creativity | More Than Dodgeball

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: My Terrible Ideas

90% of my ideas are terrible. No, for real. They’re really bad. What sucks is that I’m full of ideas. I’m constantly dreaming up how to tweak or completely transform our approach to student ministry. I generate so many bad ideas that my team often just tunes me out. I get the courtesy, “That sounds cool” with a plastic smile. Currently I’m doing my best to convince our team that what we need is a ginormous student building with 5 attached houses. I’m telling you it’s the future—for so many reasons. Someday when every church has a student building with 5 attached houses and our church missed the boat everyone will realize how innovative I am and promote me.

Here’s the thing about my ideas. While 90% of them are terrible and following them they could lead to immediate dismissal, the loss of thousands of dollars and probable hospitalization, 10% of them are genius. 10% of my ideas could potentially change the world. The trouble is that I can’t predict which ideas are in the 90% and which ideas are in the 10%. You really don’t want to guess wrong because great ideas invent the Internet and bad ideas take you to a Nickleback concert.

My guess is that whether you realize it or not, you also have more bad than good ideas. The thing is, if we could better discern the quality of our ideas we’d save ourselves and our teams a lot of grief. Nothing is more demoralizing than when the team is chasing down an idea that everyone knows is a dead end.

The good news is that somewhere along the line I stopped implementing all of my bad ideas. When? What was the big moment? It wasn’t a big moment but it was when my ideas were forced into community. When my ideas are stuck spinning within my own head almost all of them sound fabulous. However, when having to verbally explain and defend my ideas, 90% of them are revealed for what they are. Dumb. I know you’ve been there, when you realize that the words coming out of your mouth are exceeding illogical and you wish you never started talking in the first place—humbling.

Within the context of community (that is well intentioned debate over the validity of ideas) my 90% was revealed to be what they were and my life and ministry was protected from stupidity. The unforeseen byproduct of submitting my ideas to community is that my good ideas were refined and became significantly more awesome. “I like this idea that you call the Internets. But what if we could connect our gaming systems and play each other? And what if you took the “s” off it and just called it the Internet?” GENUIS! You might say that in the context of community my 10% became 90% better. If you’re not strong at math I probably lost you right there. I think I lost myself.

The point is, when you have the humility to submit your ideas to your community before implementing them you will uncover the fact that most of your ideas are terrible but a few of them are genius. Failure is not the best way to learn. Realizing that an idea is a failure before failing is a cleaner and less destructive way to learn. The moral of the story is this: if you don’t have an ideas community, get one! Honest community will save you from your terrible ideas and help reveal and refine your great ones.

Aaron Buer has been a student pastor for 10 years and currently serve as a high school pastor at Ada Bible Church in Grand Rapids, MI. Read his blog here.

Add Comment May 19, 2013

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: Getting Creative

Are you creative? The fact that you are involved in ministry tells me you are. Maybe you are a creative speaker, a curriculum developer or a worship leader. No matter what role you play there are times you have to get creative. The problem is sometimes we get stuck in our creative process. So what do we do, we try to find a way to get out of that rut. You might try exercising while you think, perhaps it is writing until an idea starts to flow.

In my church I am the go to guy when it comes to youth ministry, its just me and our volunteers. Because of this it means that I have to do everything my volunteers can’t help me with which means using a lot of my creative brain. The problem is lately I have been stuck in a bit of a creative rut so I decided to try to break out of it.

I have tried a lot of different techniques; from writing with the wrong hand to running while thinking through problems; with not much to help this time. So I decided to go out of what I have read and just do what felt natural. I started by getting some good tunes going and pushing aside my laptop. (Typically when I plan I use a laptop and a whiteboard). I grabbed a pad of paper, a calendar, a sharpie and results from a recent parent questionnaire I sent out. I pushed my chair to the side and started to get moving. (Throwing a ball against the wall and pacing back and forth).

Suddenly it started to happen; questions and ideas began to flow and I started writing anything that came to mind.:

What are we doing right?
What good things can we expand on?
Are there one or more sacred cows that need to be put to rest this year?
What would changing our format look like?
Who are some possible new leaders in our church?

