Life of a youth pastor .

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Your journey for knowledge will take you farther than you can imagine.

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I want to figure out how “it” works. I want to know why “it” exists. I have a desire to understand what makes “it”unique.

My journey for knowledge has taken me to some wild places. Let me share a few snapshots of what “it” is with you… perhaps some of  your journey is similar to mine. “It” is:

  • Under the hood of my jeep to fix an overheating issue. This journey taught me how remove and replace a waterpump, thermostat, radiator along with a couple fans and belts.
  • Figuring out what chickens need…and what they like. This journey has been a fun one, from building the chicken coop to collecting eggs and letting them free range the backyard.
  • A winter camp. For the past 7 years I have attended a middle school or high school camp as a staff or intern. This journey has taken me into the spreadsheets, planning sessions, and training of small group leaders to make it happen. (This weekend I’m in Atlanta learning from another church how to improve our camp process)

In my quest for knowledge, I know this… I’m further along in my journey than where I started. I don’t think I will ever settle for the answer “I don’t know.” I have a drive to discover and improve my knowledge so I can be better at what I do in life and in ministry, and I love sharing this knowledge with others.

My source of knowledge comes from different places be it books, specialists, research, youtube videos or here’s one… prayer.

I pray on a regular basis for wisdom and creativity. Why? Because I need it as a youth pastor, as a leader, as a husband, and a friend. Here’s the ironic part, you know what people say most about me when they are describing me? “Chris is a wise guy for his age.” or “Chris is so creative.” Wow, that’s humbling. I don’t say that to toot my own horn, but rather give a shout out to the one answering those prayers. In your quest for knowledge I’d encourage you to start praying more and just see if God doesn’t throw more opportunities for knowledge your way.

What area of ministry or life are you desiring more knowledge? What’s the next step you can take towards knowing more?

The reasons why we changed our program time, and how we did it

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Before you get all fired up about changing your program time… here’s the best advice I can give you, approach this change with a level head, humility and above all perseverance. Going about making a change like this can upset a lot of people and you have the potential of losing students and parents.

I had been wanting to change our high school program time for 2 years. I will never forget the day that moment had finally arrived. As I watched the clock inch closer and closer to the new program time I became extremely nervous…only one student was present. I had thoughts like, “I just killed our youth group”,  “I’m out of job now”, “Can I change it back?”…

While all these thoughts haunted me for a few minutes, sure enough, every student and more showed up to our new program time! This begs a couple questions that every youth pastor asks in this area: Why should I change my program time? How should I go about changing my program time?

Here are the reasons why we changed our program time:

  • We wanted to maximize our potential to reach more students.
  • We wanted to better partner with the parents, a more optimal drop-off and pick-up time.
  • We wanted to maximize relational time on the back end of program.
  • We wanted to protect our staff and key volunteers, this new time would help prevent burnout.

Here are some key milestones for making the time change:

  • Make a good pitch to your manager or staff that need to be involved.
  • Cast vision to your leaders first and make sure they are on board.
  • Conduct a parent/leader survey with the time options you are considering.
  • Write an email to your whole parent roster making them aware of a potential change, months ahead of time.
  • Pilot (don’t commit yet) the new program time for two-three months to help people adjust the idea, this is a true litmus test to see if people are willing.
  • Send out a formal email updating staff, parents and student on the time change and when it will officially take place.
  • Market the heck out of your new time via social media, celebrate it, make it fun.

Some history on my program change:

3 years ago when I inherited our HS group, we met on Wednesday nights. Through a survey and checking school practice/game schedules I knew I could not reach the same amount of students if we kept meeting on Wednesday nights. I wanted to move it to the time with the least amount of competition for school and family schedules, this lead me to Sunday afternoons…through a series of hoops with leadership I had to jump through (you know how that goes) I compromised to meet on Sunday nights 6pm-8pm. This was ending a bit late for students on school night and not what I wanted originally….something about program ending after dark does something to parents physiologically I believe. They don’t want to get out to pick up kids after dark. For freshmen and underclassmen, we saw parents wanted them home before dark on a school night.

After a year of doing the things listed above, we have arrived at a 4pm-6pm program time for high school students on Sunday afternoons. I copied the young life idea of doing something fun with the time…we meet at 3:59pm, this encourages them to be on time and it’s memorable.

