Life of a youth pastor .

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The bird’s eye view.

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I bought wi-fi on the plane for the first time…it is very slow, I’d advise against it and actually want my $5 back. Nonetheless, this posting comes to you from 30,000 feet in the air!  We put man on the moon, so I guess we shouldn’t be too surprised.

How often do you look at your ministry from a bird’s eye view? Student ministry and really any ministry in the church is due a good look from a bird’s eye view. Up here I can see everything going on…cars and trucks, highways and interstates, farms and cities, rivers and forests, you get the idea. I just made this trip a couple months ago in a different  fashion – Chicago to Austin via the interstate…it was a very different experience. On the road you can pick out details and give very special focus to particular exits, restaurants, pick out and dissect the hotel you may want to stay in, even play that license plate game for 1000 miles! When you are on the ground in ministry you get sucked into the nitty-gritty details of one program, one leader’s concerns, a game that needs to planned, a message that needs to be written…and this happens everyday one thing after another, non-stop. Getting stuck on one topic, problem point, or program may take you miles in the wrong direction when you are looking at the big picture. We have people on the ground that have extremely specific serving roles that need direction and vision. We need to know where we are leading our team and how we are getting there. This requires a bird’s eye view…often.

How often do we take a two hour flight, get up in the sky and examine our ministry’s journey?

Juggling the many tasks that ministry demands becomes somewhat natural for someone that has been doing it for a while. You can think, “I’m doing it!” But at what point do you put all of those things down to pray, evaluate, and take a good look from a bird’s eye view at the whole picture?

Take 20 minutes to answer the following questions to get your own bird’s eye view of ministry…write your answers down and keep them in a place where you can see them throughout the day. Repeat the exercise at least once a month.

  • Pray for an honest heart in evaluating yourself and your ministry.
  • Where is my ministry bearing fruit?
  • How can I thank God for what He is doing among my flock?
  • Is my team driving the same direction I feel God calling us? Why or why not?
  • Do the passengers trust the pilot? How can I continue to build trust with my team?
  • What stories can be captured that will fuel my leaders with encouragement?
  • What people or areas of ministry need more attention or focus from me?
  • What item(s) am I spending too much time on?
  • Pray for a willing heart to follow through on the questions you have answered.

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Vision, start up strategies, & my volunteer handbook.

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theSamePage

Where do you start in getting people on the same page? Within two months coming into my position of student pastor I quickly realized that many of my leaders had a heart for students and community. Though that might be a good thing, I also realized that the definition of student ministry and community was very different for each individual. At the same time we had just done a pancake push to recruit more leaders. With an updated roster containing more than 60 names the last thing I wanted to do was shake things up and lose leaders. I knew that clarity, direction and vision was desperately needed as we move ahead together in aligning our efforts to maximize our potential. We offered a vision lunch and 30 of our leaders showed up. Getting them on the same page, I gave them a vision statement and a student ministry handbook. While it may seem like shuffling papers at times, this stuff is a must for any ministry!

VISION. You need something short, simple, easy to remember but all encompassing to what you are about as a ministry. This vision should be a rally point for leaders and students alike. Anyone should be able to critique your programs, small groups, outreach nights, camps, retreats, etc. against your vision and see that they line up. What are you striving for in ministry? What is the end goal for your staff, leaders, volunteers, and students? Does it match your churches philosophy of ministry? I am still tweaking the statement, but this what we have landed on for now.

 Get connected to God. Get connected to people. Stay connected to both.

If we were successful in doing this as a ministry I think the end result would be an alive and thriving student ministry. The following vision of student ministry was a benchmark that was passed on to me from Bobby Pruitt, my high school youth pastor.

Student ministry is not student ministry until the student is doing ministry.

My desire would be that my leaders understand that small groups, teaching, music, and dynamic programs are all good things but these things are not the end result we are chasing after. Student ministry is not a 4-7 year sprint spiritually, crossing the finish line when the student graduates high school. We pray the individual student will be equipped to take every opportunity for the rest of their lives starting in middle school to look to the interest of others and display the attitude of Jesus, as found in Philippians 2.

STUDENT MINISTRY HANDBOOK. I think phrasing it like that sounds a bit less constrictive than a policy manual or rules to follow…but it is what it sounds like. To both our veteran leaders of 8+ years and those new leaders just expressing interest, this handbook provides in greater detail how we are going to accomplish the vision. The handbook provides the reality of expected duties that a leader will sign off on claiming they understand we are on the same page. It contains specific serving role protocol along with descriptions, requirements/expectations of  a leader/volunteer, and a section on child abuse protocol and procedure. Prior to going over sealing the deal with the handbook there is an online application they are asked to fill out that covers references and background checks. Here is a sample of our most current Student Ministry Handbook.

Here are a few things I think should be included in any handbook and discussed with any leader or volunteer serving in student ministry:

  • A welcome letter.
  • Vision statement.
  • Their involvement in a community that is encouraging their personal spiritual walk. If they aren’t being poured into how can you expect them to pour into the lives of students?
  • Age requirements of those serving. (I’ll write more on this later)
  • Meeting with and driving students.
  • Sleepovers and students at your house.
  • Romantic relationships across the board.
  • Child abuse policy and procedure.
  • Be above reproach. This is a catch all phrase, holding leaders/volunteers to a higher standard to ensure both the safety of them and the student.

Get your ministry on the same page. Give them a vision to follow and handbook to go to when questions come up or they want to know where you stand on situations that will occur in ministry. Subscribe via email to lifeofayouthpastor.com in the upper right hand corner of this page.

A common place; a common vision.

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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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The calm before the storm…

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My move from Chicago to Austin is now complete and we are settling into our new home here. Settling may not be the right word, things are crazy busy as we strive to launch for a new school year right around the corner!!! I am still meeting new staff members, being introduced to some of my volunteers, hanging out with students, etc. All along, trying to wrap my head around how youth ministry is being done here currently while continually asking God, “How do you want me to serve here? What is your desire for these students/leaders/volunteers?” Though it may seem like the calm before the storm, I think the waves are getting choppy and my ship is headed full steam ahead into a school year of programming, recruiting leaders, and establishing healthy community. Anyone else feel the storm brewing? While I have done this all before at my previous church it does feel like a new ship and some unchartered waters…where do they keep the life-jackets, where is the throttle, how much food and water do we have aboard, do we have any leaks that need patching or repair?!

I need some key items going into this storm. These things I must keep aboard to ensure health and safety for my staff/volunteer team, while also providing good vision and direction to get us to the other side, knowing we accomplished what God had asked of us after the school year is over.

Here are a few key things that came to my mind, what would you add to the list or emphasize?

  • A leaders retreat early on in the school year
  • Setting clear tangible goals to help maintain vision throughout the year
  • Consistent community hangouts for my leaders (once a month)
  • Defining our roles. What defines a leader? What defines a volunteer?
  • Recruit. Recruit. Recruit. Follow up, Follow up, Follow up. KEEP THEM ENGAGED!
  • Collecting student visitor information – making sure they are invited back to the program each week

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