Message // this is personal but you have to evaluate how the talk went. How was the length? Did the bottom line get communicated? Did teens engage with the series?
• Volunteer Team // we have to make sure our volunteers felt supported and make sure we get feedback from them. I promise, your volunteers saw aspects of last night you missed. Check on how they did and what they learned.

When you process all those areas you will have a better plan for week 2. Week 2 is the week where teens are checking to see if we are real. Make sure you use what you learned after night one!

Why we believe "youth ministry" matters?

Because we host an annual open house for new families in our community and new 6th graders entering our middle school ministry our team is forced every year to ask one big question. Why do we do youth ministry? I love that we are forced to revisit the question very year because all of us drift toward auto pilot unless we are challenged. Our open house forces our team to cast vision to a new group of families every year. Here is why we create environments for teenagers at our church...

Our mission at Relevant Student Ministry is to provide every teenager in Clarksville a youth ministry that will help them find Christ and grow in Christ.

We try to focus all our energy on what Jesus said was most important ("relevant") in life...
29 Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. 30 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ 31 The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” Mark 12:29-31 (NLT)

Because of our mission we have created an environment for middle school students called The Mix and one for high school students called Remix. Here is why we created this environments...

• The Mix and Remix are two environments we have created to help teenagers gather with other teens and set aside a few hours of your week to LOVE GOD. We want to give teens a few hours to focus on what matters most!

• The Mix and Remix are places where it is safe to set aside all our assumptions about faith and God and seek our clarity…TOGETHER. It is OK to doubt, it is OK to question. Our hope is that in the middle of the search teens will discover the unconditional love of Jesus Christ.

• The Mix and Remix are here because there are people all around us wondering what is life all about? We want to partner with teens as they strive to lead their friends to faith in Jesus Christ. We believe that teens lead other teens to Jesus.

• The Mix and Remix strive to help provide every teen with an adult who will invest in their life as their small group leader. Every teen needs a few adults and a few friends that will help them grow in their faith.

Top 25 Youth Ministry Blogs of 2012

My friends over at the Youth Cartel just released a great list of the top 25 youth ministry blogs. As I read the list I saw some new blogs I want to check out and some others that have been amazing resources for me over the years. You can go over to the Youth Cartel Blog and read how they came up with this list here. I wanted to share the list because following a few blogs you trust is a great way to widen your perspective and gain some new ideas for the ministry you lead. Here we go...your top 25 blogs of 2012!

2012 Rank	Name	URL	2011 Rank
1	Josh Griffin	http://www.morethandodgeball.com/	1
2	Doug Fields	http://dougfields.com	7
3	Mark Oestreicher	http://whyismarko.com	2
4	Adam McLane	http://adammclane.com	4
5	Jonathan McKee	http://blog.thesource4ym.com/	10
6	Tim Schmoyer	http://studentministry.org	3
7	Fuller Youth Institute	http://fulleryouthinstitute.org/	8
8	Adam Walker Cleaveland	http://pomomusings.com/	6
9	Kurt Johnston	http://www.juniorhighministry.com/	19
10	Youth Specialties	http://youthspecialties.com/blog	5
11	Brian Kirk, Jacob Thorne	rethinkingyouthministry.com	13
12	youthministry360	youthministry360.com	NR
13	Jeremy Zach	http://www.reyouthpastor.com	9
14	Greg Stier	gregstier.org	16
14	The Youth Cartel	http://theyouthcartel.com/blog/	NR
16	Ian MacDonald	http://www.youthblog.org	12
17	Walt Mueller	http://learningmylines.blogspot.com/	18
18	Youth Leader Stash	youthleaderstash.com	NR
19	Chuck Bomar	http://www.collegeministrythoughts.com/	NR
20	Rachel Blom	http://www.youthleadersacademy.com	NR
21	Mike King	http://king.typepad.com/mike_king/	17
21	Jake Bouma	http://www.jakebouma.com/	NR
23	Kenda Creasy Dean	http://kendadean.com/	20
24	Matt McGill	http://lovegodlovestudents.com	NR
25	Terrace Crawford	http://terracecrawford.com/	19

 

 

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What does a GREAT mission trip look like?

