Josh Griffin | More Than Dodgeball

Josh GriffinMore Posts Weigh In: Volume 16 – When Is It Time to Leave?

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 traditions in their youth ministry. Weigh in!

I usually come back from the conference feeling like I can handle just about anything, but this year I came back feeling a lot different. My church has been dying. I’m writing to ask: how do you know when its time to leave?

I can see the final conclusion of our church’s current struggles and it would be me being asked to leave because there is no more money or children to eventually support a youth ministry. I’m scared because the only thing I know how to do is minister to students, and the opportunities to even do that are dwindling and would require a ton of sacrifice. Do I stay or do I go? Help. Painfully discouraged – I’d appreciate any insight or wisdom you may have.

I called this youth worker last week to talk through it and told him you would be weighing in as well. Take it to the comments!

JG

10 View Comments March 20, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts HSM Weekend in Review: Volume 175

Weekend Teaching Series: You Own the Weekend: Capo Valley HS (week 3 of 5)
Sermon in a Sentence: What is missing in your life?

Service Length: 63 minutes

Understandable Message: This week students took turns sharing about their life change from Jesus Christ. The message was taught by several students that told stories about when they first came to know Christ, and experiences where they grew in their relationship with Him. There was a clear theme through the weekend (what is missing) and the image of the puzzle piece and they walked people through the discipleship process from accepting Christ, to small groups, to growing in your faith, serving, etc. Clear, classic message that invited students to commit/rededicate their life to Christ.

Element of Fun/Positive Environment: Capo is the smallest representation of our student ministry (of the 5 schools we chose to do You Own the Weekend), but they sure showed up in full force. So proud of them with great decorations, gobs of energy, a great skit, lots of greeters and great T-shirts. I loved their little takeaway of a puzzle piece people could come get from the stage during the last song – they’ll be a great reminder of the weekend/message for many days to come.

Music Playlist: Streetlight, How He Loves, Tear Down the Walls, Avalanche, Hold Me Now, You’ll Come

Favorite Moment: I love walking into our student room and being greeting by a giant inflatable Cougar. The Capo High School mascot head was posed in the front entrance of the youth room and it looked EPIC. Combine that with a ton of great students greeting, it made for a perfect setting for students to be welcomed to church.

Up next:You Own the Weekend: El Toro High School (week 4 of 5)

Add Comment March 20, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: The Truth, and Nothing But the Truth

“Studies indicate that the average youth director lasts only 18 months.” So says George Gallup, the granddaddy of Christian pollsters. I’ve heard the same factoid quoted by esteemed youth ministry speakers, authors, academics, and average-Josephine youth leaders hundreds of times. So it’s gotta be true, right?

Here’s the trouble: I’ve attempted to trace this now-infamous truism back to a specific source, and I can’t find one anywhere. Gallup doesn’t cite a particular study. Neither does Barna. It’s a ghost vampire not even Buffy can kill. The 18-Month Myth is now part of youth ministry lore. It’s been used over and over to describe youth ministers as easily scared gypsies who bolt at the first sign of trouble.

Well, I’m here to tell you it’s all a bunch of bunk.

For years I’ve challenged people who reel off this 18-month statistic to cite their sources. I’ve disputed its authenticity for two reasons: (1) The average GROUP Magazine reader has five years of paid youth ministry experience and has stayed at the same church—both as a volunteer and paid staffer—for more than six years. (2) At conventions, workshops, and in casual conversations with youth ministers all over the country, I hardly ever meet one who bags it after a year-and-a-half.

So we here at GROUP decided to find out the truth, once and for all. We asked our research staff to complete a scientific survey of North American churches using a representative sampling of denominations. Here’s what we discovered:

• The average paid youth minister in America has just over four years experience (4.2 years, to be exact).
• The average paid youth minister in America has been at the same church for almost four years (3.9 years, to be exact).

So if you’ve been at your church for two years or more, you’re not the lone stable person in a crowd of easily-spooked, under-committed goofballs. And, if you’re a GROUP Magazine subscriber, it’s a good bet you’re even more committed to your profession and your church than those nefarious non-subscribers out there. (Hint: I’m not saying there’s a cause-effect relationship between reading GROUP and finding deeper success in youth ministry, but….)

