In a lot of churches much time is spent on figuring out what to do by way of activities and programs and very little time on getting the right people to lead. As long as there is a warm body in a classroom that's good enough. The reality however, is that there are plenty of great programs that practically teach themselves. What there is a shortage of is dedicated, spiritual individuals who have a heart for teaching and leading youth and children.
Therein lies the tension between "being" and "doing". Doing youth ministry programs or teaching a Christian Education class in reality is not that hard. There are plenty of great places to get curriculum on a variety of topics. These programs or curriculum are very well put together, theologically sound and easy to implement. In some cases, most of these programs will practically lead themselves. But to have the right people who are comfortable with their spirituality and to know who they are, is a very rare thing.
When I go around and speak to various churches about their youth or Christian Education program, one of the first questions is usually always "What do we need to do?" I would contend that that isn't the first concern that needs to be dealt with. What they need to be discussing is who is going to be involved in leading our teaching program and helping these individuals discover the very special and unique person that God has made them be. By doing that, they invest in the core of the program (the leaders) and begin to change a program from the inside out. For too many people who lead Christian programs don't appreciate the person God has made them to be. They don't know who they are because they haven't spent adequate time figuring that out. All they know is how to "do." Which leads me to the point of this article. It is not about "doing" it is about "being." Anyone can "do" but it takes a very special and unique person to "be."
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
What the church can learn from Eminem
I have always been a fan of hip-hop music. One artist in particular has fascinated me since he hit the mainstream in 1999. That artist is Eminem.
Eminem has been a very controversial figure in hip-hop. That could be due to the fact that he is a Caucasian in a predominantly African-American genre of music or because most of his music is filled with foul language and intense emotional anger. But I firmly believe that the church can learn something from this hip-hop artist about how to reach young people who are struggling with their own personal demons.
Eminem grew up in Detroit, Michigan on the border of a very difficult part of town called "the 8 mile." In a recent interview on CBS's 60 minutes he described how difficult his childhood was, moving from home to home, growing up very poor and and surviving a very difficult home life where he never had a father figure and where his mother was somewhat neglectful. Eminem dropped out of high school and repeated the ninth grade two or three times. He fathered a child out of wedlock at an early age and struggled with addiction to cope with this popularity.
Despite those adversities, Eminem eventually hit it big, and has become one of the most popular hip-hop artists since the late 90s. His largest following of fans are youth and young adults and I believe that is because his music resonated with young people in a real way. I mention all of this because Eminem's music has touched the lives of youth and young adults in a way that the mainline church has failed to do. Do not misunderstand me. I am not lifting up Eminem as a saint, however his ability to connect with the emotional feelings of disenfranchised youth and young adults is something the church should sit up and take notice of. Maybe as those who work with young people we need to pay attention to the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of young people today that are hurting. We need to do less moralizing (condemning their behavior) and more grace giving.
In his latest album titled "Recovery" one of the tracks is entitled "I'm Not Afraid" where he shares his struggles throughout his life in a heartfelt way and offers to others who might have experienced the similar things a away out. Here's the chorus of that track:
I’m not afraid to take a stand
Everybody come take my hand
We’ll walk this road together, through the storm
Whatever weather, cold or warm
Just let you know that, you’re not alone
Holla if you feel like you’ve been down the same road
Eminem has been a very controversial figure in hip-hop. That could be due to the fact that he is a Caucasian in a predominantly African-American genre of music or because most of his music is filled with foul language and intense emotional anger. But I firmly believe that the church can learn something from this hip-hop artist about how to reach young people who are struggling with their own personal demons.
Eminem grew up in Detroit, Michigan on the border of a very difficult part of town called "the 8 mile." In a recent interview on CBS's 60 minutes he described how difficult his childhood was, moving from home to home, growing up very poor and and surviving a very difficult home life where he never had a father figure and where his mother was somewhat neglectful. Eminem dropped out of high school and repeated the ninth grade two or three times. He fathered a child out of wedlock at an early age and struggled with addiction to cope with this popularity.
Despite those adversities, Eminem eventually hit it big, and has become one of the most popular hip-hop artists since the late 90s. His largest following of fans are youth and young adults and I believe that is because his music resonated with young people in a real way. I mention all of this because Eminem's music has touched the lives of youth and young adults in a way that the mainline church has failed to do. Do not misunderstand me. I am not lifting up Eminem as a saint, however his ability to connect with the emotional feelings of disenfranchised youth and young adults is something the church should sit up and take notice of. Maybe as those who work with young people we need to pay attention to the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of young people today that are hurting. We need to do less moralizing (condemning their behavior) and more grace giving.
In his latest album titled "Recovery" one of the tracks is entitled "I'm Not Afraid" where he shares his struggles throughout his life in a heartfelt way and offers to others who might have experienced the similar things a away out. Here's the chorus of that track:
I’m not afraid to take a stand
Everybody come take my hand
We’ll walk this road together, through the storm
Whatever weather, cold or warm
Just let you know that, you’re not alone
Holla if you feel like you’ve been down the same road
if only we in the church that offered the same promise.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Showing Extraordinary Love
My experience in youth ministry as a youth was foundational to my call to ministry. Had it not been for the unconditional love that I felt from my church's youth program and from the conferenc's youth program, I might not have ever heard God's voice calling me into the ordained ministry.
