DC is on a roll this week – he just posted some great thoughts about how to have a great Fall kickoff. Hopefully something in there will stir up an idea and trigger something cool as you prepare for the launch. Here’s an excerpt, more thoughts if you head over to his place:

• Push Momentum generators. This is a great time to push what your focus for the fall/school year will be or whatever builds momentum in your group.  Our students love each other so we push Small Groups HARD the first three weeks.

• Have all your ducks in a row. I think this is more important in high school than in middle school (we all know middle schoolers love things more when the ducks are NOT in a row, haha).  In my experience some high schoolers are looking for a reason to discount the church as “not relevant to their life” or “just a knock-off of pop culture” and if there is a lack of excellence this opens that door for them…NOT TO MENTION GOD DESERVES OUR BEST!  (Also note: You have to define excellence for your context, don’t judge it off of another church, it must be contextualized.)

• Meet the minimum expectations THEN EXCEED THEM. This one sounds odd at first but most students come to our ministries with a bare minimum expectation of what could/should happen.  Some minimum expectations are things like:  We will read/open/hear about the Bible, Jesus’ name will probably be used, someone will pray, there might be music, someone will likely talk to us, I’ll have opportunities to spend with my friends. So we try to meet those bare minimums every week (because they’re good ones) AND THEN completely exceed them by trying to constant “redefine church/youth group”.  This is especially important considering during the launch phase there are usually lots of new students. (Comment if you want me to write more on this topic).

JG

You don’t have to be a youth worker very long before you feel the urge to quit. The challenges of ministry swirl together to create a daunting vortex of difficulty – church politics, ineffective leadership, slashed or non-existent budgets, elders, “the way it has always been”, conflicting visions, personality clashes, relational pain and so much more. I realize I’m not painting a beautiful picture of youth ministry right now, so hang with me.

I would say for most it hits somewhere around the end of your first year – for me it was a couple years in. The honeymoon was over and I  got my first taste of church ugliness. You start to think about quitting. You’re just not sure you’re cut out for it. You wonder if the elders on the church board are even Christians.

I’ve quit many times before – only to be brought back to life by 1) realizing the problem could be overcome, 2) the words or encouragement from a close friend, or 3) realizing that ministry isn’t pretty or easy, but I’m called to it. If you’re feeling pretty low, I hope these point you in the right direction today:

Fight through it
Get behind the feelings of failure or frustration – are you ready to quit over a problem you created, a person you loathe or a situation that seems beyond repair? Throwing in the towel is an impulsive decision that has been thought about for a long time. [I realize that sentence doesn't make sense, but I really like it]. One final person, comment or failure pushes you off the cliff – the only choice you have left is to call it quits. But don’t settle for simply giving into the barrage of emotion. Is it really the end of the world as we know it? Is there really no hope? Is God truly done with you where you’re at? Be careful to test your emotions and motives when the going gets tough – you might be surprised what you find a little deeper under the surface. It probably is about half as bad as you think it is. Still bad, but worth fighting through.

Surround yourself with people you love
The biggest rescuer of my urges to quit are the teammates that I love. Surrounding yourself with great co-laborers is absolutely key. My spouse is number one – when I’m down she knows what to say, when not to say anything and what to ask to get me out of my funk. My team is a close second – people that I serve with every day in the trenches of youth ministry. Some of the people that share my passion, hopes, dreams and frustrations of ministry pick me up. Do you have some key people on your volunteer team that you love being around? Do you have a safe place to vent or talk through a situation? Our family loved having dinner with an amazing couple and their daughters this past week. Absolutely life-giving.

Remember your calling
I have a moment … that whenever I feel like quitting I hold on to. I was sitting in the Dean of Men’s office at the college I was attending, he simply said, “Josh, you would make a great youth pastor. Why are you going into business?” That conversation led me on a journey to what would eventually be a divine calling into youth ministry. That key mentor in my life pointed me to an opportunity, we prayed, God answered. I’ve served in 2 churches since then (one in Michigan, the other here at Saddleback) and have both had incredible highs and lows – and I remember my calling vividly when things get tough. Why did you get into youth ministry in the first place? Hopefully there is a memory or spiritual moment where you recall God calling you to serve His children. Maybe at first you just volunteered, and God did something in your heart. Maybe you’re still volunteering, but you know you’ve been chosen for this work.

Seems like I’ve been getting more and more emails from youth workers ready to throw in the towel. Maybe God is moving you? Certainly could be. Maybe it is a test of your character and He wants you to stay put? Either way – honored to be in the same profession with you, my friend. Hang in there.

Help someone who’s ready to quit youth ministry with a thought/encouragement in the comments, too.

