Life of a youth pastor .

Teach your mom how to use a computer!

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When I went away to college I’ll never forget how many times my parents would call and ask questions about the computer…how to attach a file, make a new folder, or even how to turn on the computer! Our parents didn’t grow up with computers, why blame them when you can help them?!

Help them answer questions like this:

  • Copy & Paste
  • Change background/screensaver
  • Create an online calendar
  • Chat & Video chat
  • Attach files to email

I was introduced to a website recently that google put together, I’m sure you will have fun organizing your own little tech care package for mom, dad, or the grandparents. The video tutorials are extremely helpful, I’m hoping to put together something similar  for new volunteers serving in my ministry – giving them specific video tutorials that are helpful for their area of serving – greeting, visitor check-in, leading a small group, etc.

Send some tech love to mom or dad HERE.

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Caring for Volunteers.

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It’s a task for sure. My wife and I are doing our best to have a one-to-one meeting with each of our leaders and volunteers as we hit the ground running. It is important to give individual attention and care to each sheep in the flock. This comes naturally for some, but is difficult to follow through for anyone. My calendar is quickly filling up with back to back meetings for the next month! I would ask the question, “What are your priorities? Are they on your calendar?” As the shepherd of a flock, you must prioritize your sheep, all of them. If you aren’t caring for them, I hope someone is leading them to food and water! Sure, some eat more than others and some like to sleep all day, but being handed the duty of shepherd the initiation is on you to reach out and care for them. Eventually you should provide a good shepherd to sheep ratio by developing other shepherds, you cannot provide quality care for 30+ people. A quote for the day from a book I’m reading, “The Way of the Shepherd”

People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

While developing a team and sharing vision, it doesn’t matter if you know how to build a rocket ship…go out of your way to show sincere encouragement, compassion, and love for your staff and volunteer team. Think about serving them before you think about leading them.

 

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 youth pastor’s dream…

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A youth pastor’s dream: To partner each student with a dedicated, Christ-following adult step-by-step through the teenage years into college.

Why is this a dream of mine? I believe a healthy ministry model will allow students to graduate high school but not graduate their faith and leave it behind with their alma mater or letterman jacket. I would hope my youth ministry isn’t known for a cool building, fun games, or even great teaching…although those things are important! I hope my ministry would someday be known by it’s leader to student depth of connection, a depth measured by years of intentional discipleship.

Just imagine, rewind the tape back to 13 years old…what if you had a mature, Christ-following adult who was pursuing you 6th grade through your college graduation? Someone other than your parents that you could count on- a mentor, a coach, a confidant. As a 6th grader you might seem shy to the idea of someone older wanting to meet over a slice of pizza or a milkshake, but think about the impact someone could have on a life if they are invested for over 10 years!

I think this is incredibly rare in youth ministry… If the average youth pastor stays at a church for 18 months, I’d like to know how long the average youth leader/volunteer sticks around? From what I have seen I’d estimate the average run for someone serving is 2.5 years. I come up with this number by looking realistically at those few veterans that have been around 10 years, the many that are established in relationships and pouring into students by their high school graduation – putting in 4 years, and those that “try it out” making that one year commitment, but then say, “Sorry, this isn’t for me.”

Building traction and trust with students is essential, and it takes time…a lot of time! If we think about how much time students spend with one another before they share a deep secret, struggle or start talking “life” we can begin to understand just how much intentional time an adult will need to spend in order to get to the core of a student’s spiritual life, life at home, or life at school.

Today I witnessed a 5th grade girl’s small group leader move up with the girls to 6th grade, from children’s ministry into middle school ministry. It was awesome! Despite both the girls and the leader being in a new room with loud music and all the distracting happenings a middle school ministry could bring, all of the girl’s eyes were fixed on their leader. They have a consistent and established Christ-following adult invested in their life. I’m not sure what this leader does in her free time (still getting to know my leaders) but I’m sure that if she is investing an hour at a school volleyball game, an hour at Starbucks, an hour on the phone here and there…she will almost guarantee a higher connection rate, a higher attendance at church rate, a higher vulnerability rate in helping make rational decisions, and most importantly a much more likely chance of her girl’s understanding the person of Jesus Christ.

