vision | More Than Dodgeball

Josh GriffinMore Posts 5 Questions with Tony Morgan, Author of Stuck in a Funk

I’m excited to interview Tony Morgan, church strategist and author of the new book, Stuck in a Funk. Here is 5 questions with Tony, and you can get a copy of his new book on Amazon right now for $5. He’s helped lead several churches I follow closely and have been inspired by him (and his incredible blog) regularly. I respect this guy a lot, and am thankful for all of the great things God is doing through him. Enjoy our discussion!

1. Excited to read your new book, Stuck in a Funk, have you ever found yourself in one? You better believe it. It’s part of life. We face being stuck in our organizations, but we also face it in our personal lives. In both instances, I’ve personally found that sense of stuckness happening when the future vision is unclear or there isn’t a plan to see the vision accomplished. Then once I determine the next steps, I need the discipline and perseverance to work my plan. All of that gets easier when you’re doing life with people who embrace the same vision.

2. Are there specific signs you’re stuck in a funk? Sometimes I find myself there but unable to explain it or how I got there to others? I think being too comfortable is a sign. The funny thing is everyone else around us is pursuing comfort and happiness. Wouldn’t it be nice if a warning light popped on in our lives when we’re getting too comfortable? It’s those seasons when we began to trust too much in our own experiences and capacities. The ironic thing is that I typically experience the most joy when I take risks where I genuinely have to trust God for wisdom and strength.

3. This book is about churches who are stuck, but it seems like at it’s core it is about leaders that are that way. Yes? Ah… I tend to agree. I think leaders getting stuck is certainly one of the key reasons that organizations get stuck. Leaders need to go back to whatever it is was prompted them to become a leader in the church. They need to recapture that passion and purpose from God. But, just to be honest, it’s going to take a different vision, strategy and systems to get different results. Hope is not a strategy. And, that’s the challenge — leaders actually have to lead at some point.

4. What is the biggest obstacle to getting out of a ministry funk? Every church is unique. Because of that, the combination of contributing factors that lead to a church getting into a ministry funk are going to look different from church to church. That said, one common challenge is being inward-focused. Another is holding onto leadership approaches or structures that may have worked in the past, but don’t now. Another common issue is gaining a clear vision, but, more important, being intentional about the strategies and systems to see that vision become reality. To get to where you want to go tomorrow, you have to know what’s important right now. Just to be honest, sometimes we need an outside set of eyes to facilitate us through that process.

5. Many youth workers have big vision and have a harder time with systems – can you explain an easy way to keep these connected to move forward? Yes, vision is important. You certainly need that. The big mistake pastors (including youth workers) make is that they just need to teach people the vision, and everything will take care of itself. Well I can have a vision for being a physically fit, but hearing someone teach about it isn’t going to cut it. It may change my thinking, but systems help shift behaviors. I need new disciplines. I need an exercise system. I need an eating healthy system. I need a buddy system to stay motivated. You get the point. There are many systems in any body, and, unless the systems are healthy, the body won’t be healthy whether we embrace the a vision for health or not.

Thanks so much, Tony!

JG

Add Comment April 15, 2013

Josh GriffinMore Posts Non-negotiable Aspect of Leadership: Leaders Follow God’s Vision

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.

This past Christmas I went to a huge mall to buy a small gift and stocking stuffers for my wife. The problem was that I had already purchased everything I knew I wanted to get for her and now I was just getting extras. I ended up walking around the mall for a good two hours only to purchase more items than I had planned to and spent more money than I wanted. The problem wasn’t that I wasn’t being thoughtful; I had just fulfilled my earlier vision and hadn’t come around to have a new vision for the stocking stuffers I wanted to buy.

