Life of a youth pastor .

Project Planning (DIY10.10)

by 1 Comment

project planning

This is in response to a former article I wrote on DIY Student Ministry. This is the final topic I’m covering in this series. After writing on numerous topics where it is much better to recruit, delegate, and empower others to come alongside you and do student ministry, I’m living in the middle of this one currently. This is a pioneer year for mission experiences with our students, we have three trips running this month – one middle school, and two high school trips. With over 80 students involved on trips with another 60 students back in Austin with regular programming, I could never do this alone.

When you delegate, you empower. When you empower, you give ownership. When you give ownership, someone will likely do it better than you and if they don’t, at least they will be invested in something that they are contributing to. When you empower a leader or volunteer with a task you are not just getting a task finished you are getting someone bought into the larger picture of what leadership is by helping them understand the smaller nuts and bolts of what holds this whole thing together we call student ministry.

With our experiences combined, my wife and I have collectively participated on well over 50 different short-term missions, along with leading a handful ourselves. Each experience whether easy, difficult, domestic or international has proven invaluable in how we design a trip for students. Everything from support raising, to travel/lodging details, and simple details that could be lost such as sensitivity to food allergies. A huge blessing for us was that Gateway saw my wife’s experience and needed a part-time Global Director – she helps organize and empower trip leaders during this season. While this is a huge blessing for me and by me I mean student ministry…it comes with its hurdles.  When you “know” how you want an event or trip to run sometimes it can be easier to just do it rather than explain your thoughts and bring others into the process.

This has been my challenge since coming on staff at a new church but I’m glad to see this weakness now and eager to explain more and give away more in the upcoming months. It was made very clear in my first few months here that I had an issue with delegating projects or tasks… because I felt things needed to be done in a particular way and I had little time to explain these philosophies or processes while doing them myself. While these moments could have their appropriate places – it won’t be very often that you are doing something that someone else couldn’t do.

For big event planning you must realize that there are many details to be considered. If you don’t think so, you probably shouldn’t be the project planner/manager. Just a snapshot of my recent project: rental vans, charter buses, lodging, showers, week-long schedule with every hour accounted for, expenses, reimbursements, trip leaders, adult leaders, kids club curriculum, kids club games, kids club music, kids club crafts, emergency response number, and the list goes on and on.

If you as the student pastor or project planner get sucked into any of these details and doing them yourself, the rest of the project could easily unravel and unfold in such a way that you wouldn’t have wished for. When it comes to project planning and pulling off the big event you should have one role and one role only…this actually sums up the entire DIY series. YOUR ROLE IS NOT – JUST DO IT, but rather JUST DELEGATE IT. Be sure to follow up with encouragement and constructive criticism, just because you delegate it doesn’t mean you’re off the hook.

This post goes out to all my volunteers and part-time staff that keep student ministry operating and firing on all cylinders. You are rockstars in my book and do so much more than most would ever credit you. Delegating to you is not a way for me to “get out of it”, delegating and empowering you all actually allows me to get more into it, helping me keep my eyes on the big picture. Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

Church & School – Build the Bridge! (DIY9.10)

by 1 Comment

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

Nothing says, “I want to be in your world” more than a visit to the student’s school. Whether it be for lunch in the cafeteria or sitting in the student section at a football game – when you approach the school you approach where they do most of their life. Now before I get into this, we must make an observation…some schools are open and some are closed, meaning some schools will let you and your volunteers into the building for lunch with your students while others will not. There are some loopholes. Some campuses would like to make you think they are closed…start asking questions of where they need help or how you can meet with an individual student. The administration may start by asking you to fill out a volunteer application or have a written letter on file from the parent of the student you are meeting with.

When you get into a student’s world at school, you will better understand the crowd you are trying to reach on a weekly basis. If you lose touch of this, you diminish your effectiveness as a student pastor. You might as well be teaching an empty hallway.

When I was in Chicago the campuses were closed but I was able to apply for a mentor program that allowed me to get on campus and meet with students that needed help thinking through the process of going to college. This allowed me to see some of my students but also meet students I didn’t already know.

Here in Austin it’s a little bit of both, it’s actually not even consistent within each school district. I had a regular habit of visiting the closest school this semester until things got ridiculously busy. One thing I quickly discovered was that my HS group of 60 students represented 16 different high schools in the Austin area. Knowing that I barely had the time to visit one school, I knew that do-it-yourself student ministry would not have the impact that these students and schools needed from the church. I currently have one HS volunteer visiting (going through the application process) the school I was visiting and one MS volunteer visiting a MS just down the road. Slowly but surely I hope to get more of my leaders and volunteers to help build the bridge between the church and school.

