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What if students baptized their friends?

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baptism

Just a few weeks ago I had the amazing opportunity to witness fifteen high school students be baptized at our high school program. Some of them were baptized by me, some of them by their small group leaders and yes even some of them by their Christ-following friend that invited them!

Recently I did a personal study on the phrase “follow me” that Jesus used a handful of times and reiterated it in different ways with his disciples. This eventually lead me to doing a three week series with our high school students on this very thought which comes to complete fruition in [Read more…]

#OC14 so far…

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oc14-sc-8-630x210                     Here are a few quick things I have learned and been processing thus far at #OC14:

  • God has a specific calling on my life and my ministry. Living out this calling should look different than everyone else. I should stop gauging success based my personal and ministry accomplishments compared to others. Success should be based on whether or not I have answered and stayed true to what God has asked me to do.
  • There are far more (in numbers and tenure) dedicated kids ministry volunteers and staff opposed to student ministry staff. C’mon student leaders! Step up your game, stay loyal to your church, raise up an army of great volunteers for students.
  • You need to know how to define a win for everything you do in your ministry. What does a win look like for the guest that attends camp? What does a win look like for my small group leader after a small group? What does a win look like after a staff meeting? Defining your wins will help you strive for excellence and celebrate what is most important.
  • Don’t let your budget determine your vision. Let your vision determine your budget.
  • Prayer. Not praying for your ministry/church on a regular basis is like trying to launch and navigate a rocket to the moon without NASA. Let’s stay closely in touch with our all-knowing Father.

JOIN FOR LIVE STREAMING THIS MORNING! 

 

Explore God – Making History in God’s Kingdom

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explore-god

Driving up and down the highways of my city over the past two months I have been amazed at how many billboards look the same. The white, black and blue palates of color make up different questions, statements and a website link. Rumor has it, that this is the biggest billboard campaign the city of Austin, Texas has ever seen. With 1,834,303 people, the city of Austin and its surrounding suburbs, I believe God and His Church are on the brink of something BIG, making history for His Kingdom!

Explore God was an idea, a thought, a dream that became reality. Check this out, over 330 churches in the city are doing the same series, exploring the same questions, at the same time! “Explore God” Today marks the launch for 6 weeks worth of what can be life altering or discovering faith kinds of questions for those that might be far from God. The goal is that 100,000 spiritual conversations would evolve as a result of this series and church partnership to engage the city.

Each church has trained discussion facilitators to host small group discussion in their home, work place, or even a local pub. The point is not to convert or even argue about God, but to merely allow a safe place for questions and discussion.

My leaders and students are joining the movement. We kicked it off this morning with 160 middle school students, I’m excited to see what happens tonight with our high school students.

Would you take a moment to pray for the city of Austin? Pray those that are leading this movement but also those that might be intrigued by a billboard or conversation, that they would seek out the website and perhaps a church in their neighborhood.

Today’s Question: Does life have a purpose? Here was a quick intro video.

Many more questions, videos and materials for your church can be found on their website. www.exploreGod.com

GroupMe – A safer way to text & communicate in groups.

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GroupMe_logo_lockup_horizontalI recently had a youth pastor (Marcus Linton) ask me, “I’m looking into getting an app or some sort of program of some sort that would allow me to send out mass/group SMS text messages to my students. Could you help?”

Many student pastors and small group leaders are looking for different ways to communicate with students. I have tried multiple social media methods including facebook, instagram, emails, phone calls, and at the end of the day…drumroll please…the most effective way to reach a student where they are at is through text messaging! 96% of the time a student will check their text message right away.

We live in an era that communication is unfolding at a rapid rate. Though I’m 26 and part of the Y generation where we think anything is possible, and the world is a smaller place due to Internet and communication, I have the hardest time keeping up with the birth rate of technology. There is a new way to communicate every day.

How does this benefit youth ministry? How can we leverage the technology that has been given to us? Well, I have been introduced to GroupMe a few times this past year and believe it is time for us in student ministry to take the dive and try this out. GroupMe is definitely safer than private text messaging, technology can be used for good and bad, especially when it comes to adults communicating with students. There are loopholes with any app, or piece of technology, this one not excused but is much more above reproach than private messaging via text, fb, email, etc. This could be the answer to your problems Marcus, give it a try and let me know if it helps. Here are a few quick facts…

  • It’s FREE! (However, regular text messaging rates apply. Most people have unlimited.)
  • Set up multiple groups (I will be setting up some for my different leader groups) Your small group leaders could set up a GroupMe for their students.
  • Collect money toward an event, project, or purchase – everyone can chip in!
  • MUTE notifications…beware, it will blow up your phone once tons of people start replying. There is a way to MUTE the group so your phone isn’t constantly beeping at you.