I have recently been listening to a song called Extraordinary Love by the Wayne Kerr band, a contemporary Christian band that I first heard at a large youth gathering in New York. The chorus for this song goes:
Our job as adult youth workers is to bestow upon all of our youth that "extraordinary love" that the band sings about. I vowed when I became a pastor that I would do all in my power to make every youth that attended my youth ministry feel special and accepted just as they were. Youth culture often times isolates youth who don't fit into the mainstream and the end result is that it makes him feel worthless and unloved. If there is only one thing that we could do as adult youth workers it is to express this unconditional extraordinary love on to every single one of our youth. I am fully aware that this is easier with some students than others.
Towards the end of the song Wayne Kerr quotes a piece of Scripture from Ephesians 2:10 which says, "God has created us a new in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." This week I would encourage every youth worker to share that passage with every youth you are in ministry with.
I have recently been listening to a song called Extraordinary Love by the Wayne Kerr band, a contemporary Christian band that I first heard at a large youth gathering in New York. The chorus for this song goes:
All Glory Praise and honor
All Glory Praise and honor
Is Due You
I'm Taken by Surprise, by an Extraordinary Love
Towards the end of the song Wayne Kerr quotes a piece of Scripture from Ephesians 2:10 which says, "God has created us a new in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." This week I would encourage every youth worker to share that passage with every youth you are in ministry with.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Ministry Idea: Trunk or Treat
As Halloween draws closer, here's a ministry idea that your youth can lead for the children of your community. It's called "trunk or treat" and this is how it works:
Instead of having families go door to door in your community "trick-or-treating", you have them trick-or-treat from a specific location (the parking lot of your local church) and have them "trick-or-treat" from the trunks of people's car: thus "trunk or treat". This program is especially effective in rural areas where the space between homes is further away and safety is concerned having kids walk on busy country roads. That being said, this program can be done at most any church.
Have the youth put this program together inviting members of the congregation to provide a "trunk." The more you get the better, but you can have a successful program with a half dozen trunks. Even the youth could provide a trunk or two that they run. Encourage the members of the congregation who volunteered to provide a trunk to decorate their trunk in various themes. To makes the experience all the more exciting you can also couple this program with the festival of some sort providing games, costume contests, etc.Be sure to have one of the trunks be a welcome center and handout literature about your church's ministries. This is a great opportunity to share information about the church's mission and ministry and to evangelize to people who may not have a church home.
This is an easy missions outreach program that the youth of your church can coordinate and lead. It might also get other people in your church excited about doing out reach in your community. Good luck and have fun!
Instead of having families go door to door in your community "trick-or-treating", you have them trick-or-treat from a specific location (the parking lot of your local church) and have them "trick-or-treat" from the trunks of people's car: thus "trunk or treat". This program is especially effective in rural areas where the space between homes is further away and safety is concerned having kids walk on busy country roads. That being said, this program can be done at most any church.
Have the youth put this program together inviting members of the congregation to provide a "trunk." The more you get the better, but you can have a successful program with a half dozen trunks. Even the youth could provide a trunk or two that they run. Encourage the members of the congregation who volunteered to provide a trunk to decorate their trunk in various themes. To makes the experience all the more exciting you can also couple this program with the festival of some sort providing games, costume contests, etc.Be sure to have one of the trunks be a welcome center and handout literature about your church's ministries. This is a great opportunity to share information about the church's mission and ministry and to evangelize to people who may not have a church home.
This is an easy missions outreach program that the youth of your church can coordinate and lead. It might also get other people in your church excited about doing out reach in your community. Good luck and have fun!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Youth Ministry Space
Everybody likes having their own space. Youth specifically like knowing that there is a place in the church that they can call their own. This can be difficult in a church that has limited space and uses most of their space for multiple tasks. But if it is possible, carving out one room in your church that is specifically for the youth is a great investment.
Once you have set aside that special place for youth, you should encourage the youth to truly make it their own by having them paint it in colors that they appreciate and allowing them to decorate it with posters, pictures or other things that are meaningful to them. Be sure inform other groups within the church that this is sacred space for the youth of the church and should be respected as such. As you think of that sacred space, encourage the youth to come up with a way to tell the history of the youth program at their church. Having one wall in this space where each youth member gets to put their handprint and name on the wall with the years that they participated in the youth program is one way. Another way is designating one youth or youth worker to take pictures during youth events throughout the year and then make a collage that can be posted in this space from year-to-year, highlighting the many accomplishments and experiences that each group had.
The reason it is so important for youth to have their own definable space in the church is to make them feel valued and important to the life of the church. It may seem like a little thing, but it goes a long way to encouraging the youth to continue to explore their faith even after they graduate from the youth program.
Once you have set aside that special place for youth, you should encourage the youth to truly make it their own by having them paint it in colors that they appreciate and allowing them to decorate it with posters, pictures or other things that are meaningful to them. Be sure inform other groups within the church that this is sacred space for the youth of the church and should be respected as such. As you think of that sacred space, encourage the youth to come up with a way to tell the history of the youth program at their church. Having one wall in this space where each youth member gets to put their handprint and name on the wall with the years that they participated in the youth program is one way. Another way is designating one youth or youth worker to take pictures during youth events throughout the year and then make a collage that can be posted in this space from year-to-year, highlighting the many accomplishments and experiences that each group had.
