More Than Dodgeball | Youth Ministry Blog by Josh Griffin

Josh GriffinMore Posts Secrets Series Arc

This weekend we start our Secrets fall kickoff weekend teaching series. Thought it might benefit you to see where we’re going over the 2 weeks:

Week 1 – Why Do We Keep Secrets
Everyone has secrets! We are all broken and messed up. We all have seasons of life that includes ups and downs where we feel close and far to God and others. But our secrets make us sick. Too often we hear what the Enemy is saying – “you are trapped, you can’t overcome this, don’t tell anyone’ instead of what Jesus is saying – “you are forgiven, you are loved, let me carry this for you, you can do this.” Student testimony.

Week 2 – Dealing with Our Secrets
Get help! This week we’ll focus on being living in absolute transparency before God. How to be real, how to pray, how to make things right first with God then second with people. This message is about redemption, freedom, forgiveness and the cross. Includes a significant push for Life Groups.

JG

2 View Comments September 16, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts How to Set the Price for a Youth Ministry Event

Thought this article from Luke Trouten on youth ministry events was fantastic – it goes into practical detail about planning and preparing a big event. Some really great stuff here – read the little bit I’ve stolen here, head there for the whole piece. Awesome!

Find Your Range
Because of all those variables, you won’t be able to nail down an exact per-person cost for any trip. To make sure you don’t lose your shirt (or your job!) it’s important to figure out the best-case and worst-case scenarios for sign-ups. You want to make sure that if you sign-ups are particularly low you can still afford the event. It can also give you an idea of the minimum number of students you’d need before the event can pay for itself. Likewise, it’s important to know what happens to the price if everyone brings 5 friends to the retreat.

Our parent church goes to the same convention we do each spring, but they charge much less than we do. I assumed it was just because they have a larger budget and could afford to subsidize it more. Out of curiosity, I plugged in their numbers to my formula (they bring about 5 times as many students) and was amazed to find that the price plummeted for a group that big. Sometimes the per-person costs don’t work how you’d think.

Don’t Apologize for the Price
It can be tempting to apologize when an expensive event comes up. While it may feel like you’re winning points by sharing in the sticker-shock, ultimately you’re devaluing your own event. You should be confident that the trip or retreat your planning is worth every penny it costs (and more)! To be honest, most youth trips are a bargain, and planning a similar event for your family or school group would cost even more. When you apologize for the price you convey that it maybe isn’t worth that much to go to the event. People are willing to pay if they are confident they are getting a good value for a fair price. Don’t undermine it by insinuating maybe the event costs too much.

Offer Assistance
While you shouldn’t apologize for the price, you also shouldn’t let the price get in the way. The reality of trips is they cost money. The reality of life is that sometimes money is tight. If your church does fundraisers, that can help offset some of the cost. Our church has a few reasons why we don’t do fundraising. But we still say, over and over, that money should not be the only reason a student can’t attend an event. That’s right, if the only thing keeping a student from signing up is the cost, we take away that obstacle. We ask if they can afford part of the fee, and the church covers whatever is leftover.

If we are going to tell students to that God provides if we trust in him, then we better put our money where our mouth is. This has been our policy for years and it’s provided many opportunities to see God come through in powerful ways. One of my favorite sayings is, “If it’s God’s will, then it’s God’s bill,” and he’s picked up the tab (and created some great stories) more than once.

JG

2 View Comments September 15, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts Secrets Series Coming This Fall to HSM

In a few days we kickoff the new school year with a new weekend teaching series called Secrets. This past weekend we asked students to anonymously share their secrets on a card we provided. No names, no rules, just secrets. And a promise that we would address the topic full on the next couple of weeks. Some incredible things were shared … some pretty serious themes started to emerge, thought I would share them here:

Many teens aren’t virgins, but everyone including their parents thinks they are
Porn, sex, masturbation easily ranks as the number one set of issues
Self-worth, image, identity and values are probably the second most popular secret/struggle
Our students look good on the outside, but have all sorts of secrets just under the surface

More on this as we get into the series for sure … we may have just discovered the plan for the whole teaching calendar in this stack of paper.

JG

1 View Comments September 15, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts 6 Worries of a Youth Worker

Doug Franklin, LeaderTreks student leadership guru, wrote an amazing article about the 6 Worries of a Youth Worker. Here are the first three – head there for the rest. I resonated with them ALL (if not now in some point in my youth ministry career)! How about you?

6. Worried about numbers
The number one question youth workers answer most is, “How many students were at youth group this week?” If that is the questions it’s no wonder youth workers are worried about numbers.

5. Worried about pay
Youth workers don’t often make enough money and they are worried that they might have to change jobs or leave the ministry due to lack of funds. The money issues put pressure on their marriage. It also causes them to distrust church leaders and leads to conflict between them and the pastor.

4. Worried about fraud
I talk with youth workers all the time that have no idea on how to do their jobs. They didn’t get any training before they started and no one is mentoring them now. They are scared to death that the parents and the pastors are going to figure they don’t have any idea on how to help students in their faith. They were hired because students like them, not because they knew how to lead students, volunteers, parents and the church in youth ministry.