JG

August is here – summer programs are winding down and school is about to begin. Scratch that – for more than half the country, kids are already in classes this week! You’re heading toward the Fall kickoff of your youth ministry, and thinking about what’s next. I posted When to Buy Youth Ministry Resources last August, but thought something tangible with solid suggestions for the fall might be a good idea as well. Here are the questions I’m asking with a couple weeks to go before our official kickoff:

1. Is your youth ministry service ready to go?
Take the time to lay out the fall teaching calendar. Create or purchase a teaching series that is compelling and make it easy for your students to bring their non-believing friends. The start of the school year is one of the most opportune times for Friendship Evangelism. Then think about the atmosphere that first-time student will walk into – are a few crowd games or a cell phone poll the way to go? Is the room setup ideally for what you’re trying to accomplish? Do you have a way to contact students during the week? How can you give your youth group a jolt of fresh energy this Fall? Suggestions: 2nd Greatest Story Every Told, Heart of a Champion, Awaken Your Creativity

2. Are your small group leaders and volunteers trained?
Capitalize on the fall to get some good reading into the hands of your leaders or good material into your hands for training meetings. Suggestions: Youth Worker Training on the Go, Emergency Response Handbook for Youth Ministry, Connect

3. What are you reading for your personal development?
You meant to read a few good books over the summer – and honestly, they’re still in the bottom of your backpack. Take them out and get cracking! If you’re looking for a good book Terrace had a good list for young influencers and Kurt’s new book The 9 Best Practices of Youth Ministry looks challenging. My favorite book this summer was Linchpin. Pick up a book for your own development. Suggestions: Tribes, Switch, Steering Through Chaos, Crazy Love, The Next Generation Leader

4. What is it time to launch?
For us we’re talking about helping hurting students, so we’re concentrating on our pastoral care program for teenagers who are at risk. You’ve got the pulse of your student ministry – what is it time to launch? Or maybe what is it time to re-launch? Maybe it is time to stop something, so this January you can breath new life into it? Suggestions: The Landing, Help! I’m a Student Leader, LeaderTreks

JG

My wife is in the middle of taking her longest trip ever since we started to have kids. All told she’ll be gone a grand total of 18 days. Last February when I was in Kenya I called her excitedly and shared with her what I was experiencing and said, “You HAVE to get here as soon as possible.” Little did we know was that in 5 short months she would be calling me from the same place that conversation took place.

So, I’m taking 100+ hours of stored up vacation time and doing some Dad Minus Mom Plus Four (I should try to get a TV show – the only problem is that we have a good marriage) while she’s away. Here’s a little glimpse into my world, now just 8 days in:

• 5 loads of laundry
• 167 miles driven in the minivan
• 13 Instant Streaming kids titles on Netflix
• 3 DVD rentals
• 2 free family fun movies at Regal
• 1 trip to the beach
• 7 trips to the pool
• 1 small investment in a backyard water-propelled Buzz Lightyear flying spaceship
• 11 runs of the dishwasher
• 4 trips to the store
• 4 runs to the park
• 1 run back to the park to pick up forgotten sandals
• 1 nap
• 9 boxes of sugar cereal
• $38 in fruit (something to tell mom about when she calls from Africa)
• 5 gallons of milk
• 6 fast food stops (1 Taco Bell, 1 Del Taco, 2 McDonald’s,  1 Chipotle, 1 Chick-Fil-A)
• 1 meal from a neighbor who felt sorry for the kids eating habits

And these numbers, along with me being far outside my normal routine and duties, has led to a couple of observations as well:

• My youngest son produces about 1/2 of the laundry.
• My daughter produces almost the other half.
• My 2 oldest sons produce curiously little laundry. Especially in the undergarment department.
• Cookie Crisp isn’t quite as good as you remember as a kid.
• Potty training sounds awesome in a Twitter, tough in real life.
• We devour an entire box of cereal and nearly a gallon of milk at breakfast.
• All that laundry, not a single sock.
• The washer and dryer should be in sync, instead of the washer ending 6 minutes first.
• I hate Play Doh.

JG

I’m not even sure how to start this off, so I’ll jump right in.  I’m a youth pastor at a church of a few hundred people.  Our youth group is maybe 45 students (depending on if the Redskins are playing that Sunday night).  I’ve been struggling recently with one BIG thing… FAILURE…and it seems to be infiltrating many areas of ministry.

Here’s my issue:  I read blogs and check in on other churches/youth groups to see what they’re up to, what is working and what is not. Then, I start becoming envious of what they have or how many students they attract.  I understand that some of this is insecurity, I get that, but I cannot be the only one who feels this way.