The reason it is so important for youth to have their own definable space in the church is to make them feel valued and important to the life of the church. It may seem like a little thing, but it goes a long way to encouraging the youth to continue to explore their faith even after they graduate from the youth program.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
We need Young Adults, What do we do?
In almost every church that I work with, people say, "We want to have a young adult ministry but we don't have any young adults in our church, what should we do?"Often the motivation behind the question is a survival-mode mentality. It is easy for leaders to be consumed with keeping the church doors open, that they believe if they can just get younger folks in the door that will solve their problem. However, this is the wrong motivation.
Young adult ministry is one of the most challenging ministries that a church can undertake. Because of this challenge, not every church will be successful at launching and maintaining a young adult ministry. That being said, it does not mean that local churches can not be engaged in ministry with young adults in other creative ways.
The first thing that a local church needs to do is to figure out if there are young adults who live in their immediate area to which they can minister. There are many ways to find this information out from the very basic, knocking on doors and doing a door-to-door survey, to the high-tech of tracking U.S. Census data and statistics through free and/or subscription-based websites. Regardless of which way you go, you need to know what is going on in your community so that you can make the best ministry decisions for your church. If you find out that there are very few if any young adults in your area, trying to develop a young adult ministry in your church could find you frustrated and disappointed.
For churches who find that there are not young adults in there immediately area, you can still be engaged in ministry with young adults. Try connecting with other churches that do have young adults in their immediate area and help them with a collaborative ministry. Connect with a campus ministry at a nearby college or tech school and collaborate in ministry with them. A lot of campus ministry programs struggle financially so if there is some sort of financial help that you can provide them, in some small way you are being in ministry with young adults.
One of the biggest assets of the United Methodist Church is our connection. It allows many local churches to be in ministry in significant ways with a wide variety of people. To be the most effective in reaching young adults today, we need to seize on this asset. Just because “my” local church doesn't have young adults in it, doesn't mean that we can’t be an equal partner in ministry to young adults throughout the denomination.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Mentoring Youth
One of the most important programs that you can offer in your youth ministry is a solid mentoring program. Because youth crave relationships there is no better way to help satisfy that craving than with well developed long-lasting relationships with youth
I would like to highlight the difference between mentors/counselors and chaperones. Regardless of how you refer to them, there are two types of adults who work with youth. Chaperones are adults who show up once in a while to help transport youth to events or act as extra eyes and ears during events. Typically chaperones don't develop long-lasting relationships with youth and usually only come to one or two programs a year. Whereas mentors/counselors invest time and energy in getting to know the youth in a particular youth program. They are heavily involved in the youth program and participate fully in the life of the youth ministry program. Both of these adult helpers are needed to develop a strong well-balanced youth ministry, however for the purposes of this article I'm going to be focusing in on mentors/counselors.
There are lots of biblical examples of mentors They include but are not limited to Moses and Aaron, Paul and Timothy, and Jesus and the Disciples. The main reason for having a mentoring program in the youth ministry is to provide youth another adult that they can approach when they need to reach out about a problem or situation that they may be going through.When thinking of the youth mentoring program there are a few basic things that you should keep in mind. This certainly is not a complete list.
1. Picking the Right People- Unlike chaperones, mentors need to be picked with specific skills in mind. They need to have a love of youth ministry and be willing to develop relationships with youth. They should be of the highest moral fiber that you can fine within your local church and they themselves should be able to articulate their faith in a cohesive and meaningful way. Don't just pick warm bodies!!!
2. Basic Training - Before starting a mentoring program, do some basic training with your mentors. That training should include a basic course on keeping children safe. A very good program the United Methodist Church uses is "Safe Sanctuaries" by Joy Thornburg Melton. A program like this is going to help mentors who have never done it before know the ins and outs of what they should and should not do with you. Other programs have similar trainings that you could look into using as well.
3. Develop Meaningful Relationships - The whole point of the mentoring program is to develop solid relationships with youth within your local congregation. Having children understand that there is at least one other adult in the congregation who loves them and cares for them other than their parents goes along way in satisfying the need to connect and develop lasting relationships. As I think back on my youth experience, I still keep in contact with several youth directors that I had and youth mentors who helped me develop a sense of myself.
Youth mentoring is not for everyone. Picking the right people to mentor the youth in your youth program is going to be critical and should be done with care and prayer.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Resource Review: Credo Confirmation Program
As a United Methodist pastor, I am constantly looking for creative and innovative programs to use for my confirmation classes. Now more than ever, churches and church leaders need relevant tools to help reach the youth of today and make it exciting for them to want to be a part of the Christian church.
There is a new confirmation curriculum that has recently hit the market entitled "Credo." This program is structured around three core principles: knowing your story, confirming your faith and living your commitment. Within each of these core principles there are six sessions (lessons) making a total of 18 sessions. The kit includes a director’s notebook, participant journal and a guide for parents, mentors and adult leaders.