Throughout my school years I had five different youth leaders. My parents were consistent, Christ-following, church-attending people who invested into me during my teenage years – and I thank God for that. Unfortunately, there are many broken homes, with many teenagers who have been abandoned and are desperately searching for love and attention in all the wrong places. They need that 10 year leader. That teenager needs someone to jump into their life beginning in the 6th grade, or earlier, and live life to the fullest with them through studying the Bible, asking hard questions, attending their high school games, maintaining contact through college and cheering for them at graduation!

The largest dropout rate in the church occurs during a students Freshmen year of college. Just because a student graduates from your church ministry does that mean they also graduate from your personal ministry to them? We live in an era of easy connectivity. Stay engaged. Pursue their life. Point them to the finish line of faith.

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Serving + Retreat + Fun = The hybrid mission trip.

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My first week at Gateway involved me putting together a mission trip. The second week at Gateway involved me going on that trip with twenty something students and a handful of leaders. The third week involved wrapping my head around our programs, meeting leaders, and observing the ministry – my brain has been stuck in week three and will be for a while.

The trip was semi-organized when I arrived. There were many details that still needed attention – a charter bus to be ordered, hotel rooms to be reserved, an hour-by-hour schedule to be thought out, food to be purchased…all this to say, I couldn’t have done it alone. I was very thankful for my part-time staff member Heather and all that she did in helping prepare for this trip. A few things we did before leaving that really helped once we arrived…

  • I did a pre-trip to meet my ministry partner before taking all of the students. (It was me actually rolling through with a U-Haul in tow on my move down from Chicago.) This way I was able to see where we would be staying, see the meeting space we had to work with, etc. This paid huge dividends for planning out the trip.
  • I made a booklet for the students that had a daily devotional section along with a program plan that day. This way you can exclude the 20 questions game, “What are we doing today?” “When are we doing that?”
  • I ordered 5 different colors of the rubber bracelets. This divided the students and leaders into 5 smaller teams for serving and discussion groups. This can make any larger team more manageable when it comes to logistics.  “Green team you are ripping up carpet, Blue team you are praying for the people in this building, etc.” This saves much more time than you would ever dream!

SERVE BRANSON. BLESS AUSTIN. This was the mindset of the trip – starting with the end in mind. Yes, we would be spending a week in a different city, how could we come back to our own city with a compelled heart to put these things into practice? We traveled to Branson, Missouri where there many serving opportunities but how could we transplant the heart for serving there back to our every day life in Austin?

  • SERVING – Our ministry partner Jesus was Homeless is doing AMAZING things for the kingdom as they continue to seek out and serve those that are less fortunate. Every week this organization delivers over 700 meals to those in need, it blessed my students greatly to be a part of such a process. We also had the privilege of doing some work projects for a single mom’s resort just outside of town. This will be a refuge for mom’s that have been neglected, abused, or financially unable to support their family. River Rock Ministries offer cooking classes, Bible studies, and even a GED program for these women. I am extremely thankful for what they are doing.
  • RETREAT – Gateway Branson/Jesus was Homeless was incredibly generous with their space. While they were not using it, we were able to have sessions for learning, team-building, discussion groups, games, and worship. These 2+ hour sessions each day brought on the retreat feeling and really helped in unifying our team’s ministry philosophy and allowed our group to dig into God’s Word each day together. I took them through the acronym BLESS that had been unveiled to me by our Senior Pastor John Burke…we have been blessed to be a blessing to others.
  • B – Be in prayer.
  • L – Listen and Look for opportunities.
  • E – Eat. Share meals with others.
  • S – Serve. Serve your neighbor.
  • S – Share. Share your story & God’s story with others.
  • FUN – Branson is a tourist trap for sure! Being there a week, you will not run out of things to do. We spent a whole evening making our rounds to different go-kart tracks, putt-putt golf, bumper boats, etc. Branson is located near many lakes. Take your pick of beaches, boat rentals, and restaurants. Did I mention the huge landlocked Titanic? No, I’m not making this up.

This was the perfect trip for my students, especially for my leaders. Branson gave me a good opportunity to exercise the work hard, play hard philosophy for youth ministry. I am so proud of my students and leaders in all that they did, but more importantly how God show up in them and used them to love others.

If you ever need help talking through ideas for your mission trip, I’ve been on a few…all of them have offered something different. This was the perfect hybrid mission trip. I’d love to help you talk through obstacles, desires and connect you with great ministry partners. Just reach out!