I am right in the middle of two weeks of back to back mission trips with our student ministry. Week one was our high school trip to serve in New Orleans and this week I am taking a team of middle school students to Chattanooga. Our "serve" mission trips have been a cornerstone of our student ministry for years because every group we take never comes back the same. God works in ways while we are serving that are simply unexplainable. There are several factors that make a mission trip...great. Sure every experience is good but there are some things that make a trip absolutely great

• The right size team >> This number varies but effective teams strive to maintain the right number for the team. Too many people and you will have people with nothing to do. Too few and your team will be stressed all week. The number is different for every trip but we work hard to find the right number for every trip and work toward that goal.
• The right leaders on the team >> Great mission trips are staffed with great volunteer leaders. Make sure you have strong leaders on your team to set the pace, tone, and direction of the trip. Team leadership makes a mission experience go from good to great.
• Time to rest during the trip >> This is so overlooked. Your team needs time to rest. If you are on a mission trip and you are working hard then you need time every day to stop and catch your breath. A rested team can lead with effectiveness when the pressure is on.
• Time to process >> Every day your team needs time to celebrate, learn, and share. Powerful moments happen when you take time to let your team process together every night on a mission trip.
• Challenge and hardship >> Yes every great mission trip has hardship and plenty of challenge. When you are sharing the message of Jesus, Satan will bring opposition to your team. Challenge drives us to humbly depend on God as we serve and unites our team.
• Real responsibility for every person on the team >> Everyone needs responsibility on a mission trip. Every team member needs to feel that others need them there and others are depending on them. When everyone has real responsibility suddenly everyone starts asking God for help. That is right where we need to be!

Rethinking High School Ministry // campus ministry

This summer our team is trying to rethink some of the aspects of high school ministry. We love serving high school students, and we are having success reaching them, but we feel like it is time to change a few of our strategies so we can make a bigger impact. We have been processing how we can make a bigger impact on the high school campus where teens are living life every day of the year. Even in summer teens spend a ton of time on their school campus. The question for our team is how we establish a presence on where teens are at. For our team campus ministry is going to look different than some other ministries doing contact work at schools. We love the work that Young Life does and we support them but most of our leaders have jobs that will keep them out of the school during the school day. We are going to try to do more on the high school campus through partnership and on campus events. Here are a few ways we are going to try to take our campus presence to another level...

1. Football Tailgate Tour >> This fall we are going to hit 4 of our high school's for a tailgate tour. Food, games, t-shirts, yes it's gonna be great. This also allows middle school students to come since they feed into those schools.
2. On Campus Ministry Support >> When teens who are leaders need help we want to support them. If they have an event to raise money for a cause we want to help them make the event better. Volunteers, publicity, or production support...we just want to be available.
3. Volunteering for school projects >> We are going to try to get more of our student ministry small group leaders and parents involved with on campus events where volunteers are needed. Dances, Prom, Pep rallies, tutoring and are typical places volunteers are needed. We just want to be available.
4. Spring Sports Tour >> Tons of our teens play sports during the spring. We are going to cookout at spring sports days and encourage our teens to pack the stands and invite their friends to support spring sports. We will see how our fall tailgate nights go and then determine how many schools we stop at!

The common denominator with all of these ideas is that it gives our small group leaders a scheduled time to be on a school campus and connect with teens. We view our time on the campus as a bonus and we hope this will help leaders block out more time to meet students on their turf. We also believe these ideas will help us keep good balance and not freak teens out by our presence since when we are at the school we are on their turf!

RETHINKING camp for high school students

Our team here at Relevant Student Ministry is rethinking lots of different aspects of student ministry and one of those issues revolve around camp during the summer. Reaching teens in high school has become more and more difficult for us. Jobs, athletics, academic camps, family vacations, and band pull on so many of the high school students we reach during the year. It's not that they don't want to go to camp it's that they can't get away or choose not leave their summer commitments. Many times they have coaches, bosses, and family pushing them not to go to camp for many different reasons. Our middle school camp continues to grow while our high school camp has remained flat for three years even thought we are reaching more high school students during the school year than we ever have. We have finally realized we have to reformat what we do for high school students during the summer and we are ready to mix things up this coming summer. We are ready to do our own high school camp but give it a different spin with different goals. We are going to reformat our camp experience for high school students so we can...

