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Josh GriffinMore Posts Youth Ministry Epic #FAIL

Fun collection of videos of youth ministry epic fails from the Simply Youth Ministry Conference. So fun!

JG

Add Comment March 4, 2013

Geoff StewartMore Posts Guest Post: The Talk Nobody Remembered

Ever had that moment? A student walks up and tells you that they thought your talk last week was hilarious? Or the game was intense and really great?

And then you ask them what the point of the message was, and they have no clue?

I have.

I’ve learned that I need to spend just as much time thinking about how I’m going to drive my point home as I do trying to figure out what my point is. Here’s what I’ve come up with:

1. Concrete Ideas: Give your students something to DO. As soon as the message is over if you can. Spell out very clearly for them what living out what you just spoke on looks like. Show them. Illustrate it. Tell them in five languages if you have to. Be very, very clear with your students about what they can DO with what you just told them.

2. Short and Sweet: Get the point of your message down to 120 characters. Why? Two reasons: so your students can remember it and so you can tweet it after the talk. In fact, tweet it multiple times throughout the week, just to make sure they remember it. Even better: put a picture with it. Visuals change lives (I just made that up and have no research to back it up with).

Live It : Whatever you just told your students to do, make sure you are doing it, have done it, and will do it too. You do damage to your message every time you act differently than what you just presented. Think your students will forget your message? You’re right. But think your students will forget your actions? Not a chance.

These things won’t guarantee that a student will remember your talk from last week. But boy they help out!

Ronald is the youth minister at FBC Lexington, TN. He’s married to Bekah and has two girls: Sophie and Penny. Find his blog here and Twitter here

Add Comment February 12, 2013

Chris WesleyMore Posts Disciples of Who?

You thrive on life change. That’s what makes you a youth minister. When life is tough, all you need is that one story of a teen finding Christ. Living out the Gospel and showing you that all the pain, hurt and junk you’ve been through is worth it. As youth ministers it’s not always about the energy, the numbers or the accolades, it’s about connecting the teens to Christ.

But, is that what’s really happening in your ministry? Are you seeing stories of life change for Christ or something else? Stories of life change can happen for many reason. As youth ministers your hope is that they happen because of a personal and public relationship with Christ. That might be happening in your ministry, but then again you might be raising up the next generation of disciples of YOUR CHURCH or YOUR MINISTRY.

It’s a mistake that’s easy to make. It’s a trick the evil one plays on us all. He’ll make the ministry about you, about a program or even an activity. With those things and people comes hype, comes excitement and again life change. But, if the life change doesn’t point to Christ you are creating a group of disciples with shallow faith. That means a higher chance that your teens will walk away when they move away.

So, how do you know if you are pointing teens in the right direction? You can start by:

Observing The Fruit: What path are former teens taking as they graduate high school? Are you finding teens becoming more public and aggressive with their faith? What you need to do is sit down with your team and determine what it looks like when a teen is truly living out his or her faith. This comes from creating a vision for your teens and coming up with signs that indicate you are fulfilling it.

Getting Their Story: Have a teen write out their life story. How is God a part of it? Or is their life change due to people and programs? Help them see that God is writing their story and encourage them to give Him credit. Sometimes the reason you are creating disciples of your ministry is because of a misalignment, correct it before it goes bad.

Ask Them Who They Want To Be: If you ask them “Who do you want to be?” you’ll see how their faith is influencing the vision they have for themselves. Are they describing someone who has been shaped by the world or someone who is being shaped by their faith? Again you can have a conversation with them that will help them see how God is shaping their future.

Get An Outside Perspective: Talk to parents, coaches or teachers about the life journey they’ve seen in their students. Make sure you are connected in the community to determine the true impact your ministry is having on their growth. Are they only “Christian” inside your ministry or are they displaying Christ everywhere they go?

In the end each of your student has a decision whether or not they are going to follow Christ. You need to guide, influence and encourage them to focus on Christ. While you may never have a perfect success rate, you can increase Christ’ influence by pointing them towards Him.

How do you determine who a student is following?

Chris Wesley (@chrisrwesley)

2 View Comments January 8, 2013

Josh GriffinMore Posts TOP 3: Epic Fails in Youth Ministry

This month we’re introducing a new series here on the Simply Youth Ministry Today newsletter. It is called Top 3 and we’re kicking off this week with our Top 3 epic youth ministry fails. Thought you would like that one!

