Life of a youth pastor .

Insane deal for you! Go get it.

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DealsI think I own almost every book that Orange has put out, and they just keep getting better. These are some of the best reads for student and children’s ministry. You won’t be disappointed to add some of their hot-off-the-press books to your library. Buy some for you, buy some for a friend, read and discuss with your church staff.

Orange Books is sponsoring a week of special deals. This week only until August 22, you can get five different special offers on select Orange Books.

When you purchase one of the five different “Deals,” you will receive $50–$100 of bonus content!

Plus, if you post the Deals (using the hasthtag #OrangeBooks), you will be entered to win five different Prizes (no purchase necessary). You can get all the details at Orange Books.

Go get that deal! #OrangeBooks

Stop doing it all!

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A student ministry is not a student ministry until students start doing the ministry.

It was this philosophy of ministry that my youth pastor had. When he gave away leadership to me, I inherited numerous tasks and responsibilities. Through developmental leadership over the years I now find myself in the place of needing to give my leadership away to others.

What is holding back your ministry from growing deeper spiritually, growing bigger in numbers and overall richer in leadership? It’s probably your lack of empowering others, giving away responsibilities and allowing students to do the ministry that they are capable of doing. When a student has that “Aha!” moment and realizes that they are just as capable to minister to others like the youth pastor, they begin to look at their student ministry through a different lens. The student begins to own the ministry and operate not merely as an attender but as a contributor.

How do you empower your students?

Look over your weekly responsibilities, find tasks you can give to your students so that they have the opportunity to step up and do the ministry they are capable of doing.

“Did I win?”

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basketballhoop600x375

Believe it or not, your small group leaders ask this very question every single week. Often a small group will end with your leader feeling frustrated or defeated because they couldn’t get through all their questions or even end with a prayer because someone was laughing, the juicy gossip was flowing, or simply no one wanted to talk. The small group leader walks away feeling like they lost. The feeling of defeat is the last thing we want our leaders to experience.

It’s playoff season in the NBA and everyone wants to win. My favorite basketball games are the ones that are point for point back and forth across the court with only seconds to spare. Almost every team has the same end game in mind when mere seconds are left…do whatever it takes to get the ball in the hands of the best player to take the shot before the buzzer. There is not a doubt in that player’s mind – this shot will win or lose the game.

As a leader of leaders, it’s my job to set my small group leaders up for the game winning shot. As time dwindles on the clock in small group, our leaders need to know how to take the game winning shot. The win for a small group leader needs to be clearly defined each week.

If we want our small group leaders to walk away feeling as if they won, we need to set them up for the win. Tomorrow I will share some wins with you that I have implemented for my ministry. #winning!

 

Can I watch Orange Conference 2014 online?

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yes

Next week thousands, literally thousands, will assemble in Atlanta, Georgia for Orange Conference 2014. Perhaps you didn’t buy a ticket, you were skeptical or waited too late or took a year off, or maybe prefer a different conference?! Regardless of the reason, you are in for a treat, the folks at Orange are very considerate and are making the main sessions available for LIVE online viewing next week!

  • Can I really watch for free? YES.
  • Can I still buy a last minute ticket for the main sessions and attend in Atlanta? YES.
  • Will you be blogging your thoughts and ideas on things learned next week? YES.
  • If my team and I can’t make it to #OC14 should we watch main sessions together? YES.

Orange Conference will provide some great discussion and ideas for you, your staff, and leaders. Grab some popcorn, pen and paper, take some notes and chat it up!

Watch the main sessions LIVE stream for free or check out the Orange conference website.

Set reminders on your calendar/phone, main session times are as follows:

Wednesday, April 30
Session#1 7:30PM-10:30PM

Thursday, May 1
Session #2 9:00AM-10:45AM
Session #3 7:30PM-8:30PM

Friday, May 2
Session #4 9:00AM-10:30AM
Session #5 11:15AM-12:30PM
Session #6 2:00PM-3:15PM
Session #7 4:00PM-6:00PM

Yippeee!!! Can’t wait, see you all in Atlanta next week!

Stop what you are doing and start preparing right now.

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plan-ahead

I can’t stand something not being done with excellence. Whether it be a t-shirt design, advertisement, an event, or a church service. I hate sloppy stuff. It shows that someone didn’t care enough to put the right amount of time into the project or they cared too late in the game.

In the church world Sunday is always coming and time doesn’t seem to be slowing down for any of us to accomplish more during the week. If you are stuck in a week to week schedule (only setting sights on this coming Sunday) then you will miss the greatest potential for your leadership and your ministry. Being a church or ministry that is prepared for it’s future will determine not only how successful this coming Sunday is, but how you actually spend your time to prepare for this coming Sunday.

I sometimes fool myself to thinking I work harder or smarter under pressure. Fast approaching deadlines seem to light a fire underneath me. When I kick into hyper-speed or try to accomplish too much in a small window I can be laser focused on my big project but small details can be missed. Sure, we can accomplish the task at hand on time and say it’s done, but is it finished with excellence?

Allow extra time to complete the project. You are bound to produce a better product.

Here are a few personal examples:

  • My team starts planning for our upcoming Winter Camp 5 months out.
  • We begin discussing sites and doing pre-trips for mission trips 5 months out.
  • I try to line up guest speakers for Sundays 1 month out.
  • I have had multiple series and small group questions set for every Sunday 6 months ahead.
  • Ideally, I have my message done one week before and already looking ahead to the next one.
  • Set monthly reminders on my phone for what I should be thinking about for the next month.

Work ahead, it pays off. If you are behind, what can you stop doing and start preparing for now?

Challenge: Don’t pick up the microphone.