One of the things I am lacking… VOLUNTEERS!!!  I am always on the lookout for potential volunteers, but I feel as if they want only want to help out when it is convenient for them. I have 2 full-time volunteers (and one is my wife!) and about a handful of parents who chaperone trips.  Because I lack volunteers, I feel as if I’m not leading effectively, which in my eyes has failure written all over it!  Don’t get me wrong…I LOVE what God has called me to do, but sometimes I really question if the feelings of failure are God’s way of telling me to move on.

To add icing on the cake, I live in one of the richest areas in America.  These students have “everything” they could ever want.  My mind tells me that the students thought process goes a little something like this:  “Why do I need Jesus?  I mean, I’ve got a Beemer, all the new technology, and basically anything else I could ever want.  What is Jesus going to give me?”  Here in lies another one of my problems.  I begin to think that I’m failing because I’m short-changing Jesus.  I’m putting Him on a leash and saying, “You can only go this far before I’m going to pull you back in.”  So, I’m looking for some thoughts.  Honesty is my thing.  My students know that every time I speak it’s going to be from the heart.  So I’d love to hear yours.

This guest author has requested his/her name be withheld. Help them out with a comment!

Loved this post over on Junior High Ministry, some good stuff about how to stay energized and get filled back up after pouring out ministering to students. Here’s a clip, worth heading over there (and more importantly putting some of it into practice) for the read:

* Get rid of the monster: If I have something non-fun or conflict oriented that I must do, I do it within the first hour of being in my office. I get rid of that big, looming monster so I can move on to more life-giving things.

* Administer the positive pep-talk: As I am going over the mission trip contributions or editing my summer camp manual, I say to myself (usually out loud) “This is all for the kids! Because you’re doing this, it’s going to be a better experience for the kids!” It may sound cheesy, but it works for me– I remind myself that it all blesses the kids in the end.

* Get out of the office: Many of us could be busy in our offices for days at a time– it takes being intentional to break out of that administrative grind and be with kids. As I look at my weeks, I make sure there are multiple one-on-ones with students, football games, musicals or lunches in school cafeterias. Even if it’s just a couple hours away, it refreshes my spirit and enables me to do the stuff that doesn’t.

JG

Appreciated the post over on VolunteerYouthMinistry.com today about being a sought after counselor. Thought Dennis had some good insight and thoughts, here’s a clip of his thoughts, head there for the rest:

- Longevity in ministry is gold. Stick it out and you’ll be the go-to person eventually. Even if you don’t have your own teenagers, there’s a great amount of relational wisdom to be gained by spending a few years working with students. Your beliefs will be solidified or revolutionized by what you encounter. When you go to counsel a student, you’ll come from the perspective of observational or hands-on experience rather than tentative theory.

- Sharing your story lends credibility. When I talk to students about their issues, I relate something from my own life that shows I understand what they’re going through. I’m careful not to dominate the conversation with my stories, I just share enough to relate and build trust. The key is to not only share a couple of facts, but the emotions that I felt when I went through what I share. Doing this during a regular conversation builds the trust needed to become their go-to person for counseling when they’re ready to open up on a deeper level.

JG

What do you think – should I add a youth ministry job openings page here on the blog? I’m curious if it would benefit you in some way. I’m thinking of something ultra-select, not just a free-for-all. Thoughts?

JG

Just finished up reading Green Like God: Unlocking the Divine Plan for Our Planet, a new book by Jonathan Merritt. The book is an attempt to reclaim environmentalism from the left, and make Creation care an issue that everyone should care about, regardless of political sides. According to Jonathan, caring for God’s creation is largely a spiritual issue and an act of worship to the Creator. He’s careful to distinguish between worshipping the creation and the Creator, and is quick to admit the shortcomings of his own journey. I like it that just a few years ago he held many of the traditional (read: irresponsible) views that many Christians still share.

To be honest, green is a “something” to me – I still have a loooooong ways to do – but loved the series we did called Save the Planet a couple years ago and The Refinery at Saddleback was Lake Forest’s first LEED-certified building. All in all, I really dug the first 2/3rds of the book – before it begins to read like any other environmental book you can’t seem to avoid these days. To me, what sets this book apart is the Biblical perspective on creation and our responsibility to care for it, which was refreshing and encouraging to read.