Here are some ways to get started:

  • Do a prayer walk. Pick a Saturday morning, invite your volunteers and walk the campus asking God to open doors (literally) for you and your team.
  • Just do it! Try to meet with one of your students with lunch. Make sure to check-in with the office.
  • Schedule a meeting with the principal, let him/her know that you and your volunteers are available for anything that they may need help with.
  • Go to the games. Students love to be supported, make a sign, paint your face, make it memorable!
  • Send a gift basket their way with a card in it on teacher appreciation day.
  • Offer to plant flowers or do landscaping to make the campus a more enjoyable place, see if the garden center in your town would donate flowers and plants to this.
  • Recruit specific volunteers to be the liaison for a specific campuses. Get this team together in the late summer to strategize and set goals for the school year. Talk about what success looks like.

How have you made a presence on your school campus? What is your success story of partnering with a local school?

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

Supply Run! (DIY8.10)

by 2 Comments

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

I’ll make this one short and sweet. You don’t need to do all of the shopping for your ministry. There are plenty of leaders and parents out there that are willing to swing by the store for you, just ask. Get away from do-it-yourself student ministry by delegating to others, allowing them to be a piece in the process of pulling your program or event together. Bringing others into your supply run outings can bring great benefits.

ALWAYS

  • Ask another leader or parent to do your supply run.
  • Encourage leaders to take students with them, it’s a great time to build community.
  • Have a supply list prepared, more time is wasted in the store if you don’t have a list.
  • Understand your method of payment and how reimbursements work at your church, be up front with your leaders/parents and make sure they get their reimbursement.

IDEAS

  • Amazon Prime – Free two day shipping on most items, delivered right to the church. Eliminates the time and money spent on an outing to the store.
  • The dollar store…hidden treasures await you and your students.
  • Old stuff in your youth storage space, you haven’t used this stuff in a year. Get creative with supplies you already have or bring back an old game.

Subscribe to lifeofayouthpastor in the top right corner of this page, pass the homelink on to friends that might benefit from these postings. Thanks for reading!

Geocaching – a small adventure paying huge dividends!

by Leave a Comment

geocache

Since coming on staff at Gateway, I have quickly discovered the inner adventure nerd of my boss Kenny. He has a slight fixation on something called “geocaching”. This is simply finding unique containers that have been hidden at specific coordinates that can only be found with a GPS. It’s like a treasure hunt! There are some destined to be within a mile or two of where you live, there are over 2 million world wide!!!

I have used geocaching to help build camaraderie among new friends, volunteers, students, and even family. It takes a great deal of teamwork and each find is unique, always presenting a new challenge. What’s in the container? Well, there aren’t bags of gold but there is always a log for the finder to write their name on, this is a must and will be found at every geocache site. Some containers are larger and hold items from other finders that have discovered the cache, I have found anything from a rubber ducky to a nickel…you just never know.

What I like most about Geocaching:

  • It’s nearly free & tons of fun!
  • Family friendly.
  • Memories are made.
  • It requires teamwork
  • Develops perseverance.
  • Nightcaching – these can only be found at night, usually using flashlights. It puts a spooky spin on the treasure hunt! I recently hid one near my house, my wife and I took some kids on the hunt, they loved it!

Needed items:

  • GPS Device: I use an iPhone 5 that has a log, or you can get a handheld device at your local sporting goods store.
  • Login/Subscription to Geocaching.com, it’s free – but the app cost if you are using a smartphone ($10 one time fee) – totally worth it!!!

Give it a try, find three geocaches and I almost guarantee you will be hooked!

Subscribe to lifeofayouthpastor in the top right hand corner to have other posts sent directly to your mailbox!

Create or maintain a student worship band! (DIY7.10)

by 1 Comment

StudentBand-1This is in response to a former article I wrote on DIY Student Ministry. This is the seventh of ten areas that I’m covering in this series.

I’d be the first to say that I’m not a musician. I know some scales, a few chords on the guitar and have a singing voice that would scare young children. While I was in 7th grade, the best thing my youth pastor ever told me was, “Chris, you can’t sing – let’s find another area for you to serve.” I never again took the stage as a musician. Let’s face it, you have room full of students, who like me, want to be a part of something great like a worship band but should never make the cut. On the other hand, gifted and talented musicians are out there…perhaps they are students or maybe adults. Let’s explore some options together and weigh the pros & cons of arranging a band for your ministry.