Now I feel all squishy inside—the good kind of squishy. I hope you do, too. I need your help with a few other youth ministry myths I’m looking into right now, including:

#1—Youth ministry is a meat-grinder that will eat you alive, sooner or later. (I mean that rotten senior pastors, difficult parents, and non-appreciative kids await you at every church).

#2—If I create everything in my ministry from scratch, without using outside resources, I will have a more powerful youth ministry. (I mean using pre-packaged resources is not “purist.”)

#3—The goal of my youth ministry is to build close relationships among our kids, and between kids and adults. (I mean if kids in the group experience close friendships, you’ve already succeeded.)

Here’s how you can help: Please share with me any stories, experiences, or insights you have that refute or undermine any of these myths. Just email me at rlawrence@group.com. Thanks!

Rick Lawrence has been editor of GROUP Magazine for 24 years. He was gracious enough to offer up this guest post after participating in yesterday’s poll about youth workers and resumes.

3 View Comments March 20, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts The Future of the Church is … Your Youth Ministry

The future of youth ministry sure is a topic that has been getting some play for a while. And while that is very interesting to me, I thought it might be interesting to think about what we know is going to happen to the whole church in a few years:

The students in your ministry will be the parents in your church in 10 years
The students you are counseling, nudging and caring for are the parents in your church in a few years. These kids will be having kids (if you’ve been in youth ministry a while, it is a disconcerting feeling to say the least) and they will be the parents.

So? Teach them well. Step in as a role-model in single parent homes. Nudge students to honor and love their parents a little more this week. Help them realize that in the not-so-distant future they’ll be the mom and dad their teen is frustrated with. Oh, and help them stay pure in the meantime so parenthood doesn’t happen earlier than it should.

The students in your ministry will be the missionaries of the world in 12 years
The students who are on your Spring Break trip or with you in Costa Rica this summer are going to be the missionaries of the future. They are the ones to take the Gospel to the last people groups who haven’t heard and translate the Bible into the final most obscure languages.

If that’s true … Get as many of your students to experience missions as possible. Model servanthood to them. Fight for more scholarship money to get kids on these trips. Don’t hold back when it is time to push them.

The students in your ministry will run the church in 15 years
The students you are mentoring, discipling and reaching for Jesus right now are going to be the elders, deacons and pastors of the church. They are going to be making game-changing decisions about the standards of the church and the interpretation of the Bible. They are going to be hit with a myriad of huge decisions (our generation wrestled with but will largely leave to them).

My point? Disciple your students well. Make sure they are grounded in the Word. Make apologetics a priority. Give away leadership to them now so they have some experience when the church is given to them. So what is the future of the church? Look no further than your own youth ministry to see it today.

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.

Add Comment March 19, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts POLL: Is Your Resume Ready?

With all the talk about the average stay of a youth worker and youth ministry turnover in general, I thought it might be interesting to take a quick poll and see how close your resume is to ready-to-send-out. Vote now!

JG

[RSS readers: vote here]

2 View Comments March 19, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: Professional Development in Youth Ministry

I am a man that loves to further my education. I know that I do not know it all and have weaknesses and have found that education in some form or another has enabled me to improve on those weaknesses as well as further my strengths. Yet, many would say that they do not need it or simply do not have the time. Unfortunately, with stagnation can come “pond scum” and getting stuck in ruts that can make our faith bland or seemingly fake. We need to keep ourselves on our toes and challenging ourselves.

Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young. – Henry Ford

This week I will be headed to Youth for Christ’s Regional Conference for the central states. While here, I will be able to hang out with like-minded people who have a unique perspective on youth ministry and Christian faith. In this time, I hope that I will be refreshed, renewed, and learn a few things.

Continued Reading
I don’t know about you, but my stack of “need-to-read” list of books is immense and I’m constantly reading something. Currently, I have three different books I am going through at one time: The Millennials: Connecting to America’s Largest Generation by Thom Rainer and Jess Rainer, The Pastor: A Memoir by Eugene Peterson, and Connect: Real Relationships in a World of Isolation by Jonathan McKee. Keep reading to be inspired, encouraged, and learning for your own faith and your ministry.