This program includes several exciting parts, including the three core principles. Several other options on how to present the material in the solid mentoring program places his confirmation material miles above others that have been used before However, the proof is in the pudding. For each session it outlines exactly what supplies you will need, what the overall lesson will include, an emphasis on worship and a way for the kids to take what they've learned and put it into active service. The lessons are straightforward and easy for anyone to lead.
Overall I would rate this program pretty high. Compared with the other options that are available, this program has great potential. If there is a negative that I could find, it would be that it is a bit expensive. But if you look at it being a resource that you will enjoy for many years to come, the price is worth it.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Creative Programming: Interview with an Atheist
As most youth leaders know, trying to come up with creative discussion programs is very challenging. You will be able to get youth out to fun activities and possibly even service projects, but getting them engaged in a good discussion-style program is very challenging. The trick is picking a program and "marketing it" in a way that gets the youth and their parents talking.
Several years ago, I was serving a local church that had a pretty active program. I had no problem getting youth out to do fun activities that we planned, but it was like pulling teeth to get them out to Bible studies or discussion programs. One of the challenges was that most of the youth had difficulty sharing their faith with others. Now I could have developed a program, called it "Faith Sharing 101" and lead a very good program on how to witness to others. But I knew that would've gone over like a lead balloon.
Instead, I discovered an intriguing idea from the Youth Specialties Ideas Library. One of the program discussion ideas was to have an "Interview with an Atheist." The basic idea was to get someone to play the role as an atheist. You would invite them to come to one of your programs and be interviewed like one of those late-night talk shows.You could ask them questions like "Why are you an atheist?", "What do atheists believe?", "How long have you been an atheist?", etc. Then after you spend some time "interviewing" you would get the individual to share their own faith story.I was shocked at how popular this program was. I had parents who wanted to come and hear what the atheists had to say, and I had kids who got upset when the atheists shared why he believed what he believed. They were by default defending their faith without realizing it.
Needless to say, it was the most well-attended discussion program I had during my whole time at the church.To make it more believable I invited a my father-in-law, who they had never met, to play the role as the "atheist"(it also helped that he had an acting background). So if you like me had difficulty getting youth to come out for discussion programs, try doing something creative like this to hit home the values you want them to learn. The sky is the limit.
Word of Caution: Be sure to clear any creative program like this with the senior pastor of your church or the youth advisory board that you use to help with your planning. It will save you a lot of headaches in the future.
Several years ago, I was serving a local church that had a pretty active program. I had no problem getting youth out to do fun activities that we planned, but it was like pulling teeth to get them out to Bible studies or discussion programs. One of the challenges was that most of the youth had difficulty sharing their faith with others. Now I could have developed a program, called it "Faith Sharing 101" and lead a very good program on how to witness to others. But I knew that would've gone over like a lead balloon.
Instead, I discovered an intriguing idea from the Youth Specialties Ideas Library. One of the program discussion ideas was to have an "Interview with an Atheist." The basic idea was to get someone to play the role as an atheist. You would invite them to come to one of your programs and be interviewed like one of those late-night talk shows.You could ask them questions like "Why are you an atheist?", "What do atheists believe?", "How long have you been an atheist?", etc. Then after you spend some time "interviewing" you would get the individual to share their own faith story.I was shocked at how popular this program was. I had parents who wanted to come and hear what the atheists had to say, and I had kids who got upset when the atheists shared why he believed what he believed. They were by default defending their faith without realizing it.
Needless to say, it was the most well-attended discussion program I had during my whole time at the church.To make it more believable I invited a my father-in-law, who they had never met, to play the role as the "atheist"(it also helped that he had an acting background). So if you like me had difficulty getting youth to come out for discussion programs, try doing something creative like this to hit home the values you want them to learn. The sky is the limit.
Word of Caution: Be sure to clear any creative program like this with the senior pastor of your church or the youth advisory board that you use to help with your planning. It will save you a lot of headaches in the future.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
On Your Marks, Get Set, RACE!!
I'm kind of a reality TV show junkie. I started by watching "The Real World" on MTV, back in the day and today I try to watch as many as I can. From "Survivor" and "Project Runway", to "Top Chef" and "Hell's Kitchen," I I love them all. But my all time favorite reality TV show is "The Amazing Race."
For those of you who have not seen this show, let me tell you a little bit about it. 12 teams of two race around the world together and check in at Pit stops along the way. During each leg there are a variety of challenges that each of the teams must complete. The last team to check in on each leg is eliminated until one team remains as the winner. The two reasons this is my favorite reality TV show are because of all the interesting places around the world that they visit and the fact that it's about the team that can complete the challenge is the fastest, not about the "backstabbing" drama of other reality shows.
Abington Press has seized on the same idea of "The Amazing Race" and produced a Christian education program entitled "The Amazing Bible Race." Like the show, this curriculum is divided into "Legs" (6 in all that are 12 weeks long). And while you don't travel around the world to exotic locations, you do race through the entire Bible reading it from cover to cover. So here's how it works. Each group signs up a team (larger churches can have multiple teams.) Participants in the race earn points for completing daily Bible readings, a weekly reading bonus, weekly challenges and participating in quizzes which they call "Hurdles." There is usually a weekly team meeting to see how everyone is doing which can meet during your youth fellowship time or a youth Sunday school or Bible study.
