leadership | More Than Dodgeball

Josh GriffinMore Posts Lifelong Learners: Instilling a Love of Learning

In your ministry, you have influence. You can use this influence to shape the way each student views learning about Jesus; His love, creation and His expectations of us. You can create engaged and active learners who are eager to learn more. Instilling the love of learning in those you minister to can be done by engaging your students through their creativity and simply by loving them!

Engaging your students through their creativity

Look for ways to be a blessing – Take a stuffed teddy bear to someone who isn’t feeling well, bring a copy of last week’s sermon to someone who missed church, smile when you pass someone by, buy someone a Bible. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Simple is powerful.
Build things together – Houses for the homeless, a set for a ministry video, build a new podium for your senior pastor. When you build things together, you are learning about teamwork and about caring for other’s through skills you may or may not have had before.

If you are not so creative, delegate tasks to the students who are, they would love to put their talents to work! Someone great at designing t-shirts, have them design some for a fund raiser. Someone great with woodwork, have them design a set for a play geared toward teaching other’s about Jesus. Someone great with the camera? Have them take some pictures for a new ministry photo album. Short on ideas? Ask the creative ones, they will have many ideas on how they can use their talents to serve the ministry.

Simply love them!

This means showing grace in what may seem to be the worst situation. Things happen. They are here today, done with tomorrow. Loving others should be our focus. Remain at peace through the storm and let God handle the details.
Listen – Sometime we are so busy teaching and talking, we forget to listen. Take some time out to hear what they’ve got to say.
Be transparent – Be real with them. You have struggles just like them.
Spend time with them with no expectations – Let time spent with them flow whether it be into conversation or into a crazy fun game night!
Be involved in what they enjoy – When you enjoy being around someone, you’ll make the time to be involved in what they enjoy. It could be you showing up at their soccer game, going to the mall with a group of students or going to the arcade. Spend time in their world.

When you engage your students through their creativity and simply love them, they are actively learning about Jesus; His love, creation and His expectations of us. They will leave your ministry with the tools needed to equip others with the love of lifelong learning as well. Which is so important because this is how we grow in spirit and in stature, we’ve got to be actively engaged and eager to learn more for all of our lives.

Ashley Fordinal is the Children’s Church volunteer at Family Life Church in Sulphur Springs, TX.

Add Comment March 30, 2013

Josh GriffinMore Posts Youth Ministry Martyr Sundrome

It happens to the best of us. It happened to me yesterday. And if I’m honest maybe the past couple months. Any of these ring a bell with you – some have felt pretty familiar to me in my youth ministry experience!

getting paid less than equals
little to no website exposure
higher expectations of you than others
total absence in the bulletin
budget cuts … again
note getting credit
feeling invisible in your church
they still won’t let me hire an assistant
not getting enough resources
spouse expectations
we’re growing while the church is dying
the scape goat for everything
unsupported by the leadership

So we become martyrs. We resign ourselves that these feelings are the underpinning price of being faithful. That doing God’s work just isn’t fair and this is our lot in life. Crybaby. Pity party.

Take a few minutes and think about where you’re feeling sorry for yourself. Journal a few thoughts about your fair and unfair comparisons and the trap you have fallen into.
The blame game has no winners, only losers.
Confess where you are playing the martyr. Martyrdom will always suck passion and create tension.
Believe you are not a victim. Victimization will only give you excuses instead of results.
You are not constantly suffering. You are actually alienating yourself from the leadership who is trying to do the best job that they can.

What would you add to either list?

JG

2 View Comments March 28, 2013

Chris WesleyMore Posts Give Every Teen a Voice

I have mixed feelings when it comes to student leadership groups within your student ministry. While it’s important to create leaders, to group them risks creating a click within the ministry. No matter what your feelings are on student leadership groups, it’s important to nurture teens to be leaders. One of the best ways to do this by giving them a voice.

It’s with a voice teens feel empowered, encouraged and valued. It’s with a voice that you are mobilizing the next generation. To give teens that voice you need to:

Encourage Them To Serve: Actions speak louder than words. Not only does service speak loud but it teaches humility and love. Allow teenagers to serve alongside of adults in ministry and mission. They’ll become visible to the rest of the congregation and community, and that’s huge. If they lead with their actions, you give their actions a physical voice that’s hard to ignore.

Seek Their Feedback: If you speak to teens you need to get their thoughts and input. To be proactive give them rough drafts of your message, ask them to comment of possible statements you might make. I do this by going on Facebook and messaging a few teens I know. Give them permission to share with you what they really think and they’ll support you in your leadership.

Brag About Them To Leadership: If there are teens in your ministry you want to spot light let the rest of your staff (Especially your pastor) know about their hard work. This will encourage coworkers to recognize the student leaders in your church and they’ll feel like they’ve been noticed. This will help them feel value beyond youth ministry.