Our program time outline:

  • 3:30 – Small Group Leaders Meeting
  • 3:59 – Large Group Program Start (Worship and Teaching)
  • 4:45 – Breakout to Small Groups
  • 5:30 – Dinner (Skinny budget dinner ideas coming soon!)
  • 6:00 – Dismissal

Ending at this time on a Sunday allows our students and leaders to capitalize on hangout and relationship building via one off hangouts directly after church. Students are doing it and I myself have already taken advantage of hanging out with leaders after a program, going to the lake for a swim, out for ice cream, etc.

A book that helped me lead the charge on making this change along with other major shifts in student ministry was a book by Carey Nieuwhof, thanks so much Carey for this book…it gave me the courage, boldness and perseverance to press forward in sticking to my convictions and persevering until there was resolution.

You can get Carey’s book here…it’s a quick read and I recommend it for any church or business that are considering making a change.

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Any questions on program times? Best practices you have used in making a change? What have been some of your best tactics or worse failures you have learned from along the way?

 

5 ways to make your youth group more accessible

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  1. Develop a social media plan. Communicate and communicate often across all platforms. Hootsuite, Onlypult, Buffer. These are some tools you can use to develop a social media plan. Schedule posts ahead of time so if you have a busy season of ministry stuff is still getting out there.
  2. A visitor follow up process. I suck at this quite frankly…ok, maybe that’s too harsh but I have dreams of WOWING students with how much we care that they showed up and show them how much we want them to come back. Currently we send a postcard…but I want a gift basket with their name on it and balloons attached to appear on their front porch (too much?)
  3. Get mom and dad on board. Introducing yourself to the parents is worth its weight in gold. When parents know who you are and who their kids are being influenced by, it is much more likely they will bring their kid back to youth group. If not you, rally your leaders to introduce themselves to mom or dad during drop off or pick up. Send a follow up email directly to the parents welcoming them to your church.
  4. Be willing to change your program time. I didn’t say change your program time…be willing. Wednesday night youth group is fading out. Only churches that have been doing this a long time may have a culture of it…is it most likely poised for reaching new kids? I’d argue the answer is no. Conducting surveys of families and most available times can help you offer the least competitive time for students to attend youth group in your area. My high school students gather on Sunday evenings from 4pm-6pm. There are no school conflicts and it allows them to be home earlier on a school night (which most parents are fond of). I share more about this idea in another post.
  5. Create a space for students to call their own. Students care about ownership, they like the club idea, a place to belong… a safe haven with cool vibes. Not everyone understands this nor do I expect it of them. My youth group operates in a shared space…a couple of shared spaces. I make it my aim to make this space appealing to students. There are probably a hundred ways to do this…even in a shared space. Creativity is king and sky is the limit. Start with that mentality and see where you end up, probably in a better place than you are now. I can give you a virtual tour and talk through our shared space and some practices we use every week, anyone interested? Stay tuned.

How have you made your youth group more accessible? What does your visitor follow up process look like? Let’s hear it!

Disciple: Be One. Make One.

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We are all familiar with the great commission. Especially during mission trips, we let the words of Jesus be a beckoning for students and adults to participate…”GO! And make disciples of all nations…” yet we also understand this should not be merely a seasonal advertisement at the local department store. Let the words sink in…GO….MAKE DISCIPLES….OF ALL NATIONS.

There is nothing in the phrases of Jesus that reduce the vision to a short-term trip, it’s communicated as a directive in lifestyle and mission. The aim. Jesus asked his disciples and followers to make this their aim and let everything else fall into place…the cost of following Christ is great. In the days of the early church roots it meant leaving your home, not continuing in the family business, traveling great distances to spread the word. The aim was clear.

This mantra of “Disciple: Be One. Make One.” was introduced to me by my youth pastor (Bobby Pruitt/love that guy), it was the slogan of our youth group in which we clarified all activities, retreats and new opportunities through. We were challenged constantly about our “aim” and if it truly was our aim to be a disciple of Christ and if we were living on mission to make other disciples.

Confession. The more I have become involved with vocational ministry the harder it seems to make this my aim. I find myself doing “good” things for the kingdom: recruiting and training leaders, preaching to MS and HS students, creating momentum for parents to feel the support of the church, bettering our environments for kids and students, and dreaming big dreams for the next generation….

but this is not discipleship.