As I started thinking about these things and my proposed calendar ideas started blowing up for programming, events, volunteer opportunities, parent seminars we could run. Every time I had an idea I wrote it down or printed off something to do with it.(I did use my laptop a little, but no Facebook or Twitter in between).

Now I have an office that looks like I am the guy from a Beautiful Mind; either that or people will think I’m crazy.

So I want to encourage you; if you are starting your new year in a rut; try something a little different that still feels natural. Chances are if you have been spending some time with God before hand and are truly seeking him, the ideas will start to flow. This is just what worked for me. Give it a try; if it works for you great; if not find something natural and go with it.

Kyle Corbin has been serving youth as a volunteer or pastor for over 10 years. He is currently the youth pastor at the Bridge Church in North Vancouver B.C. You can follow his blog at: kylecorbin.blogspot.com or Twitter: @CorbinKyle.

Add Comment January 13, 2013

Chris WesleyMore Posts Reduce, Reuse and Recycle Your Ministry

Is your youth ministry original? Feels like it needs to be, doesn’t it? When your ministry is original, it’s fresh, and exciting. In fact isn’t the reason teens leave your ministry due to the fact that you aren’t wowing them anymore? Yes and no. While originality is important, it isn’t the only way to shape your youth ministry’s identity. In fact if you can REDUCE, REUSE and RECYCLE what you already have, you’ll create capacity to do more. It’s not always about the activities, message or curriculum present. It’s about the environments and relationships you set-up. Unfortunately, if you are constantly worrying over new content and new ideas, you’ll miss out on some of the most important aspects of youth ministry.

To create more capacity, to focus on what’s important you need to make sure that originality isn’t standing in the way. When you reduce, reuse and recycle it gives you margin. This is how:

REDUCE: Clutter is one of the biggest obstacles to creativity. In order to free up new ideas you need to go through your files and folders and throw away the ones that have been lingering around for too long. Sitting in messiness is also a recipe for a cluttered mind. If you have time clean your desk, your office and reduce the amount of distractions pulling you from your projects. To reduce in your ministry create systems when you are storing ideas and then cleaning inboxes, file cabinets and desktop folders. A weekly habit is best.

REUSE: Don’t be afraid to duplicate your efforts, especially if it worked before. It’s easy to just toss something away after you’ve spent hours and days working hard on it; however, before you toss it, archive it instead. There might be a time when you need to use that same message, that same exercise or activity. In fact look to pass it on and share it with a youth minister friend who could benefit from your hard work. It will save time and energy the next go around. To reuse without sabotaging you reducing efforts, give your reuse folder an expiration date. It’s on that date you can determine if this idea or activity is still useful.

RECYCLE: Outsourcing is one of the best ways you can do something new. There are so many people out there with great ideas, willing to share them with you. In the end you don’t always have to be original. If you can take an idea here and another there (With permission) and work them together, you’ll find something fresh. To recycle properly just break the outsourced material into components, separate them and answer the question, “What can I adapt for my ministry?” Maybe it’ll work well with another resource, but don’t be afraid to try.

When you can save yourself some time on creativity you can give yourself more margin. When you have this margin you can pour into your leaders, the students and parents of your ministry. As a leader you don’t have to spend your time sitting behind a desk trying to come up with something new. Look to your fellow youth workers and to what you’ve done before. Make sure you set yourself up for success by taking away the junk.

How do you reduce, reuse and recycle in your youth ministry?

Chris (Twitter)

1 View Comments November 24, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: How to Build Momentum Midyear

The excitement of fall kickoff has subsided and now you are in the meat of your youth ministry year. It feels good because most of the rust is off and you are just turning that wheel to keep things going. Most times it’s easy to think, “Okay, smooth sailing ahead.” But that rarely works because after a while obstacles, responsibilities and distractions will build up. Ministry will get harder, people will find more reasons to bail and the momentum that was created in the fall will be completely gone. How do you keep it going? How do you build momentum in the middle of your year?

Change Things Up – You want to show that your ministry is willing to change without showing instability. That means changing up the topics in which you talk about, and possibly rearranging the format of your program. Just as you are supposed to change up a workout routine to stimulate new muscles, you’ll want to change a few things up in youth ministry to stimulate new faith growth.

