Josh GriffinMore PostsBook Review: Sustainable Youth Ministry

Just finishing up Mark Devries’ Sustainable Youth Ministry – its a great read about lasting in youth ministry and building a ministry that lasts. I loved it! Here’s the deal – the font is a bit smaller than I like, there are almost no pictures and it is longer than I’m used to – but don’t let that turn you away from it like I almost did. The content shattered my initial thoughts about the book. Devries jumps into what he’s seen first-hand as a youth worker and unveils his generalizations about our profession based on his years in youth ministry consulting. My favorite learnings came from the momentum chapter and his idea to “flip the pyramid” on how we cast vision and minister alongside volunteers. He’s quick to put the new big picture youth ministry “normals” as well, diving into salary, search committees and staff to student ratios. I’m just about finished with the book – Dancing with Alligators is a chapter on church politics I want to devour before it devours me. Good stuff from start to finish. A

JG

Buy it today from Simply Youth Ministry!

TagsComments Add Comment March 15, 2009

Josh GriffinMore PostsFinding the Carrier for a Cell Phone Number

When using our Simply Text account to send text messages to students, we’re required to input a cell phone carrier in order to make sure the text messages get delivered. From time to time a carrier will be wrong and they will be removed from messaging, or we never got the carrier info in the first place. It isn’t always just as easy as asking a student for their correct information, especially since we promote joining the list at our entry-level programs and services.

I just found this website that allows you to lookup the carrier of any number (area code and prefix). We’ve added back in quite a few of those numbers that were stalled now and are back in business! If you’re already using the system (sign up for a full-featured 30-day free trial if you’re not) this should be a big help.

UPDATE: Jeremy sent me this site, too. Even better!

JG

TagsComments Add Comment March 14, 2009

Josh GriffinMore PostsSunday Old School Series Video

The dudes put together a little series video for the series (finishing this weekend) called Sunday Old School. Based on the now legendary Rick Cutout is My Friend.

JG

Comments Add Comment March 14, 2009

Josh GriffinMore PostsHow to Sell Students on Your Next Mission Trip

Here’s something I’ve learned this week after watching registrations only trickle in for our Spring Break mission trip. You could blame it on the economy, or the fact that we haven’t offered this particular trip before – and certainly those are all factors that have impacted the bottom line. But here’s another reason that I think is coming into play – I’m not sure I ever totally sold students on the trip:

We’re good at telling logistics and details. This is part of the job that has to be done – disseminate all of the details about the event or trip. Pre-meetings, requirements to go, cost, safety concerns and everything else that parents need to make sure you have thought things through and the assurance their child will be safe. Our blog is filled with information, parent emails have been religiously sent out and “big church” has given us a spot for this info in the bulletin the last couple of weeks. The information is out there for sure. You HAVE to do this.

We need to get better at telling the story. This is the part of the trip that we really should be telling – at the very least alongside the logistics information. I would rather we lead with the vision, heart and impact and follow-up with the details. This is the heart, the face, the reason we’re going – a call to action and an ask for them to get involved with the mission. These are the images and stories of why this trip is important, the very reason why we’re going in the first place. A picture tells a thousand words, but too often our flyers and websites are filled with mindless text instead of illustrations that will compel the heart. You don’t HAVE to do this (and I’m not convinced we did this enough this time around), you NEED to do this.

When you start promoting your next mission trip, start with the heart and let the details follow.

JG

Comments 16 View Comments March 12, 2009

Josh GriffinMore PostsSmall Group Mid Year Encouragement Video

Shot this little video today to send to our small group leaders. Had fun with the annotations editor in YouTube, too.

JG

TagsComments Add Comment March 12, 2009

Josh GriffinMore Posts4 Red Flags Before You Make the Hire

Been thinking recently about some of the processes of hiring a new team member. Here are some of the thoughts I’ve been tracking on to help our high school ministry make the right hire. 4 Red Flags to look out for:

RED FLAG 1 – bouncing all over the place. This is a big warning sign to me – consistency is a huge issue in youth ministry. If you’ve made it more than 5 years at a place, it means you’ve seen the good, bad and ugly of church work. Youth workers that bounce from church to church too often miss out on the pains and the rewards of long-term ministry. A person with multiple positions over the course of the past few years doesn’t automatically disqualify them, but it concerns me right off the bat.

RED FLAG 2 – glowing references from everyone. If the person is perfect, we don’t want them here because we’ll ruin them! While I appreciate good references, being able to hear about a candidates weaknesses or tendencies is a big deal. References that love you but also know you all around are more helpful than the ones that say nothing less then stellar things.

RED FLAG 3 – lack of personality. This is a tough one to see in a resume, but easy to spot in person. Not everyone has to be like me – people-crazy to a fault – you don’t have to even be a people person for that matter, but please show me a pulse. Show me that you’ve got some passion. Show me that there are some things you get excited about, you get angry about and that you dream about.

RED FLAG 4 – little evidence of their relationship with God. You don’t have to use Jesus in every other sentence, but your walk with God should be clearly evident. If a walk with God isn’t showing up somewhere day one, move along to someone else.

JG

TagsComments Add Comment March 11, 2009

Josh GriffinMore PostsAnd The Winner of American Idol is …

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American Idol is in full swing this year and the predictions are starting to roll in. As for me, I happy to throw my weight (a considerable 309 lbs, I might add) behind Danny Gokey. Rob sent me a link to his church website back home and it’s great to see another person from the church doing so well on the Idol stage.

Danny will win hands down … and running away with it, I think. If you have any connection to an American Idol contestant, a friend of mine has a great ministry to Idol contestants, too and you’re always welcome at Saddleback. So great!

JG

Comments Add Comment March 11, 2009

Josh GriffinMore PostsInterview with Terrace Crawford

Terrace sent me a bunch of questions to answer for an interview on his blog. It was a fun interview, that only took me about 6 weeks to answer via email. Check it out if you’d like!

JG

Comments Add Comment March 11, 2009

Josh GriffinMore PostsMy Middle Name is Peter

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Yup. Joshua Peter Griffin.

JG

Comments Add Comment March 10, 2009

Josh GriffinMore PostsLucas Starts Casting the Star Wars TV Show

Big news … George Lucas has started the casting process for the Star Wars live-action television show.

A live-action TV series set in the “Star Wars” cosmos has been an elusive, tantalizing prospect for years. News of the potential production first surfaced in 2005 while George Lucas was promoting “Revenge of the Sith.” Work on the “Clones Wars” animated feature film and Cartoon Network series, though, took creative precedence. In late 2007, Lucas revealed that he and his team were about to begin writing scripts for the live-action show. Now MTV News has learned that casting for the series is currently underway.

JG

Comments Add Comment March 10, 2009
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