More Than Dodgeball | Youth Ministry Blog by Josh Griffin

Geoff StewartMore Posts Feeding The Monster

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to meet with a fellow youth pastor named Landry who works at a Church in downtown Vancouver. Above is a photo I took as we walked around talking about life and the complexities and challenges of being in ministry (Landry really suffers for the Kingdom as you can tell). While we walked he expressed some frustrations with the other parts of ministry that often take time away from serving Youth. He was frustrated with the amount of meetings, the amount of bureaucracy and other elements that someone who is new to Church ministry might not know are part of the gig and he was simply looking for a healthy perspective on how to embrace it.

A friend of mine once referred to this as “Feeding The Monster”. He expressed his begrudging acceptance of attending board meetings, all-staff lunches, health and safety committee get-togethers and taking tickets at the Children’s department nativity presentation. For my friend it was not that any of these events was bad or had no value, but for each of us, we recognize that an hour spent doing something other than focusing on our students and leaders is an hour that we might not get back. This past week, on top of leading our student ministry, I preached at our main services, taught at our local Christian school and then did two funerals. It was hectic and exhausting but as I reminded Landry, its part of the deal.

When I get frustrated about meetings and pastoral requirements I have to remind myself of this:

The Youth Group Exists To Serve The Church, not the other way around. If it were not for the loving and prayerful generosity of the rest of the Church, our youth group would look much different. We exist as a part of the body of the church, to serve, support, encourage and be a part of all other ministries.

I Am Not Building My Own Church. When I put my head down long enough and focus, I can easily get in the mindset that my ministry is the only one, and convince myself it is the most effective. What happens is that I lose sight of that we are building The Church and if our goal is to have students successfully assimilate into the body, I need to be working with other departments to collaboratively plan for this to .

We Are Called To Be Pastors To The Whole Church. It took me a while to grow in my comfort level to pastoring people 2-3 times my age but as I have grown in that, I have watch God grow me in my patience and love for the older people in our church. Sadly there are weeks like this week where pastoring them means leading a memorial for two of them. Funerals are never easy, but it’s a role that I have grown into as the Lord has shown me that my leadership is wider than just leading our High School students.

The responsibilities that each of us take on outside of our specific roles can be frustrating and can seem like we are simply feeding the Church monster. But in reality its fulfilling our role as a pastor, and reinforces that we are a part of a much bigger story that is unfolding each week at our churches. The key is that we need to see it as a blessing to be a part of and not a burden to endure.

GS – Twitter

2 View Comments April 24, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts 5 Questions With Jon Erwin – Director of October Baby

A feature ﬁlm, dramatic TV series, documentaries, reality television, shorts, music videos and commercials – all of these are regulars for the Erwin Brothers, a writer/director duo of their new feature ﬁlm OCTOBER BABY. Here are MoreThanDodgeball.com’s 5 Questions with October Baby Co-director Jon Erwin

Movies have all sorts of inspirations and influences – certainly October Baby is the same. Would you share a little of the backstory to the film?

October Baby began when I heard Gianna Jessen speak. I heard her true story and it really shook me it moved me. It was amazing I didn’t know that there was such a thing called ‘abortion survivors.’ I didn’t know those two words can fit together.

The more I study the more I felt my brother and I needed to do something. So we set out to make the movie. we wanted to tell a story about a young girl named Hannah, a beautiful 19-year-old girl who discovers that she was adopted and was never told because she survived a failed abortion attempt. So she goes on a journey of discovery to find answers and ultimately finds the true power of forgiveness. We wanted to make a film that would make you laugh and make you cry and get caught up in a great love story, but most of all make you think about how beautiful and precious every life is.

I’m sure the goal wasn’t to make a pro-life film, but that is certainly how many people are characterizing it. What were your goals originally and have they changed now that people are beginning to see and respond to the film?

Our goal was to get people to talk. We felt this issue was very important to us and the more people talked about the value of life the better. we wanted to confront indifference and apathy more than anything.

I believe the film is much more than just a pro-life film. I think it’s a celebration of life. It’s about forgiveness, it’s about love, it’s about knowing who you are, it’s about a lot of different things, and most of all it’s about the power of forgiveness. But when I read about how people are experiencing the film and young girls who have decided to keep their child because of it, or women and men who have had abortions finding healing, that is really amazing to me.