Pour Into Your Team – Half way through the year your team is going to grow tired and even a little burned out. Maybe their small group hasn’t maintained the attendance they wanted, or they could be dealing with a teen in crisis. It’s even possible that a major issue in their personal life is going on. Even if it’s a one-day mini retreat, pour into them, and cheer them on. Give them the motivation they need.

Doing Something New – Whenever something or someone is new a little excitement forms. Whether it’s a new video game in your hangout space or a new speaker delivering the message, take advantage of its freshness by promoting it. While it might not be the most mind blowing achievement, new always brings about some momentum.

Pace Yourself As A Leader – When the craziness of a season subsides it’s important that you as a leader take the time to cool down. That might mean revisiting your schedule and working within the limits. It could mean taking a day of Sabbath to reconnect with God. If you aren’t ready for the long haul, neither will your ministry. To maintain momentum you need to be willing to push it when it is needed, so rest up.

Ideally you want your ministry to consistently grow on the same trajectory over time; however, that isn’t realistic. You are going to find obstacles and distractions and that’s why it’s important to rest. You will face hitting a rut and that’s why it’s important to shake things up. There is no exact science to how much newness, change or motivation one should pour into their ministry; however, if there isn’t enough momentum will slide.

How do you build momentum mid year in your ministry?

Chris Wesley is the Director of Student Ministry at Church of the Nativity in Timonium, MD. You can read more great youth ministry articles and thoughts on his exceptional blog Marathon Youth Ministry.

Add Comment October 27, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: Rut Busters

rut [ruht] – noun
a narrow or predictable way of life, set of attitudes, etc; dreary or undeviating routine

There have been many days, recently, where I have found myself staring at my office walls thinking, “I wonder how many youth workers find themselves in a rut. How often does this occur (for most)? How do they avoid it? How do they get out of it?”

I imagine most of us didn’t get into youth ministry for the promise of a narrow, predictable, dreary, or undeviating experience. And, like the women’s restroom I accidentally walked into the other day, we want nothing more than to get out of this position.

What I am discovering is that sometimes the best way to get out of a rut is to revisit what got me excited about youth ministry in the first place.

Here are a few of my rut busters…

1) Get with students: As our ministry grows and we focus on forming relationships between students and leaders, unfortunately, I feel less and less connected. This is difficult. I need to pray and look for my own opportunities to connect. The other day one of my former students came to me and said, “Hey, do you think we could get together and study a book in the Bible?” I wanted to jump out of my skin! Heck, yes, I do! It gets even better. Then he said, “Oh yeah, and do you still want to come to one of my football games? I’ll get you a schedule.” Is that the Hallelujah Chorus I hear? I’m there! If only all of my students showed that kind of initiative.

2) Get with Jesus: In the first 11 verses of John 15, Jesus uses the word “remain” 11 times. I know that the best version of me is found in Him; it’s just a matter of getting there.

3) Get in community: Ever since the 1992 Olympic Dream Team, I always wanted to be a part of a great team. My best times in youth ministry are when I am sharing life with a team of people, focused and committed to a common goal. My loneliest and most monotonous times are when everything in our ministry comes from the idea bank of me.

4) Get creative: We serve such a creative God. When I accepted the call to communicate God’s love to students, I longed to reflect even a fraction of that creativity. In a rut, creativity is one of the first things to go. I need to allow myself the time and space to get creative.

What about you? What have you found to be your greatest rut busters?

Bryce Gernand is the Middle School Pastor at Jackson First Church of the Nazarene in Jackson, MI where he has served for eight years.

Add Comment September 1, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts Announcements Are Dead: Is There Another Way?

Announcements are dead. There, I said it.

OK, maybe not totally dead, but on their last legs because we’ve been killing them for years in our churches and youth groups. Simply put, if you bore people they’ll tune out. If you treat the announcements as an afterthought, your students will as well. If you have too many anouncements, they’ll hear the first one, then die a slow death as you drone on for the next 12 simultaneously forgetting the only one they remembered for a few fleeting moments. Is there another way?