• Take every small group leader with us to camp >> By doing our own camp for high school students we will now be able to bring every high school small group leader. Small group leaders will get to work toward camp all year and we love that idea of ending the year with groups at camp!
• Make space for true small group time >> We have not found a camp that allows to block the proper time and have the proper space for small groups...now we will make it happen every day of camp. Small group is the main thing in our ministry and camp needs to continue that push.
• Control content >> When you control content on stage and in small groups you have a better shot at communicating a specific message to your teens. We are ready to take on this aspect of camp. We already do this in middle school and we are ready to hit a different audience with high school students.
• Move the focus to mission work during the afternoons >> We are not taking camp to the mountains or the beach, we are taking camp to a city so we can serve the needs of the city and make an impact. Mission work transforms all of us from the inside out. We are changing the focus from entertainment to service.
• Control the date >> We think this may be the most needed change. We have to control the week in order to reach the teens we want to reach. Doing our own camp will help us make that happen.
• Maximize the budget >> We have found that we can better control the cost of our camps when we do our own camp. Sure we add more work but we also have less overhead than many camps across the country doing amazing things. Our camp does not have to make any profit, just break even!
• Define the win >> If we are going to do camp in the summer we want to make sure we aim for a specific target so we can all understand what a win is for high school camp week. When we control the schedule, content, and focus we can work toward a set target every year!

Never do the typical camp "church group time" again

We just wrapped up 2 weeks of summer camp here at Relevant Student Ministry and wisely I'm on vacation in the mountains with my family getting some rest and getting excited for the rest of the summer. Looking back on our 2 weeks of camp one things stands out...we never had any time where we fostered or pushed a typical "church group" session. No time where we gathered everyone and had a open floor for people to talk and cry. We did not have a time like because we push those experiences to small group. We think when people share what God is doing in their hearts at an event that belongs in small group. When teens need prayer for an issue we feel that belongs in small group. When teens need to vent, that time comes in small group. Why? In small group we create a safe space, with a trusted leader where teens can let their guard down and encourage one another. I hope if you still have a camp coming up you will consider pushing your "church group" time toward small group. Here are a few ways we help transition "church group" to small group time at camp...

• We huddle as a large group first // it's really important to huddle your group up before you break to small groups just so you can set the tome. Some nights are light hearted. Some nights are intense. Huddling up allows you to set the direction for small group time.
• We never re-preach the message // we never never never re-preach the message. At most camp experiences at night the teens have just heard a message, they do not need you to re-teach it.
• We take care of details // we use the huddle to make sure and take care of announcements for the next day. 
• We share one thought // we always share one verse and one big idea to take to group.
• We give questions to our small group leaders // we provide our group leaders with questions so they know where to take the small group time. With cell phones we just email those out or text them!
• We let God work // we trust God to use group time to do what He wants to do. We have to trust the process and allow teens to let their guard down in small group.

REthink high school ministry

I am right in the middle of our high school summer camp at Relevant Student Ministry and we are having an incredible week here at BigStuf Camp in Panama City. Even in the middle of an event I find myself in the RETHINK process when it comes to how we serve high school students in the coming school year. We serve a generation that is in a constant state of change but many times our ministry setting never change. I am betting that we probably need to rethink much of what we do if we serve an age group that is in a state of constant change. Sure, we are doing a ton of things the right way. When things are working is the best time to look ahead and see what adjustments are going to be needed down the road. Here are a few areas we are evaluating and working on implementing changes in the coming months. Look for a few posts in the coming weeks on each one!

• Summer programming / it's getting harder and harder to get high school teens out of town for camp and for mission trip experiences...we have a few changes we are working on.
• Connecting with the campus / in order to connect with teens you have to go where teens are. We have a few ideas we are working on to spend more time on the school campus in the fall and at the same time give teens needed space.
• Challenge, challenge, challenge / we are working on ways to call high school students to go further with their faith than we have in the past. We are working on ways to make sure teens are reminded to spent time on what matters most.
• Partner with the family / high school parents sometimes feel left out of their teens life and we hope to find more ways to keep parents in the process of spiritual growth even in high school.
• Small group / small group is the heart of accountability and life change...we have a few ideas we are working to be better at fostering connection and community
• Fun / I know it is not cool to talk about having fun in student ministry but why can't we create fun experiences where we communicate truth, connect with new teens, and change the pace? We have a few ideas.