JG

Weekend Teaching Series: 5 Ways to Be Awesome: A study through the book of James (week 5 of 5, series finale)
Sermon in a Sentence: Independence is part of growing up – but always be dependent on God.
Service Length: 63 minutes

Understandable Message: This week we pulled the past month together and brought home the last chapter of the James series. I spoke on the last few verses of James 5 – talking specifically about prayer and rescuing people with our prayers and with our actions. Lots of work to do to recap where we had gone in this series – so Robby came up and did a pre-intro/recap of the past 4 weeks. Students have been in and out a lot this summer, so we made a intentional emphasis on the series review. The message had a clear plan of salvation included, and emphasized followers of Jesus to pray earnestly out of a sincere and right heart. One practical way we applied the message was to ask students to subscribe to a 7-day message stream that reminded them to earnestly pray for something/someone. So excited, about half of the students participated!

Element of Fun/Positive Environment: During Robby’s intro he talked about “things that were awesome” including some funny apps on his iPhone – he also asked a polleverywhere.com survey question where everyone could respond with their phones. For this week, we worked more of the humor and bits right into the message, and minimized the program elements. A student who just graduated wrote a great drama/dance that had a girl dreaming about Heaven set to Phil Wickham’s Heaven Song. It was beautiful, and a unique element we don’t get to feature that often!

Music Playlist: The Earth is Yours, Consuming Fire, Nothing But the Blood, Savior of the World

Favorite Moment: The student testimony this week was incredible. It was about a student named Nolan who received Christ in the last few weeks. His new friend Connor prayed for him and help lead him to the Lord. You can read the entry from his blog that inspired it. So awesome – Nolan getting baptized Saturday night was a powerful moment, too.

Up Next: LAUNCH: Ready for Re-entry (week 1 of 5, back to school series kickoff)

During the message this weekend, I had an idea to use Duffled (the tool we use to send text messages to students) to send out text reminders to students each day this week. I typed up a few messages that students could subscribe to help remind them to put the message into action this week. Most of my talk focused on prayer, so here are the 7 messages that will be sent out this week to students who subscribed:

Awesome! This week you’ll get a few days of text messages reminding you to pray, or give you encouragement to talk to God. Be dependent on Him this week!

A REMINDER TO PRAY FROM HSM: The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James 5:16

A PRAYER OF CONFESSION: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. -1 John 1:9

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 4:6-7

GIVE GOD A PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING: Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. Colossians 4:2

PRAY WITH A PURE HEART:
When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. James 4:3

PRAY FOR SOMEONE WHO IS SICK: James says the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up.

This is the last prayer reminder from HSM’s 5 Ways to be Awesome series. We hope you’re developing a habit of prayer and dependence on God! If you would like prayer or need to talk about something in your life, grab anyone wearing an HSM shirt at a weekend service. HSM loves you!

JG

Well, we made the change from calling them small groups to calling them life groups – it only took me a year since I first blogged about the idea – ha! It is a bit of a semantic thing, but I’m a big fan of the switch. Rather then focus on their size (which remains important) the name focuses on what happens (sharing life, which is more important). Here’s some of the frequently asked questions we answer as people register:

What are High School Ministry Life Groups?
Life Groups are small groups for high school students. These groups are made up of 10 – 12 students (same grade and gender) that meet weekly with a caring adult leader.

Life Groups are a perfect place for you to form great friendships with other students your age, build relationships with adult leaders and learn more about God and grow closer to Him. Your group will be encouraged to establish accountability with each other, have consistent personal quiet times, get involved in ministry, and participate in service projects.

When and where do they meet?
Life Groups meet in host homes on Tuesday or Wednesday evenings from 7:00 – 9:00pm. Meeting in homes creates a warm, friendly atmosphere for sharing life together.

What does a typical night look like?
Each Life Group will look different, but a typical night will look something like this: welcome / snacks / hang out / Bible study / discussion / prayer.

Being involved in a Life Group will be an awesome time to grow closer to God; what better way to do that than by reading and studying the Bible? Every Life Group will choose their study topic from the provided LIVE Curriculum. Studies include: prayer, following Jesus, making good decisions, purity, having healthy relationships, studying the Bible, dealing with temptation, living in godly community and more.

What about my leader?
HSM has incredible, screened, and trained adult volunteers who are ready to serve and teach high school students. Our HSM leaders are there to encourage, teach, guide, and help strengthen your walk with Christ. It may turn out to be the most significant relationship of your high school years.

What is the Life Group Commitment?
Being part of a Life Group is a privilege. We expect each Life Group member to commit to the following:

1. Come to group prepared, equipped with a Bible, a pen, a notebook and a good attitude.
2. Respect your Life Group leader. They are giving you their time because they WANT to minister to you.
3. Respect and be kind to others in your group.
4. Respect your Host Home. Help clean-up your host home at the end of every night.

JG

I suppose there are a jillion ways to communicate to students in your youth ministry these days – more than ever there are a plethora of choices through traditional channels (like handouts and announcements) and new media (YouTube, Facebook and SMS). Then there’s the stuff that was critically important a few years ago and is still hanging around (an actual website).