All of these things can be a means to discipleship, but will not suffice as discipleship in the way Jesus intended. He defined discipleship by setting the example. He shared meals with them, spent hours of time discussing life, traveling together, camping trips, excursions, answering weird questions that people had…

Here’s my personal conviction. Over the years in vocational ministry I have had seasons of intentional discipleship. Sometimes I am being intentional to disciple a leader and a student, other times just a student but still other times nobody…zilch, nada, none – but man oh man, that camp we did was awesome!

I think this is something everyone who works for a church or ministry should be aware of, you can be incredibly busy, booked and burned out…for really, really good things. Even though that’s the case, I still think we may miss the mark because of what we’ve been told to aim at by Jesus himself, “GO MAKE DISCIPLES.”

Today I meet with Zach. He’s a middle school small group leader in my ministry. We have been discussing the holy spirit and prayer and will continue down that road for a few weeks. Let me set the record straight by saying Zach reached out to me, not the other way around. It was a conviction moment when he asked, “Would you disciple me?” I quickly answered yes because I knew I needed too…but deep down I quickly went to the craziness of my to-do list to see where this might “fit-in”. Sad.

Make it your aim to disciple someone…always. Never be too busy that a discipleship relationship would take precedent over other important things your church deems as important. If you want your church, your ministry, your flock to be disciples that are making disciples then you need to set the pace for them.

So, I leave you with these questions to wrestle with and pray over today.

  • “To whom is Jesus asking you to GO?”
  • “Do you let weekly “church stuff” take precedence over a discipleship relationship?”
  • Who will you ask to hold you accountable to discipling others?

An answer to prayer – the Gateway Leadership Development Program.

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It is my privilege to announce that on the tenth day in September in the two thousand and fifteenth year of our Lord that a leadership development program started at Gateway Church in Austin, TX! I’ve been waiting since I came on staff for this…over the past few months as this program was discussed and approved I quickly began searching for some potential LDPs that may want to spend a year learning in student ministry, as this kind of opportunity greatly shaped who I am today.

They are here now and I couldn’t be happier! Kristen Johnson (a former student of mine and current Moody Bible student) and Kelli Woody (a die hard Kamp Kanakuk counselor) will be joining the student ministry staff and volunteers for a year.

Learning will be had by all the LDPs in the various ministry areas at Gateway along with all of their managers. This will be a first for me…it seems like I’ve always been the intern or in a program but I’m excited to teach what I can and share with them in the learning experience this year.

Here’s the neatest part. One of the things I’ve been trusting God for this year and fervent in prayer was for another full-time staff for student ministry…well in some ways he gave me two. Yes, I’m still praying that we can hire another full-time staff in the near future but for now I’m ecstatic these two ladies will be joining our ministry this year.  Welcome Kelli and Kristen!

If you want to read more about the opportunity here, the door will open back up in Spring for applications for the following school year.

We got 180 campers to sign up in one day…here’s how.

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bait and switch

It’s all about deals…perhaps some would call a bait and switch, for which I don’t apologize. On September 1st we had 180 campers sign up for our Winter Camp in January! Yes, camp is still over 4 months away but we have almost 50% of our camp capacity filled…and here is how we did it.

It started a few years back with a desire to better partner with parents in my ministry. I wanted a place to bring together my parents, small group leaders and students to talk about our ministry philosophy of a small group culture and the events. So, first let’s answer this question: How do I get all of my parents, students and leaders/volunteers to one place? THE ANSWER for my first year of doing this was FOOD. Food brings people together, and in Texas there is no better way to do than offering a BBQ to families and leaders. Though this worked the first year, we needed a bigger reason to invite them back the following year…some parents may not seem willing to come to an event where “they already know what you are going to share” even if you have new content or vision for the year.

So, now let’s answer this question: How do I get all of my parents, students and leaders/volunteers to show up in one place year after year after year? …and not make it feel like pulling teeth?  I have used a phrase this year that seemed to go over well and somewhat contagious among my staff, “We bribe our parents/students to the BBQ, it is a bait and switch method and we don’t apologize for it, because in the end EVERYONE wins!” Let me explain in bullet points (to keep it brief) how this works.

THE BAIT AND SWITCH

  • Invite all parents/students to the annual BBQ.
  • REQUIRE that all small group leaders and volunteers attend.
  • Incentive: All who attend the BBQ will receive a promo code for $50 off camp registration. (Adjust your camp budgets accordingly so this doesn’t tank your budget, we plan to go into the hole a bit on the front end and compensate that with our “regular rate” and “late rate”)
  • Promo code can only be used by those that attended BBQ and must be used on opening day of registration.
  • On opening day we had 180 campers register for camp.

