Hilarious. (courtesy of FailBlog)

JG

Another really great video from YS. Maybe rip it and show it at your next volunteer meeting to remind them that what they do matters!

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Episode 137 of the Simply Youth Ministry Podcast hits today – enjoy the show – just enough youth ministry so you don’t feel guilty for listening

JG

Weekend Teaching Series: Trinity (week 2 of 3)
Sermon in a Sentence: A focus on the 2nd person of the Trinity (3 Persons = 1 God) and welcoming in the new freshman.
Service Length: 73 minutes

Understandable Message: This weekend’s message focused on the 2nd part of the Trinity: God the Son Jesus Christ. Once again a challenge teaching this in a creative and understandable way at our entry-level program, but thought the students grasped the concept. We talk a lot about Jesus in our student ministry (shocker I know!) – so it felt more like a normal talk then the second part of the series, honestly. We talked a lot about Jesus the hero of the Bible and over sin, and compared him to the world’s view of him as a good man and prophet.

Element of Fun/Positive Environment: We planned some extra fun elements this weekend as we welcomed in the freshman to HSM. This was promotion weekend, so we played a Minute to Win It Game called Junk in the Trunk then a chaotic and messy crowd game called Flight Control. Everyone seemed to be having a lot of fun at the service – we made it a point to use freshman in the programs and they even created one of the videos we used this weekend, too. And instead of typical (read: boring) announcements, we did a live newscast of sorts that was fun, too!

Music Playlist: Jesus Take the Wheel (remix), Jesus Saves, Flight Control, Savior King, Salvation is Here

Favorite Moment: I loved the game Flight Control – where everyone in the crowd makes a paper airplane and throws it at a runway we created with tape on stage. The closest wins a prize – it is so fun to watch them all come flying in!

Up Next: Trinity (series finale, week 3 of 3)

This weekend we launched a project we’ve been working on for several months – I’m really proud of it and the team that have put it together. We built some self-service pastoral care racks and filled them with brochures and postcards that help address common issues students face. I’ve been thinking of it as a way for students to get help and go deeper on their own, when they’re ready for a baby step forward. We’re hoping that they really take off – here’s some of the heart/strategy behind it:

• The brochure racks are always there, so students can find help outside of service times.
• They can pick up 1 or several that might interest them.
• A hole is punched in the top of them so they can put them on their HSM hook.
• Brochures focus on helping students learn about Christian doctrine and real-life issues.
• We wrote and included some goofy topics as well for fun. Each category has a clear color, too.
• There are 5 racks around The Refinery, we figured why not really make them available if we’re gonna do it.
• We also include other relevant handouts/information in the racks as well (like summer calendars).
• Volunteers will refill the racks as needed. Seeing what brochures ae being taken give us a pulse of the needs of our students.
• Parents get a good glimpse at what we believe/are teaching their students.
• Students that are afraid to admit a problem or talk to someone face to face about it yet can find help.
• Next steps are clear – small groups, baptism, etc.

The writing of the content took far longer than we expected – but it turned out REALLY strong. Interested to see which ones get taken first …

JG

Fun little intro video before our live news bit in a weekend service – trying to be a little creative with announcements!

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The poll of the week: is your youth ministry split into separate junior and senior high programs?

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I posted 5 camp leader expectations earlier in the week – here are the remaining seven expectations for Summer Camp volunteers. We had an amazing camp volunteer leader meeting this past week – and leave for camp in eight days!

Follow the Rules and Enforce the Rules
Students will always look to leaders to see how far they can push the rules. It is important that you are following the rules as well as enforcing them.

Respect the Staff and Campus
Please respect the campus and the camp staff. If the camp staff asks you to do something…please do it…and make sure your students are do the same.

Model Christianity
Possibly our greatest ministry is modeling what Christianity is all about.  This will happen through our love for them, our passion over our relationship with God, our attitude, and through our servant heart.

Know Where Your Students Are
You are responsible for knowing where the students from your cabin are at all times. Whenever you sit down for a meal or show up for an activity do a quick head count to make sure they are all there…and go find them if they are not. Unless it says optional next to an activity on the schedule, every student should be at every activity.

