Josh GriffinMore Posts4 Ways to Unify a Team

A couple weeks back at our State of HSM annual meeting I shared a few things that I believe that make a good team great. Thought I would share them with you as well!

Vision
We all share a common, unifying vision in our high school ministry – seeing students on the outside of faith meet Him face to face (evangelism) and their lives be changed forever. And for those that have trusted Christ to be connected (fellowship), grow (discipleship), serve (ministry) and honor (worship) Christ deeper now and into adulthood. The clear vision helps bring a team of like-minded and passionate people together. If someone is out of line, the vision brings them back into the unity of the common vision.

Learning
This year our team is going to unify by learning together. We’re going to go to a conference together – the Simply Youth Ministry Conference this March – come hang with us! We’re going to go back to the basics and read Doug Fields’ 1st 2 Years in Youth Ministry together and have some discussions about our experiences and how we can grow together as youth workers. Youth pastors must keep learning and moving forward.

Laughter
It is so important to laugh together. I want us to play together. Have inside jokes. To dig a deep well of relationship that bond us together and make us quick to forgive and trust when hit with the unexpected.

Dependent on God/Prayer
Your walk with Jesus is critically important. This season we’re all reading the New Testament together. We’re trying to make sure our walk with Jesus is more visible and something we talk about as easily as we would Sherlock Holmes or the new Coldplay album (both of which are excellent by the way). Your walk with Jesus is person, but it is also communal. As a team we need to strive to e

JG

TagsComments Add Comment December 29, 2011

Josh GriffinMore PostsChristmas Services Announcement Video

Here are the announcements from Saddleback Church for our Christmas services. So fun to get to do this …

JG

TagsComments Add Comment December 29, 2011

Josh GriffinMore PostsGUEST POST: 11 Great Ministry Moments of 2011

  1. Meeting our new 7th graders — Every year we get to welcome in a new class of 7th graders into our Mid-High ministry. I have LOVED every one of these guys!
  2. Mission Trip to Arlington, TX — We sold out for this trip in 2 weeks and had an incredible time serving the city of Arlington, learning Spanish on the fly, and playing dodgeball in Cowboys Stadium!
  3. NERF War — It’s every kid’s dream: have a massive NERF war with no adults around. We expected a few students to come, but we blew the doors of the place and we’re STILL picking up ammo from it!
  4. Thanks for Abortion – Two years ago I spoke about abortion. Two days ago a student (who is now in high school) came up to me and thanked me for that message. This student has a friend who is struggling with what to do with her unborn child and that message two years ago has been really helpful!
  5. TRIBES — Last summer we did a 6-week competition designed to bring students to Christ through recreation. Towards the end, individual tribes were larger than our entire first night!
  6. DISCipleship Hole-In-One – We played disc golf all summer. I got a hole-in-one. The guys in my group got to see a reaction they’ll never forget. Moving on..
  7. Greeters Kidnapping a Student – We have a greeters team in our ministry. One Sunday they “kidnapped” a new student who had walked in with her parents and brought her down to the youth area. She’s been coming ever since.
  8. The Change to Cell Groups – We used to do small groups one way, realized it wasn’t achieving the goals for which it was designed, so we’ve overhauled the way we do things. Now our students are being pushed to be “on mission” and they don’t have teachers, they have coaches. It’s awesome!
  9. Night of Impact & Goats – We challenged our students to raise money to buy goats for an orphanage in Africa. In one month they raised enough money to buy over 13 goats!
  10. Transfer for the Gospel – One of my students (who grew up going to a private Christian school) decided to follow God and transfer to a public school this year so he could have MORE opportunity to share the Gospel. Put that in your pipe and smoke it cultural stereotype of teenage boys!
  11. My Entire Volunteer Team – Without my team, none of this could have happened. They love God and like teenagers and I am proud to serve with them in this crazy ministry to 7th, 8th, and 9th grade students!

Sean Kahlich is the Mid-High Youth Minister at The Kirk of the Hills — check out his youth ministry blog called Awaiting Epiteleo.

TagsComments Add Comment December 29, 2011

Josh GriffinMore PostsThe Youth Pastor Diet

Heading into New Years this weekend … might be time for a resolution or two? Photo courtesy of Group Magazine.

JG

TagsComments 2 View Comments December 28, 2011

Josh GriffinMore PostsOne Minute Bibles By the Case

A great way to help students get the New Year started right! Consider picking up a case of One Minute Bibles by Doug Fields, a great discipleship/spiritual discipline resource for students … might be good for you and/or your volunteers to do it alongside them, too!

JG

TagsComments Add Comment December 28, 2011

Josh GriffinMore PostsGUEST POST: Don’t Change the Culture

It’s very typical for a youth group to experience major changes when a new youth pastor is hired. It’s hard for the church and even harder for students. I remember when a youth pastor that I really looked up to left to take another job, I was stoked because he was offered a great job; yet also sad because the future of our youth group was unknown.

So what do you do if you are coming in to replace a youth pastor who was either fired or was offered a different job? Realize that every youth group around the country is different. From the students to the vibe; there is no book or guide that could fully prepare you. It is important to preserve this as students obviously enjoy the “culture” of the group. If they come every week, there is a reason.

While change is always good, making to many changes in the beginning of a new job can be detrimental. Students may question your motives and quite frankly wish that the previous youth pastor never left. Instead determine who the key students are and ask them what they like about a typical week of church. Find out what draws them to your specific church and how they think it could be even better.

Lastly, acknowledge that you are new and you are still getting systems and long term plans in place for the youth group. Students will be much more open to changes if they see the end goal and see that everything has been well thought out.

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!!

TagsComments 1 View Comments December 23, 2011

Josh GriffinMore PostsChristmas Verse Videos

Here are a couple of videos some of our students made that played in the HSM Christmas services. Super simple but very effective!

JG

TagsComments 1 View Comments December 22, 2011

Josh GriffinMore PostsHSM Weekend in Review: Volume 164

Weekend Teaching Series: Christmas Weekend (1-off)
Sermon in a Sentence: A student-run service of songs, teaching and Christmas fun.

Service Length: 76 minutes

Understandable Message: This weekend was all about Christmas – it was a 1-off celebration of the birth of Jesus. Students ran the entire service from top to bottom. Bryce got up first to introduce the subject for the weekend and the heart behind Christmas. He emphasied the true meaning of Christmas amid the lights, sounds and presents of the season. After a few songs AJ spoke about Jesus being the humble King and after another song Julia got up to speak about God’s holiness. They all had verses and Scripture when Ryan got up to teach he used a clip from The Guardian to bring home the idea of Jesus the Rescuer. We rounded out the program with a few more songs and an invitation at the end.

Element of Fun/Positive Environment: This weekend was a ton of fun with HSM’s new Christmas music video and hot chocolate and cookies after every service. Lots of energy and fun for the last high school services of 2011!

Music Playlist: Mary Did You Know, Silent Night, Born is the King, You Hold the World in Your Hands, O Holy Night, Savior of the World, Go/Joy to the World, Drummer Boy

Favorite Moment: See students basically run the entire service is so incredible. I love being taught by and being led in worship by students. My heart was so full after this weekend, that’s for sure!

Up next: No HSM services — Christmas services in big church!

TagsComments 1 View Comments December 21, 2011
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