JG

3 View Comments September 14, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts The 4 Key Values of Our Student Ministry

Over the past several years we’ve begun to identify 4 key values that run throughout our entire student ministry. We want these four things to show up in our large group program on the weekend, in our small group program during the week and in all of our events, trips and even one-on-one interactions with students.

Want to know what they are? Glad you asked! Here are our 4, add yours in the comments section of this post, too!

Real
Students have the uncanny ability to sniff out the least bit of inauthenticity. If you’re faking it … they know it. We want our large group time to be filled with failure stories and real-life transparency. We hope that our small groups are hitting on real topics that matter to students and that real-life is being shared in each group. We want students to know that they can “be who they are” without the need to put on a mask, put on a spiritual performance etc.

Relational
Our student ministry must be relationally strong. While programs are important, there is nothing better than one-on-one time with students. We want to share in relationships and be personally involved and invested in the life of the students God trusted to us. We value people over programs and do everything we can to constantly provide opportunities for relationships. Note: Relational ministry is easy at first, but as your ministry grows, it becomes tougher. Don’t take relational youth ministry for granted. It doesn’t always happen automatically!

Relevant
One of the strongest advantages to youth ministry is the ability to relate the timeless truths of God to the teenage life. You’ve probably heard the old saying, “It’s a sin to bore teenagers with the gospel”. Making relevance a key value helps ensure you never commit that particular sin! Being relevant doesn’t mean you have to be super trendy, know the latest Lady Gaga song by heart, or that you keep up with the Kardashians, it simply means you create ministry experiences that are relevant to the life of a teenager. Our ministry must matter to students and hit them where they live their life.

Relaxed
It is our hope that students walk into our youth room and breath a sigh of relief! That their shoulders would drop as the tension is released from their bodies. That the worries and pressures teenage life drop off them, even if only for an hour or two. We want the urgency in our steps, the pace of our conversations and the environment we create to be relaxed and unhurried in every way.

Like we talked about yesterday, you need to know why your ministry exists…that’s why a purposes or vision statement is important. But you also need to know how you want your ministry to “feel”. That’s where values come in!

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.

Add Comment September 14, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts GIVEAWAY: Magnum Clock for Your Youth Room

For summer camp this year we ordered a Magnum Clock and loved it. It is great! We used a Magnum Clock at our High School Summer Camp this year and after camp we decided to make it a permanent addition to our student building. I asked them for one to giveaway here on More Than Dodgeball and they said yes! All you have to do is leave a comment on this post and you’re entered in the giveaway – I’ll pick the winner at random next Monday morning. It might go great in your youth room, in your office … or my personal favorite: in the main worship venue, so your senior pastor can see how long his/her sermon is going. Hahah! Enter now!

JG

318 View Comments September 13, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts SYMC 2012 Digital Conference Brochure

Open publication – Free publishing

Super excited to play a part in the Simply Youth Ministry Conference 2012. Hope you’ll join us – here’s a digital version of the new SYMC2012 brochure that just was mailed out. So excited – see you in March!

JG

1 View Comments September 12, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: Taking Humor More Seriously

We’ve gotta start taking humor more seriously!

Psalm 126:2 and Job 8:21 directly link laughter as a result of God’s blessing. Even so, humor sometimes gets a bad rap in church and ministry circles because we’ve seen it used so many times in ways that don’t glorify God. When utilized within God’s boundaries though (see Ephesians 5:4 to read how much God doesn’t laugh at bathroom humor), laughter is simply too great of a gift and too powerful a communication weapon to not harness for God’s glory.

Laughter is one of God’s greatest creations. Used creatively and effectively, it can attract people from all walks of life to His truth and ultimately, the Gospel. I’ve seen God at work through humor firsthand. It’s one of the reasons nearly 20,000 young people from 84 countries have prayed to receive Christ on TheDougAndJonShow.com. Yes, we share the Gospel — but we win a young person’s trust first by sharing some laughs.

Laughs break the ice. When communicating, in some cases you’ve got maybe 30 seconds before a person, especially a young person, decides whether they relate to you and will listen to what you have to say. When you start a conversation with a shared laugh, you can break down invisible walls in an instant.

Laughs change negative perceptions. We live in a world full of people that believe Christians are all Mr. and Mrs. Judge-ingtons. Their perception is we want to yell at them because they have sin in their lives. One shared laugh at our own shortcomings can communicate we’re not all the sticks in the mud they perceive us to be.

Laughs can help effectively communicate hard truths. Recently I taught at a church from Proverbs 4:23 on guarding your heart. I used a funny illustration about how there’s a stretch on Interstate 40 in Texas that assaults your nasal cavity because of all the cow farms in the community. Somehow though, the folks that live there don’t smell it because they’re used to it. From there I turned the corner into Christians not being able to “smell” the kind of entertainment that is offensive to God because we’re so accustomed to it. I call communicating hard truths this way as “putting velvet on a brick.” You don’t water down the hard truth — but you get people thinking about it on a deeper level because you delivered it in an entertaining and unexpected way. Not every truth in God’s Word is appropriate to illustrate with humor, but it’s wise to consider utilizing humor in ones where it works.