How are you rethinking high school ministry? These posts are on the way this summer! Would love to hear some of your ideas.

Taking time to reflect.

Tonight is our last night of The MIX and REMIX of the school year and I am pretty much overwhelmed with gratefulness to God for how he worked this year. We change our summer schedule up so we can better serve families and teens in the summer with chaotic schedules so tonight is a time of closure and a time to launch into our summer ministry ahead. I'm just grateful and I thought I would just process a little of why I'm overwhelmed today here on the blog...

• I'm grateful for small group leaders who have invested in the lives of teens every week all year.
• I'm grateful so many teens became followers of Jesus this year.
• I'm grateful that we have been able to connect with so many teens at different schools.
• I'm grateful that we have been able to help so many parents work through challenges this year.
• I'm grateful we have a church that supports us financially and allows us to try to reach teens.
• I'm grateful to have been able to do ministry with my friend Brandon Reed this year.
• I'm grateful that God has refueled my passion and calling to serve teens.
• I'm grateful to have such an incredible summer ahead to invest in teens and lead them toward Jesus.
• I'm grateful that even now we are planning and dreaming about new ways to connect with teens in 2012...love our team embraces innovation and risk.
• I'm grateful that God has answered so many of our prayers and allowed us to serve so many schools!

I hope as you wrap your year of ministry you have the chance to step back and reflect also. Many of us who lead student ministry are good at charging ahead and do a poor job of slowing down to reflect and rejoice. I hope you will take some time to reflect this week...God is moving!

Do you really empower teens?

What can a teen do? Just about anything if they have people around them who believe in them. Teens can accomplish so much and student ministries and the church are in the perfect place to help teens make an incredible difference in this world. Why is that? We already believe in teens! A month ago a group of teens in our student ministry had an idea to host a Karaoke / Dance event to raise money and awareness for cancer research. They pulled the event off, raised 1,000 dollars for research, and helped 4 schools unite behind a cause and all because of an idea and a desire to do something that matters. They were able to pull it off because a few adults who believe in teens (youth ministry leaders, educators, and parents) decided to believe in their idea. Empowering a teen means we get behind them. We empower teens when we give opportunities but also when we push their ideas and help make them a reality. We empower when we lead them to significant leadership roles but also allow them to lead us to creative ideas. When a group of teens have a idea here is what we try to do...

• Push them to make the idea a reality (they do the work) >> Adults really empower teens when we push them to do the hard work. We do not help teens when we shortcut the process and do the work for them. Making any idea reality takes hard work and when teens have the idea they need and want to do the work.
• Support them with resources we have >> This is different for every idea a teen might have. We do try to help with what resources we have.
• Help them to focus >> Many times teens need help cutting out what might be good so they can accomplish what will be great. Help them to say no to some ideas so they can focus.
• Be a voice of wisdom >> We can help teens avoid problems. As adults we can look out for problems and help teens address the before they become a reality.
• Spread the word >> We always try to leverage our social media tools for student led events and causes. We also try to find creative ways to let adults know about events in our church family. Parents and other adults love seeing teens do things that make a difference.

No Pranks Allowed

I know it does not sound like fun but our student ministry has a no pranks allowed policy for all our events and that has been my standard in every student ministry I have led over the past 13 years. Do I like pulling pranks...yes. Do I like having pranks pulled on me...not really. The reason we started asking teens not to pull pranks in our ministry years ago was simple, we never want a teen to leave an event where they felt harassed by other teens or leaders. Things like that go down enough in school on on sports teams all over the country, but we just have a different standard as the church. How many times have pranks become a barrier for teens following Christ or connecting with a student ministry? I am betting more often than you think. Here are a few reasons not to allow pranks in the ministry you lead...

• The wrong kids always become the target >> Most of the times it's the weaker kid, the new kid, the different kid who becomes the target of a prank. Teens look for a safe target and go for it. We have to stand up for kids who need protecting.
• Pranks are just distracting >> Pranks become the focus of teens when they get started. Pranks distract teens form whatever event you are leading because they are planning a prank or trying to avoid being pranked. Our mission to create a safe environment for teens to grow spiritually.
• Teens make bad choices when it comes to pranks >> Teens and many leaders never know when to stop when pranks begin. Pranks push great kids to make some really dumb choices.
• I've never seen a prank lead to life change >> Never seen a person follow Christ because of a great prank that was pulled. They have a memory but I have never seen a prank lead to life change.
• Pranks can turn into a legal nightmare >> Yes, trust me...I'm a parent and if you mess with my kid you mess with me. Parents are not playing around with this stuff anymore and I really don't blame them. Allowing pranks placing you and your ministry in danger of a legal disaster.

