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This will be my third year at SYMC, and to say that I am excited is an understatement. I have had a countdown going on my computer for weeks, and just recently made one of those elementary school paper chain countdown things in my office. (Seriously, it droops over the picture wall!)
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SYMC 2010 in Chicago was my first year. I went with a couple of other youth workers in my local network who had been before and said how great it was. I was kind of reluctant to go. I had been in a valley in my ministry and felt like I was on my way out. I thought that I would go and maybe get a few good nuggets of info here or there, hear a couple of good bands, and head back to a situation that I wanted so desperately to flee. What I got from SYMC was so much more. Yes, I did get some information that I was able to use in my ministry, and yes, I heard some good music, but I got so so much more than that. I got back my passion for ministry, this wasn?t something planned but God knew what I needed and showed me just that at SYMC. I also strengthened old relationships and built new friendships and relationships. Those people I met have become some of my closest friends to this day and have [...]
Posted by Kurt Johnston
This is the 5th in a little series about some of the things that have helped me last for almost 25 years. There is no silver bullet here, just a little insight about things that have seemed to make a difference in my journey as a youth worker.
BLEED IT, BUT DON’T BLEED TO DEATH!
Every now and then, a young youth worker will say something like this, “Youth ministry is my life!”. To which I always reply internally, and upon occasion even blurt out, “Really? That’s too bad.”
I think youth ministry, or any ministry endeavor for that matter, deserves some extra effort. Youth ministry isn’t for folks who are clock-watchers, who only want to do the minimum job requirements. I actually think it deserves to be led by men and women who aren’t afraid to “bleed” it a little bit. But we should NEVER bleed to death!
- When you consistently sacrifice your family for the sake of your youth ministry…you are bleeding to death. - When your friendships suffer because you spend too much time at youth ministry events…you are bleeding to death. - When you have no outside hobbies because you spend your free time with teenagers or planning events for teenagers…you are bleeding to death. - When you fail to take your day off, or you skimp on vacation time due to the demands of youth ministry…you are bleeding to death. - When you spend time in the word out of the need to [...]
Our good friend (and founder) Thom Schultz has an interesting take on one of the ongoing debates in youth missions – Are they really worth it?
Short-Term Missions A Waste?
What do you think? Did Thom get it right?
You are right, there are far more dangerous jobs than youth ministry. I am extremely thankful that my husband does not stare down the barrel of a gun. I cannot imagine the kind of strength a wife would need for that. No matter what the job each one of us, including myself, has and will face great tragedies. Just in each day there are so many ups and downs. Our lives are sprinkled with many different feelings and emotions from happiness to thankfulness, to frustration to sorrow. My hope is that not one of us would deny ourselves the right to feel validated in each and every feeling that we have that gets mixed up inside of us. I hope that in some small way this blog may be a place for someone in ministry to feel heard, connected, and uplifted through a comment, a funny story, or a serious post. And what I love so much about this community of women is the honesty shared about their lives, and the tone that we all take loving God and our husbands seriously but don’t take ourselves too seriously.
I write this in no way with a defensive voice, but with so much concern that many pastor’s wives are told that their feelings are silly or not important. Whether from someone at church or their own inner dialogue. Our “perspective” should be to accept and embrace our feelings whatever they may be and then with God [...]
I’ve noticed something lately about the way the church and youth ministries tend to talk to girls. We (unfortunately at times I would include myself) communicate that the end game for a girl is getting the right kind of guy. Even though we don’t mean to it just happens. Books sold to teen girls about how to get the right kind of guy (a christian book nonetheless…and I haven’t read it but I am assuming the title is meant to mislead by promising to help girls snag a guy.) A youtube video for Christian girls on how to attract a godly guy. And than we are surprised and frustrated that all girls care about is boys. Oh the irony.
We need to change the end game.
The end game for every girl we encounter should be a radical life following after Jesus. That life may include an occupation in the public circles, a life of full time ministry, marriage, kids or all of the above.
When we begin to believe in a bigger or more radical end game for girls it changes how we communicate to them. We tell their stories better. And in my heart I believe we help girls move their attention from dating to bigger dreams…from drama to radical living. Don’t we all really want that for our girls?
What do you think? What are your thoughts about changing the end game?
Don’t sell Jesus short.
I spent the weekend with a church in a faith tradition I am fairly new to. They have a rich heritage of liturgical worship. But if one made the mistake of thinking this church’s denom is bereft of showing feelings of faith or the goodness of God, one would be wrong.
The YP of this church had a similar epiphany today. She has a deep love for Jesus but thought her diverse international students would be uncomfortable with referencing anyone but “God.” After all, they don’t declare an emotional faith and “Jesus” is just too intimate, right?
After she had a discussion with my ministry partner, Adam DeVries, she told her students she was going to unashamedly call Jesus by his name. How shocked and delighted she was when they were happy for her AND them. They cheered.
My point? Don’t sell Jesus short in your youth ministry. Kids KNOW when they come near you that there’s a good chance they’re going to hear about God. They’re even disappointed when they don’t.
Remember: Jesus is the name of the one to whom everyone will bow. It’s just a matter of when.
S
q Jeremiah 1:4 ?The Word of God came to me saying, before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.?
q God had a vision a plan for you. Do you have one for the assignment He has given you?
q Vision: The picture of God?s potential, purpose, and possibilities for your life.
q Show me a person without vision, and I will show you a person who is at a standstill in life.
q Proverbs 29:18 ?Where there is no vision the people perish.?
q Life Point: The key element to getting out of my present state is the vision that I have for myself.
q Jeremiah 29:11 ?For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope,
Vision Truthsq True vision goes beyond what I can accomplish on my own.
q True vision adds value to others.
q True vision attracts vision.
q True vision must have God in it.
q Acts 2:17 ?And it shall come to pass in the last days says God, I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams.?