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Giving Up! Time. Talent. Treasure.

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I did a series at my last church called “Giving Up”. We spent three weeks discussing what it means to give up the things in your life to God that He has blessed you with…your time, your talents, your treasures. As we head into a season where we are calling our leaders, volunteers and families to be all in at Gateway, I know this mindset will need to come across clearly to my students. I don’t want this to be a one time push in asking my students to GIVE UP their time, talents and treasures. I want this to be a consistent lifestyle that is adopted by many in the student ministry. What are some ways that we can really make it stick?

We have all seen GIVING UP in action. Students playing in the band, running the sound board, greeting visitors, serving at a local soup kitchen or nursing home, going on a summer mission trip, possibly even starting to develop healthy tithing habits. The list goes on and on for things students do and opportunities the church will offer them. What have you offered in your ministry or seen in the lives of students that fit into one of these three categories?

GIVING UP!

TIME _______________

TALENT _____________

TREASURE ___________

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Got Curriculum? Customization.

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Customization. This is what I love doing…it might be the artist in me or perhaps I’m just picky when it comes to things I really care about. One of those things is curriculum. Catch up with postings #1 and #2 if your just now joining me about curriculum. The clock is ticking for some of you and may need curriculum for your students and leaders in the school year ahead!

I used LIVE curriculum last year, and my current middle school guy  at Gateway is using XP3 from the folks that help put together the Orange conference and tour each year. I remember this stuff from when I first attended the Orange conference in Atlanta some years back. Now that I have my hands on it, I gotta say, not too shabby! Like I said, I love to customize things and XP3 does give you the ability to do that. I’m teaching from their curriculum this upcoming Sunday…a lesson on God dwelling with us. Though I like the meat of the message there are some things I could do without and some of my own life story I’d like to add. Well, it comes in a word document and you can move around as much as you want!

The LIVE curriculum is very similar in giving you a PDF and Word document for both your message and your small group questions. You can also have many topics and series to pick from – plenty to customize your own school year, even for each specific grade!

If you are thinking about writing your own curriculum…I’d advise against it, my team tried this a few years back. Unless you have tons of extra time to devote, it becomes a black hole of pages, fonts, and writing. Plus, there are people already giving every day to this stuff – LIVE, Xp3, others you may add to the list. In my book, leave it to the professionals and find one that fits my ministry best.

Happy curriculum shopping!

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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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Got Curriculum? Communication.

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This is blog posting #2 on Got Curriculum? See #1 here.

Communication is everything when it comes to curriculum. You the youth pastor communicating with your small group leaders –> your small group leaders communicating with the students and parents –> the actual material that needs to be communicated. If there is one thing that absolutely blows my mind about LIVE curriculum is how good of a communication network it offers.

WARNING: You will get out of it as much as you put into it. Let me explain.

  • Parent E-mail – for each individual lesson there is a parent email that you can copy+paste into a distribution list of parent emails to let them not only know what Johnny is learning that week during small group, but gives them questions to engage with their kid. We did this for our small group leaders as an accountability tool, they knew mom and dad would be getting the topic email, this helped them stay on track with the curriculum path.
  • Dashboard – Every small group leader has a one-stop shop for what they need to know before leading their small group for the week. Each leader is assigned a login & password, giving them access to ALL of their lessons for the entire school year with both a leaders guide that can be crafted to their own liking along with a student handout sheet for each week. In this same forum they are able to see new messages posted by me, and have the ability to TEXT their small group!
  • Texting – Ya, I know…texting can be more impersonal than a good phone call or face-to-face conversation, but it’s 2012 and when you need to get the word out quickly so students know where you’re meeting for small group or what they should read before coming, this can be a handy tool. Texting is a communication tool also offered through Simply Youth Ministry. We purchased it to coincide with our curriculum. I will say it’s probably 50/50 when it comes down to leaders using it to contact and connect with their small groups. I also use this feature to connect with parents. For example, I will send out a “text blast” to inform all of our parents about a certain event, “Parents, remember we have a parents meeting to discuss our mission trips for this summer. See you at 3PM.”
  • There’s an app for that – Need I say more? There is a LIVE Curriculum app that is unique to each leader’s login credentials. If you are a sophomore leader, it will show your calendar for the year, all of the sophomore study guides, small group questions and updated messages from the youth pastor.

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