There are some interesting components to this curriculum including web-based quizzes, the ability to upload pictures and have messages sent between the team members. This program is perhaps the most comprehensive biblical reading program out there for youth.
I encourage you to check it out and see how you could use it in your youth ministry program. There are options in how to use this material, including,doing one leg for a 12 week intensive Bible study, or selecting daily readings and quizzes to develop into a retreat. If you are a church who is a member of the Susquehanna Conference of the United Methodist Church in Central and Northeastern PA, you can preview copies of each leg from our resource center, Discovery Place or check out their website at www.amazingbiblerace.com.
Good luck, and don"t be the last team to arrive, because you may be eliminated
For those of you who have not seen this show, let me tell you a little bit about it. 12 teams of two race around the world together and check in at Pit stops along the way. During each leg there are a variety of challenges that each of the teams must complete. The last team to check in on each leg is eliminated until one team remains as the winner. The two reasons this is my favorite reality TV show are because of all the interesting places around the world that they visit and the fact that it's about the team that can complete the challenge is the fastest, not about the "backstabbing" drama of other reality shows.
Abington Press has seized on the same idea of "The Amazing Race" and produced a Christian education program entitled "The Amazing Bible Race." Like the show, this curriculum is divided into "Legs" (6 in all that are 12 weeks long). And while you don't travel around the world to exotic locations, you do race through the entire Bible reading it from cover to cover. So here's how it works. Each group signs up a team (larger churches can have multiple teams.) Participants in the race earn points for completing daily Bible readings, a weekly reading bonus, weekly challenges and participating in quizzes which they call "Hurdles." There is usually a weekly team meeting to see how everyone is doing which can meet during your youth fellowship time or a youth Sunday school or Bible study.
There are some interesting components to this curriculum including web-based quizzes, the ability to upload pictures and have messages sent between the team members. This program is perhaps the most comprehensive biblical reading program out there for youth.
I encourage you to check it out and see how you could use it in your youth ministry program. There are options in how to use this material, including,doing one leg for a 12 week intensive Bible study, or selecting daily readings and quizzes to develop into a retreat. If you are a church who is a member of the Susquehanna Conference of the United Methodist Church in Central and Northeastern PA, you can preview copies of each leg from our resource center, Discovery Place or check out their website at www.amazingbiblerace.com.
Good luck, and don"t be the last team to arrive, because you may be eliminated
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Starting or Restarting a Youth Ministry
As the summer comes to a close and the new school year is just around the corner, now is the perfect time to think about starting or restarting a youth ministry. To get you started on figuring out how to do this, I listed a few key things to keep in mind.
Determine a Need - A lot of churches want to have a youth ministry, however there is no need for youth ministry at their church. Before you even begin to start a youth ministry, you need to discover whether or not you have youth in your church or in your community that you can minister to. This can seem kind of basic, but you would be surprised at the number of churches who want a youth ministry because that's what every other church in their area has. However the makeup of their church and the surrounding area does not lend itself to having used in.
Develop a Purpose - There is a passage from Proverbs which says, "Without a purpose, the people will perish." This is true with churches and ministries within the church. If you do not understand why you are doing a particular ministry, the ministry will never sustain itself for the long-term. So if you are starting or restarting a youth ministry within your church, spend some time developing a solid purpose for what the ministry is going to be about.
Start Small - There is an old adage that many people know it's called the K.I.S.S. principle (Keep It Simple Stupid). This is a very smart principle to remember when starting or restarting the youth ministry program. People think that youth ministry programs need to be totally put together and healthy from the onset, but that simply does not need to be the case. If you start small and do simple ministry events, you can grow a program over time that will be healthy and will meet the needs of your church and community.
Don't be Afraid to Fail - When you're starting or restarting a new ministry, not everything is going to work the first time. If you are afraid to do an event or program because it might fail, you are limiting the potential for God to work through you. If you try a program in ministry and it doesn't work, evaluate it and see if you can change it to make it work better. If it bombs completely, you have learned valuable information. Take your failures as a learning process.
I hope some of these tips will help you in your goal to start or restart your youth ministry program. These same principles can be applied to young adult ministry programs as well. Good luck!
Determine a Need - A lot of churches want to have a youth ministry, however there is no need for youth ministry at their church. Before you even begin to start a youth ministry, you need to discover whether or not you have youth in your church or in your community that you can minister to. This can seem kind of basic, but you would be surprised at the number of churches who want a youth ministry because that's what every other church in their area has. However the makeup of their church and the surrounding area does not lend itself to having used in.
Develop a Purpose - There is a passage from Proverbs which says, "Without a purpose, the people will perish." This is true with churches and ministries within the church. If you do not understand why you are doing a particular ministry, the ministry will never sustain itself for the long-term. So if you are starting or restarting a youth ministry within your church, spend some time developing a solid purpose for what the ministry is going to be about.
Start Small - There is an old adage that many people know it's called the K.I.S.S. principle (Keep It Simple Stupid). This is a very smart principle to remember when starting or restarting the youth ministry program. People think that youth ministry programs need to be totally put together and healthy from the onset, but that simply does not need to be the case. If you start small and do simple ministry events, you can grow a program over time that will be healthy and will meet the needs of your church and community.