In order to get things do things properly as a leader we need to have vision and understand our mission. While I had a mission at the mall I didn’t have a vision and one without the other is incomplete. When Christian leaders are directing people where God would have them go, they need to understand what God’s vision is and how to articulate this. Jesus gives us an example of how we should interact with mission and vision of the Father. Jesus continually explains to his disciples and others his mission and the vision that he has been given. When Jesus was in Nazareth toward the beginning of his ministry he explained to the members of the synagogue that he had come to fulfill the prophecies of Isaiah by reading from Isaiah (Luke 4: 16-21). Jesus not only understood why he came he also understood his role, He knew he had come to preach and share the Gospel (Mark 1:38). By explaining His relationship with the vision God had given the Israelites, Jesus gave himself credibility while also trying helping others to understand their roles in the grand picture. This leads to the understanding of another key skill that Christian leaders should possess. If a leader can take scripture and the revelation of God in their own life and put them together it would inspire greater credibility and confidence in who they are and where they are leading.

What ways are you gaining credibility and helping others understand vision and mission?
Does your current vision for where you are going include some backing with Scripture?

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 April 7, 2013

Geoff StewartMore Posts GUEST POST: Youth Ministry’s Exceptional Everyday Gray

Getting into youth ministry is like signing up for a basketball league where every 30 seconds there’s another slam-dunk opportunity. But once you get into it, it feels much more like a soccer game where there’s a heck of a lot of running around before reaching a goal.

Let me explain.

If you’re like me, you do student ministry for those great moments: When a student finally “gets it.” When small group conversation goes deep. When a teenager posts, “Best weekend ever!” on the Monday after the retreat. These are moments that make it all worth it!

But what about all the other in-between moments? The moments that aren’t so exceptional – that are normal. Average. Gray. Like when you have to clean up the youth room after everyone has evacuated. Or when you have to make a hundred phone calls to get the event planned (the one that get’s cancelled because of bad whether). Or when you have to dissect the copy machine because somewhere hidden deep inside of it is a stuck piece of paper… allegedly. What about all the undesirable, underrated and unexceptional tasks of youth ministry?

Now, I get that there are “soccer players” out there – that is, people who love the running around. But my general response is, “This is not what I signed up for!”

But I wonder if God can teach us all something about those gray times in between. Perhaps the exceptional times of discovery in ministry are not the moments we expect.

Oswald Chambers wrote: “It is inbred in us that we have to do exceptional things for God; but we have not. WE HAVE TO BE EXCEPTIONAL IN THE ORDINARY THINGS, to be holy in the mean streets, among mean people, and this is not learned in five minutes.”

I am guilty of wanting five-minute fixes. Of asking for humility and success and patience… and wanting them all right now. To some extent, we are all tempted toward the big, grandiose occasions, when people point and say, “What a life-changing leader! What an incredible ministry!”

But what if our best leadership today was picking up after students? What if worship found it’s way into filling out finances? What if God was waiting to meet with us each day as we move between meetings?

And what if God’s most exceptional gifts to you today in your ministry were hidden in the common wrapping of everyday tasks?

Sam Townsend works on the Training and Programming Team at YouthWorks, where he helps develop materials to point teenagers toward Jesus. After the workday, Sam is a youth group leader, a seminary student and a conversationalist over half-price appetizers.

1 View Comments February 15, 2013

Geoff StewartMore Posts GUEST POST: Why Rural Youth Ministry? 4 Reasons to say Why Not?

If you have worked in a rural context for more than five minutes, you can see that things are a little different here. The towns are smaller farther apart, and seem to operate at a slower pace. Do not let all this deceive you. You have not stepped into 1940, 1960, or even 1990. You have not stepped into a smaller version of some small city. Relationships and rivalries run very deep. Resources can be as slim here in a rural context as you would see in many urban situations.

Despite all the differences, many things are similar – parents are still parents, and students are still students. Students still have many of the same struggles as their urban and suburban counterparts, such as drugs, teenage pregnancy, bullying, and truancy. Students still hurt. Parents still try and fill every spare moment with an activity, club, or sport.

With all these challenges before you, many will ask? Why bother with Rural Youth Ministry?

