Youth Ministry
May: A Month of Transition
Youth ministry is inherently tied to the school’s schedule. Any youth worker with common sense knows not to plan events on 1. Prom Weekend, 2. Graduation Weekend, or 3. Finals Week. Students will not come on 1 & 2, and parents will hate you for 2 & 3. Unfortunately, these events all happen within a month’s timespan. This wrecks havoc on the Spring programming for ministries. The ministry parts that run through the school year end in May, and the summer ministry kicks into high gear. College students return home for the summer, providing an influx of potential volunteers. In this period of transition, make sure you do not lose focus on the most important part of your ministry: the students.
Book Review: What Matters Most
Finished another book this week: What Matters Most by Doug Fields. It was a very quick read, but well worth the time. In the book, Doug helps the reader learn how to say NO to good things (ministry opportunities, friends, and one million other things) so you can say YES to what matters most (God and family). Far too often, pastors and youth workers can get caught in crowd-pleasing mode, making it tough to say no. Fields encourages the reader to establish boundaries in your life. Ministry is important, but a person’s spiritual health and relationship with family is more important. An excellent resource, and one I plan to revisit again and again, as a priorities checkup. Rating: 5/5
Creative Outreach Methods
Tonight I went to a Switchfoot concert at the Music Pier in Ocean City. It is not everyday that we have a major concert in town, and even less that I am not in charge of. It was run by the local chapter of FCA as an outreach event. Myself and some other local youth pastors helped out at a raffle booth. Students had to fill out a questionnaire in hopes of winning an iPod Touch. The questionnaire took about 10 minutes, and was primarily based on the Romans Road. Students had to look up passages in the FCA-provided Bibles and respond to what they had read. It was a great way to get students who never open the Bible to read it’s words for themselves.
SYM Podcast Live TODAY!!
The crew over at Simply Youth Ministry is doing a live podcast today (4/25) at Noon PST (3pm for normal people who live on the East Coast). I am so happy that they changed the day of the podcast from Thursday to Friday just for me. If you have not experienced this show, you must. Terrific humor with just enough youth ministry so you don’t feel guilty for listening.
Follow the live podcast here: SYM Podcast
Deadliest Catch and Youth Ministry
Today I have been watching the new episodes of Deadliest Catch. This show, which documents the rough, sometimes deadly, job of king crab fishermen in Alaska, is the best documentary show on television. These men risk life and limb for 3 weeks on the high seas in order to make anywhere between $20-40,000 for that trip (which is what most youth pastors make in a year). Sometimes the fishermen hit “crab gold,” meaning they are pulling up crab traps holding 50 or more crab each. Other times, they strike out and can count their crab on 1 hand.
I noticed one interesting parallel between the crab fishermen and youth pastors: both are trying to obtain a very elusive catch. While one is searching in the vast expanse of the Bearing Sea, the other is is searching the vast expanse of today’s high schools. One uses cod and frozen fish as bait, while another uses flashy programs and solid Bible lessons. One group stays up 20-30 hours working the crab traps, while another group stays up 24 hours with tireless Junior High students (see Overnighter video). If the crab aren’t being caught in one location, the fishermen move. If the students aren’t coming to an event, it is either A. missing the purpose of the ministry, or B. called Sunday School.
Although youth ministry may not be as physically dangerous as crab fishing (you might disagree based on your recent dodgeball tourney or ski trip), it is just as difficult, draining, and yet rewarding. We may not bring up “crab gold” but we bring in students for the Kingdom of God.
Divine Punishment = Emo
Last week, I was teaching my Jr. High students about the Fall (Genesis 3), when I had an interesting interaction with a student. It went something like this:
Me: “And how did God punish the man (Adam) for his sin?”
Student: “God turned him emo”
Great stuff, but it was not the answer I was looking for.
Flexible in Ministry
Sorry for the recent lack of posts: my schedule has been rather hectic. This weekend, the Tabernacle hosted a Women’s Conference. Over 240 women came on Friday night and Saturday for this conference, the first we have held. Gloria Gaither was the speaker, and her daughter Amy Gaither Hayes did the music. All in all, it amounted to me (the Youth Director) working 18 hours helping this women’s event.