So far are you pleased with the over response to the film? Any surprises in people’s reaction? Is the conversation surrounding the film what you had hoped?

We have been blown away by how people have responded to the film. Whether it’s the themes of forgiveness or the issue of the sanctity of life, people just react to the film in really deeply emotional ways. I have been surprised by the controversy and how much conversation the film has sparked. But seeing people talk about the film in the public arena and especially in the secular media I think it’s really great.

What scenes were in the original script or filmed that ended up on the cutting room floor?

All in all, we had to cut over 45 minutes of the movie. Some of those scenes I really, really love. But it’s all about making a great movie. So some of those scenes had to go. The one I was most sad about losing, was a scene that involved the character of Alana reconciling her relationship to Hannah.

In that scene she reveals that she had had an abortion and that is why she treated Hannah the way she did. It was a really powerful scene but it just didn’t flow with the rest of the movie so we had to lose it. But thank God for the DVD and all the extra features it will have!

Tell us about the resources that youth workers could use in conjunction with this film.

I’m very proud of the marketing and ministry team and everything that they’ve done to produce some great resources for the film. Lifeway has produced a great Bible Study specifically designed for youth groups. I think that the movie deals with a lot of themes that teens can relate to, and are currently dealing with. So I love the idea of getting resources into the hands of youth workers. I led the college ministry in my church for a year and I know how difficult that can be at times, and also how rewarding. So it’s amazing to create a movie that can be a useful tool and can help teens understand God’s perspective on issues they far everyday.

JG

1 View Comments April 24, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts Drive-by Cookies and Milk to Life Groups

Last week I ran around to a few Life Groups doing “drive-by” milk and cookies runs. It was so much fun! Here’s what I was hoping to accomplish:

Encourage some leaders: Picking out some leaders who I haven’t connected with or spent time with lately is essential.Young leaders, rookie leaders are good targets!
Help them finish strong: this time of year groups tend to get smaller and could fade here at the end. A little boost of energy/buzz this time of year.
Surprise some students: Nothing better than barging in the front door of a small group with a gallon of milk and 4 packages of cookies. I let the leaders know I’m coming, but keep students in the dark.

JG

4 View Comments April 24, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: No Fear

No fear. Do you remember when that brand that was popular like, years ago? I didn’t remember it either, until about 6 months ago. 6 months ago, my wife and I began the exciting journey to adopt our first child, a son, from Ethiopia. When we first started on this road, I had many fears. My fears were different than my wife’s though. Although I was excited about becoming a dad and bringing a baby home, fear crept in. While my wife was worrying about nursery plans, I was worried about where the $30,000+ was going to come from to get him home. While my wife was talking about “attachment plans” with me, I was worrying about how I was going to connect with a child that not only didn’t have my DNA, but was born in an entirely different part of the world. While my wife was dreaming of being a stay-at-home mom, I was worrying about how I would provide for my new family.

Don’t get me wrong, I am beyond excited to become a dad, and I know that I will love my son more than anything-but I allowed fear to get in my way. I allowed the enemy to get in. I began to think about my relationship with Christ, He didn’t worry about how much it would cost Him to save my life, so I was I worrying? I am not “biologically” Christ’s son, but He adopted me as His own, we don’t share DNA, we probably don’t look alike at all, but He loves me unconditionally, so why was I worrying? If I am calling myself a follower of Christ, why was I worrying about providing for my family when HE is the provider? God was and IS bigger than all of my fears. Is God bigger than $30,000? YES! Is God bigger than a language and cultural barrier? HE IS! 1 John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives our fear, because fear has to do with punishment.”

Why is it that we men have such a hard time talking about our fear? I know we all have it. Should we? No, but do we? Yes, we’re human. But God is so much bigger than that. I had forgotten that, I was trying to do things on my own, without asking for help (yes, typical male…)

Ephesians 3:20 has become a daily reminder for my wife and I as we walk this road to our son, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

So, I’m going to be bold and ask you to be a part of our story and our journey. My wife and I have the awesome opportunity to be the featured family on a great website called, Give1Save1. Here’s the goal, if everyone gives a dollar, we can help to get one child home. Easy right? But that’s not all, because it’s not all about us, I’m asking that you pray about what part God wants you to play in adoption and orphan care. Not everyone is called to adopt, but we as Christians are called to look after the orphan, so I ask you to be bold, have no fear and step out there in faith asking God what He might have you do.