The student band – When it comes down to strictly students you are in for a treat, potential student leadership, some drama and little bit of everything else. I have eye-witnessed amazing student bands that understand the heart of worship but lack musical ability. The opposite can also be true, amazing musical talent with a lack of reverence and understanding who we are singing to, these are the crowd pleasers. The turn over rate in a student band is almost unreasonable…students are graduating each year, a new sports season comes along, a student gets a job. There is always a position that needs to be filled, thus a tryout process is always being discussed. Some student pastors do their best to provide leadership or ownership in this area – it takes a lot of time, patience and can be distracting from the big picture of the program or ministry overall.

The student/adult band – This tends to be the most preferred and economical model for the student pastor and the church. You may still be dealing with some of the things same things from the ‘student band’ model mentioned above, but now you have an adult or a few adults involved as well – which are hopefully a bit more matured in their thinking and musicianship. Recruiting an adult volunteer(s) for this position get help maintain order, bring better organization, and overall develop better consistency for your students and your program. They may play/sing with the students or simply be there for practices and programs. This role can be a huge encourager for students and will allow the student pastor to be more hands off, giving attention and detail to other areas of the program and ministry. This is my current model.

The professional band – Make it a paid position. I was a bit uneasy when first hearing about this model, but then I saw the product and the results. Recently visiting NorthPoint church in Atlanta I discovered that they pay a group of rotating professional musicians to come and lead the music element of the program for both HS and MS students. They are never late, rarely cancel, and deliver an A+ performance for students and leaders. Two things happen here. One, the student’s primary aim is to participate by bringing their friends to a dynamic and engaging program. Secondly, you don’t have to worry about uneasy transitions, teen band drama, and wonder what the band will sound like this week. Perhaps you can’t afford to pay a whole band each week, but how about a few rotating lead vocalists?

If you aren’t musically gifted, surround yourself with people that are. If you are musically gifted, still – surround yourself with people who are also musically gifted. Get away from DIY student ministry by recruiting and budgeting for great musicians to better your program.

Final thoughts:

  • Help your students understand the aim, that its more than performance, they are playing for Jesus.
  • If the student or adult is not the grade musician you are looking for…be honest.
  • If your current band sounds bad to you, it sounds bad to others.
  • Partner with your worship/creative arts team at church, get their opinions.
  • Rotations are good! Get different people playing on a regular basis if you can. This prevents fallout.

Leveraging Social Media! (DIY5.10)

by 1 Comment

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.

Subscribe via email to lifeofayouthpastor and get new posts delivered directly to your mailbox, sign up in the top right corner of this page.

#OC13 The Good Stuff!

by Leave a Comment

photo (16)A zombie tap-dancing pirate, the orange-man-group beating on trashcans, and Annie belting out “the sun will come out tomorrow!” …and then DC Talk walks out to a balloon drop resurrecting the old school song “Time is ticking away” this pre-game show has been incredible!

Gwinnett Arena – Atlanta, GA. The seats are filling up with #kidmin and #stumin staff and volunteers for Orange 2013. Though this is the first main session, the day has already been packed with multiple breakouts and pre-conference gatherings. I have learned quickly that if you do not get out of your comfort zone a little bit and network at conferences then you are making a big mistake. It has been a joy to meet others in the same profession, bearing the same burdens, experiencing the same trials and joys of student ministry.

One of my favorite conversations thus far was with Carey Nieuwhof, I have been reading his book “Leading Change Without Losing It“. Being at a new church, leading through lots of change this book has been a #1 confidence builder. I thanked Carey for writing the book and was excited to hear that he is working on part two of three books. One of the things we talked about was how important it is to build trust during a season of change.

I’m sure I don’t have it with every one of my volunteers and students, but I do try hard to earn it. What does this look like? Do life with them. Church and student ministry is important but you don’t have to talk about it all the time. Taking interest in someone’s life, not their role or history in your ministry, can help build bridges of trust. Try going out for a meal and any time discussion about ministry or church comes up try to re-direct it to more of a personal conversation (family, hobbies, their history).

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

by 2 Comments

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.

Have you been enjoying this series? Subscribe to lifeofayouthpastor in the top right corner of this page to receive new postings via email.

Packin’ my bags for OC 2013!

by Leave a Comment

orangesuitcaseReady or not Atlanta, here I come for a full 7 days! It’s been 4 years since I last went to the Orange conference, it was actually my first conference as a full-time student pastor. The people over at Orange will constantly say, “it’s not just about a curriculum, it’s a strategy”…

“What if church leaders and parents synchronized their efforts to fuel wonder, discovery and passion in the next generation?” By combining the critical influences of the light of the church (yellow) and the love of the family (red) the Orange Strategy shows a generation who God is more effectively than either could alone.