Don't be Afraid to Fail - When you're starting or restarting a new ministry, not everything is going to work the first time. If you are afraid to do an event or program because it might fail, you are limiting the potential for God to work through you. If you try a program in ministry and it doesn't work, evaluate it and see if you can change it to make it work better. If it bombs completely, you have learned valuable information. Take your failures as a learning process.
I hope some of these tips will help you in your goal to start or restart your youth ministry program. These same principles can be applied to young adult ministry programs as well. Good luck!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Good Sex 2.0
Let's talk about sex!
Sex saturates the world our students are growing up in. Everywhere they look (or listen) they can hear all kinds of messages about sexuality, and most of it probably isn't helping them develop a heathly understanding of how their own sexuality fits into God's plan for their lives. In Walter Mueller's book "Youth Culture 101", he cites the latest research from the US Centers for Disease Control concerning teenagers engaging in sexual intercourse. Among High Schoolers in the United States:
34% of ninth graders are sexually active
43% of 10th graders are sexually active
51% of 11th graders are sexually active
63% of 12th graders are sexually active.
For young adults, 80% of College students (students 18 to 24 age) are sexually active.
In Good Sex 2.0, you'll find tools to help you (and parents of teens) involve your students in understanding, enjoying and talking responsibly about their sexuality without lecturing and moralizing. This seven-session program is broken down into the following topics: Sex Messaging, Sexual Identity, Intimacy, Desire, Boundaries, Responsiblity and Do-overs. Recently updated, it includes a DVD, reproducible handouts, scripture references on sexuality. Produced by Youth Specialties, a trusted resource for youth ministry for many years.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
WUWH - BTW - LOL...HuH?
Effectively communicating is a challenge in this day and age. We are all bombarded with a constant stream of communication through phone calls, e-mails, TV, radio, the Internet, and the latest text messaging. You would think with all the technological advances that have occurred, that we would have gotten better at effectively communicating with one another. However, I have found that this is not the case. I find it a daily challenge to communicate with the people I work with, the people I am in ministry with and just people in general.
I have noticed an interesting phenomenon in communicating with young people. I thought they would love to respond to e-mails. It is an easy way to communicate with people, there is a record of the communication and it is fast and easy to do. However, what I found out is that e-mail is probably one of the least effective ways to communicate with young people these days. Their preference-text messaging.
(A short disclaimer) Text messaging is not my favorite. I do not type very well, especially on a small mobile device. I also have a hard time keeping track of more than about two conversations at one time. If that were not bad enough, the shorthand that most people use to communicate through text messaging is like deciphering the code from an international spy. That being said, I know that if I want to reach the young people that I am in ministry with that I am going to have to overcome this shortfall.
It is a little confusing to me that young people will not just pick up the phone and call the person that they want to communicate with. They have the phone in their hand, it would seem to me that it would be faster. However, when asked a few young people why they prefer text messaging this is the response I got. From their perspective, text messaging is a fast and easy way to carry on more than one conversation at a time, to communicate while you were doing other activities and to communicate on the sly (bring back the days of passing notes!)
So here are a few suggestions that I would offer up. First, if you do not have a cell phone that can send and receive text messages, get one. I believe you to be at a severe disadvantage in ministering and connecting with the young people of today if you do not have the ability to contact them via text messaging. Secondly, I would encourage you to invest in a text messaging plan that is unlimited. Young people send a lot of text messages. One of the youth that I work with regularly sends upwards to 20,000 a month (And no, that is not a typo.) If you do not have a plan that covers an unlimited number you can be overly charged with additional fees from cell phone providers. Finally, get a text message shorthand crib sheet. I have one that is a poster hanging in my office. Or you can just simply Google "text shorthand help" and there are several websites that you can get help with deciphering text message shorthand.
I wish you luck in communicating with young people via text messaging. It's taken me a little while to get used to it, but it can be a very effective way of communicating.
I have noticed an interesting phenomenon in communicating with young people. I thought they would love to respond to e-mails. It is an easy way to communicate with people, there is a record of the communication and it is fast and easy to do. However, what I found out is that e-mail is probably one of the least effective ways to communicate with young people these days. Their preference-text messaging.
(A short disclaimer) Text messaging is not my favorite. I do not type very well, especially on a small mobile device. I also have a hard time keeping track of more than about two conversations at one time. If that were not bad enough, the shorthand that most people use to communicate through text messaging is like deciphering the code from an international spy. That being said, I know that if I want to reach the young people that I am in ministry with that I am going to have to overcome this shortfall.
It is a little confusing to me that young people will not just pick up the phone and call the person that they want to communicate with. They have the phone in their hand, it would seem to me that it would be faster. However, when asked a few young people why they prefer text messaging this is the response I got. From their perspective, text messaging is a fast and easy way to carry on more than one conversation at a time, to communicate while you were doing other activities and to communicate on the sly (bring back the days of passing notes!)
