The gang over at Youth Ministry 360 are giving away a free Christmas lesson for your youth ministry. Here’s a description, head over there to pick it up!

The arrival of the Christmas season is hard to ignore. The rush to let people know “it’s that time of year” is ushered in with decorations, seasonal commercials, a blitz of specialty products, and that shopper’s nirvana known as Black Friday. Your students know the drill when it comes to Christmas. The “spiritual” part is the Bible stories, and church musicals and the “commercial” part is the wish lists and the tinsel. This year don’t let your students pass off the birth of Christ as just a story from the Bible. Lead students to see that the idea of a giving spirit is one of the keys to finding the real meaning of Christmas. This lesson will help you do just that.

JG

One of the simplest videos we’ve made in Saddleback’s HSM … but it made me laugh at every service this weekend! A little non-bumper bumper video for the Thanksgiving 1-off services.

JG

Every year we do a simple dinner-and-a-movie thank you dinner for our volunteers. We dress up all warm in pea coats and scarves and go all Christmas cheer on our team of weekend and small group volunteers. We encourage them to bring their spouses and in some instances even help them find childcare for the night. It is a great relational time with our team, and gives us a chance to love them and their spouse mid-year. They make a ton of sacrifices and we want them to be sure of our availability, love and confidence in them.

In addition to the free Italian buffet and discount movie pass we may put a resource or two on their place-setting. Was thinking today about what one we may do this year and came up with a few I like the best. Not sure if you’re planning on doing something like this, but both the dinner and the book are good uses of your youth ministry budget (if you have any left, or even have one in the first place). A few recommendations:

1) Emergency Response Handbook for Youth Ministry
This is one of my go-to resources to put in the hands of volunteers. Got an emergency? Flip through this little resource quick and you’ll probably get some next steps and a few things to say in the moment. Then call the church or my cell phone and we’ll talk through where to go from here.

2) The Hot Seat
This is a fun new resource I haven’t used yet – discussion starters and games for those long van-rides! If you’re looking to fill awkward silences or have a laugh together as you build relationships, this might be one to check out.

3) Breathe: Youth Worker Devotional
A short collection of devotionals specifically designed for youth workers. This is the one I’m leaning on to give my volunteers here at the mid-way point in the year.

4) The “What Do I Do When” book series
I’m not always sure what to do when I stumble into a confession or a problem with students – my volunteers are probably in that exact same situation, and some are even less prepared than I am. This series of books (around $5 each) helps your team know how to deal with bullying, abuse, suicide and much more. Great, practical stuff.

5) 1-year subscription to Group Magazine
A couple years back we gave a 1-year subscription to every one of our volunteers. It was the gift that kept on giving all year long! I think next year it might be time to this one again – especially since they added 6 free digital issues as well as the regular 6 print issues, too. Nice!

JG

Fun little video from this past (Thanksgiving) weekend’s services. Enjoy this James Bond-heavily influenced video. The ending is so epic. Hahahah!

JG

I haven’t heard of the groundSWELL online conference before today – an email was just forwarded to me by a friend – but I sure love this bold idea they’re trying. All of the speakers at their event will be between 13-19 years old! You can fill out the nomination form here (the event is sponsored by Leadership Network) if you’ve got a student who would be perfect for it!

JG

If you are a youth pastor at your church – you are stuck in the middle. Chances are, you are a few steps removed from the top leadership position (lead pastor) and probably at least one step removed from the bottom (church janitor). Is it possible to lead while being positioned like this? We think so! Here are a few suggestions that will help you have upward influence:

Honor the Decision You Disagree With
As somebody in the middle, you often get decisions handed down to you that you, in return, need to hand down to others. There’s nothing more painful and frustrating then being handed down decisions that seriously affect your world with which you had little or no input. At times it will be very tempting (and rightfully so…) to use your lack of involvement in the decision to your advantage. If it’s bad news that you are expected to communicate to others it will be easy to say, “this wasn’t my decision but…”. If you don’t like the ramifications of a decision, it will be tempting to “play dumb” and act like you misunderstood the directives because you weren’t in the room when decisions were made. Here’s the deal: If you want to be a leader, act like one! Man (or woman) up, and honor the decisions made above you and implement them in your world the way a healthy leader should.

Speak Up
Being in the middle is difficult because it isn’t always clear when your voice should be heard. Here’s what we think: speak up! Don’t interrupt your next elder meeting – but take the time to share your perspective and thoughts at inventive times. Maybe shoot a note to your senior pastor every week giving him/her an update on youth group and a better context for the decisions they will make. Just because you aren’t the #1 leader, doesn’t mean your voice isn’t important!

Support the leaders above you
Support the “old guard”. Don’t fall into the temptation to take part in “water cooler” talk that is negative. Look for opportunities to speak highly of the sr. leadership of the church. Besides, someday you’ll be the old guy up front and want to be treated the same way, too.

Shape Decisions Behind Scenes
You don’t have to be in the “important” meetings to influence decisions that are being made! Those meetings are where things get finalized, but the decisions are often made well before the formal meeting ever takes place. If something is on the table that is important to you, then figure out creative ways to make sure your input is heard. Take your boss out to coffee, and ask if you can share your thoughts on the topic. If he/she is a healthy leader, they will welcome lots of input concerning upcoming decisions they need to make.