Be On Time
Please help your cabin be on time to all meals and events. We have created a schedule for a reason and with such a large group even one cabin being late can throw something off.

Stick to Ministering to Your Same Gender
If you are a male you need to be ministering to male students and if you are a female you need to be ministering to female students. That doesn’t mean you can’t spend time with students of the opposite gender, but MOST of your time should be spent with students who are of your same gender.

No Pranks. No Exceptions.
Everyone likes to have fun, but when one person starts a prank the next person always takes it to another level.  We want our students to have a good time.  It is possible to have fun and be relational without wedgies, licorice slapping, excessive AXE body spray, nakedness, handcuffs, and stuffing small freshman in a duffle bag.  Please help us protect our students, our ministry, and the integrity of our church.

JG

This weekend is freshman promotion weekend – the weekend that in our church culture we bring in the new kids for their first weekend in our high school ministry. It is an awesome weekend, we a little extra programming and a strong welcoming environment.

It also creates the perfect opportunity for us to re-launch a weekend ministry team: greeting! This weekend some students will launch “Shake It” a simple plan to help students get greeted at the door, a conversation with inside and make sure no on sits alone. Excited!

JG

We had an amazing leader’s meeting the other night for our summer camp volunteers. We listed out a dozen or so expectations we have of our summer camp team, here’s the first 5 if you’re interested in adapting them for your setting, too:

This Is the Student’s Trip
We need to do everything possible to make this the greatest week of their life. In our role of leadership we need to model servanthood and take our turn last at everything.

Know Everyone’s Names
By the end of dinner the first night you should know everyone’s name in your cabin. Also, please work to learn student’s name outside of your cabin.

Be Highly Relational
This trip is our “big-time” relational trip (building significant relationships is the backbone of our ministry). Of course you will need to steal a few quick moments for some personal time to hang out, but the majority of your time should be spent investing in the students in your cabin. You should be exhausted by the end of the week from working on relationships.

Maintain a Great Attitude
Without question, the attitude of the leader will set the tone for the entire cabin. If the students in your cabin complain about something, they will listen for leader’s response. Keep positive and free from complaining, and you will see the students do the same. Your attitude is crucial.

Don’t Be Afraid To Discipline
Our philosophy is to discipline with grace and truth. Grace enters in when we remind ourselves they are high school students and we need to allow them the freedom to be teenagers. The truth enters in when there is a need to speak honestly about their behavior. If there is a relationship built you shouldn’t have any problem (rules without relationships lead to rebellion). If you need help or are unsure to how to handle a student feel free to talk to bring it up at the leader meeting.

JG

The latest episode of the Simply Youth Ministry Podcast: Episode 136. Enjoy!

JG

Pastor Rick asked us each to submit our teaching/spiritual development plans for our areas of ministry – his desire was to refine the alignment of how we disciple from literal infancy to spiritual maturity as a graduate of high school. Here’s a little bit of the answer I gave in the profile of HSM. The answer for small groups was easy – we are going to exclusively use the LIVE Small Group material next year in life groups. Our weekend answer mostly revolved around these three categories of broad teaching topics:

Felt-needs. What are students dealing with we want to address? Topical teaching from God’s word. Topics are chosen that students want/need to hear about and practical instruction about how a follower of Jesus should respond to this topic. Example: the series we did this Spring called, “The Sex” about guys, girls, self-worth, premarital sex, marriage and more.

Doctrine. What do our students need to know about God and faith? What are the basic Christian doctrines essential to understanding God and theology? How do students define and defend their faith in God? Example: our apologetics series called Q from this Spring, or our current series called Trinity.

Bible survey. Survey of the books of the Bible. We want students to get holistic teaching and an understanding. Example: We’re doing a series called 5 Ways to be Awesome, which is really a 5-week chapter study on the book of James. Our summer Midweek program is an 8-week expositional study of Ephesians.

JG

One of our small group leaders named Dennis (who runs volunteeryouthministry.com) had a great post about challenging his small group boys with next steps over the summer. Some good stuff in

1. Grow spiritually! Just as they should be further along spiritually than they were when the school year began, they should be further along spiritually in the Fall when we come back together for small groups. To help them do that, I remind them of some of our discipleship tools (HABITS – see the link below) they can do on their own. I actually have a few copies there so they can take something with them if they choose.

