Passing the Baton

          Recently I came across some old youth ministry photos and began thinking of how different things were when I first started. YM world is a busy, fast paced, techno savvy nonstop, ever changing world. It’s gone from chubby bunny to YouTube craze videos. From youth pastors leading worship to full on Jr. high and high school worship teams; from simple bible studies like the four holy hops to salvation to raw discipleship and the struggling theological questions of young teens. I have been a youth leader/pastor for 15 years and have observed a lot of changes, but one constant in all those years has been me. I have had volunteers and leaders come and go, some on to other ministries and others moved on for personal reasons. Looking at those old photos brought back to memory something I was told when I first began in ministry, “Someone was here before you and someone will be here after you.” I know I won’t be here forever, even though I’d love to. I know it’s not my time to leave yet but, there may come a time when God removes this burden from my heart and until then I will continue to serve with all I have, and if there is one thing I know is that I’m just hitting my stride in youth ministry and really beginning to get it. But, when that day does come, will I have someone to pass the baton to? What about you? Have you considered that question? As leaders we need to do more than just hope to have someone to fill our shoes, we have to intentionally do it.

Moses & Joshua

                Even though Moses had some faults and made mistakes one of the best things he did for the people was pass the baton on to Joshua. Joshua on the other hand was a different story.  For all the great things he did for Gods people, one of the worst things he did was not have anyone to pass the baton to. For all the planning and scheduling we do, we often neglect the simple truth that someone was here before us and someone will be after us. How well we are prepared for that transition can have an amazing impact on the forward momentum of the ministry. Here’s some thought’s I have considered on this.

·         The decision for your replacement should not be delegated solely to boards and hiring committees.

I don’t think so. This may be the practice in some places but, no one has a better understanding of the direction of the ministry than the person at the wheel. Even if you are not part of the hiring decision you can have great influence if you identify and disciple your own Joshua. We should always be multiplying ourselves and being able to give those making the decision a name they will be familiar with is a bonus.

·         Preparing someone to pass the baton to will keep momentum moving.

Having someone in place to step in will keep momentum moving in the ministry. Your Joshua will know the ins and outs and the direction the ministry is headed in. Obviously they would eventually have to make their own mark in the ministry, but familiarity can go a long way in a smooth transition. Furthermore this will help with the student’s transition. Seeing a familiar face will help the new lead person to ease into the driver’s seat without the awkward introductions.

·         Who in your ministry is ready to take on more?

Youth ministry is already messy, so don’t let the fear of other’s failure hold you back from delegating some responsibilities to others. Even students can take on part time roles in helping around the ministry. Seeing how they respond and take ownership is a great way to gauge who could be a possible candidate for your replacement. Even if they don’t replace you, there is always room for good youth workers in the lives of students.

·         Be available

I stepped into the lead position of youth ministry during a difficult time in our church, and to top it off I had no one to really guide me. Needless to say I made a lot of mistakes and learned how NOT to do youth ministry. In the event you do move on, you should make yourself available to whoever replaces you. Be it your Joshua or the choice of the board, it’s a great opportunity for a new youth leader/pastor to glean invaluable insight from your years of service. You’ll always be a youth worker at heart and making sure students are in the right hands will be of great benefit to your own soul. Your familiarity with the families, leadership, and community will help support the new leader making sure he has a tight grip on that baton.

 

 

Peer Ministry

                This last week I got to experience two separate events that involved students ministering to their peers. Though it’s not a new phenomenon, it is not as regular as it should be, at least in some of the youth ministry circles I know of. But one thing that time and time again has been proven is that a student’s story always seems to  have more impact than an adult’s story. Maybe it’s because they can see themselves in the situation, or because it’s shared in a messy way and not as articulate as we youth workers might make it. Whatever the case, when it comes to giving a testimony, peer ministry seems to have a deeper soul impact than when an adult does it.
             
                The first experience occurred during a prayer/worship night involving multiple youth groups. A youth worker friend of mine hosts these events about 4 times a year. The event involves youth from different churches taking part in almost every stage of the service. Multiple worship bands, students lead prayers, dramas and solos all make up the event. Two 15 to 20 minute reflections are brought by youth leaders, but for the most part it’s all student led.