5 Road Blocks to Vision Failure
HSM resident creative genius Parker Stech is pushing us in some incredible new directions. Here’s one example: this (video above) is how we’re encouraging students to take a next spiritual step through a touchscreen. Working on a way to get something like this out there for everyone to use … stay tuned.
JG
You wake up exhausted. Was that overnighter a dream? Where did your black eye come from? Why is your arm in a cast? Why are there 13 missed calls from various parents? What speeding ticket?
If you’re like us, after a big event or activity the last thing you want to do is re-live all the details. If nobody died, you probably count your blessings and move on to the next order of business (or should we say the next order of “busyness”?) And it’s the busyness of youth ministry that typically keeps youth workers from taking the time to evaluate our events and activities.
After all, you spent 2 months getting ready for summer camp…why spend one day debriefing it upon your return (that’s a rhetorical, sarcastic question)? So, after a big activity, get some rest and when your head does clear of sleep deprivation, here are a few ways to debrief like a professional event planner:
Gather the troops to celebrate
Have an evening after a big event already marked on the calendar to take time to celebrate what God did at your event. Make a sort of reunion feel to the night, including pictures, video, even a student testimony or screenshots from Facebook™ of people talking about the event. Make it known that debriefing will be part of the celebration. We reserve this type of nights for camps, retreats, mission trips etc. There’s probably no need to plan a special night just to celebrate a successful bowling outing.Talk about “The Good”
Start with the highlights – this will get everyone centered on why you did the event in the first place and get the discussion going so it’s easier to share the lowlights. What did God do? What were the stories and celebrations from the event? What went flawlessly? What was surprising?Talk about “The Bad”
Potential improvements are easy for some people to see – so work on creating a list of what wasn’t best and quickly think of how to improve them. Time is best spent creating a list of things that could be improved rather than focusing on solutions – it is much easier to attach someone with a particular skillset to a problem later. Start the debrief asking people to “speak the truth in love”.Talk about “The Ugly”
Things happen. Stuff gets broken and things bomb. Only the worst offenders get on this list – don’t put things that could be easily fixed here, only stuff you swear you’ll never do again.Send off apologies/thank yous
In the course of youth ministry events you may be required to apologize for something that happened. You may want to offer to fix a lamp that was broken. Or return something that was stolen. And for sure a quick thank you to everyone involved in the planning, pulling off and follow-through of the event will go a long ways in making sure the next one is even better.
Here’s hoping your next event, and the debrief afterward, go great!
This post was written by Josh Griffin and Kurt Johnston and originally appeared as part of Simply Youth Ministry Today free newsletter. Subscribe to SYM Today right here.
At our January staff retreat (affectionately known as Student Ministries Staff Camp) we played a few rounds of HSM Jeopardy. It was a great chance to get to know each other better, test our knowledge of youth ministry philosophy and volunteers. Might be a fun idea to play with your people, too! Here were the categories:
Winner got movie tickets and a gift card to Chilis!
JG
Our friends at youthministry360 are giving away a FREE Valentines lesson. It’s a solid lesson that uses the story of Ruth and Boaz to talk about the God-centered love we see in the Bible versus the broken image of love the world bombards students with. The lesson also makes the connection that the aspects of love seen in Ruth’s story are perfected in the love we see in Christ. The lesson features a really cool, really interactive PowerPoint slideshow as well as a Leader’s Guide. If you want to teach the lesson, all you have to do is roll over there to check it out.
JG
Each week the sermon bumper video for this series grows by 20-30 seconds – here’s part 2 (of 6) for our student-version of the 40 Days in the Word campaign, The Book.
JG
Just finished up recording a “digital presenter” session for the Converge Student Leadership Conference in the Midwest. I wish I could have been a part of it live – but I’m pumped to teach on video. Looks like such a fun event! I would highly recommend either Converge in the Midwest or Student Leadership Conference on either coast! Oh, and while we’re on the subject of student leaders, Doug Franklin has been killing it, lately!
JG
Got a note from Greg over at Dare2Share about their new website for Gospel Journey. Loved their new video trailer and website – check it out!
JG
This week’s poll question asks about internship opportunities at your church. Just a few years ago opportunities were few and far between – seems like now there are a TON of places to get your first experience in youth ministry. Curious if you have interns in your setting, too!
JG
From time to time I post a question that comes into the blog for YOU to answer. What advice would you give this youth pastor who is asking about starting over again in a much smaller context than his previous experience. I’ll post some of my thoughts next week on how I answered him over email, but was hoping you could weigh in with your thoughts, too. Weigh in!
I’m newly on staff with our church and just wanted to pick your brain a little! I’m working on some outreach ideas for our students and trying to put together some “guy specific” events and ideas and just wanted to see if you wouldn’t mind sharing some knowledge. If you get a chance, if there’s any way you could just let me know a couple things that have worked for y’all, or maybe like your top 2-3 ideas, or even a resource you could point me to, that would be fantastic!
I replied to his email … but would love for you to Weigh In, too! Leave a comment!
JG
Doug Fields just posted a hilarious new promo video from this Fall we used to promote the Facebook Official series in HSM. It is one of my favorite videos we’ve ever done in HSM – for a long time we had held back because … well, it is pretty awesome. If you want to check it out – head over to his blog and watch it = really effective, really funny.
JG
More Than DodgeBall – Youth Ministry Blog by Josh Griffin – Saddleback Church's High School Youth Ministry (HSM) A blog about youth ministry and youth worker life from the High School Pastor at Saddleback Church.
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