Give Them A Platform: If teens are given the opportunity to share their faith publicly you prepare them for leadership roles in the future.

Playing in a worship band.
Giving a testimony.
Small group leading their younger peers.

Are all ways of how teens can lead as adults in the future. Not only are you giving them a platform; but, the opportunity to lead in the same way adults can lead. This will show them how they can lead in the future.

When teens feel like they have a voice they’ll embrace your ministry more. They’ll be taking on responsibility to grow the church and have it function at a high level. When they feel empowered they feel motivated. When teens have a voice you’ve done your job of mobilizing the next generation.

How do you give teen’s in your ministry a voice?

Chris Wesley (@chrisrwesley)

1 View Comments March 28, 2013

Josh GriffinMore Posts Non-negotiable Aspect of Leadership: Leaders are Team Builders

Leadership continues to be one of the hot topics in the church today. Now more than ever before we are seeing books, seminars and coaching sessions revolving around leadership. My hope of writing this series of blog posts isn’t to bring anything new to the table; rather I want to share with you what in my opinion are four non-negotiable aspects of Christian leadership.

Have you ever tried to lead without a team? How did it go for you?

I am slowly learning over time about team building and team management. I have had two scenarios of leadership that have taught me the hard way a lesson I should have picked up on simply by following the example of Jesus.

My first hard lesson came when I worked at a summer camp in a leadership position. I wasn’t in charge of building a team, rather training them and working alongside the leadership team. My failure came in the form of not training people to do tasks I could do more easily by myself.

The second lesson came while working in my current church. I work in a midsized Canadian church and struggled for a long time with building a team. I procrastinated and it backfired. As a result of my failure to build a team I dealt with a period of decline in attendance and struggles of being overwhelmed with my workload.

I believe that we learn from the example of Jesus when it comes to team management. The first lesson we can learn simply is that we need a team. One of the first things Jesus did during his ministry was to gather his disciples. In the first chapter of Mark we see Jesus beginning his ministry by sharing the Gospel, and while walking along he sees Simon and Andrew and says to them “Come, follow me… and I will make you fishers of men.” (Mark 1: 16,17). In addition to these twelve He also called an additional 72 to go and prepare the way for His coming. (Luke 10:1) Not only does Jesus appoint people to a place on His leadership team, He also takes the time to empower them. “And He called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.” (Matthew 10:1) A key skill as a leader is to find a team and surround oneself with them. Once a good leader has found a team they will equip and train these new leaders with the skills to carry out the necessary tasks at hand.

How do you build and empower your team?

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 March 24, 2013

Geoff StewartMore Posts Think Like Them

Josh and Kurt had a great post about understanding the world your students live in and I wanted to dig a little deeper on the subject:

In our ministry; like many others, Music is a core part of what we do week in and week out. Before and after our service and the Worship time within it, the music creates a vibe and a space where are students can connect with God and each other. When it comes to Christian music there have been few albums more hyped than Hillsong’s newest release “Zion” which has been a top seller in multiple countries and is filled with incredible music that unapologetically points to Jesus.

In the past few weeks of connecting with other youth pastors in my area, the topic of the album has come up several times and one comment I have made to each person that I have discussed it with is that there isn’t any “youthy,” jump around classic Hillsong United anthem type songs on “Zion” and most of them were content with the departure. As I get older, my taste in music has change, and for a band like Hillsong United, they are getting older too and with the maturation of their members, comes a maturation of their sound as well.

So what am I getting at? As we get older, and our tastes mature it can become easy for us to lose sight of who we are serving and leading. I may be getting further away from high school every year, but the students entrusted to me are still there, and thus I need to be sure to do my best to see the world through their eyes and through their ears. While I may be less inclined to jump around during a worship service than I once was, I need to know that for 16 year old me, there was nothing better. The truth is:

The music that you encounter God through will probably be different
The games that you find fun to play might not be fun to students
The overnight lock-in might be the most dreaded event on your calendar, but the most exciting one on your student’s
The style and feel of a night that will make it conducive to a high schooler inviting a friend to is going to be different than what it might be for you.

Our responsibility is to advocate for the needs of our students. Sometimes that means doing events and playing songs that might not speak to our needs or engage us as much, but we are not youth pastors to serve our own interests. This is the place where student leaders and young volunteers are invaluable. Much like your grandparents favoring a rotary phone over an iPhone, we’ll often resort to the familiar and comfortable. There will be things that we might not be able to wrap our minds around at first, that we need to know and be fluent in. It can be challenging to try and continually re-learn the teenage mind, but for us to be effective in our ministry to students, we owe it to our students to understand the way they see the world.