In the past few years, we’ve fully embraced SMS as our primary method of communicating with students. By the time they get to high school, most all have phones and a overwhelming percentage have texting plans. We recently made a significant shift in text message providers, and thought that if either one of these might fit your needs you should check them out:

For the last 2 years, we’ve used Simply Text. Simply Text is a powerful tool to help you communicate using SMS. Here’s a rundown of the pluses and minuses after using it for a long time.

+Super easy to use
The interface is easy, you can literally go from nothing to sending out texts in minutes. The free trial lets you see it all and make sure you are technical enough to figure it out. Easy, easy.

+You can read replies
A new feature added as we used the system allowed you to see the “message stream” or the replies that come into your account. You can easily reply to individual texts.

+Dirt cheap
The average youth ministry will be spending $10 a month on the system, which is pretty nominal considering what you’re getting. Quick, slick, cheap.

-Fairly reliable
The system works well – you can literally push send and your phone will light up in 10 seconds with your mass message. In the backend, it actually is sending an email that comes through your phone as a text. It works in most cases, but if you have the carrier wrong it fails. For the most part, it works as advertised, as long as your data has integrity.

+/-Difficult to subscribe/unsubscribe
One of the downsides is that you have to a) manually add people, b) get them to manually add themselves on a website, and c) monitor the message stream for unsubscribe requests. UPDATE: The system has been upgraded over the past few months and it is now much easier to remove yourself from a list.

A few months back, we began to outgrow the Simply Text system and as texting became more and more primary (and eventually one of the only ways we communicate with students) we needed a tool that would grow with us and be highly reliable. After a ton of research, we went with Duffled.com. Here’s what they offer in a nutshell:

+Subscribe by texting
This is a HUGE game-changer. See the message on a poster, on a handout or on the screen and you can pull out your phone and immediately subscribe. We get new subscribers without doing a thing. Boom. Same thing – when a kid graduates – they remove themselves. If a parent wants in – simple.

+Students can send in keywords and get automatic replies
This is a big upgrade, too – when a student wants more information on something they text 39970 with “hsm baptism” or “hsm serve” and get specific instructions, dates, times or directions. We set up unlimited keywords, with whatever information we want to be sent out by SMS robot. Brilliant!

+Guaranteed delivery
Duffled is actually sending an SMS text message – so arrival is pristine and quick. It costs more for the system to do this, but it is highly reliable and stable platform to communicate with confidence.

-Decent interface
The actual user-interface with Duffled is completely functional, but doesn’t have a lot of bells and whistles. If they overhauled the face of it, it would be a huge improvement. Still though, it gets the job done but sure isn’t sexy.

-It costs for each text you send out
The big downside is that in this case you get what you pay for – which means a better system costs more money. We are biting the bullet and paying a significant amount more each month.

Either way it might be a good idea to think about all of the methods of communication available between you and students, and decide as a team which one(s) you’re going to get behind.

UPDATE: After a ton of feedback on this post (Tweets and RTs, too – thanks, all!) I thought a summary might be helpful:

For the bang for your buck, Simply TXT simply can’t be beat. Cheap, simple, straightforward and solid. For 99% of youth ministries, this is an essential tool to communicate with your students. It doesn’t have all the higher-end specs you might find from other platforms, but is consistently improving and is more than adequate for most uses. If you’re  larger ministry and/or looking to really leverage texting, Duffled might be your answer. The ability to send automatic replies opens up a lot of possibilities, and the system while requiring a significant investment, is solid.

Either way, I hope this post helps you ask some good questions about communicating to your students and gives you some good options to consider as you head toward your student ministry’s fall kickoff weekend.

JG

What a tough decision … the stories you submitted in the LIVE Curriculum contest were amazing and heart-stirring. The nominations, the effort, the heart of youth ministry in all of them – wow. So hard to choose! So … I didn’t, exactly. I took my 5 favorite, and then picked one at random. Here’s the winning story, congratulations to Bree Klemme:

Check out the LIVE small group curriculum at Simply Youth Ministry today!

JG

Thought Matt and Doug had a great series of questions for small group leaders to ask their students – getting to know your kids or getting to know them better. Head there for the whole list and some tips on how to use them, and if you’re not getting the daily email from YouthMinistry.com - sign up for it (it is FREE and awesome) right here.