2. Stay connected! Even though we are not having small groups over the summer, there are plenty of ways for them to stay connected through the church. I have plenty of our ministry’s summer calendars so those who don’t already have them can grab one. I especially highlight our summer camp because that’s where the best connections and spiritual decisions are made.

JG

A great new article from Doug and Matt in their their YouthMinistry.com Daily email that went out today. It featured some great thoughts on planning in youth ministry. Here’s a clip, head there for the rest (and subscribe to get them all for free, too):

Planning allows you to be strategic. When you spend time to think ahead, you get to ask and answer the question, “What is most important?” Last minute planning often results into default actions that appear to simply “fill up the calendar” and lack strategy. When you determine your priorities ahead of time, you can focus on them more intentionally and have the time to carefully discern where God might be leading your ministry.

Planning leads to healthy ministry. Just because there motion and activity doesn’t necessarily mean your ministry is effective and healthy. We believe that many youth ministries could cut out half of what they are doing and would actually be healthier. Taking time to plan allows you to evaluate the health of your ministry.

Planning gives you a chance to gather feedback from others. Once you have a planning draft you can gather feedback from the wisdom of others. It can be a good leadership move to allow people to chime in during the early phases of planning while everything is still a “work in progress”. More eyes on your planning (the right eyes) usually equates to more wisdom. When ministry is last minute, people can only judge after the fact… which makes it easy to be critical, and difficult for you!

JG

Volunteer Rap from Kensington on Vimeo.

Jason sent me this great new rap video his buddy over at Kensington Church used to thank their volunteers. Brilliant!

JG

Simple series video we made for the Trinity series. Made with Motion 4 on the Mac (part of Final Cut Studio, not sure if you can buy it separately). If you want to make your own motions, might be a good piece of software to pick up!

JG

Weekend Teaching Series: Trinity (series premiere, week 1 of 3)
Sermon in a Sentence: An overview of the trinity (3 Persons = 1 God) and a focus on God the Father.
Service Length: 59 minutes

Understandable Message: This weekend I did the opening message of the Trinity series. It was fun and challenging to teach a pretty difficult part of Christian theology to our entry-level crowd. I opened up with a bunch of illustrations on things that are 3-in-1, including our bodies, trees, water and Neapolitan ice cream. Then we talked in overview about God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit. Then we turned a corner to focus on the story of the Prodigal Son – and how in that parable Jesus was teaching us about what our Heavenly Father (God the Father of the Trinity) is like. Really cool to teach this message against the backdrop of Father’s Day, too!

Element of Fun/Positive Environment: We played a fun Minute to Win It game called Kleenex Chaos – 3 student contestants came on stage and had to pull out each individual Kleenex out of a whole box of tissues in less than a minute. The winner of the game won a movie Trilogy on DVD. In one of the services we gave away the Toy Story DVDs for the first 2 movies, and a movie ticket so the winner could see Toy Story 3 in the theater this weekend, too. We played a couple of fun Father’s Day videos as well (here and here). The program was simple, clean and quick this week – managed to keep the service at exactly 1 hour a weekend long!

Music Playlist: Cannons, O Praise Him, Majesty, Come Thou Fount, Great is Our God

Favorite Moment: During the message I gave away a 1/2 gallon of Neapolitan ice cream to a random person in the crowd – it was an illustration of the 3-in-1 God. At the end of the service, we surprised everyone and have Neapolitan ice cream waiting for everyone outside the auditorium as they left. It was a fun crowd buzzing moment, as well as hopefully a tactile and tasty reminder of the Trinity.

Up Next: Trinity (week 2 of 3)

A video from Worship House Media we used during the countdown on Father’s Day weekend in HSM.

JG

A fun video we used to open the Trinity series on Father’s Day this weekend. Just a dads/diapers element of fun.

JG

Tom Pounder blogs every day at Not a Mega Church – a blog that encourages and inspires youth leaders from small  to medium-sized churches with practical tools and knowledge to build a ministry that will have a lasting impact on generations to come.