Split up the announcements
If you HAVE to have more than 1-2 announcements, split them up to give people a breather from the information barrage.

Work the announcements into the message
Sometimes there is a way to ‘hide” an announcement in the message – like talking about the Spring Break mission trip during a talk about selflessness, serving, etc.

Use the screen and/or bulletin
These are the tools for announcements, but too often the effort and planning required stop us from doing it. Change your systems to utilize them.

Make a creative video
A video grabs attention like no other. Study your students faces next time you give announcements vs. a creative video.

Use your small group network
Instead of using a shotgun approach with announcements what if you considered communicating with your leaders and having them encourage students to attend an event. Think of it as a personalized push rather than a mass announcement.

Facebook for the win
Social media … when used right, is unstoppable. Never tell people they should Tweet or Like something – create something so incredible and life-changing they have to Tweet.

Snd a txt msg
We hve a txt list tht goes out 2 a tn of stdnts. Gr8 wy to kp ppl n the knw.

What are other ways to help fix announcements or another great way to get the word out?

JG

8 View Comments June 4, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts Blacklight Secrets Illustration

This weekend as part of our Secrets series we had a large board white board on stage during the talk. It represented the image we try to keep up, when in reality everything isn’t pure and OK, we are messed up just below the surface. The team stenciled the word “secrets” repeatedly on the board – but the words were completely invisible until we revealed it as part of the talk. Black-light paint is usually very expensive – but they came up with a super-genius solution: black-light hairspray ($3 at Costume Castle) to create the awesome illustration. The end result was a moody, powerful set piece. So cool!

JG

3 View Comments September 20, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: Can Big Budgets Be Bad?

It’s still the second biggest taboo in Youth Ministry after salary, but ministry budgets are really important to talk about even though discussing them make people squirm. I wrote a few months back about a better way of talking about budgets with other pastors by comparing budget on a per student basis. But a pattern that I have noticed in my ministry, and I have seen in others as well, is that an increase in budget can result in a decrease in diligence of good stewardship.

To give a little context to this, 2 years ago our youth ministry had a budget of 8% of what it was in 2001. There were similar amounts of students and leaders and 75% less paid staff. In the time between now and then was a period where the group shrunk and the budget did accordingly. I will never complain about the finite budget had because it taught me a few things:

Tight budgets breed creativity: There is a great book called $5 Youth Ministry and for many youth pastors that is the name of the game. Getting creative, shopping on craigslist, building a home made catapult pumpkin launcher; this is the stuff that the memories are made of. Not having a lot of money to spend creates environment where collaboration and brainstorming happen, where students and leaders can use their gifts in ways that buying a solution might now allow.

Tight budgets promote stewardship: I can remember vividly, 3 years in a row, where I was a volunteer in my early 20′s and not paying for a youth trip because I knew that if I dragged my feet long enough that the Church would just pay for it or forget about it. Not the lesson we want to teaching leaders and students. Following up with all students and leaders to make sure they pay is a great teachable moment around stewardship, commitment and integrity. Lets face it, it is also a great teachable moment for ourselves to learn to be thorough in planning and executing events.

Big budgets can breed wastefulness: As we have transitioned from a season of very tight budgeting to one where there has been an increase, I have noticed a decrease in my urgency to return things that I didn’t need, to buy more, or to buy frivolous things. It’s easy when there is a little more to spend, coupled with the attitude that I have to spend all of my budget if I want to get it back, that can cause purchases and events based solely on the reasoning of “why not?”.

I often need to remind myself that I am spending our congregant’s tithes that they have entrusted to me to spend for the furthering of the Kingdom. Having a small youth budget is not a death sentence, in fact it’s really a formative experience to work within one. Learning to use your budget wisely will allow for your effectiveness to grow proportionately with your budget.

Geoff Stewart is the Pastor of Jr & Sr High School for Journey Student Ministries at Peace Portal Alliance Church and regularly contributes GUEST POSTS to MTDB. Be sure to check out his Twitter stream for awesome ministry goodness. Want to get in on the fun and write up a guest post yourself? See how right here.