So laugh a little, and invite others to crack up with you! It’ll bring a bright spot into their day, and it might even give them a glimpse into the joy that comes from following such a great Savior.

This guest post was written by Doug Hutchcraft, co-founder of “The Doug and Jon Show.” If you want to know more about their ministry check out their website right here: http://www.thedougandjonshow.com/

Add Comment September 12, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts Group Magazine Live This Monday: Youth Leaders at Risk

Group Magazine Live
Topic: Youth Leaders at Rick
Hosts: Rick Lawrence & Toby Rowe
Guests: Andy Brazelton, Leneita Fix, Darren Sutton, PLUS tons of special surprise guests
When: Monday September 12th @12:30pm MST
Where: http://www.simplyyouthministry.tv/

GML’s second episode will discuss “Youth Leaders at Risk”. We will dive into the what, when, where, why, how a youth worker is to care for students, family, oh yeah and themselves! Guests will include cross-fit expert and 100 mile marathon veteran Andy Brazelton, Leneita Fix (founder of http://www.blueskygreensky.com/), and Darren Sutton (an in the trenches Youth Worker & Biggest Loser Applicant). Rick Lawrence (Editor of Group Magazine) will host, & Toby Rowe (of Group WorkCamps) will co-host. Together they’ll expand on the topic of “Youth Leaders at Risk”, and how to combat the struggles of ministry, life, and health in order to personally draw nearer to Jesus.

JG

1 View Comments September 11, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: Launching Into Fall

Last week was our student ministry’s fall launch week. Every ministry has seasons, especially student ministry. For us, there are 3: Fall (starting in August), Winter/Spring (starting in January), & Summer (starting in June). The rhythm of these ministry seasons calls for realignment behind your God-given vision and communicating that vision to your people. This means two things: 1) who you are & 2) where you’re going. The fall season is even more crucial in this respect because it tends to be the biggest surge of the year in youth ministry. Students are returning to school and getting back into the swing of things for the year. They tend to be a little more on task and more apt to attend service if invited. So communicating vision within the context of your fall launch is a great way to start off the ministry year. I did this in both our middle school/high-school & college/20-something services.

For YouthQuake, I reemphasized our Live Extraordinarily, Lead Creatively, & Love Extravagantly vision that I spent alot of time developing and communicating last year. Putting this discipleship process out in front from the very beginning of our fall season gives us a starting point for where we are going. In other words, it’s our identity…the “who we are.” Check out Geiger & Borton’s Simple Student Ministry and Rainer & Geiger’s Simple Church for details on developing a central vision and discipleship process. From there, I was able to preach a sermon around the “who we are” and the “where we are going.” Breaking down the Matthew 10 passage of Jesus gathering and sending his disciples gave us the foundation for two new initiatives in YouthQuake. First, the “gathering” part of the sermon served as a launching pad for our conversation and announcement of our LIVE groups, small groups and discipleship ministry. We’ve been moving in this direction and are finally pulling the trigger on the “next step” in YouthQuake using Doug Fields’ LIVE Curriculum. Jesus spoke to the multitudes and the thousands, but made his greatest impact in his small group of disciples. Rather than making a trite announcement saying, “Hey, you should signup for this new program,” we were able to communicate the biblical foundation for small groups, the whys behind it, AND the big picture of our vision in a matter of a half-hour. In turn, the response has been through the roof and LIVE groups are already getting full. When you communicate the vision behind the program, the program makes more sense.

Secondly, we emphasized the sending aspect of Matthew 10 when Jesus commissions his disciples to go out the the “lost sheep of Israel.” Go to YOUR immediate context, the people you’re with everyday. Preach the gospel. The kingdom is near. Do extraordinary things. Heal the sick. Raise the dead. In other words, LIVE. LEAD. LOVE. From here, we announced our Lifebook initiative which I posted back in April HERE. Again, rather than announce the saturation week as another event on the calendar, we were able to cast the vision for the Lifebook initiative within the context of the sending portion of Matthew 10. I already have students begging for books to take to their school.

We communicated two major initiatives for the fall and the central vision behind who we are on one of the biggest nights of our ministry year. When you have a larger, captive audience, take your opportunity to cast vision. When you cast vision, people catch it and run with it. It gets your core students recharged, your sporadic students plugged in, and your new students more interested. And it doesn’t have to be a boring, informational meeting. Tie it into the gospel and central message of Jesus. We are gathered to be sent and to declare the good news of Jesus. When you do that, people get why you’re really there. Visioncasting can be very spiritually impacting if you take it seriously. Best part of the night: we had a girl who came for her second time this week give her life to Jesus for the first time AND signup for small-groups AND the Lifebook initiative. Why? Because she felt the presence of God AND our desire to follow Jesus AND our heart to make an impact in our schools and she wanted in. Vision communicates hope and a future. And I’m excited for what God has in store.

Bradley K. Chandler is a graduate of Southeastern University and is the Student Ministries Pastor at Trinity Worship Center in Burlington, NC. Be sure to subscribe to his blog here — good stuff for sure.