navigating change | More Than Dodgeball

Josh GriffinMore Posts What Changes Would a New Youth Pastor Make?

This week I had a great conversation with my wife about the future of our church. It was so much fun to toss out huge changes in our hypothetical little restructuring dialogue at Starbucks that morning. I was shocked at how quickly massive shifts in policy and procedures were rolling off my tongue. How easily a list of players that should be immediately promoted (or let go) and pet programs that would be eliminated. Wouldn’t you have loved to be a fly on the wall for that conversation?

Well, this post has little to do those details – and everything to do with the principles that I think we stumbled on in that conversation. Here’s what I took away from it all (other than being I have no desire to run Saddleback Church – hahahaha) and a few thoughts that might help you, too:

Ask yourself what questions a new youth worker in your position would immediately ask about the youth ministry. What are the things they would be curious about? What programs lack purpose? Why DO we do it that way? Give yourself fresh, outside eyes and see what questions rise to the surface?

Ask yourself what changes would be a no-brainer. In the depth of your heart, you know some changes that have been difficult to make or even process. If someone coming in would make the changes effortlessly, what are you waiting for?

Ask yourself who they would do ministry with? And who they would let go? Who you do ministry with is one of the most critical aspects of longevity in ministry. People are life-giving or life-draining – who needs a season off in ministry? Who needs to be given their big break and brought onto the team? Don’t move as quickly on this point as you might the others – people are very subjective subject but there’s still value in taking time to evaluate your team.

Ask yourself what programs a new youth pastor would kill with ease. The sacred cow in your ministry may need to be killed. The outside eyes see them in seconds. Kill them quick!

Now don’t get in your head and start running someone else’s youth ministry – God called you there for this season so run it yourself! But don’t be afraid to look at it with the eyes of the outside. You might be surprised that something you haven’t seen at all would be so obvious to them!

JG

9 View Comments May 24, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts 4 Things That Are Changing in Youth Ministry

There has been a lot of talk this year about the changing shape of youth ministry. As we wrap up one of our last articles of 2011, we thought it was a good idea to talk about a few of these changes … and point out a few things that don’t seem to be changing anytime soon. Up today, a few ways youth ministry seems to be evolving.

There are now many, many voices
It wasn’t that long ago that you would go to a youth worker training event or check out the youth ministry books online and see just a handful of resources by a handful of people. Today, youth ministry is rapidly expanding to include scores of voices from all sizes of churches and experiences. Thanks to the world of blogging, podcasts and Twitter, you can access the wisdom and experience of countless of youth workers with the click of a mouse or a push of a button on your cell phone while sitting at a red light (wait, is that even legal anymore?). There is room for your voice, too! The best voices are from the trenches of day-to-day youth ministry — so blog, tweet and podcast away!

Emphasis on parent ministry
Youth ministry is no longer just about students (actually, it has never been just about students, but we are finally waking up to this reality), it is about reaching, equipping and empowering parents to be the primary discipler of their teenager.

Team-based ministry
Youth ministry was never meant to be done alone! One of the radical shifts still gaining steam is the networking and collaboration of youth ministries worldwide. Everyone is beginning to understand the value of sharing resources and pooling our creativity to inspire others and share the timeless message of Christ.

Church together
Youth ministry is no longer an island to itself. Churches and youth ministries are actively seeking out ways to serve together, worship together and learn together. By all means there is still plenty of room for age specific, segregated ministry to happen, but connecting adults and students together in healthy spiritual mentoring relationships is a needed and welcome change.

What else do you see shifting in youth ministry right now?

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.

1 View Comments December 30, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts 4 More Responsibilities of a Leader of Leaders

The reaction to the post The 4 Responsibility of a Leader of Leaders generated some solid reaction – thus inspiring this sequel post of sorts based on additional thoughts and your comments. So how do you lead leaders? Here are a few more ways:

Challenge
Leaders of leaders need to be challenged. Give them a big piece of the ministry of they will find a place that will trust them with more. A great leader surrounds themselves with great leaders – and then gives them a chance to demonstrate it. If you are intimidated by good leadership around you, you’ll continually limit them to pacify your own insecurities. Set them free, challenge them even, and everyone wins.