Here are 4 good reasons to say “Why Not Rural Youth Ministry?”

1) Much of North America is Rural

Many refer to Rural communities as “flyover country”, giving the impression that the Rural areas do not matter. However, large portions of North America are represented when you say the word Rural. This includes a lot of students that attend small Rural schools. The county where I live has about 1100 7th-12th grade students scattered among three school districts.

2) Even though many small Rural churches are closing, there will be Rural churches around for many years to come.

I have worked as a Youth Pastor in Southern Baptist Churches for 13 years. The largest majority of churches in my denomination are under 500 in attendance. I have heard it said that the average size church in the SBC is about 350. This means that for every mega-church, there are many more small churches of less than 100, or even less than 50. Many other denominations have very similar numbers.

3) Many Rural youth ministries have smaller numbers of students, allowing more individual attention.

One of my favorite parts of Rural Youth Ministry is the opportunities that I get to invest in the lives of students in one-on-one or small group interactions. With a smaller ministry size, I can slow down and focus on one or two students that really need that help through a tough situation or rejoice with them in successes. I also get to experience a lot of “firsts”. There is a student that I have had the pleasure of being with the first time he left the state of Indiana (…and we live 20 minutes from the state line) and the first time he ever flew on an airplane.

4) We are given the mission and commission to “Go into all the world” - and this includes Rural areas.

One of the members of the leadership team at my church has said many times over the last few years “God told us to go, that means we need His permission to stay”. In many Rural areas there are so many needs that could be met with a few small resources, a person with a specific skill set, or a person willing to take the time to help another pick up the pieces of a broken life. The Gospel is needed in Rural areas just as badly as in the prisons, urban centers, or the wealthy suburbs. They are people that Christ died for that need what only He can give.

Brent Lacy is a Rural Youth Pastor in Western Indiana that lives in the “Covered Bridge Capital of the World” with his wife and 3 kids. You can come connect with him at the Simply Youth Ministry Conference, where he will be helping to lead the Rural Youth Workers Connect Group. You can also find out more about his book Rural Youth Ministry: Thrive Where You’re Planted at SimplyYouthMinistry.com

2 View Comments February 14, 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 The Problem with Always Looking Forward

My default setting is forward.

I don’t do a good job of looking at the past – in fact, my memory is absolutely terrible. When someone holds a grudge against me I always think to myself, “I wonder why?” because I don’t remember the altercation or conflict that led us there. When people talk about the good old days, I have a hard time thinking that the time I’m living in isn’t the good old days. And while there are a lot of cons to this wiring, as I was journaling this morning I thought of a couple series cons:

When you only look forward …

… you don’t appreciate the past
When all you can see is today forward, you cheapen the sacrifice of those that have come before. While this must be balanced with the temptation to dwell on the past, appreciating and respecting the history is very important. Typically this type of attitude leads to high turnover and or disgruntled people who sacrifice thier souls for the cause.

… you don’t celebrate the past
When you’re always moving forward, there is always the next big thing to tackle and have to hurriedly keep feeding the machine. Celebration needs to be an integral part of every family, team and ministry. Reflect or you just might miss it.

… you don’t learn from the past
This one is the most obvious, even a cliche in today’s world. If you don’t learn from your history, you are doomed to repeat it. There is a reason this sentence sticks around year after year. Debrief, analyze, make it better. Dont’ just rush on to the next tentpole on the youth ministry calendar.

With these learnings in mind – I’d encourage you to take a little time here at the end of the year and appreciate, celebrate and debrief the past season of ministry. Have a few round table discussion, send some thank you notes and tell God about the past … as you start to look forward again.

JG

Add Comment December 14, 2012

Geoff StewartMore Posts GUEST POST: How To Make Youth Volunteer Meetings Worthwhile

Great ministry teams are key to effective and fulfilling ministry! Part of creating and sustaining a great team is ensuring that we meet regularly to be reminded why we do what we do, and to refocus on the vision. But, can I be honest for moment? I dislike meetings greatly! Although I see the need to meet, it’s sometimes hard for me (and my volunteers), to get excited about youth ministry team meetings!

