It can feel like herding cattle at times…getting all of your students or leaders into the same place at the same time. Sure we do this for our weekly program(s) but what about irregular meeting times? Why are they equally if not more important?

This past weekend I had the privilege of attending the “Gateway Getaway” with many other staff, leaders, and volunteers. The church reserved a conference room in the five-star Horseshoe Bay Resort and blocked out hundreds of rooms for families at a discounted price. The aim of the weekend was to allow a core of families, staff and leaders to enjoy a weekend together while also being introduced to the vision of our church moving forward this year and beyond.

I live for this stuff! One of my greatest desire for any church or ministry is unity. Unity in thought, vision, action and philosophy of ministry will take you far in building the kingdom together as a team. The question that I keep asking…

“How do I share my vision for the student ministry with so many different people?”

Here are a few MUSTS that come to mind:

• Constantly communicate your vision to those that lead you. This will allow your supervisor space to speak into your vision and encourage you along the way…helping you develop your vision before rolling it out to your leaders.
• Share with the individual leader. This makes for many individual meetings, but when you share the same vision with the entire group of leaders it should reduce questioning or confusion. They will have already heard the vision, it takes 7 times to stick.
• Allow questioning. You aren’t the only one who is a vision-caster or bearing leadership gifts. In the end you should give direction and establish a finalized vision, but allow the team to contribute and ask questions.
• A common place. I cannot stress the importance of this one. I’ll dive into more detail…

A common place; a common vision. That is exactly what took place many weeks before this leader getaway. Get people out of the established rhythm of life and away from the things that distract us. The entire Gateway staff was invited to a common place for the weekend, a ranch outside of town to be exact. There was little to no cell phone reception. For two days we experienced community, worship, prayer, brainstorming, team-building activities, sharing meals, and contributing to the vision. We got on board where God was leading us as a church, so when it came to this past weekend there was an established core knowing where we were headed, helping set the pace for others. This was a win! I am eager to re-produce something similar for my leaders.

I am headed into a new ministry season with veterans who have been here for 8+ years and some that have just expressed interest in serving within the student ministry. A common place for a common vision is needed more than ever before! Though the programmer within me wants to establish a steady pace for the year ahead, the unity factor is screaming for attention, “Find a common place! Establish a common vision!” I am looking for a weekend in the months ahead to rally my team together for a common vision. It might not be a ranch, but simply someone’s home that we gather in, somewhere to gather outside our weekly meeting space at the church. My end goal is to have a more unified core of leaders that understand WHY we lead in student ministry before we learn HOW to lead in student ministry! Kenny, my supervisor over at childrensministryonline.com goes deeper on hows vs. whys This is what I’m chasing after with my new group of leaders.

If you haven’t done this yet, get out there and find that common place!

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