Communicate
The leader must communicate. It should be first and last of their list of to do’s every day. Communicating involves what’s happening this week, but also talking through when things go wrong and you taking account for what happened and lead through how it’s not going to happen again. Communicating is also a big part of creating a compelling vision for everyone to follow.

Champion
No one cares about your youth ministry more than you. Speak out, share and affirm what your leaders are doing with the larger church.

Captain
The biggest thing a leader/pastor needs to do is be the captain. I’ve suffered in ministry when the leader refused to be in charge and when the leader let more charismatic people took the helm and drove the ministry into the rocks on the leaders’ watch. Being a captain also means you are the one creating vision and direction for the church. While others may man a wheel of the minsitry, having clear direction and course from the captain keeps the ship off sandbars and from straying off the path or going aimlessly in circles in the sea of uncertainty.

Create Culture/Context
Leaders must create and/or nurture sustainable cultures in which the Gospel can be manifest in that leaders’ context/environment. Copying another leaders style, say from the West Coast, might not work as well in the East. Hopefully, the four things you’ve listed will accomplish this goal, but I bet it’s worthwhile to remind the leaders to examine the culture and context in which they serve. The correct placement of your passion with the world’s needs is critical to ministry.

Model
Every leader of leaders should have chiseled abs and stunning features. I’m just messing, but seriously. I think on the flip-side or in complementing coaching we must lead by example. Our kids aren’t the only ones that watch what we do or the choices we make, in fact, sometimes the leaders we lead are more influenced by us than the kids are. They often take their leadership cues from us. I was talking with a missionary this past Sunday telling him about the various resources I was looking at for our youth ministry and staff and he said, “Well, whatever resources or curriculum you decide on, just remember that your life is the real curriculum teaching these kids and staff.” Wow.

Thanks to Matt Murphy, Rusty and Micah for these additional thoughts!

JG

1 View Comments August 10, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts GUEST POST: Focus On Theology – Building A Healthy Youth Ministry

I’ve been thinking about the big question of “what does it mean to have a healthy youth ministry?” I recently finished reading a book by Kenda Creasy Dean entitled “Almost Christian: What The Faith Of Our Teenagers Is Telling The American Church“. In it Kenda describes the growing trend within the american teenage culture of being “spiritual” but not Christian. Teenagers today are focusing less on who God is and more on how connecting to a higher power makes them feel. Christian sociologists have used the phrase “Therapeutic Moral Deism” to define exactly how this paradigm plays out. I don’t have time to get into everything about Therapeutic Moral Deism, but you can learn more by reading this article by Christian Smith who wrote the book “Soul Searching”.

So how can we build a healthy youth ministry in the midst of our current teenage culture? What do we focus on as we build our youth programs? As I am sitting here in a cafe writing this, I’ve drawn two different strategies on some napkins concerning where we as youth workers can put our focus. The first is what I am calling a “God-Centered Youth Ministry”. Here’s the concept:

In a God-centered youth ministry all of our teaching/small groups/etc. focus in on “theology” which is the study of who God is. We focus on what the Bible says about God (what He is like, His characteristics, His plan, Salvation,etc.). From there we then move on to “anthropology” which is the study of human beings. Simply put, it means this:

1) FOCUS ON JESUS & WHO HE IS

2) IN LIGHT OF WHO JESUS IS…WHAT IS A TEENAGERS RESPONSE?

So what is the other option? What is the opposite of a God-Centered youth ministry? Below is my doodle concept of a “People-Centered Youth Ministry”:

With a “People-Centered Youth Ministry” the focus in not on Jesus, but on the students. This kind of youth ministry will focus on particular types of teenage behaviors and how those students attempt to navigate the ideas of spirituality. Simply put, a “People-Centered Youth Ministry” looks like this:

1) FOCUS ON THE STUDENTS AND HOW THEY FEEL

2) STUDENTS BECOME RELIGIOUS.