Professional Classes
I am in my first year at Denver Seminary and loving every minute of it. Honestly, in the last twenty-one years of my life, I have not been in class for one year. This education is not for everyone, but the teachers and professors that challenge your thinking and community of learners to grow with is inspiring and spurs on creativity and passion. If you have not been in a classroom as a student for years, it might be scary. But do not let that scare you and prevent you for at least looking into this adventure.

Professional Conferences
Conferences are a great idea for those that can only commit a week to their professional development. It provides the community and courses for those that are willing to take the four to seven days and invest in the events. As I shared before, I will be going to Youth for Christ’s Regional Conference along with our biennial national conference’s MidWinter in February 2012. Two great conferences for youth workers are Simply Youth Ministry Conference and Youth Specialties’ National Youth Workers Convention.

Mentoring and Accountability
While all of these things are great ideas, they should all be done within accountability. This might be in the form of other youth workers or a mentor that is investing in you. In the end, learning does have great benefits but is still work. We need to have people who are our cheerleaders encouraging us on and at the same time a coach pushing us when we do not want to go any further. This encouragement and support can only make us better and improve our ministry.

Jeremy Smith is a 26-year old youth pastor at the Air Force Academy chapel, working for Club Beyond, and attending Denver Seminary for his Master”s of Arts in Counseling Ministries. He has been involved in Youth for Christ for eight years and absolutely loves sharing the life of Jesus with teens. Check out his blog at Seventy8Productions.

Add Comment March 18, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: Does Coolness Expire?

I was asked recently why/how I got into youth ministry. I told him clearly it was for the money!

After we had a good hearty laugh (sigh), I described how my great youth ministry experience as a student and in particular thinking my youth pastor was super cool got me thinking about getting into the ministry for myself. Besides giving him the Sunday school answer of “because God told me to” these were definitely catalysts the Lord used to make his calling me into ministry much more clear as I graduated high school.

This answer, however, spurred another question. He said, “You seem like a guy who students would think is cool, but you’re also a young guy. Will your coolness expire as you get older?”

I told him confidently that love, care, presence, and availability for students and a passion for God will always make me cool. It’s not about my clothes (lame), my knowledge of Justin Bieber or Kate Upton trivia (lacking), or my taste in movies and TV (vastly superior). It’s about pursuing God and being willing to engage students so they can do the same. I told him there were tons of youth pastors in their 40′s and 50′s and even more volunteers that age and older. It was a great opportunity to share the awesomeness of youth workers, especially the veterans!

I only hope I can be an effective youth worker 20 years from now and not take the sucker bait to accept the demotion to adult ministry… Well, unless God tells me to.

Matt Johnston is the High School Pastor at Journey of Faith in Manhattan Beach, CA. If you’re into it, you can check him out on twitter here and he blogs occasionally here. Also, be praying for him as he’s a Dodgers fan and baseball season is about to start. It will be a rough 6 months.

2 View Comments March 17, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts “Learn to Love” by The Cluster of Students

A song written for the 40 Days in the Word campaign (we called it The Book in Student Ministries). So good!

JG

2 View Comments March 16, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts Stage/Set Design from You Own the Weekend: Mission

We encourage each of the leaders of the You Own the Weekend series to decorate our youth room however they want – this week was really fun! The students from Mission Viejo High School did some cool stuff:

1) They had a “You Matter” built on stage
2) Students could come up and autograph the sign at the end of the message
3) They took pictures of all of the students at their high school and hung pictures of them all over with the words “You Matter” on the back.

Super cool – love letting students run!

JG

Add Comment March 16, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts 5 Questions with Brian Berry

Brian Berry is a youth worker and author of the just-released book, As for Me and My [Crazy] House from Group Publishing and Simply Youth Ministry. Brian was kind enough to answer a few questions for the blog!

Tell us about your new book, As for Me and My [Crazy] House!