Jesus was Homeless – Branson, MO

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extended stay

“Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” Luke 9:58

Jesus dedicated his ministry years to being homeless…he and his disciples travled a lot, relied on connections in towns for places to sleep, and they camped out if necessary. He never had a consistent “home”. Perhaps this is one of many reasons that Jesus related to those who truly had no home…those people that were abandoned by family, judged and ignored due to a particular sin, outcast due to sickness. Jesus made sure these kind of people were noticed, recognized,  and loved. Many times He went out of His way to reach this group of people.

It’s happening here in Branson, Missouri. There is a group of people here that have a heart for the less fortunate, the homeless, the working poor, those without food or shelter. Jesus was Homeless is a ministry dedicated to reaching out to those staying in extended stay motel rooms, those living in woods and other various low income housing. Each week they provide over 800 sack lunches that are taken door to door, family to family. Greeted with a smile and food, their clients look forward to the knock on the door each week. Those passing out meals don’t try to have a “gospel conversation” with them, but merely let them know that they are recognized and loved by someone. If the opportunity lends itself, JWH will pray for the person if they request it.

Gateway Branson Video from Jesus Was Homeless on Vimeo.

Along with meals, JWH is trying to help people find a way out of this lifestyle. The people living in these motels are usually stuck in a cycle of little money to no money as Branson is a tourist trap and seasonal jobs are usually the only ones you can get, unless you have higher education. JWH puts on a class each week called Jobs for Life. This class teaches necessary skills in bettering ones chances of obtaining a job.

I’m so thankful that my students were able to spend the last two weeks partnering with a ministry that is truly loving their neighbors. I pray blessings on this ministry and fruitfulness for years to come!

Leveraging Social Media! (DIY5.10)

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InstagramLogo

This is in response to a former article I wrote on DIY Student Ministry. This is the fifth of ten areas that I’m covering in this series.

If you know anything about students, you know how much they value social media. It’s where they connect with each other. Whether it be through pictures, text, or video…long gone are the days that the student actually calls a friend to have a phone conversation or shows up on their front door step to play outside on a Saturday. Their turf is digital and it’s glued to their hand. We know in student ministry that we cannot always expect the student especially the unchurched to come to us, our church building. We need to go to them, and meet them on their turf. Showing up at their game or at school for lunch has amazing impact, and that’s physically getting on their turf and into their world – you should do it. The next best thing is to get where they are at through social media. “Follow, Like, Friend”…your students on facebook, twitter, instagram, vine, etc. Paul said, “I became all things to all people…that I might win some for Christ.” For students this means to think like a student and interact with students on their level – through their means of communication.

Leverage Social Media for your ministry:

  • This can pay huge dividends for your ministry when it comes to communication, don’t feel like you have to be the one to own it, give it away to another student or volunteer. Get away from the DIY model.
  • Use facebook as a homepage. Create a cover photo to match each series or to promote upcoming events. Create something to scale using photoshop (851×315)
  • Build your presence on Instagram. I printed a 4’x4′ canvas with the app logo that hangs in our student space. You can’t help but notice it. We have also had Instagram scavenger hunts, this builds your audience because your students are promoting for you amongst their friends! In 5 months we have reached over 200 students and their friends.
  • Find out what other social media is hot for your students, trends tend to come in waves depending on your geography. While twitter might be popular among one crowd, vine might be popular among another.
  • Interesting fact: It seems most of my HS students have or use facebook…almost none of my MS students do. For this reason it’s important to diversify your social media to extend your reach.
  • Posting at least 3 times a week is a good average. One silly picture, one reminder about programs, and one of students hanging out, playing games, band rocking out, etc.