Justin Nunes is the High School Director at Parkway Community Church in Fairfield, CA. Please head over to Give1Save1 and hear some more of their story, or check out their adoption blog and you can follow along as God writes the next chapter of the story.

3 View Comments April 23, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts GIVEAWAY: The Return of the Magnum Clock

Last year we bought a Magnum Clock for HSM and was totally impressed by the equipment and the company – I asked Dale if we could do a giveaway on the blog and it was the most popular contest of the year! Shocking how many people wanted one of these bad boys – so bought one after the didn’t win, too!

Well, I’ve got another one to giveaway (the TT4040-C with countdown/up features even) and all you have to do is leave a comment with the average sermon length of your senior pastor to be entered to win (mine is 67 minutes if we’re lucky – just kidding, Pastor Rick!). Easy as that – I’ll pick one at random on Wednesday. You in? Enter now!

JG

217 View Comments April 23, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts POLL: Graduated Seniors at Summer Camp

This year we’re making a change to our summer camp policy and allowing just-graduated seniors to attend camp. I’m excited about it and think that it will take a while for the culture to change but it could be really neat. From recent conversations I would think that allowing seniors to attend camp is probably the more common policy – seems like a best practice of many youth groups/churches. Of course, it depends on the camp rules as well! Vote in today’s poll and let’s see how it turns out.

JG

2 View Comments April 23, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: Love and Serve Students With Special Needs

A few years ago, my wife Jennifer and I were asked to organize and lead a one-day children’s and youth ministry training for churches in our state that were part of our denomination. We invited a few speakers to lead different seminars throughout the day for both volunteers and staff members from local churches. My wife–who has a degree in human development and extensive experience working with kids and adults with developmental disabilities–led a seminar at the end of the day on how to minister to kids with special needs. During the break before that last seminar, a group from a church that had traveled a few hours for the training packed up to get a jump on their trip home. They explained that they didn’t need to attend the last seminar anyways, because they didn’t have any kids in their church who were developmentally disabled.

My wife handled the conversation very graciously, even though she can be quite passionate about caring for people with special needs. On the inside, however, she was thinking, maybe there’s a REASON you don’t have any kids with special needs! It’s very possible that a family may have visited their church, but left after one Sunday (or even before church was over!) because it was very clear that church would not be a good environment for their autistic or developmentally disabled child or teenager. In fact, it may be that a family has visited your church, but did not stay because they didn’t feel like it wouldn’t be a good place for their special needs teenager.

Not every church or youth ministry of any size is able to perfectly accommodate and minister to any special need teenager that walks through their doors. However, there are a few things every church can–and should–do to be ready to love and serve students with special needs. Here’s a quick list:

Be ready to serve. A teenager with special needs and her family will be able to tell right off the bat if your church and youth ministry is willing to serve them or not. While you and I both know that a teenager with special needs matters just as much to God as anyone else, most special needs kids are treated as an outcast in one or more areas of their lives. And what did Jesus do with people that the world mistreated? He loved them with open arms. You may not be a doctor or have a degree in human development, but anyone can serve by welcoming someone with open arms.

Educate yourself about different kinds of disabilities. Thankfully, my wife is a walking library of how to serve kids with autism, Down syndrome, and other special needs, and she answers a ton of my questions. Find a good book on the topic, or better yet, get to know a special education teacher in your church. You don’t have to be an expert, but a little understanding can help you be a better youth worker to kids with special needs.

Show a little grace to parents. Before they found their way to your church, chances are that the parents of a special needs teenager have had less-than-ideal experiences in how schools, churches, or other organizations have treated their son or daughter. So, if a parent has a few more questions than you’re used to, or if they seem to be checking up on you a lot, that’s okay. They’re just trying to make sure their son or daughter is being taken care of.

Help them know Jesus. If the Bible is to believed, then God wants every human being to be reconciled to him through a relationship with Jesus (1 Timothy 2:4). The last time I checked, an IQ test was not a biblical requirement for learning about Jesus. If you take the extra time to help someone who might have a developmental delay or cognitive disability to know Jesus, you’re being faithful as a youth worker. One of the highlights of career as a youth pastor has been baptizing a special needs student who was more excited than anyone I’ve ever known to be baptized.