It’s a book that flows from my everyday crazy life. I’m just your average guy who is sincerely trying to follow Jesus, love his wife, and raise his kids to love Jesus in the midst of being a full-time youth pastor. I’ve been a youth pastor in 2 churches for a total of 18 years and I’ve been married for about that same amount of time. I’m also parenting 5 kids: a freshman, 6th grade, and 4th grade sons along with 3rd grade twins: a son and the only daughter of our family.

Several years ago I felt like God spoke to me as I was praying for my marriage and I wrote down three sentences that flowed from that experience. This book is built around them, each taking up about a 1/3 of the book. They are:

the best gift I can give my marriage is a healthy me.
the best gift I can give my kids is a healthy marriage.
the best gift I can give my ministry and community is a healthy family.

What is your favorite story from the book? Were there any stories cut or deemed too far over the line?

Here’s one from the second chapter that still makes me laugh: “When our boys were little, they found great joy in naked running. No, we didn’t raise them in a nudist colony, but that didn’t stop them from running naked wherever they could. Change a diaper without a new one ready to go, and they’d likely break free running naked. Give them a bath, get mostly dry, and sprinting naked would often ensue. They evidently found great joy and laughter in the hilarity of naked feet slapping the floor and unrestricted movement of clothing-
free moments. We often would joke and call out ‘NAKED PARADE’ as they went by laughing. We even have a child who, if you sent him to the bathroom, would strip naked to poop. We called him the Naked Pooper. Thankfully, he only did this at home.”

Um, lots of stories were cut to keep the thing at a level I’d be willing to read myself. As for too far over the line… sure, but if I printed it here I’d be in trouble too Take me out for coffee and we’ll swap ridiculous stories.

That’s awesome – you’re on for coffee. Have you got a failure story from parenting just to prove you’re human?

A few months ago at Christmas we were shopping in the mall. We decided to stop and go to dinner. After we were done, we headed to the bookstore next door. We were in there for a good 15 minutes when this random lady walks up to us and says, “Hey, did I see you guys eating next door?” We said, “Yes, that was us.” Then she said, “Um, I think you left your daughter in there and she’s confused and crying.” We looked around and much to our horror, discovered Becky wasn’t with us. She’d gone to the bathroom and we left without her. Now, every time she goes to the bathroom at a restaurant she makes everyone at the table tell her we won’t leave without her before she’ll go.

I recently wanted to take my kids with me to Mexico to serve with our high school team and I had all 4 boys in my truck. I met the students and leaders at church and then discovered I had miscounted and I was 1 seat short. So I had to call my wife to come and get one of my kids. I won the loser dad of the year award that day.

do I need to go on?… this is getting painful.

Hahhaah … OK. So what would you say to the youth worker who doesn’t have a family yet, but wants to prepare for one well?

Rock on. Being married and raising kids is awesome and a joy. But it’s hard. Maybe the hardest thing you’ll ever try and do.

Getting married or having a kid will change your life, it just won’t change you. If you have trouble saying no or keeping your priorities straight between marriage and ministry now, a family will only compound the problem, not solve it. I honestly believe that the best gift you can give to your marriage and even to your kids is a healthy you. It all starts there. So take a good long look in the mirror, invite God to speak, and keep working on being the man or woman of God you’ve been created to be. Then when a spouse or kids are added to the mix, they’ll be so stoked you are who you are… most of the time

What is the key to balancing a great youth ministry life and a great family life?

Honestly, there is no key… or at least I haven’t found it. And if you read this book you’ll find out I actually think balance is a myth that we should rethink all together.

So to that end, I don’t have all the answers nor can I guarantee success. I don’t know how to do that and I’m not sure God even grants us that. But I can tell you I’m in the trenches with you in this. So I guess I’d say: take care of your soul, love your spouse, be a parent, and be a youth worker. In that order. That’s the road I’m on, and the only one I know how to write about and share with you. My conviction is that its also the path that has the greatest chance of landing myself, my marriage, my family, and my ministry in the will of God.

Thanks, Brian! And you can pick up Me and My Crazy House today!

JG