The problem with the second model of youth ministry is that religion will never save anybody. In our world today there are tons of religions and I hear students (and adults) say all the time time that “as long as your are sincere about your faith it doesn’t matter what you believe.” However, no matter how sincere you are, you can still be sincerely wrong. Check out this event from the book of Exodus:

“When Joshua heard the boisterous noise of the people shouting below them, he exclaimed to Moses, “It sounds like war in the camp!” But Moses replied, “No, it’s not a shout of victory nor the wailing of defeat. I hear the sound of a celebration.” (Exodus 32:17-18 NLT)

Moses has just come down from Mount Sinai where He received the Ten Commandments from God. Suddenly he and Joshua hear the sound of the entire people of Israel celebrating together. They here a united people shouting and singing and worshiping. However, just a few verses before we here what God has to say about their worship:

“The Lord told Moses, “Quick! Go down the mountain! Your people whom you brought from the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. How quickly they have turned away from the way I commanded them to live! They have melted down gold and made a calf, and they have bowed down and sacrificed to it. They are saying, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” Then the Lord said, “I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are. Now leave me alone so my fierce anger can blaze against them, and I will destroy them. Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation.” (Exodus 32:7-10 NLT)

Even though the people of Israel were being sincere, God told them that they were sincerely wrong! We have to be diligent in our effort to point the students in our ministry to Jesus and not to the world. We need to place our focus back on to the study of God and not on the study of ourselves. If we don’t, we can fall into the same trap that the Apostle Paul spoke of in the book of Romans:

“Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.” (Romans 1:21-23 NLT)

Which model above can be seen in your own youth ministry? Which aspects of your current programs would you have to change in order to bring Jesus back to the center?

Rob Ham works on the WILDSIDE Jr. High Team @ Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA and blogs at I (Heart) Youth Ministry.

Add Comment February 13, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts 4 Things That Aren’t Going to Change Soon in Youth Ministry

There’s been quite a bit of talk this past year about youth ministry changing drastically in the future. And while I think youth ministry must always be in a state of evolution and change, my mind wandered to what isn’t going to change anytime soon. If you spend your time on these 4 things, you’ll be ready for wherever God takes you next:

Caring adult leaders
Great volunteers have been a part of youth ministry for a long time – and they will continue to be in the future. These are the inner circle of leadership for your youth ministry. They are your partners, friends, and co-laborers in the faith. Youth ministry will change, but the need for people who love God and love students won’t.

1-on-1 time with students
At the heart of youth ministry must always be the individual student. Even large crowd program and events must continually pursue the one. The church growth movement can be mistakenly representing the desire for the crowd – but good youth ministry does both. Speak to the crowds, care for the individual.

Bible-based curriculum and teaching
Styles will come and go, sizes of groups and formats will fade, but one thing is going to be at the center no matter what philosophy you’re implementing. The Bible has been and must be at the center of youth ministry.

A devoted follower of Jesus leading the group
This is the must – and the New Year is the perfect time to start reversing the trend revealed in this startling poll a few weeks ago. You can talk about leadership, experiment with the latest and greatest gadgets, tools, core values and even have a great youth ministry blog – but if you’re not in love with Jesus and devoted to Him regularly it will eventually implode.

What else isn’t going to be changing soon in youth ministry?

JG

6 View Comments January 4, 2011

Josh GriffinMore Posts Gravity – Pulling Us Back to the Way it Has Always Been

Thought that Kurt’s post about gravity was interesting – seems like in youth ministry there is always a fight to pull away from “the way it has always been.” Here’s some of his thoughts, head to Junior High Ministry for the rest:

Gravity is good: It keeps us grounded, keeps us from spinning out of control. Gravity isn’t going away: It is a force of nature…a natural force in leadership….I need to learn to live with it and use it to my benefit. There are ways to defy gravity…to some degree: When gravity holds us back, there are ways to overcome its force.

JG