However, with all that said, I have discovered four essential ways that help our team to be reminded of why we do what we do, and refocus on the vision, without it feeling like it’s an insurance seminar:

1) Celebrate What God Has Done: At every meeting I give my team the opportunity to share all the ways they have seen God moving in our student ministry. It’s human nature to get to a meeting and quickly focus on all that needs to be changed, tweaked, or challenged. Before we know it, we are looking to fix a plethora of problems. Every ministry will have issues and challenges, but that cannot be where we begin our meetings. It’s imperative that we begin by letting leaders talk about what God has been up to. When my leaders share their stories of changed lives, it paints the clearest picture of why we do what we do.

2) Talk Less, Type More! Part of refocusing the vision is ensuring that we provide a strategy and plan to accomplish the vision. My experience is that volunteers will only take in so much at a meeting. These days I talk through plans and strategy while also ensuring it is on paper or sent by email. This helps our meetings to move forward quickly knowing that leaders can go back to the details later. Don’t try to cover the details!

3) Make it Fun! Whether you give out some fun awards to leaders, share funny stories of ministry, or have your meeting at a fun coffee house, it’s essential to keep your meetings light and fun! Student ministry is highly rewarding but it also has its time of gut wrenching moments too. Therefore it’s essential that your team is able to breathe and refocus on the fun aspects when you come together.

4) Prayer: This should be number one on this list! Part of the reason I put this last was to communicate how we often allow it to slip to last place on our agenda. Sadly, I am guilty of this too often, and it is something that I am rectifying for myself and team. Prayer is the most effective way of being reminded by why we do what we do. When we pray, God does something amazing in our hearts and in the unity of the team. If you have been letting prayer slip down your agenda, I urge you to join me in making it a greater priority.

If you are the paid leader, what would you add to this list? Or maybe you are a volunteer who has experienced great meetings? What made them great?

Phil Bell is a high school pastor from Brighton, MI and is a tea drinking, soccer playing Englishman! He is passionate about developing youth ministry leaders for the future, and blogs over at youthworktalk.com

6 View Comments October 8, 2012

Geoff StewartMore Posts A Summer Letter To Students

I can’t believe we are only 8 weeks from September, and that means my attention is fully on Summer and September at the same time and thinking about the fall has me asking a lot of questions. Yesterday I met with two of our core students who are truly invested in our group and talked cadidly about how we have not done a good enough job of challenging students to serve regularly. Sure we give them chances here and there, but creating a greater student ownership at our weekly program has been lacking. We have half heartedly suggested from the platform that serving was important but this year we are taking a much more proactive and thoughtful approach. We chatted, I repented for doing a poor job, and we came up with a strategy.

That strategy went into place this morning when we began the process of emailing / messaging every regular attending student personally and asking them to take a few weeks and pray about how they could serve in the fall. Here is an example of a message that went out:

Hey Madi, hope you’re having a great summer!

We’re already starting to dream about the fall and are praying about what the next season at Journey is going to look like. I look at you and I see a really gifted young person, and I’d love to give you the opportunity to take on a bigger role at Journey.

Over the next three weeks can you do me a favor and pray about these two questions?

1- What talents and passions has God given me (Madi)?
2 – How could I use them to serve at Journey/ Peace Portal?

To get your mind going, here’s a few places we have a need:

Hosting/ Welcome team
Prayer team
Worship Team
Tech team
Creative team

Blessed to have you a part of Journey!

Pastor Geoff

I am pumped to see what putting even more of the ministry in the hands of our students could look like and are praying that this is the beginning of new things. We have the feeling of “Home” as a core value of the group and having students bought into that vision and serving accordingly could be a game changer. Praying for BIG THINGS this year.

-geoff