35 trigger questions to spark conversation:
1. How are you involved at your school? (Clubs, cheer, band, sports?)
2. What was a highlight of your week?
3. What is something you did this summer that was fun?
4. What is your absolute favorite thing to do?
5. If you could have free tickets to any concert, where/who would it be?
6. What is your favorite subject at school?
7. Who is your favorite teacher and what do you like about him/her?
8. Are you the type who gets things done early or waits till the last minute?
9. What do you normally do when you have free time?
10. Where’s your favorite place to eat?
11. What’s the best Christmas gift you’ve ever received?
12. What’s the best thing that’s ever happened to you?

JG

When was the last time you looked at your youth service through the lens of a first time guest? Or have you wondered, “Why don’t our students bring their friends to church?”

It seems like God sends more new people to churches that are prepared for them. We can’t expect our students to bring their friends if we’re not doing our part to create a program that is inviting and welcoming. So the question is, “What are you doing to make their visit memorable?”

At some point, we’ve all wondered why new students aren’t coming back. And most often, it is because we aren’t doing anything intentional to help them get beyond the first visit. It’s not good enough to just say, “Hey, thanks for visiting us. See ya around!” And it’s not enough to simply pray that God will magically bring them back.

One of the great things about being a Christian is that we work WITH God. That means, we do our part and He does His.

So, here are a few things we’ve done to make that first time visit one to remember:

1. GIFTS GALORE – we have MULTIPLE touch points for the 1st timer. We give them a free energy drink and free bible (I found some inexpensive and SWEET bibles here.) We want new students to know that we were expecting them to show up. And nothing says that better than giving them a gift right on the spot! Secondly, we send them a handwritten postcard with a $5 Starbucks card 3 days after their visit. And by “WE”, I mean the students of our ministry write these and mail them out. Most of us youth pastors are too old to be cool so it’s much better to give our students some ownership of their ministry.

Some might say we’re shallow or that these are gimmicks and that’s okay. Wouldn’t you rather get made fun of than lead a youth ministry that is filled with a bunch of people that only care about themselves and don’t care about the mission of Jesus…to reach the lost?

2. COMM CARDS – communication cards, connection cards, info cards…it doesn’t matter what you call them. Here’s the million $$$ question: are you capturing the information of guests? Most youth pastors give-up on this idea because “it’s cheesy” or “I can’t read their writing” or “they won’t fill it out anyways”. And all of these are LAME excuses to not have a system to follow-up with your students.

We have a set time (45 seconds) where every single student grabs their COMM card and fills that bad boy out. We’ve learned that students won’t fill it out unless everyone else is doing it, too. So, the only way to get them all to do it was to set aside some specific time for this. It may sound like a lame part of our service, but there are ways to make it feel natural.

And guess what? It makes it a lot easier to send them a Starbucks card when we have their address. Crazy idea, huh?

3. MINGLERS – we have a student greeting team called “Minglers” that helps us create a program where “no one should be left out”. It’s virtually impossible for someone to walk in without getting a “hello, how’s it going” in our ministry. If you don’t have a team doing this yet, DO IT NOW! It’s very unlikely that your students will ever start welcoming new students if there isn’t an intentional team modeling this every week.

Phrase to remember: If everyone is responsible, NO ONE is responsible. So, get it going so that your youth ministry isn’t known as “the jerks that didn’t even say hi” in your city.

There are a couple ideas to put into action in your ministry. You might have something you already do and that is awesome! Just don’t be one of those youth pastors that has an excuse for everything you know you should be implementing. God wants your youth program to REACHand KEEP students beyond their first visit.

SO, what are YOU doing to intentionally make the 1st time visit one to remember?

Gary is one of the people behind http://moveministries.blogspot.com/ and serves as the Student Ministries Pastor at High Pointe Church in Puyallup, WA. Feel free to send him an e-mail for some FREE 1st time visitor resources, too.

I wanted to thank and encourage a key volunteer the week after HSM’s Summer Camp – so I shot him a quick note:

Dude, just wanted to again say how awesome you were at HSM Summer Camp and how incredible the Helmet of Shame moment was. You were such a good sport – last night I was thinking, why didn’t we just use chocolate syrup instead of marinara sauce combined with soy sauce? Oh well, you’re the man! Thanks for loving students my friend! JG

What I was surprised by was how the encouragement would come back around. How awesome!

Thanks man, I had a lot of fun that week! I’m always down for doing something crazy/stupid. But you’re right, chocolate sauce would have been easier haha. In all seriousness though, camp was so incredible and such a growing experience for me. God really challenged me that week, and I feel like I grew so much as a leader, and know that much more how much I wanna keep on volunteering with high schoolers.

Well anyway, thank you for being an awesome leader for HSM. When I see all the great things you are doing there, I feel so blessed to be able to be apart of it. You make HSM a great place for students AND volunteers. Thank you.

