Challenges | More Than Dodgeball

Chris WesleyMore Posts Growing Outside Of Small Groups

As my high school group of guys have grown older I’ve noticed the amount or responsibilities and conflicts in schedule have grown. Because our groups meet every Thursday night it’s easy for them to miss a week here and there. However, as the obstacles and alternate opportunities grow their attendance starts to falter. They tell me they love being their; however, they are just so bogged down with:

School Work
Sports Practice
Responsibilities At Home

I’m sure this list could continuously go on for many of you and that your groups face similar challenges. The key to keeping the group strong is to enable it to grow outside of your allotted time. That means connecting with teens multiple times during the week in a variety of ways.

That might seem fine to you; however, overwhelming to your volunteers. If you introduce that idea to them there might be push back or reluctance, and that’s okay. You just need to help and show them how to grow outside the designated time. To do that:

Give Leaders An Out – From time to time give your small group leaders permission to do something outside of the usual time or agenda. Because time is so valuable allow them to sacrifice a night of the “usual youth ministry” to do something different. Challenge them to embark in a service project instead of discussing service. Encourage them to do something social that will build camaraderie. Give them permission “to play”.

Extend An Invitation - Many leaders might not know where to start when it comes to investing in their group outside the weekend. Invite them to join you when you are heading out to a game (Where their teens might be present) or on an outing your group might be planning. By extending an invitation you are leading by example.

Set Them Up For Success - On top of extending an invitation to join you equip them with resources that will help them connect with teens outside the group. That might mean training them on social media etiquette, or giving them the tools for planning a night of laser tag. As the youth minister of your church you have a wealth of resources and knowledge that your volunteers need access.

The more a group can grow outside of the weekend or it’s usual time the stronger it will become. It will teach the teens how to build relationships outside of a youth ministry setting. It will also build confidence in your leaders because they’ll feel like they have ownership. When your leaders are motivated to lead outside the group it extends your capacity to be present in the community.

How do you help your volunteers connect with teens outside the designated time?

Chris Wesley (@chrisrwesley)

1 View Comments March 26, 2013

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: Student Leadership Challenges

Our first annual Student Leadership Christmas party is just around the corner and I can’t be more excited! Because they work so hard and give so much to our church, we want to go all out with this party to show them how much our ministry appreciates them!

Now it wouldn’t be a true Christmas party if we didn’t have gifts! We wanted to make sure that each student walked away from the party with an awesome gift (and I’m not talking about the 1993 VHS Workout tapes they are going to get at the “white elephant” gift exchange). We wanted them to get something that was well thoughtful and picked out just for them. So this Christmas we decided to write each student leader an individual challenge that would grow them not only as a Christian leader, but as a Christ follower as well.

If this sounds like something you would want to do for your Student Leadership team, here are some tips to get started:

-Pray! Pray that God speaks through you as you write to your students. Pray that the Lord give you wisdom, discernment, and insight as you speak into their lives and continue to shape them into godly leaders.

-Think about what they’ve done and what they’re doing to discover what they can do. What could your students be doing to take their ministries or projects to the next level? Challenge them to think big and “outside the box.” Also reflect on how you’ve seen them lead in the past. Is there a leadership characteristic that they can grow in?

-Think about who they are. Get inspired by a student’s talents, gifts, passions, and even their experiences. Think of ways that they can be using their shape for ministry. Is one of your students really passionate about prayer? Challenge them to think of more ways to integrate prayer into your ministry. Was a student in and out of the hospital as a kid? Ask them how God wants to use their experience for His kingdom.

-It’s okay to use similar challenges for multiple students! Don’t focus finding a completely different challenge for every student. Focus on finding ways to grow each student as a Christian leader. Most of the time, there will be more than a couple students who would benefit from the same task. For example, many of our seniors are being challenged to mentor a younger student. We believe that it would be a great next move for each of them

-Try to get specific. As I said, it is okay to use the same challenge for many students but, when you can, try to get specific. For example, we have a senior named Cassie that would be a great mentor for a younger girl. Another student leader, McKenna, recently told me that she really looks up to Cassie and wishes that they were closer. So I challenged Cassie to have an intentional relationship with McKenna. If you see an opportunity like that, take it!

-If you can’t think of one, find someone that can. If you come across a student and have no idea how to challenge them, ask someone that would. Find an adult that knows the student personally or has seen their leadership in action.

Have you done something similar in the past? What tips would you give?

Colton Harker is the Student Leadership Coordinator at Saddleback HSM. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact him at coltonharker@gmail.com or on twitter at @ColtonHarker.

1 View Comments December 16, 2012

Geoff StewartMore Posts Why Do I Do That?

After a long ministry season, things are winding down for the school year and I am starting our usual post mortem on the year and thinking about the all of the things that we would do differently. I think this year more than any other that many of the things I would change have more to do with my heart and perspective than anything we taught or sang. Maybe you can relate to the things I am asking the Lord to work on in my heart.

Pre-service stress: My favourite moment of the night is always right when we start because once things are moving, there is no changing it, we are LIVE! Unfortunately I have made the time leading up to it an often-miserable experience. I find myself wondering what else we could have prepped? Is the message as good as I think it is? Where are all the kids? Did the leaders call their students? I allow myself to worry about things that needn’t be worried about. The truth is, we were prepared but I still allowed doubt to cloud my mind and that has to stop.

Number crunching: I am pretty good sometimes at reading a lot into attendance numbers and can be pretty hard on myself when there is a low night. I feel responsible; wondering if we offended students the week before, or maybe our group is boring, unfriendly, cliquey, and spiritually shallow or any number of things. My colleague Jason was meeting with his grandfather who worked in youth ministry who shared with him this incredible piece of wisdom. “We used to give each other high fives when 40 students showed up, and beat ourselves up when only 39 came.” It’s so true, and I have been guilty being frustrated when students don’t show up and allowing that to distract me of ministering to those that did come and that is a lose-lose situation.

Not trusting: This can be a big one, where I sometimes don’t trust. I don’t trust that our leaders read the curric or called their kids, that the worship team is going to be ready, that my message is good enough. Worst of all, I don’t trust that God is going to make it happen, and when I do that I try and do it on my own. I have been there so many nights where God did crazy things and transformation happened but somehow that doubt creeps in that tonight might not be that night. I know He is in control, and our leaders care so much for our students and sometimes life gets busy for them too.

I am sure each of us have been here at some point, but the Fall is right around the corner and its time to spend the summer focusing on my heart to make sure that next year I do a lot less of these things. It sounds like I am going to read Philippians 4:6 a few more times too I think.

Where are you letting doubt enter your mind and how does it affect your ministry?

Geoff – (Twitter)