“But what if I see students interacting or communicating in a way that I don’t approve of?” It will happen, more than once. I have bumped into many unsettling, even disturbing facebook posts, instagram photos and even text messages. First and foremost, consider social media an education piece. You will learn more about the student culture through social media than you could through having a conversation with a student. Why? They aren’t afraid to speak their mind on social media. It must be a psychological mishap, but for some reason students either think they can post something and no one cares, or our teen culture has evolved to such an inappropriate level that bad words, lack of clothing and bullying are just the norm of social media.

So should you engage a student in conversation if you see something like this? It depends on the student, and it depends on the content.

For example, let’s pretend I have one student “Suzie” that frequents church and is somewhat engaged with our student ministry – she posts on facebook “Can’t wait for the party after prom!” I have another student that is unchurched, “Jessica” has only visited twice and I haven’t seen her in a while, I follow her on Instagram and it seems that she had quite the party last night according to the picture #partygirl #allnight #wasted. Both show up to church the next morning. To both of these girls I think you could say something. To Suzie, you could ask more of a leading question to find out more about this party and help her better understand what ambiguity on social media can do to your reputation…I have had this conversation with multiple students, I really think they are ignorant sometimes.  To Jessica, do everything except confront her on her behavior. BE CAREFUL HERE…DO NOT RUN HER DOWN OR MAKE HER FEEL GUILTY – THIS DOES NOT PROVIDE THE WELCOMING FACTOR FOR A STUDENT. Tell her that you are so glad to see her and excited that she chose to come to church. As you or other leaders build trust, then consider making a soft approach to the party life by first talking about how much you care for them. I have seen too many students walk away from church because they feel judged – if you are following students on social media and only point out the bad behavior, your chances of seeing them again are slim. Like or comment on the good stuff you see to show your encouragement toward better behavior.

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Creating & Maintaining a Visitor Follow-Up Process (DIY4.10)

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welcome This is in response to a former article I wrote on DIY Student Ministry. This is the fourth of ten areas that I’m covering in this series.

A new student walks into your room on a Sunday morning…better yet, do they? Thousands of students every year go unnoticed or aren’t given the opportunity to even make it to the threshold of the youth room. Many churches forfeit their opportunity to welcome the student by lack of promoting and advertising the time and location in which students meet. Let’s face it, the day of parents dropping off their teenager at the door is coming to a close; unless the teenager themselves can find out when and where you are meeting, then you just lost many potential students. Where are your signs? Are your meeting times and info on the church website, how about social media? I’d love to discuss on how to better encourage the number of visitors to your program but first I would find it incredibly important that a solid foundation is in place for welcoming the visitor.

It’s music to the student pastor’s ears when they hear, “We had 10 visitors today!”…that’s great, but the question I would silently ask myself would be…”Are they coming back?” Understanding that you hold some responsibility on whether or not a visitor returns is a huge deal! Do you have the pressure from your church to “grow” your youth group size numerically? Well, have you considered that the only way to grow your youth group numerically is through new attendees (visitors that come back)? This shows just how important a visitor follow-up process can be.

My Visitor Checklist:

  • Did you get their contact information?
  • Did you give them a gift in exchange, thanking them for coming?
  • Did you connect them with someone they can identify with: school, grade, hobby?
  • Did you personalize a follow-up step? Phone call, post card, gift drop, etc.
  • Did you connect with the parents?

If zero of these things happen, the likelihood of this student returning is slim to none. However, each step improves your chances of seeing that student again…if you complete all 5 steps I estimate you have a 60-70% chance of seeing that student again, especially if they do not have a church home and enjoyed their time. I helped restart and improve this process in my new role at Gateway Church, but this is not something I do on my own. Striving to get away from a DIY SM, I have invited others into this process that can be far more welcoming and do a better job at maintaining our process. Knowing the next teen that walks through my door could experience life change forever and a relationship with Jesus Christ – partly because we were faithful to help them get connected and stay connected, now that’s a reason to get excited about a visitor follow-up process! (theology disclaimer: We take no credit for their salvation, but would like to think our faithfulness to this kind of process is God gracing us and allowing us partner with Him when it comes to seeing life change!)

I recommend the book Fusion. This doesn’t directly apply to student ministry but many of the follow-up methods can be repurposed for welcoming teenagers.

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Game Over! (DIY2.10)

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gameover

This is in response to a former article I wrote on DIY Student Ministry. This is the second of ten areas that I’m covering in this series.

