Teams are hard work. Getting one assembled is tough enough, but keeping one moving and innovating is even more challenging. But with all of that hard work comes some incredible benefits. Flipping through my moleskin today I found some notes talking about the benefits I’ve experienced being part of a team. Whatever your team looks like – you and your spouse, you and volunteers or you and a paid staff – TEAM is a big deal. Here’s why:
You can cry together. Youth ministry was never meant to be done alone – though it is attempted that way too often. Youth ministry is challenging (especially the day after something great happens) and a ministry of extremes, so having a team surround you when the going gets tough is huge. If you’re doing youth ministry alone, I give you another 6 months, if that. Build a team, or die alone.
You can celebrate together. The extremes of youth ministry also bring high highs. But a party is never fun alone! Build celebration into your culture. Celebrate what God is doing, and share about it together.
You get to laugh together. I love inside jokes. I love having everyone over to our house on Saturday night after services (before we have to go back and do 2 more the next morning). I love it when another youth worker laughs in approval of a total you’ve-got-to-be-in-youth-ministry-to-understand moment. I love laughing about what someone said on stage or what happened on The Office last night.
You can carry God’s vision together. One of the greatest burdens youth workers carry is the vision God has given them. Vision isn’t meant to be kept secret! It is meant to be shared, celebrated, prayed over, picked apart, stretched and achieved. The weight of God’s call is not light, but many hands make the load light.
If you are in youth ministry, you are part of a team. God’s team, in thousands of churches all across the world. But you’re also building a team of God lovers in your church that will pour into your students and share life together. Build your team today!
JG
3
Josh Griffin has been in youth ministry for 15+ years and serves as the High School Pastor at Saddleback Church. [
Latest Tweet
Geoff Stewart serves the Jr / Sr High School Pastor at Peace Portal Alliance Church in Surrey B.C.
Great post. Did you see Marko’s post this morning about the values of conflict on teams? It was great too.
Great post JG! I have been with my church for just about 4 years now. About 2 years ago God had started putting a fantastic team of volunteers in place. The challenge, as you so aptly put it, is to keep that team motivated, and to even keep myself motivated, to not accept “good enough” for what we’re doing and keep pursuing excellence and pushing toward God’s vision. Go Team!
I’m like Josh. I’ve been at my current church for almost 4 years and I probably have the best team that God has put together for me. While motivation isn’t necessarily a problem – though we all have our moments – it’s focusing our efforts on our mission and vision and not planning everything that comes in the mail. Training how to focus with strategically planning and that sometimes doing less brings better ministry is a bit of a challenge but we’re getting there.