Geoff – geoffcstewart

1 View Comments March 20, 2013

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: Teaching Kids to Love Their Neighbors

We all are called to a mission greater than ourselves. “The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” (Mark 12:31) Our love should reach out to our neighbors and in turn, reach the world. But how do we get this message out to our kids? We can start by being an example, and then bring awareness of their neighbors to them and make a difference.

Be the example
Kids and even people in general, learn the most when watching. Show them what a true neighbor looks like. A neighbor includes: family, friends, those placed in authority, and even enemies. As an example, we should go out and choose to love our neighbors regardless of how they choose to treat us. When our neighbor gives us a dirty look, look back with loving eyes. When the elderly man who is constantly grumpy and speaks negatively towards you drops his cane, pick it up for him. By planting seeds of love in your neighbor’s heart, you are planting seeds of love in the hearts of the kids you minister to.

Bringing awareness
What is going on with your neighbor? Are they in pain? Are they in a time of need? Have they just made a big accomplishment in their life and want someone to celebrate with? You can make your kids aware of their neighbors by involving them. When your neighbor is in pain, have the kids make a card for them and take a small group of kids to their house to pray over them. When your neighbor is in a time of need, have your kids host a fundraiser for them if funds or needed or grab a group of kids to clean your neighbor’s home if they are depressed and their home is a mess. When your neighbor needs someone to celebrate with, involve the kids in planning a surprise party for them.

Make a difference
As you involve the kids and bring awareness to them, their creative juices start flowing and their desire to love their neighbors will significantly increase! Looking for ways to reach out to their neighbors will become natural to them and they will make a difference in their communities and have the means to change the world!

Get out into your community with the kids God has placed under you and show them what it truly means to love your neighbor. Lives will be changed and hearts will be filled with the love of God because you chose to make a difference!

Ashley Fordinal is the Children’s Church volunteer at Family Life Church in Sulphur Springs, TX.

Add Comment March 17, 2013

Josh GriffinMore Posts Non-negotiable Aspect of Leadership: Leaders are Learners

Leadership continues to be one of the hot topics in the church today. Now more than ever before we are seeing books, seminars and coaching sessions revolving around leadership. My hope of writing this series of blog posts isn’t to bring anything new to the table; rather I want to share with you what in my opinion are four non-negotiable aspects of Christian leadership.

When I was in Bible College we took a trip to the Canadian Rocky Mountains for a backpacking trip. There were 27 of us in total: 20 students, 4 teachers, and 3 guides. Our goal was to backpack from one side of a mountain pass to the other in 3 days. Before we set out from basecamp we took a vote to choose two students from our group and make them trip leaders. The role of the trip leader was to join the guides in learning navigation and group leading skills. The ‘trip leaders’ were also in charge of choosing when to stop for the night and when to take meals etc. I was selected along with a girl named Courtney. We were chosen because each of us had experience from spending time in the outdoors and we knew how to read maps and use a compass. Off we went for three days; everything went great until the end of the second day when we decided to push forward so we could have a more relaxing third day. A problem arose as we headed towards our last camp we pushed the team too far. We didn’t listen to the fact that everyone was too tired and didn’t want to press on. In the end we had a group of tired and grumpy people; tears were shed, words exchanged and people were just downright miserable.

Fast-forward two years, and I am leading a trip of 16 teens as a guide. We have been pushing forward for a couple days straight and have to choose where to make camp for the night. I turn to my friend and co-guide and we start to decide whether we should push it or just take it easy for the end of the day. Suddenly I stop; it hits me that this could be a complete do-over of my Bible School trip. So I turn to the campers and ask them for their opinion, they leave it up to us guides but I can tell by their reaction that we should take it easy and stop short.

Making the decision to stop was one of the best decisions I could have made on that trip, and to be honest I almost didn’t make the right decision. But I took hold of a lesson I had learned in the past and put it into practice.

There are a number of instances in the Bible where we see God, teaching leaders to become learners. We can see examples in the life of Moses and the life and teachings of Jesus.

Moses was stubborn; God gave him numerous chances to really rely on Him; and Moses pushed back against God over and over. In the end it was his refusal to open his eyes to what God was showing him that prevented Moses from entering the Promised Land. On the flip side we see Jesus; fully God and fully man; even went through a period of growing in wisdom (Luke 2:52). We also learn from the parable of Ten Minas (Luke 19:11-27) that God will give us a little bit to start and if we are faithful and learn from that, we will be blessed with more.

What are some ways that you are learning?

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 March 17, 2013

Josh GriffinMore Posts When a Senior Pastor Supports the Youth Ministry

I love this video for a whole on of reasons, but the biggest one being how supportive senior pastor Mark Beeson is of his student ministry! What a blessing to those youth workers to have such love from the leadership.

JG