The Importance of Summer Young People's Ministry

Summer can be one of the most influential seasons in ministry—here’s why I love it and why your summer activities matter so much.

Plan things to be ultra-relational.
Summer activities are an excuse to hang out with students. Take advantage of that opportunity. Dial down the program and work hard to create space for conversations and real life to be exposed. You might be surprised how the barriers come down when it isn’t over-programmed. Keep a journal and at the end of summer it will be exciting to see how God worked.

Make sure you make some “me” time.
This is really important! If you’re not careful, you could plan out every waking minute of the summer and end up burned out by August. You have to set a priority and limit for yourself. You need any kind of ministry, there is always one more person to help, one more event to plan, or one more phone call to make. Don’t make this mistake; usually youth workers make it once and learn from it.

Embrace the change of pace.
When things change, people pay more attention. When you shake things up over the summer you’ve got a chance to be creative in your teaching style, or give guest speakers a new voice to your students (and we don’t mean expensive guest speakers…we mean student leaders, the dad with a cool testimony, etc.). Don’t let the summer be the same old thing—time to experiment!

Summer activities build momentum for the kickoff of the school year.
A great summer makes for a great fall—work hard to invest in your people this summer and the returns will last until Christmas.

(I got some these ideas from a weekly e-mail that I get about youth and young adult ministry)

Some Thoughts on Youth Leadership

This week I am teaching the leadership camp and the topics that I then asked the: is "Attitude. " it got me thinking about other important aspect youth leadership. And here are just a couple of things to keep in mind:

Lead with Optimism

Teaching students to see a future of what could be, not necessarily the painful road of difficulty to get there. They need to accentuate the positive and minimize the negative. this will help them in problem solving said that when roadblocks occur (and they always will), they will be prepared to face them positively.

Build Fun Into Everything

I love to have fun! Everyone enjoys having a good time. Teaching students that leading can be fun and not boring, will energize them and attract more youth to enter leadership roles. don't forget, God created us to laugh, so let’s have some fun.

   

Conflict Leads to Peace

Difficult conversations need to happen – if they don’t , something small will inevitably grow into something significant and potentially rectifying.  I have done this well and I have also done this poorly. So by all means don't avoid conflict, you will not like the outcome.

By the way, if you're looking for a good leadership training curriculum for your youth. Check out Leadership Lab. Below is a you tube video that explains it in more detail.

I highly recommend this program and hope it will help you train the next generation of leaders for the church.

5 Must Read Books Concerning Young People's Ministry

If you are new to Young People's or have been involved in Young People's ministry for a long time these 5 books would hope you understand young people and their culture, as well as, develop a well-rounded plan for ministry with young people.

1.  “Almost Christian” by Kenda Creasy Dean – A statistical look at the development of faith for millenials and those to follow. Interesting points on faith differences between generations.
2.  “Sustainable Youth Ministry” by Mark DeVries – Consistency makes a huge difference for youth, and avoiding burnout by building a sustainable ministry begins with introspection of yourself as a leader.
3.  “Safe Sanctuaries” by Joy Thornurg Melton – Building safe space for ministry to happen means lessons for adult leaders as well as your church as a whole. A must have!
4.  “You Lost Me” by David Kinnaman – An exploration of why young people are leaving mainline denominations in the US and rethinking their faith. This one is perhaps most powerful when thinking about youth after they have left youth ministry (whether via graduation, moving, or choice).
5.  “Sticky Faith” by Kara Powell Brad Griffin – This original concept has grown into a full-blown resource with several different print versions and online offerings, and is associated with the Fuller Youth Institute. Combination of resources for youth workers and parents.

10 ways to use Facebook in Your Ministry

This is a link to an article that I found particularly interesting. In a recent study by the Barna Institute it found that 94% of young people do not respond to e-mail. The best way they communicate is through social media (Facebook, twitter, etc.)

I hope you find this as helpful as I did.

http://www.shrinkthechurch.com/2011/05/10-ways-to-use-facebook-in-your-ministry/

Fast Facts for Young Adults

• In 2006, 69 million people in the US are projected to between the ages of 18 and 30 (Census Bureau) 

• Young Adult’s appreciate and are spiritually fed by a variety of worship styles.  There is no specific style of worship that is a magic wand for drawing young adults. 

• There is a wide diversity of Young Adults.  YA’s are: married, single divorced, in College, never went to college, in the work world, in professional schools. 

• In a recent Barna survey, it noted that 94% of young people do not respond to e-mail. 

• Young Adults, like most generations in the church, want a place where they can meet God as they are and feel comfortable asking the “tough questions.” 

• There is a diversity of family and “home” experiences from which Young Adults come (traditional, divorced, one-parent homes, same-sex parents, being raised by someone other than parent). 

• We are in the midst of a generational shift-the GenXers are at the place where they are “suppose to come back to the church” because they are getting married and having children.  But they are not returning to the church for a variety of reasons. 

• GenXers have an intense need for inter-generational, inter-racial and inter-faith relationships, which transcend typical interactions and environments often found in churches. 

• Technology has impacted the 18-30 year olds in significant ways-not only are they ultra “plugged in”—it also feeds the dynamics of  “Helicopter Parents”, hyper-multi-tasking, and increases the gaps in the haves and have nots. 

• The church must look at non-tradition ways to engage in issues of faith.  This has an impact on: Sunday school, worship, mission trips, evangelism, service opportunities, where church gathers, etc. 

• Studies show that there is NOT a decrease of young people entering seminary BUT there is a decrease in those who are in seminary who are choosing ordination for traditional preaching ministry.  Only ½ of those graduate with an M.Div. 

One final word of note about young clergy: currently there are 15,954 ordained elders in the United Methodist Church. Only 951 are under the age of 35 (or 5%). Within 20 years, 14,000 our clergy will be retired.

Something got change!