On Tuesday, June 8, Stephen Strasburg pitched his first major league game.  Now, if you know nothing about baseball, then the name Stephen Strasburg means nothing to you.  But, if you are a baseball or Washington Nationals fan (I am both), then this was a very important day.  He has been called the savior of the Nationals, a Phenom, the real deal.  If you want to read more about his first performance, you can read columns in the Washington Post by Thomas Boswell here and Mike Wise here.

Has anyone ever described you as a youth minister that way?  That you were going to save the youth group?  That you are a Phenom?  That the students love you and will do anything for you?  I bet people have described you that way at some time or another.  The problem is that when people (especially people in Church Leadership) describe you this way, they are setting yourself and themselves up for failure.  They are putting the weight of the program on just 1 person.  They are relying on the Youth Minister to be a superstar and to perform at extraordinary levels constantly.

The reality is there are NO superstar youth ministers out there.  As much as I bought into this lie when people kept on telling me how great I was, I realized that being a “superstar” lasts only so long.  When your “superstar” aura begins to fade, everyone around you questions even the smallest of things and the Church lose faith in you.  People begin to look for the next “superstar” to take your place.

In his book Sustainable Youth Ministry, Mark DeVries talks about the Superstar Youth Minister. He says,

“Too many churches are looking for a dynamic, top-notch, committed, magnetic, relational, creative, organized, theologically informed, twenty-two-year-old who can present powerful, life-changing messages and will gratefully work for $23,000 a year.  The excruciatingly exaggerated requirements found in so many of these job descriptions gives evidence of little more than a history of chronic dissatisfacation with those who have gone before”. (Sustainable Youth Ministry, p. 44)

Mark goes on to say,

“Superstar-syndrome churches spend sacrifical amounts of energy on the roller-coaster rid of gambling on the next youth pastor.  But ironically, superstar youth ministries come from churches that spend their energy creating a climate and building an infrastructure in which moderately gifted, garden-variety youth directors produce superstar results”. (Sustainable Youth Ministry, p. 50)

The reality is that Youth Ministers do not have to be superstars to produce superstar results.  Even though youth ministers may get the credit, we ultimately have to give credit to where credit is due – Christ.  When we begin to think we are the star and the reason for the success of a ministry, we take away from what God is clearly doing and  blessing and we start to get into some shady waters.  Remember, it is God who works in us and among us.  We can’t change hearts – the Lord is the only one who can do that.  Again, as I mentioned above, when youth ministers get put into the box of being a superstar, failure is bound to happen and often times the end result is not pretty.

Therefore, youth ministers need to protect themselves from the superstar syndrome.   Because we should not, and our churches should not expect us to be “Superstar Youth Ministers”, we need to be mindful of a few key points as we take on a youth ministry job or are currently in one.

Use the honeymoon period to your advantage. When you first start off in a new youth ministry job, there is a period of time in which you can do no wrong.  Even if you do wrong, there is a ton of grace given by others.  Believe me, I know!  I probably should have been fired numerous times from mistakes and errors in judgment I made within this “honeymoon” period.  Unfortunately, the honeymoon eventually ends and different results are expected then – which is completely right.  Therefore, be mindful of this period and use the grace that is extended to you.  BUT make sure you have a strategic plan in place so that you are moving the program in the right direction.  If you want help on developing a strategic plan, click here and here.  By showing the Church leadership you have a plan in place and that you are moving in a certain direction, that will help their fears or concerns they have about a mistake or 10 you made during the honeymoon period.

Stay teachable. There is a difference between confidence and teachability.  If you walk into a new job believing you have the right way and everyone else doesn’t, you may be setting yourself up for a major fallout or coup.  OR, If you have a current job and you believe that you have the right way and that everyone else has no idea what they are talking, you are entering a dangerous world.  I have seen too many youth ministers walk in and alienate all those who would love to help them.  They set apart parents, leadership and students who have invested a lot of time and energy into the program by turning aside their opinions and thoughts all because they feel that they have the right way to do ministry.  What ends up happening then is that the Church loses faith in the youth minister, attendance drops and before you know it the Church is looking for a new youth minister.

It is our job always to stay teachable!  Of all the ministries out there, Youth Ministry probably changes the most rapidly because youth are changing on a daily basis.  Therefore, we cannot expect old methods, ideas or programs to work just because they did in the past.  We have to continue to learn!  Each Church [...]

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