Need some encouragement? Try it on someone else! Made my day …

JG

Team fatigue sets in right after a huge event is in the rear view mirror. Team fatigue hits hard right after astounding, life-changing decisions have been made by your students. It seems that sometimes in youth ministry right after life change comes complete exhaustion. Team fatigue seems to come after the spiritual highs. Maybe team fatigue sets in right after your youth ministry summer camp. Here are some symptoms to recognize if your team is fighting serious team fatigue and what to do about it:

• Members of your team start to bicker with each other.
• Words have a sharper edge than normal. Humor hurts a little.
• Stuff that normally doesn’t bother someone bothers them easily.
• It has become easy to tear down rather than build up.
• People start going through the motions instead of being creative or pushing for the winning idea.
• The default shifts to programs and the team starts to cheat relationships with students.
• The team doesn’t work hard to resolve conflict little things fester.
• Systems start to falter and things start falling through the cracks.
• An unhealthy emphasis is placed on what we just accomplished instead of what is ahead.

So your team (and probably you, the team leader) are dying in a pile. Now what?

• Give time to recover.
• Ditch a meeting for lunch out.
• Give permission to slow down.
• Do something fun together.
• Go on a retreat or getaway.
• Force vacation time.
• Kill off weak programs and bad management systems.
• Take time to celebrate what God is doing.
• Offer specific words of affirmation.
• Cast vision for what He has next for your youth ministry.
• Pray for God’s Spirit to fill us anew and bring renewed energy and focus.

JG

As the video editor for the youth group, summer is my second busiest time in terms of footage piling up on my desk. the busiest time is early march to late april, when I inherit 10 to 20 hours of interview footage from about 20 high school seniors and their families. in the summer, we often have multiple trips and events in quick succession, so it’s important to stay on top of things. In fact, our poor little camera went on 3 trips in 3 consecutive weeks, and its power cord was left behind that final week!

Whether I get tons of footage from an event or precious little, it’s my job to transform whatever I’m given into a masterpiece. the trick is how good quality the footage is. I’d rather have 15 minutes of good quality shots than 75 minutes of stuff that looks like you didn’t realize the camera was turned on. sometimes I’m involved in the event, so if the quality is lousy I have nobody to blame but myself. When I’m not there, it may be someone who knows what they’re doing, or not. whether you’re fortunate enough to have a staff position devoted to editing, or you’re doing everything yourself, here are tips that will crank up the quality of your footage before you can say “dramamine.” You’ll note that not one of them costs a dime, just some patience and forethought.

timecode is everything

one of my biggest frustrations is when the timecode gets messed up. if you have no idea what i’m talking about, that’s ok. trust me on this one and do these two things:

• let the camera run for at least 10 seconds at the start of a new tape, and again at the end of your batch of footage. when the computer “captures” your footage, it needs time to think. if you jump right in with important stuff, there’s a good chance it will get cut off. it also doesn’t hurt to pause a few seconds each time you hit “record,” but you don’t need quite as long.
• don’t rewind and watch footage, no matter how they beg. this one causes me even bigger headaches. it’s also critical that the timecode be continuous. i have better things to do than to restart the capture process every three minutes because somebody just couldn’t wait to see that one thing that one person did.

cut the caffeine

what i mean by this is much of the footage i get looks like you’re on a slow roller coaster. i can fix some of it, but here’s how to give an editor footage that has at least some usable shots instead of giving the viewer whiplash.

• walk around or record. don’t do both at the same time. i almost never use footage where the horizon jumps up and down with every step, unless i’m going for an in-the-panicked-crowd tone. i haven’t needed it yet, so just hold yourself still to record.
• pan and zoom sloooooooowly. panning is moving the camera left and right. you’re not a dog in some pixar SQUIRREL! just take your time. take in the shot before moving the focal point. do the same when you zoom. the rapid in and out effect was left behind in the 90s, as it should have been.
• ghetto-rig a tripod if you must. i admit, lugging a tripod around is a pain. that doesn’t mean you’re at the mercy of your tired, shaky arms. rest the camera on or against a stable object, or use your body itself as a brace.

keep your mouth shut

i don’t mean to offend anyone here. it’s just that when you are constantly talking from off camera, you force me to include your voice. i may choose to, but don’t make that decision for me.