There are times when you will be asked to help the church with a non-youth event. Whether it is the business side (budgeting and committee meetings), Sunday mornings (worship leader or the occassional preaching), or other areas of ministry (adult events or church-wide outreaches), you will be asked to help. Although not as fun as pegging students in dodgeball, these additional roles can be beneficial to your student ministry.
Here are 3 reasons to help with a non-youth ministry event:
- Meet new people. At times, we can be so absorbed in our ministry that we fail to branch out and meet new people. Events serve as a church mixer, giving you a chance to meet people either new to the church or those not involved in the youth ministry. These people could be future volunteers or supporters for your program.
- Generate excitement for your program. As seen above, your involvement in these programs introduces you to new people. If you get a chance to talk about your ministry, go for it. In the past year, I have received so much encouragement from little old ladies who, aside from me talking to them, have no connections to the youth program.
- Keeping a servant’s heart. Remember, you and your ministry are just one part of the church. Supporting and helping other ministries, especially those that may not have as many volunteers or resources, is important for the greater good of the church.
The youth ministry is not a standalone group outside of the church body; it is a vital piece of the puzzle. Be sure that you are supporting (through time or prayer) the other ministries of your church.
NOTE: A prerequisite for any non-youth event is that it does not conflict or affect your ministry. Spreading yourself too thing and neglecting your own area of ministry is an easy (and too common) pitfall for youth pastors. Remember, you are the youth pastor, not the Youth and Seniors pastor.
In case anyone has been living under a rock the last 2 years, Twitter is a webapp that allows people to communicate using only 140 characters. About the same length as a text message, these “tweets” are instantly sent to everyone following you. It allows you to communicate with a large group of people all at once.
Since signing up almost 2 months ago, Twitter has let me:
- Book meetings
- Ask questions to tons of people
- Communicate
- Talk to my friend next to me (while in class)
- See progress in my job and life
Personally, I think it is a great and easy way to communicate with a ton of people instantly. If you are on Twitter, be sure to follow me @ashorething. While there, make sure you follow @DougFields and help Andy win his bet.
Speak the Right Language
In Philadelphia, there are countless Philly cheesesteak shops on every street corner. However, for anyone that does not live in the area, there are only two: Pat’s and Geno’s. Geno’s has been in the news recently for a sign posted at the window, reading “This is America: WHEN ORDERING ‘PLEASE SPEAK ENGLISH.’” A Philadelphia city panel recently voted that this did not violate any city ordinance, even though it may offend and turn away potential customers. More on the story: Geno’s Signs.
In our ministry, do we ever leave people out because they do not speak our language (”Christian-ese”)? Are your students getting lost in all the “justification”, “sanctification”, or any other “-ification”? Make sure you are talking on the level your students are at. This is especially important in a crowd level event, as most of these students have no church background. I am not saying you “dumb down” your messages. Rather, make sure it is appropriate for your target audience without a translator. Remember, we ultimately want the students to find Christ, but without getting tied up in the language.
Tabernacle Youth Center
Two weeks ago, I posted questions about retreat centers. Over the last year, I have been learning as much as possible about retreat centers because at my ministry, we are in the process of building one. The Ocean City Tabernacle is building the Tabernacle Youth Center. When completed (tentatively July 2008), this 2 story building will include a 3/4 size gym, game room, meeting rooms, and dorm rooms. We will be able to accommodate overnight retreats for youth groups of up to 60 students (maybe more). Just think about it: holding a retreat a new retreat center with full amenities and only 3 blocks from the beach!
I have been working on this project almost nonstop since it was announced to the public last May, and it has been so exciting! It has been great to plan how the building will be used, and being involved in every decision, from colors of carpet and floors to developing a Purpose Statement and guidelines for the building. As I am the Youth Director at the Tabernacle, the booking and use of this building will become my primary responsibility. This Youth Center is every youth worker’s dream, and I am cherishing every moment of it!
We have set up a picture timeline of the project online: Youth Center Construction.
Here is a photo from last month (the outside has been stuccoed since):