So here are a few suggestions that I would offer up. First, if you do not have a cell phone that can send and receive text messages, get one. I believe you to be at a severe disadvantage in ministering and connecting with the young people of today if you do not have the ability to contact them via text messaging. Secondly, I would encourage you to invest in a text messaging plan that is unlimited. Young people send a lot of text messages. One of the youth that I work with regularly sends upwards to 20,000 a month (And no, that is not a typo.) If you do not have a plan that covers an unlimited number you can be overly charged with additional fees from cell phone providers. Finally, get a text message shorthand crib sheet. I have one that is a poster hanging in my office. Or you can just simply Google "text shorthand help" and there are several websites that you can get help with deciphering text message shorthand.
I wish you luck in communicating with young people via text messaging. It's taken me a little while to get used to it, but it can be a very effective way of communicating.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
One Voice
This spring I attended a youth event in upstate New York called 4-Word. This event is a large gathering of youth from the four former New York Conferences of the United Methodist Church (Western New York, Central New York, Wyoming, and Troy). The featured musician was the Wayne Kerr Band. This band was currently working on a project called "One Voice," a new live worship album they were recording the audience singing various worship songs.
They recently completed the album and I got a copy to listen to.What was amazing was how the band had blended all of the concerts together into "one voice." This project got me thinking.
Christianity is a world religion. What I mean by that is, it is not just found in one particular part of the world. There are Christians everywhere. Whether it is in Africa, Asia, Europe, or America, Christians are all united by the belief that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. What was fascinating about this album was that I was listening to Christians in 18 cities, eight states, two countries, but we were all singing as "one voice."
In America it is easy to lose sight of the fact that Christianity is a world religion. We get so focused on the things happening in our own neighborhood, city, or state that we forget that there are millions, if not billions of Christians all around the world. And while we might dress differently, or talk differently, we all hold the same basic belief in Jesus Christ. What might happen if we united our voices together to take a stand for justice or worked at ending world poverty or did something else to change the world? Think of the possibilities!
It was an honor to be a part of this project. I would highly recommend this album and other music by the Wayne Kerr Band. Thanks, Wayne, for an amazing experience!
They recently completed the album and I got a copy to listen to.What was amazing was how the band had blended all of the concerts together into "one voice." This project got me thinking.
Christianity is a world religion. What I mean by that is, it is not just found in one particular part of the world. There are Christians everywhere. Whether it is in Africa, Asia, Europe, or America, Christians are all united by the belief that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. What was fascinating about this album was that I was listening to Christians in 18 cities, eight states, two countries, but we were all singing as "one voice."
In America it is easy to lose sight of the fact that Christianity is a world religion. We get so focused on the things happening in our own neighborhood, city, or state that we forget that there are millions, if not billions of Christians all around the world. And while we might dress differently, or talk differently, we all hold the same basic belief in Jesus Christ. What might happen if we united our voices together to take a stand for justice or worked at ending world poverty or did something else to change the world? Think of the possibilities!
It was an honor to be a part of this project. I would highly recommend this album and other music by the Wayne Kerr Band. Thanks, Wayne, for an amazing experience!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
All in a Moment
This week I came to work on Monday thinking that it would be a typical Monday, but there was nothing typical about it. Our staff meets every day to have devotions and prayer before we start the workday. It was my day to lead them, and when we got to the part where we lift up prayer joys and concerns that's when I heard the news.
There was a terrorist attack in Uganda, the day before. The mission team from a church in our conference was in Uganda and happened to be at the restaurant that was bombed. The entire team sustained major injuries, and our local guides were killed.the part that really shook me up was that I personally knew one of the team members. He was working with me on the ministry project for the conference. And there in that moment, my world stopped spinning.
I watched on television about these terrorist attacks happening all over the world. Each and every one of them is horrific and scary. But for the first time I knew the victims. That whole morning I was in a state of shock. Would my friend live or die? When would he be home safe? How bad were his injuries? As I learned more and more of the details, I couldn't believe that this was happening. I feared for my friend's safety and I had this overwhelming desire to get on a plane to go and be by his side. I wanted him to know that there were many who were praying in caring for him. But all I could do is sit here and watch news updates.
This summer, thousands upon thousands of young people will travel overseas to participate in various mission trips. Most of the trips will occur in countries that are completely safe to travel to. However, that safety is never guaranteed. We forget that traveling can be very dangerous, especially when we are traveling to a foreign country. I know firsthand what it is to travel abroad. It is very exciting and can be ultimately life-changing.
My prayer today is for these six individuals who were serving out God's mission to the world by bringing the light of Christ to a corner of the world that so desperately needs it. I pray for the family and the friends of all six of these individuals, that they may find peace as they wait for their friend or loved one to come home. I also pray for all of those young people and leaders who will travel abroad this summer on mission trips. May God watch over them and care for them while they are away.
Kris, know that I'm praying for you. I look forward to a time we can sit down and have coffee soon.
There was a terrorist attack in Uganda, the day before. The mission team from a church in our conference was in Uganda and happened to be at the restaurant that was bombed. The entire team sustained major injuries, and our local guides were killed.the part that really shook me up was that I personally knew one of the team members. He was working with me on the ministry project for the conference. And there in that moment, my world stopped spinning.
I watched on television about these terrorist attacks happening all over the world. Each and every one of them is horrific and scary. But for the first time I knew the victims. That whole morning I was in a state of shock. Would my friend live or die? When would he be home safe? How bad were his injuries? As I learned more and more of the details, I couldn't believe that this was happening. I feared for my friend's safety and I had this overwhelming desire to get on a plane to go and be by his side. I wanted him to know that there were many who were praying in caring for him. But all I could do is sit here and watch news updates.
