Josh Griffin | More Than Dodgeball

Josh GriffinMore Posts HSM Talks: Meet Parker

Fun video this weekend in HSM introducing a newer staff member to our students. Ive got a feeling that HSM Talks is going to be a regular part of our services for a while. Ha!

JG

Add Comment May 17, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts 5 Books I’m Reading This Summer

The schedule of summer for me means way more relational time with students – and it also means I finally get through the stack of books that I’ve been meaning to get to all year. Here’s the 5 books I’m hoping to tackle the next couple of months.

Onward – this book was given to me by Kurt Johnston and I’m starting it first. Excited to read about Starbucks recovery several years ago. Fascinated with them already, excited to get an inside look at how they work/think.

The Indispensable Youth Pastor – Aside from Onward, this is the book I’m most excited about on the list. Looks like Mark Devries has put together another winner.

Launching Missional Communities – This resource was sent to me by the authors late this past fall, and I like it because it sounds so outside of my normal thinking.

Teenology – This is one of Jim Burns latest books on raising teenagers. He just spoke recently at our church, and it reminded me to make sure to read this since I work with kids, and it won’t be too long before we have a teen of our own around the house. Wild!

The Volunteer’s Field Guide to Youth Ministry – I’m looking at this as a potential resource for our incoming volunteers this fall. Not sure if it’ll be something we use, but want to check it out this summer.

What’s on your summer reading list?

JG

5 View Comments May 16, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts 5 Ways to Squeeze More Out Of Your Youth Ministry Schedule

I might not be the best person to take time management advice from – I perpetually run about 15 minutes late to everything. So I don’t have it all together but have found a few ways to squeeze a little extra productivity out of the work week. Here are a few of the ones I like the most:

Get a 10-minute jump start on your day the night before
This one might not be the best one for everyone in case it would upset your restful sleep – but for me I can get a ton of work started if I do a quick check in right before bed. Once the family is set for the night and the house is quiet, I like to steal 10 minutes on webmail to set the day tomorrow. Maybe a quick scan of the calendar, a short reply, or an awareness of tomorrow’s challenges help me prepare mentally for the next day.

Turn off work on your day(s) off
When it is time to be off – be off! I realize that many church cell phones are also your personal phone, but you’ve got to shut them down. If you play hard, it’ll help you focus on work when it is time to work. Religiously take a day off, and make sure you’re really off.

Ditch TV unless you’re exercising or being productive
A great way to make sure you get both exercise and entertainment in during the week is to combine them. If you find yourself killing too much time on the couch, limit the amount of TV you watch by time on the treadmill. You might be surprised by what you could do (start a blog, write a book) if you force yourself to be productive at the same time or drop TV altogether.

Cut the distractions in the office
Turn off your email alerts. Disable Facebook’s constant stream of interruptions. Make sure Twitter isn’t always stealing your focus and concentration. Close your door if you have to. When you give yourself wholly to a task or complete it, reward yourself with a social media break or walk around the church office.

Lump similar tasks together
Let’s say you have to make 5 phone calls, write 15 cards, return 16 emails and work on budgets with multiple people. By putting these tasks into chunks of time you’ll be able to knock them out more quickly. Get in a rhythm, crank out the calls or projects all at once.

How do you squeeze more work into your work week?

JG

6 View Comments May 16, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: A Student’s Definition of TIME

In the next minute or so I will teach you how to become the coolest youth pastor, increase your average attendance and get real results. The best part is, all you have to do is understand the teenagers definition of one word: Time. There is no better way to spend these next few minutes than to keep reading.

Students often compare things. For example – I have 10 minutes; should I go on Facebook or start homework.

But what about when they have an Hour or Two; is Youth Group more important than studying for a test, or watching the latest episode of Glee?

Here is the thing you need to realize: students only show up if they are benefiting, growing or see the value of going to church each week.

So as a youth pastor you need to utilize all your resources to make your youth group a place students value in all aspects. From hanging out with friends to learning more about God; you need to make it the best possible value for their hour and a half that night.

Their are tons of options on how to do this. My personal favorite is bringing in a Guest Speaker for a week or two. Its a great opportunity to promote ahead of time and encourage every student to show up. Maybe even offer free food depending on how big your budget is, because students love free food.

Encourage students to invest in their church; from sharing their testimony to running the slides during worship, always offer ways for students to add value. Another big thing is to start and end on time. Brain storm some ideas and maybe even ask a couple students what they would change or add.

Just remember this cold honest truth (right or wrong); students compare the value of activities and you need to make church the best value out there.

Chase Miller is a High School student from Orange County, CA. He loves to surf, tweets occasionally and would love to Guest Post on your Blog!!

Add Comment May 15, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: How to Make Tough Decisions

The other day I had lunch with Dustin.* He’s like a lot of you: He has a full-time job but serves as his church’s Youth Pastor as well. He shared that this year he had to remove a student from the youth ministry because this sixth grade boy has some anger issues and had become a distraction for the whole group. There were numerous times when this student would just break down and have a fit in the middle of the youth room.

Dustin is now ready to consider allowing this boy to return to the ministry. As he’s been discussing this, some parents of regular attenders have shared something to the effect of, “If you allow this boy to return, I won’t be bringing my kids anymore.” Dustin and I discussed how to minister best to this student, while still allowing for the concerns of the parents. When tough decisions need to be made, here’s a short process that might help:

Consult input from your leadership team and other wise council and determine when and how to allow this boy to return. (See how to bring him back here!)
Communicate with current parents and students that you (and the leadership team) have made the decision that you think is best both for the ministry and for this boy.
Carry through with your decision. You’ve prayerfully considered this. You’ve sought wisdom. You’ve made a choice. Now act on it. Let the parents make whatever choice they want.
Care for everyone, always (including parents that might have pulled their students out.) Even if they leave for a season, don’t love them any less than Christ.

Are there any steps I missed? Any you disagree with? Let me know in the comments below!

*His real name has been changed to Dustin for this blog post.

Tim Hart is has recently started blogging. You might want to check out his stuff at Unpaid Youth Pastor.

1 View Comments May 14, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts Free Evangelism Training this Tuesday

Don’t know you’ve heard about Dare 2 Share’s interactive webinar training this Tuesday (May 17th) with Greg Stier. It is designed for youth leaders who are nervous about evangelism and looks super. Check out Evangephobia for more details and to sign up!

Evangelism. For many, this word conjures up images of a street-corner preacher or a madman using a bullhorn and thumping people on the head with a Bible. But are those the only options? Join Greg Stier, President of Dare 2 Share Ministries for a lively, interactive webcast about sharing our faith and its role in youth ministry. You and other youth leaders will explore some of the most common fears surrounding evangelism, learn how it can help accelerate spiritual growth in your teenagers, and discover simple steps you can take to make it fit within your current youth ministry.

JG

Add Comment May 14, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts Simply Youth Ministry Podcast: Episode 161

Welcome back Doug Fields with his co-host, Katie Edwards, and his co-co-host Josh Griffin. Dont forget the star of the show Matt McGill. This episode has some crazy stories and questions, so make sure you listen all the way to the end. We have a revenge of the nerds segment to kick off the show listening to Matt go on about Settlers of Katan board game. That ends quickly and they answer your questions about Parent / Student activities for incoming students, weird volunteer stories, using Facebook to confront a student, communicating with students from a past ministry, Cell phone / Internet rules during youth group, medical marijuana use by volunteers and telling parents about students sex life.

JG

Add Comment May 13, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts D6 Conference This September

I’m pumped to be invited to this year’s D6 Conference this September in Dallas. Here’s their latest video, really convicting stuff. For more on d6, hit up this link.

JG