Integrate them into the ministry wherever possible. The answer to helping a group of special needs teenagers is not to give them their own small group. Help them be a part of your family by actually making them a part of your family. Get them in a small group. Let them lead in some way. Pair them up with another student to help them have a great time during your large group gathering.

Be flexible. Be willing to go out of your way to help a special needs teenager attend a retreat or be a part of a small group. You might even need to make an exception to one of your rules. Parents of special needs kids are used to being told “no” when it comes to things their kids can do. Go out of your way to find a way to able to tell them “yes.”

Remember, you don’t have to be an expert on working with teenagers with special needs to be able to make your youth ministry a welcoming place for them. You just need to be willing to serve and go the extra mile.

Benjer McVeigh serves as a pastor to students at Washington Heights Church in Ogden, Utah. He resides in Ogden with his wife, Jennifer, and his two daughters, Bethany and Samantha. He blogs at www.BenjerMcVeigh .com.

7 View Comments April 22, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: How to Kill the Sacred Cow In Your Ministry

I probably spent hours gluing, taping and screwing that stupid ping-pong table together, but throwing it away was the hardest thing to do. The students loved banging on it, playing extreme versions of table tennis and arm wrestling on it’s fragile corners. But, I was done, so one day we just got rid of it. The response from the students and even some of the leaders was of disappointment. I had taken away from them the one thing that meant a lot to them. So jokingly I would question them, “Does this mean you aren’t coming back to church?”

Of course they came back. Yet, after two years of begging I finally got another one. This time I went all in and got the “indestructible kind”. As soon as the students saw it you would have thought that I had just released them from prison. Shouts of praise emerged from their lips; they had their ping pong back.

Never did I worry that the ping-pong table was the central focus of the ministry; but, there are other things and programs that if we eliminate people go crazy. Most times people will get over an eliminated program; however, I’m willing to bet there is something in your ministry where if you got rid of it, people would tear off your head.

To them it’s essential to the life of the ministry; however, to you it’s just their:
SACRED COW

You know what I’m talking about, right? That event that you spend days upon weeks planning, only the fruit never outweighs the labor. The fundraiser that’s been a 10 year tradition; yet, it never brings in any money. The lock-in that never produces anything, but strung out, over sugared adolescence. In most cases you hate it, some people love it and there seems to be a lot of pressure to kill it. So how do you get rid of the SACRED COW in your ministry? You need to build a case by:

Listing The Pros And Cons – I know the strongest pro to ending any type of idol in your ministry is because you hate it; however, take into consideration many won’t find that a legitimate reason. There is always going to be something that we don’t enjoy, that we need to do; but, if what you are thinking about isn’t one of them, make a list. List out why you should keep it and why you should eliminate it. Granted people might not agree with you; however, they’ll respect a well thought out list.

Getting Some Backup – I’m blessed to have a pastor who will support me on 99% of my decisions. He’s entrusted me with the student ministry; therefore, I have final say. When people know that they tend to respect my decisions. But, if your pastor isn’t behind you, try to find people with clout who will support you. I know it sounds very suspicious; however, the people who might fight you, might do that because it’s you. Plus people will want to know you consulted others and that it isn’t a decision based on emotion.

Eliminating It For A Season – Lets say the emotion of getting rid of this program or event has consumed you. It’s fair to tell others that we are going to stop doing something temporarily. What that tells them is that you are willing to be wrong, you just want to see if there is another way of doing something. They’ll respect your flexibility.

Leaning On God – With conflict comes tension most of us don’t enjoy. If you strongly believe what you want to get rid of needs to go, and you know that there will be tension, lean into God. Maybe it’s spending some extra quiet time at the beginning of your day or having others pray alongside of you, just make sure you include God into all of your decisions.

We are all attached to something. No matter what it is, if someone were to take it from you, you would be upset. Doesn’t matter how much something harms or hurts your ministry, if people aren’t ready for you to get rid of it, they’ll fight. Take your time, build up your case and be as flexible as possible. When you show others that you’ve given something serious thought, they’ll trust you, even if they don’t agree.

What’s something that was hard for you to get rid of in your ministry?

Chris Wesley is the Director of Student Ministry at Church of the Nativity in Timonium, MD. You can read great articles and thoughts about youth ministry on his blog Marathon Youth Ministry.