Be a Team Player
If you really want to be taken seriously by the leaders in your church, it’s time to start caring about your church! Don’t allow yourself to only be concerned about the youth group. Look for ways to chip in and lend a hand in church-wide areas. When senior leadership sees that you care about the whole church, and not church your little area within it, you may be shocked at how quickly your influence increases.

Being stuck in the middle is never easy – but it is possible to lead from that challenging position. As a youth worker, it is something you have to expect. Lead on, friends!

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.

Facebook is an incredible tool for your youth ministry – if you’re not on it and engaging students than a great opportunity might be just ahead for you. For those of you that do, I’m curious – this week’s poll asks how much time you spend on the site (total, personal included). Vote in this week’s poll!

JG

I’m so blessed to have Aaron Crumbey on the high school team here at Saddleback – he is the epitome of someone who loves Jesus and loves students. He’s been blogging for a few weeks now, and I wanted to point you his way because I think you can learn a lot from him (I know I do) especially how he relates and cares for students. Here’s a clip of his most recent post about hand shakes and hugs. Head there for the whole story, and welcome him to the blogging world, too!

1. I want to be super intentional. – I want to make the best of every opportunity I get to effect a students life.  My intentions are to share Christ love for them through our time of interaction.  I do not apologize for my ulterior motive.ha
2. I make sure they have my attention. – I want them to know that I understand its important that they are here.  So for however long I’m with them I’m completely engaged.
3. I make sure I’m being myself. – The worse thing you can do is try and be your version of hip and cool.  You will come off super cheesy and weird.  You will be known for being that guy/woman who is super cheesy and to new students visiting for the first time they will tell every other student they know.  So just be yourself.  Remember you are not just representing yourself but you are representing the ministry.
4. I ask follow up questions. – this just says to the student “I really want to know how you are doing”.  You show their importance/your concern with follow up questions.  Even if they just say fine I move to a specific area of life like school, family or sports.

JG

Here’s a video recap of the first week from our Do Something series. Packing Christmas shoe boxes for needy kids in our area.

JG

A few years ago, NBC introduced a show that has really revolutionized the games we play in youth ministry, A Minute to Win It. I love these games, they are simple to set up, have a predetermined amount of time, and the students love playing them. I think the best part about these games is there is no shame. If a student can’t beat a game, they don’t have to walk back to their seat feeling like a loser, because the games are easy enough that anyone can do them and at the same time hard enough that no one can really do them.

Previous to this, there was another game show that many Youth Ministries borrowed ideas from, and its about to start airing new episodes again. I strongly urge you to think before you use any games from this show, and that show is Fear Factor. Now, I’m not against Fear Factor. When the show used to be on, I used to love watching it. So don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying Youth Pastors shouldn’t watch the show. This isn’t a blog post against Fear Factor at all.

The title of this post isn’t aimed at the show Fear Factor. No, I believe one of the greatest threats to youth ministry is what many call the “Disgusting” games.

I remember when I was in 7th grade, we played a game in Youth Group where there were 4 teams on one side of the room, and on the other, there were four grocery bags, and the idea was that one at a time, one person from each team would run over to the bag, and without looking, reach in, pull something out, and eat whatever they pulled out. They would be a variety of things, like maybe a snickers bar, maybe a can of coke, or maybe a jar of baby food and a jar of pickled pigs feet. Then the student had to run back across the room.

Or even the games where a student has to eat as many Twinkies as they can in a minute, but one of the twinkies they are given is full of mayonnaise instead of the cream filling. I’ve heard of more disgusting games, and am sure you have. But what I have also seen, specifically in middle school, is a real threat to ministry to specific students.

I had planned on writing a post about this at some point for the last few weeks, but my greatest encouragement came last night after Middle School when one of our girls came up to me afterwords and said “I really just want to thank you for not making us play any gross games. I never came to Middle School Mayhem because the first day I went in 6th grade, I had to bob for pigs feet. I don’t feel embarrassed playing your games though.”

I already was committed to never playing a gross game in our youth group, now I’m committed to trying to wake up others to think the same thing. Because here is the deal. This post is called “One of the greatest threats to youth ministry” because I honestly believe these kinds of games are extremely damaging to our ministry to students.

The First way they are damaging is because of the very nature of the game. When we play these games, and we ask for a volunteer, we really are asking for someone to come on stage and be laughed at while they get very uncomfortable. There’s no community building happening in this game, except for a community of students laughing at the contestant. Specifically for already shy kids, this can be an extremely painful experience, and like my student expressed last night, one that makes them not even want to come to youth group.

The second way they are damaging is they perpetuate the myth that Youth ministry is just a bunch of silly games. We have a lot of students in our church who don’t come to our youth ministry. I’m working at getting them involved, but I also know one of the things that has kept them out is the image of “just fun and games” that many youth ministries have adopted. If I was a parent, and I sent my student to youth group and they came home and said “I don’t feel well, we played dodgeball with fish tonight,” I’m not sure I’m ever letting my student go back there.

Call me crazy, but I just don’t see any benefit to playing disgusting games. I’d love to hear one if you have one, but for me, these kind of gross games serve as nothing but a threat to real ministry, and we will never do them.

What’s the grossest game you have ever heard of our played yourself?

If you use Gross games, why have you chosen to use them in your ministry?

If you don’t use gross games, why have you chosen not to?

Ben Read is the Student Ministries Director of Trinity Evangelical Church in North Reading, MA.