• allow a pause between your voice and theirs. be honest, don’t you mainly want to hear from the people on camera? don’t add your own nonstop narration. of course, i may just turn your volume down and set it all to music.
• consider having an on-camera interviewer or host. this saves the awkwardness of talking to a disembodied off-camera presence. but still have them pause and don’t let them talk on top of the subject, either.
• never, ever turn the camera on yourself. unless you’re going for a “blair witch project” tone. wait, have never done that either, and don’t intend to. if you want to be on screen, give the camera to someone else.

let there be light! (and sound)

here is where it’s hardest for me to clean up amateurish video. again, this is about free, so don’t rush out and buy a bunch of mics and three-point lighting rigs. some common sense:

• don’t keep them in the dark. use natural light to your advantage. don’t put the sun or a window behind your subject, but use these free sources of light to your advantage. here are some good tips – just apply them to video footage instead of still photography.
• up close and personal. this is the number one way to improve sound quality in most cases. not “what’s that cologne?” close, but close enough that the camera’s built-in mic can pick up most of what your subject says.
• avoid ambient noise and wind. that said, you’ll find yourself unable to control the forces of nature, and background music or crowd sounds, at least in most cases. if you really want a shot but it’s too loud, consider providing an “establishing shot” but waiting for a more quiet space to record voices.
• if you must, get a plug-in mic. yes, i said these were all free, but if you’re going to invest any money, this is where to do it. we don’t use this very often, so i’m not the right person to ask for shopping tips, but i think you can get something pretty reasonably priced.

I hope these are helpful. Pass them along to whomever you entrust with your youth group (or family) video camera. Did i miss anything you’ve found helpful?

Andrew Burden is a junior high youth pastor and video guy at Christ Community Church in Leawood, KS.. He blogs about it all at http://thisisnotabout.me/

In Mark DeVries book, “Sustainable Youth Ministry”, he writes “If, instead of coasting in contentment, the youth ministry reengages in bold dreaming and engaging innovation, the seeds of fresh, new life can be planted in the ministry.” (p. 72)  I believe that Mark is right on and this can be a big problem area in ministry and our personal lives.  When we coast, we stop creating and looking for ways to tweak and improve good things that are already happening. It is when we stop creating and innovating that we ultimately lose the edge we have at reaching teens for Christ in ministry and going deeper in experiencing Christ personally.

But creating and innovating is not necessarily the norm and easy to do.  It is something we have to fight for as, in all things, it can be very easy to coast.  For example, life is going well, just keep on doing what you are doing and coast.  Your friendships are going well, so just keep on doing what you are doing and coast.  Or ministry may be  going well, so again, just keep on what you have been doing and coast.  It is when we get in these mindsets that we start becoming ineffective in our personal and professional lives.

For example, some ways that coasting can negatively affect our personal and ministry lives are:

• You have been friends with someone for a long time and fairly recently they took up an unhealthy habit (i.e., over drinking, over eating, smoking, etc). Instead of saying the hard word, you coast by not saying anything and watch your friend deteriorate in a self-destructive habit.
• You are in a good place right now with finances and a solid working environment so you coast and do not seek to improve who you are at all.  Because you coast, when a change in working environment (i.e., new Senior Pastor) or a financial struggle comes up out of no-where (i.e., car accident), you find yourself stuck in a situation where you are not able to get out of easily.
• Your ministry is going well and have students coming to know Christ and are being spurred to love him more.  So, you coast and continue to do what you are doing with no improvements to programs, strategy or leadership.  Because you coast and do not seek to improve what you are doing when leaders stop helping or when numbers decline a bit, you are not prepared to deal with changes.

So, we have to fight to innovate and improve who we are and what are ministries are.  For example, some things you could do to not coast are to:

1. Educate yourself with a seminary class, seminar, or other masters level course to help you be more effective youth minister
2. Have an outside parent or youth minister come and evaluate your program so that you can seek ways to improve what you are currently doing
3. Be on the lookout for new leaders.  Come up with a potential leader list and start planting the seeds to others that you are interested in them being leaders for you.
4. Set goals in ministry and your personal life so that you can continue to strive towards excellence in Christ.

As I said, these are just a few examples.  Many more are out there.  One of my goals for 2010 is to never miss a quiet time with the Lord.  This time would not be something that I can just check off the box, but it would be a time where I spend time in prayer, listening, reading scripture, and meditation.  As I have experienced a spiritual battle this past year, I know that if I am going to survive and thrive, I need that daily time with the Lord.

Because everyone benefits when we don’t coast, TAKE A MINUTE and…

1. Examine your life and your ministry.  Look what you are currently doing and set 3 goals so that you can do to stay on top of your relationship with Christ and ministry.  Then, strive towards them.  It would be best if you had someone to hold you accountable to them to keep you focused and on course.

If you have some ways to create and innovate in ministry and your relationship with Christ, post them so that we can all benefit.

Tom Pounder blogs very often at www.notamegachurch.com and has been featured in several guest posts when Josh is on vacation or is just plain lazy.