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mixboard

Last night for our high school programming was a first for me and my volunteer team. It was a regularly scheduled program for our HS students: dinner together, large group game, announcements, teaching, worship, small groups. For many it was just another night… but not for me.

On top of two middle school programs and a mission trips training, I was pretty spent. Here’s the cool part, I never picked up a microphone, clicked a button, or flipped a light switch for last night’s program. How? I empowered my leaders, volunteers and students. And it went much better than if I would have tried to pull it off on my own.

Our food coordinators had a new batch of volunteers they were training, my only part-time staff took care of the speaking part, I had a senior high school guy that’s been itching for leadership take care of announcements and the game (he did a fantastic job!), and all our small group leaders were connecting with students. What did that leave me with? The guest group! Simply sitting down and enjoying some cookie cake with two new students. It allowed me to give all my attention and energy to them. They said that they loved our hangout and were excited to get involved, taking the next step of attending a small group after Easter.

To build a team you must give away your leadership to others. You would be surprised at what could happen if you accept this challenge at one of your next programs: don’t pick up the microphone.

Try it out and let me know how it goes!

The College Life.

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I came across a video that EVERY high school senior should watch before applying to colleges. I have run into too many college grads with no job, tons of debt, and still unsure what they want to do in life. This isn’t a knock on not going to college, just make sure you have thought it through and have a plan in place.

My college experience was not quite like this… but there are some things I can identify with. I know life has many turns and we all make choices that impact our circumstances later in life. One of the hardest things I did in college was work part-time and even sometimes full-time jobs to pay my school bills. Sure, I got help from family and even some scholarship money, but never took out a school loan, I graduated debt free.

I have another friend that waited to go college once he knew exactly what he wanted to do in life. All along he had worked a full-time job and saved money, he then paid for his education in cash.

It is society that tells high school seniors that the next step is yet even more education, one that comes at a higher price with no job to pay it off. It works for those that have a plan and know what they want to do, and even then sometimes it doesn’t. Here’s the only thing I’m getting at, if you are a high school senior, college is not your only option. Unsure if college is for you? Go to the local community college and give it a try. If you do go to college, pursue a field and degree you are passionate about.

Here’s the only option I absolutely loathe: Sit at home in your parents house and do nothing like you are still in high school. Go get a job. Pay rent. Be responsible. Master a trade.

And the winner is…

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winner

In my last post I posed this question, “If you had to choose between large group or small groups, which one would you choose, and why?”

The reality is so many times we do in fact choose one over the other. We give more resources, time, thought, planning, and staff toward one rather than the other.

It is easier to staff, budget and run a weekly large group program… and there are some fantastic large group programs out there for both students and adults. The large group has become a formula that we plug people into and expect a certain outcome. During the 60 minutes they sit in that seat we hope to present and accomplish church for them. We hope to provide the opportunity of what could seem to many like a one stop shop for Jesus. I know this isn’t the heart intention of our churches or youth groups, but it’s the way it comes across to many. How did I come to that conclusion? Because they show up for the large group but won’t get involved in a small group or take next steps to serve in the church.

If I had to choose, and I do… the winner in my book is small groups. I will not deny that large group has a very important role and without it many would not attend church, hear truth, or perhaps even be challenged to get more involved by plugging into a small group or serving. I have a feeling this is backwards, we have detoured from how the church initially expanded–through smaller groups, church planting, the sending out of disciples.

There needs to be a healthier relationship between the large group and small group planning. For me and my ministry, the large group exists to support our small groups. My actual “large group time” is cut in half… half of the program time is actually given to small groups and their small group leaders to connect, have conversations, ask questions, and enjoy relationships with the students they meet with every week.

What are your thoughts on this?

 

Large Group vs. Small Group

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tug of war

Let’s play out a mock scenario. You are alone in ministry and are presented with the option to provide a dynamic large group program that dozens of students enjoy attending OR recruit and equip other leaders to provide small groups for the same group of students.

Large Group or Small Groups? And you can only choose one.

This may not be the current reality of your leadership position or church, but depending which one you choose in this mock scenario says a lot about your ministry philosophy and how you will execute that philosophy.

Perhaps you do offer both the large group program and the small group model. One of these will receive more planning this week than the other. One of these has a larger budget. One of gets more time and attention.

Why did I create a mock scenario for you? Because it’s easier to think that this is a pretend situation rather than a reality that happens every single week. Every week you will choose as the ministry leader whether large group or small group is more important. You will program for one better than the other, you will put more time and effort into one rather than the other. It may be time for you to re-evaluate your priority of large group vs. small group.

I’ve got more to say about this in my next post and announce the winner.

Give them time.

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loveovertime

My most repeated request from small group leaders over the past month has been, “Can we get more time for small group?”

I love what the ReThink groups states: Love over time matters. If that’s the case, here is what I would say to all the youth pastors out there, “QUIT TAKING ALL THE TIME.” If you have an opportunity to put another leader in the spotlight, do it. Make small groups a reality.

With our student programs being scheduled to include both large group and small group time, the large group time can easily trump the small group time–but it shouldn’t. The large group time has many moving elements–games, announcements, message and worship. Just because it has more moving parts, doesn’t give it a more dominant position. When we weigh the importance of small group time vs. large group time, the actual amount of time given is your measurement. Small group leaders need time to build trust. When trust is built then students open up and relationships happen. Relationships matter the most. Relationships are the glue of our ministry.

I have been guilty of hijacking the time of my small group leaders during our large group time. Leaving your leaders just enough time to get into a quick discussion before closing in prayer is like giving them a cake and not enough time to eat it.

Give them time.