5 reasons not to quit

Had the chance to process ministry with some great friends last night. All of us serve kids and teens. All of us have been doing this for years. All of us have seen God do some amazing things in our family ministry here at Grace Community Church and Relevant Student Ministry. All of us still sat there, looked at the messiness of people and found ourselves asking...what are we doing wrong and why don't we see more people embrace the call to follow Christ? We all face those moments when we look around at our efforts to reach kids, teens, and families and wonder if what we are doing makes any difference at all. After an hour long conversation with my friends last night I was reminded that we simply can't give up. What we do in serving kids and teens matters too much. Reaching people is always messy, difficult and demands we walk with them through the mess. It's the mess that's hard and as long as there are people who need Jesus we have to keep waling through the mess. For all those who are tired and wonder if what they do matters here are 5 reasons not to quit...5 reasons to keep pushing through the mess...

1. You are partnered with parents // I'm a dad and in 3 years my little girl will be a middle school student and I want mentors in my girl's life. As a parent I may not tell the small group leaders of my kids thanks but I am thankful. Parents need and want us in their kids lives. As you invest in teens and kids you are being another needed voice parents long for.
2. Kids and Students need stability not more chaos // The next generation needs consistent leadership and when you stay focused your ministry helps create a safe place for them to confront the call of Jesus. In a world of chaos create a place of stability that can give kids and teens a safe place to grow and question.
3. God changes lives, not your program or strategy // We know this but we often forget it. Our God changes lives. Jesus makes what was dead come to life. Our programs and strategies are not life giving, God is!
4. You believe in your mission and calling // You believe in what you do...don't quit on the dream. God has plans and Satan would love to throw you off track. Don't quit.
5. Your volunteer team experiences the same feelings, unite and keep serving // When you look around and wonder if you are making a difference just know you are not alone. Your volunteers are asking the same thing and I think it's healthy. When we question we evaluate and when that happens the only thing to do is trust God.

the importance of youth ministry

I have been serving teens now for 15 years as a volunteer and on staff at different churches and I still need to be reminded why youth ministry is important. I need to be reminded because the truth is that student ministry can be difficult. Many times it's just easier to let teens do what they want and think they don't desire or need adults in their lives. It may be easy to ignore them but the truth is that they are desperate for adults to actually show up and invest in their life on a consistent basis. Consistency is big because so much of life today is inconsistent. The typical American dream is fading. Family life is always changing. Teens are being forced to make choices about their future (college and career) at a time when they are just figuring out who they are. Teens need consistency and they need it from the church more than ever. We named our student ministry Relevant Student Ministry because we really believe in a culture that is continually changing Jesus is the one thing that will always be unchanging. Jesus is relevant today and forever. Student ministries all across the country have the chance to partner with the church and with families to lead teens to Jesus. That's why what we do in youth ministry is important. Here are three factors that make what we do in youth ministry significant for the future of the church...

• Youth ministry is discipleship not just gathering a crowd >> Our goal is to help teens follow Christ with all of their life. We are not just trying to reach teens, we are also trying to shape them to look more like Jesus. This is not hype. We see this happen by leading teens to engage in worship, study God's Word through relevant teaching, and process faith through small group led by adult mentors. Our hope is to lead teens to be followers of Jesus with all their life.
• Youth ministry can reach teens in a city for the Church not just a church >> Many teens don't go to their church because it's unhealthy and they know it is not working. Youth ministry gives us a chance to reach teens in our city and lead them to Christ. Youth ministry is not just about a single church it's about advancing the mission of the universal Church God is advancing. We have reached teens in our city who will then plug into church with their family at a different church. We are here to serve our city not just our church.
• Youth ministry can connect teens to the mission of the church >> Teens need a bridge to encounter the larger mission of the church and we can be that bridge. Teens can serve now with other adults in the church. Teens can go on mission trips now with the church. Teens can worship and grow together with the church. Connect a teen to the church today and they will connect with the church in college!