This summer, thousands upon thousands of young people will travel overseas to participate in various mission trips. Most of the trips will occur in countries that are completely safe to travel to. However, that safety is never guaranteed. We forget that traveling can be very dangerous, especially when we are traveling to a foreign country. I know firsthand what it is to travel abroad. It is very exciting and can be ultimately life-changing.
My prayer today is for these six individuals who were serving out God's mission to the world by bringing the light of Christ to a corner of the world that so desperately needs it. I pray for the family and the friends of all six of these individuals, that they may find peace as they wait for their friend or loved one to come home. I also pray for all of those young people and leaders who will travel abroad this summer on mission trips. May God watch over them and care for them while they are away.
Kris, know that I'm praying for you. I look forward to a time we can sit down and have coffee soon.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Summer Worship Festivals
Summer is one of the busiest times for youth ministry. Between summer mission trips, summer camps and regular weekly activities, there a lot of opportunities for youth to be in mission and ministry during summer.
A popular youth activity in the summer in my area of the country isSummer Worship Festivals. These are three or four-day events that happen out in a large open space where various Christian music artists and well known national Christian speakers come and hold a revival of sorts. One of the largest of these festivals, Creation, happens very close to me in Central Pennsylvania. While I have never attended that particular festival, I have attended a similar type festival produced by Salt and Light Youth Ministry, an affiliate of youth ministry within the Susquehanna Conference.
What's great about these festivals is they are usually huge spectacles that get a large number of Christian young people together to worship and learn about living life as a Christian Coming back from these experiences can be very difficult for young people. For many this is a mountaintop experience that they can not have anywhere else but in a huge event like these festivals. They come and hear phenomenal speakers that challenge their way of looking at their Christian life and encourage them to make a re-dedication to that life.
However, like most mountaintop experiences when these young people go home and get back into the regular routines of life, they forget about that experience over time. As youth leaders, is very important that we do follow up with young people who have significant experiences at these festivals. To let these life-changing experience pass them by, is not fair to them.
If you recently attended Creation or will be attending a similar type festival later this summer, do some one-on-one follow-up with the young people that went. Let their local church pastor know of the experience that they had as well with a phone call or letter, so that the they can do their own follow up. It's vitally important that when kids have a mountaintop experience, that they get some time to reflect on that experience.
A popular youth activity in the summer in my area of the country isSummer Worship Festivals. These are three or four-day events that happen out in a large open space where various Christian music artists and well known national Christian speakers come and hold a revival of sorts. One of the largest of these festivals, Creation, happens very close to me in Central Pennsylvania. While I have never attended that particular festival, I have attended a similar type festival produced by Salt and Light Youth Ministry, an affiliate of youth ministry within the Susquehanna Conference.
What's great about these festivals is they are usually huge spectacles that get a large number of Christian young people together to worship and learn about living life as a Christian Coming back from these experiences can be very difficult for young people. For many this is a mountaintop experience that they can not have anywhere else but in a huge event like these festivals. They come and hear phenomenal speakers that challenge their way of looking at their Christian life and encourage them to make a re-dedication to that life.
However, like most mountaintop experiences when these young people go home and get back into the regular routines of life, they forget about that experience over time. As youth leaders, is very important that we do follow up with young people who have significant experiences at these festivals. To let these life-changing experience pass them by, is not fair to them.
If you recently attended Creation or will be attending a similar type festival later this summer, do some one-on-one follow-up with the young people that went. Let their local church pastor know of the experience that they had as well with a phone call or letter, so that the they can do their own follow up. It's vitally important that when kids have a mountaintop experience, that they get some time to reflect on that experience.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
The Inaugural Post
Hello... Hello... (is this thing on?)... Hello. Well here goes!
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls... Welcome to the first ever post in of my first ever blog! As you can probably tell I am new to blogging.I have never done this before, but have always wanted to try. Some new adult leaders who are part of a ministry council thought it would be a good idea, so here I am giving it a try.
I know the secret of the good blog is to keep it regularly updated so I'm planning on updating this blog every Wednesday. As you will come to find out, I'm a pastor in the United Methodist Church currently serving on the conference staff. For those of you who are not familiar with the United Methodist Church structure we are an international church connected by geographic boundaries called "conferences". Every conference is made up of approximately 800 to 1000 churches. Every pastor within that conference serves in a variety of ways, predominantly as a local church Pastor. We are assigned to our local church by a resident Bishop. For about 10 years I served as a local pastor in a local church, but now I am serving on the conference staff as the director of Young People's Ministry and Christian education.
In that position I get to consult with local churches and help them with their Christian education programs as well as their youth and young adult ministry. Hence why I am doing a blog. I want to share with pastors, youth, young adults and those people who work with youth and young adults about what I have learned about being in ministry with youth and young adults. I by no means have all the answers, however, I hope to point some people in the right direction who might be struggling with developing solid, healthy youth and young adult ministries.I would love followers to interact with my posts and challenge me on various ideas that I have. I believe that we can all learn how to be in ministry together, so I look forward to hearing from you. But for now, that's all.
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