1) Every so often we play a video clip as part of the message and in one particularly tragic service we played the video clip a team member had made for me (Josh). Like an idiot I hadn’t previewed the clip from Tommy Boy and the very last sentence of the excerpt involved a joke about the size of the guys…sailboat. Needless to say, it would go on to be one of my most epic fails of all time. I ended the message with, “It sure has been great being your pastor.” Hahahah!

2) I (Kurt) was a 22-year-old rookie junior high pastor on my way to a youth group New Year’s Eve party with a carload of kids. I happened to have surf racks on my car and one of the 8th grade boys happened to be highly adventurous…which turned out to be a bad combination. I pulled over, strapped the student into my surf racks, and proceeded to drive 5 miles through town to the party. Luckily it was before the days of cell phones, Instagram, and every move being instantaneously captured. Other than a fairly harsh tongue lashing from the high school pastor (why do they always think they’re so much more spiritual?), there was no damage done.

3) To make a long story short: I (Kurt) was on staff at Saddleback for one month when I accidentally left a student in the stadium after an Arena Football League game. I counted…just not accurately.

This post was written by Josh Griffin and Kurt Johnston and originally appeared as part of Simply Youth Ministry Today free newsletter. Subscribe to SYM Today right here.

3 View Comments October 2, 2012

Geoff StewartMore Posts Absolutely Dangerous

I really like learning things, but NOT learning them the hard way and this is something that I have learned the hard way through my own actions and from the challenges it has brought up with some of our students. We have all been there, preaching to our students about something we are passionate about, something we know that many students are struggling with, you’re feeling it and take it off script and then…. It happens……

You throw down a absolute / blanket statement. You might not have noticed it happened, it might have been a throw away comment but the students heard it and they are thinking about it, reflecting on it and deciding if its true.

This is such a dangerous move; even if by accident, because when we say it, our students are going to assume its true and may act accordingly. A great example is a student named Mike that was in my small group for several years. He was solid, growing in his faith, making great choices, loving Jesus and didn’t struggle with much. We took our youth group to a local youth conference and the main session speaker came out with this uppercut:

“ I know that ALL of you guys are struggling with looking at pornography”

Fact: Mike had never been tempted by pornography in his life……. Until he heard that everyone was.

I have made absolute statements about guys and their intentions in dating that were hurtful, and I owned the comment, apologized the next week and wished I had never done it. But it was not fair to the guys and not fair to the girls who trusted that I was telling them the truth, the guys had ill intentions. I know of at least one student who has not come back since that night and that hurts

Absolute statements are rarely true, often hurtful and always dangerous and not worth it. Be careful, your flippant comment can have devastating consequences for the spiritual journey of a student who is trusting that the information you are bringing is true. Don’t learn the hard way like I have.

GS (Twitter)

Add Comment March 26, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: Epic Fail

Have you ever really messed up? I mean, completely blown it. I have and I thought there is no way to recover from this one. I have finally figured out that it is okay to mess up and fail! Congratulations, you didn’t do it!

The great thing about failing is that it is not the end result. It is part of the process. Another element in life. For instance, Abraham Lincoln’s resume:

1 View Comments February 4, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts God is Working in Your Youth Ministry

If you started to wonder this week … yes, God is still at your youth group.

God’s Spirit isn’t done quite yet in your church and in your life — even if it feels like it sometimes. I’m just about to cross 2,000 youth services I’ve played some part in — and I’m so grateful to know that God is working even when……

ProPresenter crashes in the middle of your message and at the worst possible moment
Your worship lyrics are riddled with misspeellings (<– I left that one in for you)
That funny game left a permanent stain in the old sanctuary carpet
You thought for sure the movie clip didn’t have THAT word in it
You were outnumbered at an event when your volunteers flaked out
There is a distinct odor in the church van that may never come out
Your small group was so out of control you feel the need to offer to repaint the host home’s family room
The tears from that student after your message … were because her boyfriend just broke up with her
The sermon you thought would be a homerun was a bunt at best

If it all goes wrong, if your talk tanks, if you feel that your youth ministry isn’t working … rest assured: It isn’t working. But God is.

God loves to show up when we’re down. He seems to specialize in being very present when He seems so absent. He’s there … He’s changing your students one botched program at a time. When your mission trip has an epic fail or your small group has a night (or several nights) of endless blunders … know that God is up to something big and your best attempts to stop him won’t work. He is working in spite of you, to see your students transformed.

JG