Once again you find yourself trying to transition from a messy game to a serious message. As you wipe the shaving cream off your hands you ask the student’s to bow their heads and pray with you. As you disconnect your mind from your prayer…you begin drifting into thinking about how much time you spent on that game, how hard it was to set up and realize that you invested so much more time into the fun factor of the program rather than preparing a message that students can relate to…as you say Amen, you think “Well, here goes nothing.”

I’m have been guilty of this more than once. Some could blame procrastination or a lack of creativity, but games for students can be down right hard! Planning, preparing and executing games for a program takes time, thought and energy. Though you can probably do both the teaching and games…DON’T DO IT! Sometimes this can come down to a trust issue, “They can’t do games the way I do games.” “They don’t understand all the logistics that go into a group game for 100 students.” “This volunteer is not capable of putting on the fun hat and really getting the students out of their comfort zone.” While all of this can be true, you need to teach them. Lead your leaders to be great at games. Share the burden of the program with other dedicated volunteers and get away from doing both games and teaching. You can be good at both, but better at one when you empower someone else to own the other. Doing this will only help you get away from a DIY student ministry.

With that being said, I’d ask you to consider your student ministry philosophy of the program. What’s the purpose of a program? What’s the purpose of the game? Is it essential that I have a game in every program? These are some good questions to ask.

A few ideas when it comes to games:

  • What leaders come to mind when you think games? Who can be recruited, trained, and own this?
  • Have a night without the game, do something different.
  • Flip that around and have a night of programming that is just fun and games.
  • Don’t give away a prize every time someone wins, this can get expensive! Let them just have the satisfaction of winning.
  • Do a current inventory on all supplies, what can you use for games, what needs to be tossed?
  • Have a healthy mix of both up front games and group games.
  • Messy games are memorable games.
  • Practice communicating the game with fellow staff members before an audience of students, asking them, “Does this make sense?”

DIY SM – Do it yourself student ministry!

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DIYSMConfession, I’m guilty of reading Popular Mechanics magazine. I love to find articles on do-it-yourself (DIY) projects around the house. Whether its staining the wood trim around our windows or changing the oil on my motorcycle, I find it fascinating to learn and do things on my own.

While time alone and DIY projects are life giving to me…I know that doing student ministry alone is not! I hope you would agree with me that student ministry was not created for the student pastor. The student ministry is not a DIY project for one to carry all alone.

Student ministry is not about you! It is not about what you accomplish, it is not about the best message you ever gave, and it is certainly not about the youth space or branding that you have created for students. At the end of your term as student pastor, you will eventually be forgotten and replaced. That might seem a little harsh, but its the truth. Remembering that student ministry is not about you, and keeping that in front of you, will only benefit your ministry and expand its reach. Only when you have this mindset are you able to truly empower your volunteers and students do some ministry of their own.

You may be thinking, “If I want things done right, then I need to do it myself.” Get over it. When you empower others to do ministry you relinquish your rights to be the “do-er” but you don’t relinquish your rights to be the visionary. Practice painting the picture for people, and let them do it! It won’t be done the way you would do it, but more is being accomplished overall through others than if you run a DIY SM. Many times I have found that when I empower someone else…whether it be a mom, dad, student, or fellow staff member…they do a far better job than what I could have done myself! The best memories in student ministry are made when many hands work together, making the job light, everyone is participating by putting their best foot forward in an area that needs attention. Healthy teamwork within your ministry is necessary in moving things forward.

Here is a list of to-do’s that many student pastors (including myself) are guilty of when it comes down to a DIY SM:

  1. Readying the room. Setting out chairs, turning on lights, music, etc.
  2. Finding or creating a game and leading it.
  3. Stage design…hours can be spent doing this.
  4. Creating and maintaining a visitor followup process.
  5. Social media interaction – FB, Twitter, Instagram. Following & liking student posts.
  6. Trip/Retreat research. Lodging, meals, travel.
  7. Helping create or maintain a student band.
  8. Supply run. Need I say more?
  9. Liaisons between your church and local schools.
  10. Project planning and recruiting for the BIG event.

…and the list could go on and on. As the student pastor you can’t do it all on your own. Empower your people!

After writing this article I feel compelled to write out a few thoughts on each item listed above. Stay tuned.

Question for you: What has been your biggest mistake or learning point in a DIY project? Whether in ministry or personally?