The other BAIT AND SWITCH

  • Remember the initial reason for the BBQ? We want parents to mingle with small group leaders.
  • After our large group program together, the parents must go meet and talk with the SGL for the meal ticket to get their BBQ.

Each year our NextGen team is refining this process but we have some BIG momentum from it. Don’t underestimate that there is a lot of planning for an event like this. However, it does generate lots of interest for your upcoming event or program along with creating a space for your audience to hear vision from your staff.

Get off the stage, you talk too much!

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shh2If the statement upsets you it could be a deeper conviction or perhaps I’m right. However, I’m not here to guilt trip you, but rather offer up one of the best kept secrets I have run into this past year. The method has benefited my student ministry tremendously.

You and I both know that even the most gifted and rehearsed speaker won’t connect with every student. I receive compliments and encouragement from some students while getting blank stares from others. Your audience needs different voices offering up the same truth in different tones. Just as there are a kazillion love songs on the radio, some prefer country music while others like the fat beat of a heavy rap song with a similar story…in both songs someone is stealing the girl or running off with their high school sweetheart  (I understand country music lyrics a little bit more clearly than rap…but maybe that’s just me?).

I found that asking guest speakers to take on a speaking series is beneficial to everyone involved in the equation. A couple of quick thoughts:

  • Give your audience another voice to connect with.
  • Rather than spend time on message prep that week, solve other problems in your ministry.
  • Allow a speaker/teacher to grow in their gifting.
  • Taking off a Sunday in the future will be much more possible when you share the stage with others.
  • Pastoral staff and those with the gift of teaching are selected guest speakers. BE SELECTIVE.
  • One day when you leave your position students will be more receptive to hearing from other voices…even the next youth pastor.

How often should you share the stage? The old-school youth pastor and even some modern day yp’s will speak every single Sunday. If you want to burn out and hate your job…then continue this method. Even if you LOVE speaking…your ministry needs your attention in other places other than the stage. I have done some math and it appears over the past year that I speak 40-50% of the time. That means that I am one of if not the most consistent faces on stage but not appearing every Sunday.

Getting off the stage has allowed me to recruit, train and cast vision for my leaders like never before. This year we have a full volunteer staff of almost 60 showing up every Sunday to lead small groups, greet students and serve up a meal for our high school program. This would not have been possible if it weren’t for the team of speakers I have around me that pour in their time to teach our students while I work on other “behind the scenes stuff” during the week.

In case the question came to mind. We use Orange’s Xp3 curriculum as our foundation for a teaching manuscript and small group questions. I allow the guest speaker to add their own stories and even some main points, but they have to stick to the bottom line and use the scripture given.

So, I leave you with this question: Who are you sharing the stage with?

Our team is hiring! Be NextGen with me.

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Our NextGen team at Gateway Church in Austin, TX is searching for a Preschool Ninja! There are no silos here within our NextGen team, you alongside myself (student pastor) and the rest of the team work closely together strategizing to offer the best for our church families and those seeking a church home. I firmly believe that when preschool wins so does student ministry.

We hired an amazing Preschool Ninja about 18 months ago, but she had to go fall in love with someone who swept her off her feet and is taking her away from Austin (insert violin music here). We are officially looking for her replacement and I’m really excited to see who this new preschool ninja might be. Is it you or someone you think would be a great fit? (Send them this link)

We believe in this position so much that we created a website around it. Check out preschoolninja.com to help us find the right person. Go ahead, check it out! [Read more…]

Organize for camp with custom lanyard schedules.

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IMG_9396      Bottom line: Get organized for camp by making your own lanyard schedules. 

Each year we run a full on NextGen camp. For MLK weekend we take 3rd-12th grade to the same camp setting, but run three independent camps according to age group. Sounds crazy and perhaps impossible right?! The three age groups never bump into each other except for MS/HS sharing a large group program.

Think about it: 300-400 kids & adults running around for three days trying to figure out what’s next, when to eat and where to be is asking for complete chaos. As you know, doing this for one age group brings enough headache of it’s own. Instead of trying to keep up with camp books, or kids asking the cabin leader every moment, “What’s next?”…we did lanyards this year and I’ll never look back.

What you will need: [Read more…]