Subscribe to the NetworkGUEST POST: Mission Critical Jobs
I’m taking a break and letting my brain breathe from a project that I’ve been working on this morning. (This is actually one that I’ve been working on for months and will probably continue to develop it for years) But what I’m working on is something I call Mission Critical Jobs. These are coordinator jobs that are critical to our youth ministry. It’s our goal to have a volunteer in each of these roles and empower them with the ability to do more than just fulfill a job description but to have a passion and vision for that ministry area and how it will help advance God’s work at our church and in our community. (Craig Groeschel once said “Delegate authority, not responsibility”)
Some may say, isn’t the youth minister supposed to do these jobs? Yes and No. Yes…the youth minister should oversee and work with these coordinators to see that all these major areas are being developed and led in a productive way. No…it would be near impossible for one person to truly devote themselves to all these areas. No one excels in all these areas. No one is a “people person”, a visionary, a detail-er, an organizer, a designer….you get the point. We all have strengths and so we should capitalize on those and let others with a different set of strengths focus on theirs and fill in those gaps where we struggle. Not only that, in the majority of churches, youth ministries are overseen by one youth minister and there is only so much one person (especially those with a family) can do.
That is why I am convinced that without a team of key, high-level volunteers, our youth ministry (and others) will quickly reach it’s wall of effectiveness and sooner or later, even begin to regress. So, if you’re in youth ministry, start today working on what your mission critical jobs are. Be sure to develop some sort of job description or at least a detailed list of responsibilities. Then, prioritize them in order of what is needed now and start finding people who want to do more than just chaperone a trip or bring in donuts. Find those adults who want to pour their heart into a vital part of youth ministry.
This will probably an ever growing and developing list but here are our Mission Critical Jobs right now (in no particular order)…
- Bible School Coordinator
- Breakaway Coordinator (our weekly youth worship)
- Sunday Night Coordinator
- Wednesday Night Coordinator
- Service Coordinator
- Mexico Mission Trip Coordinator
- Teen Lounge Coordinator (our youth room)
- Big Events Coordinator
- Shepherding Coordinator
- Outreach/Evangelism Coordinator
- Prayer Coordinator
- Volunteer Coordinator
- Technology Coordinator
- VBS Coordinator (don’t judge, believe it or not, our teen VBS draws a pretty large crowd)
Joe Thompson is the mission critical Youth Minister at Fairmount Christian Church. Check out his blog right here and tell him JG sent ya.
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