I am constantly convicted that as student pastors we must aim at equipping, empowering and hold accountable our parent relationships. There is no doubt that the best disciple of the student can be mom or dad, but without encouragement, training and partnering with the local church, how effective can the family be? I know there can be a lot of tension around this conversation, but what I am seriously pumped up about is that Orange is tackling this conversation from multiple angles – small groups, age-appropriate questions, stuff for at home, equipping volunteers and lay-leaders in the church, etc.

After having met the HS pastor for Northpoint (Kevin Ragsdale) at the Orange Tour in Dallas, I am really excited about the kind of ministry he is running in Atlanta. I love large-group environments that funnel into small-groups later in the program. This is a huge win for both students and leaders alike. I’m checking out his ministry this Sunday and hope to learn some new things that could be implemented where I am currently doing ministry.

What else am I looking forward to at Orange 2013?

  • Blogger’s Lounge – apparently Kenny over at childrensministryonline.com is getting me into the box seats. Right Kenny?! 🙂
  • Meeting up with old friends and making new ones. If you are headed to Atlanta too, I’d love to get together for a meal or coffee and talk shop! Contact me and we can set up a time.
  • I’m signed up to attend and learn from the following breakout sessions:
    • Leading You: The Art of Self Leadership
    • NextGen Ministry Leadership: Leading 360 Degrees
    • Understanding the Middle School Mind
    • Orange Interactive: Student Ministry
    • 10 Things I do to Learn, Lead and Network with Others
    • Casting the Vision Daily to Keep Everyone Aligned
    • Crafting Life-Changing Messages for Teenagers
    • Evaluating a Lead Small Experience
  • I think one night I will need to go and see Oblivion, can’t wait, the movie trailers are a tease!

Stage and space design! (DIY3.10)

by 2 Comments

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

Being an artist at heart, I become very picky about how things look. My leaders and volunteers would be the first to tell you that if I don’t like the way something looks, I have no problem voicing that concern and/or adjusting it myself. I probably slave over the dreams of stage design too much, but feel that I have settled for an adequate stage design that can be slowly improved over time. For a particular series or event I have been guilty of spending entire days setting up rooms, stages, adjusting lighting, etc. I will have a vision in mind and just can’t seem to walk away until that vision begins to come to life. For those of you who don’t have your own space for students, I get it. None of churches I have worked/interned for have had a designated student building. While the student ministry may frequent the space the most often, the room is usually shared with other ministries in the church. With this in mind, you can’t go over the top being student friendly by making permanent changes to walls or staging. So how can you make the most of your stage/student space?

Before I share some tips and tricks I’ve learned over the past few years, I would encourage you to recruit a stage designer and interior designer, perhaps even a construction crew of dad’s (they love this stuff!). Having a stage designer for each one of your series can constantly bring that “new” feeling to an area – this also gets you away from the DIY SM concept. My stage designer is quite crafty and thrifty making the most of products so we can have a dynamic yet cost effective display. She is good about re-using and re-purposing products to get extended use out of them.

Tips & Tricks:

  • Make the most of your lighting! Get away from those hideous fluorescent lights and install some floor lamps, pars, and LEDs. LEDs can totally change the mood of a room…use a deep blue at the back of your stage to make it look bigger. Custom laser etched gobos can bring a “student owned” feel to your room even if it’s not your space. When you’re not in the room simply turn it off.
  • Using foam core, or white stretching fabric to make shapes and designs you can light up with LEDs.
  • Do you have an ugly background? Use pipe and black drape.
  • Rather than decking out the entire stage for a series, use a designated location. We “decorate” a 4’x8′ section of the room for each series and light it up. This allows us to give it our best shot in a smaller area…this is more cost effective and is easier to change over every couple of weeks.
  • Go digital. If you have a projector, use it! Our screen is the focal point of the stage…we using looping graphics and videos that go with the current series. This helps tie everything together in an entertaining way. If you have the money in your budget to upgrade to a brighter or higher resolution projector – it’s worth it.
  • Create multiple levels for your stage. You can do this in the construction of your stage or by using risers. If you use risers, throw an LED underneath, it can look pretty cool.
  • Experiment with student seating…on the ground, in chairs, or find some cool retro rugs. Considering how big or small your space is, you might be limited to your options.
  • Use a large TV as an external secondary monitor for rolling announcements and reminders. (this is a next step for our area)
  • Did I mention how much lighting can make a difference in your space? 🙂
  • Remember…you’re not in this alone, get others to help and actually own this!

What’s your advice on a student space/stage?