The end of youth pastors...not really

Mark Oestreicher, a distant youth ministry mentor of mine, recently wrote a post I hope you will read called the coming era of non-professional youth ministry. Things are changing in the youth ministry landscape. Not every church is opting to hire a staff member to just focus on reaching teens. Not every church has a full time position for their student pastor. Just like every other pastoral postion in the church, roles are being evaluated. Some people are being let go and some people are getting new jobs that meet the needs of the church in 2012. These are days of change and youth ministry is not exempt from the shift. One thing I know for sure is that God will continue to lead and gift people to invest in the lives of teenagers. Another truth is that God calls people to be pastors, to ministry not just to be youth pastors. If you serve on a church staff you are called to be a pastor not just an age group leader. People who serve on church staffs better begin to undertsnad that our role is to fight for the church and Kingdom of God not just our ministry area. The days of building a seperate youth ministy kingdom as an attachement to the church are coming to an end. If you want to do that then please go plant a church or launch a non-profit organization focused on teens. Youth ministry in the future is going to be about making disciples, reaching the unreached, empowering the local church, and partnering with parents. If you feel like God has created you to invest your life in the next generation then these are your next steps...

• Don't worry about your title // your title might look a little crazy in the future. I have never "just" been the student pastor here at my church because I have been doing multiple things to advance the mission of my church. I love serving teens but I do many things here in my church.
• Add VALUE to your team // be willing to not only lead your ministry to grow but help your church to grow. Be willing to partner with differnent ministries in your church to make things better. As a leader called to the next generation you have insight your team needs and gifting that other ministries in your church need.
• Become a better pastor and servant leader // understand you can't live in a silo you build. You are a pastor on a church staff so step in and begin to invest in people and serve where your senior pastor needs you to.
• Grow up // seriously get organized, start reading, keep learning, stay humble, and add disipline to your life. There will soon be no place to hide for people who are not willing to work hard and grow up. Be the best person, parent, spouse, and pastor you can possibly be. God will always open doors for people who are hard workers and gifted leaders.
• Stay focused // reach teens, invest in teens, mentor teens, and push teens to serve in your local church. This is what we do and their will always be a need for it. Teens are not the future of the church, they are the church.

 

no more "youth sections" at church

When I was growing up and when I did youth ministry in my 20's every church had a youth section. Most of you leading in churches have the same thing. It's that section of the church where all the teens sit during the Sunday morning services. Youth sections exist because teens are looking for something to connect with at church that makes sense. In most churches the only thing that keeps them there and makes sense are other friendships. That is why the huddle and seem to disconnect from the rest of the church. One of my friends on twitter mentioned that he has began to sit in the teen section just to engage those teens and build relationships. That idea got me thinking. Our church at Grace Community doesn't have a youth section. It's the first place I have ever served where teens sit with small group leaders, their parents, or serve as a volunteer all over the church. When I process why this is our reality I think it comes from the fact that we have given the church to them. It's their church as much as it's their parents church. We program with them in mind. We ask them to be a part of the church. We empower them to make a difference right now by serving and giving them real responsibility. Maybe we could end "youth sections" at church if we just gave the church away to them now. They are not the future of the church, they are the church. If you want them to stay connected to your church and other churches for years to come give them the keys to the castle right now. Engage them, empower them, believe in them, and live life with them. The churches that will be around in 20 years are the ones who are giving the church away to teens right now. Don't give them a section give them the entire sanctuary.

10 incredible youth ministry blogs

I'm a blogger and I follow many of other blogs written by some amazing leaders. I write because I love pushing myself to share ideas and get them onto my blog and out of my head. When I see that same passion on another blog I just want to follow along and learn. I can't even begin to say thanks to all the people who have invested in our ministry here at Grace Community through their writing so I thought I would share ten blogs that you will want to follow if you work with teens. All of these are places where it is safe to learn, ask questions, and find encouragement from leaders moving in the same direction. Here it is, ten amazing youth ministry blogs you should check out...

• More than Dodgeball
• REyouthpastor
• OrangeLeaders
• Coach Shef
• DougFranklinonline.com
• DougFields.com
• Terracecrawford.com
• Youth Leader Stash
• JuniorHighMinistry.com
• YouthMin.org