                One of the obvious things that stand out is the fact that students seem to take ownership of these events even though they are not from the host church. By giving them the opportunity to minister to their peers, you can tell they are invested into the event. Not all the bands play flawless and not all the prayers spoken smoothly. There are moments of awkward silence and looking around to see whose next, but that is to be expected when you let students be a part of the service. Students don’t think about every tiny detail like we do, because they are preoccupied with their part. They don’t worry about the transition from band to speaker being flawless; they most likely just want to make sure they sing the right song. Whatever the case when you allow youth ministry to be about youth ministering, it’s going to be a little messy. But that’s okay because in reality we know that none of us have ever pulled off a flawless event. What the students got out of this was an opportunity to share their gifts and talents and be used by God to minister to their peers. Maybe they even encouraged other teens to step up and begin using their talents as well.

  
                The second experience was at a lunch time Christian club our youth ministry sponsors at a local high school. One of the things we do is provide food for students and occasionally bring a short message. With the school year coming to an end and testing and other things taking place the lunch times had been changing almost weekly. Well, on this particular day I was running late because of another change in the lunch time and I had to navigate through hundreds of hungry high school students while carrying four boxes of pizza. I almost didn’t make it alive. When I finally did arrive to the classroom one of the students was up front sharing. I set the pizzas down and listened to this high school student creatively weave a message about a tree growing out of the concrete on a sidewalk, King David and his own personal testimony. He shared how they all grew up in environments that weren’t really ideal to their growth, but preserving and trust in God got them through, just like the tree.  It was an amazingly powerful message and I’m not ashamed to say that I quickly pulled out my phone and took notes.
 
                Allowing students opportunities to share or minister to their peers may not be as flashy or smooth as we might be used to, but one thing I can testify to is that it is extremely effective. Look for ways to get youth to minster in your youth ministry. After all it is called “youth ministry”.

I’d like to hear some ways or suggestions you have in allowing youth to minister to their peers.

               

Summer Time Changes & Events

 Summer time for youth ministry means different things. I know of some youth workers who ramp up their activities and take advantage of the free time students have while others slow things dow allowing students and themselves a well needed rest. Whatever the case, summer time is a change of pace. But, to be honest with you all I am horrible at planning our summer calendar. It always seems to sneak up on me, but one of the positives is that we have set up some summertime traditions. Students look forward to these activities every year and they are the pillars to which we plan other activities for the summer. I know we try to shoot for three big events and then everything else is planned around those. So if you’re as bad a planner as I am, first get some help; then put in place some solid fun activities students will be looking forward to and make them traditions. Here’s some suggestions;

·         I know most everyone does a summer camp but, what else can you do. If possible try to shoot for one big activity a month (June, July August)

·         Depending on where you live some activities can be virtually free. We are in San Diego so loading up the cars and spending a day at the beach with a bon-fire at night is great. All that’s needed is a dedicated volunteer to get there early and save our spot.  What resources can you utilize in your area to make it cost effective? Some things to consider

o    Who has a house with a pool you could use?

o    Guys/Girls night out or sleepovers

o    Backyard camping: Who’s got camping gear you could borrow?

·         Team up with other youth groups. I know this has been said by other youth workers before but it doesn’t hurt to repeat it. Not only is it a great way for your students to fellowship with peers but it can be cost effective for big events. I know of two youth groups who do a theme park trip together. They get the tickets at a great discount and then rent a charter bus to take everyone. On their own they wouldn’t be able to afford it, but combining their groups allows them to. The plus is the leaders don’t have to drive after a long day of walking in the sun and it’s a great selling point for parents as well.

·         Get your church involved. In our area, Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer and Labor Day in the unofficial end of summer. On those days our entire church takes over a park and we spend the whole day cooking out, playing sports and lounging around. Families hang out and it’s just a great time that everyone looks forward to. The plus is there’s virtually no planning on my part except announcing it to our students.

·         Age specific activities. Our group is under a hundred, that’s including middle, high school and college. All of our age groups have good interaction and we normally do our summer activities together, but this year we are tinkering with doing some age specific activities. I’ll keep you posted on the outcome of these.

Here’s are some of the event we’ve done

May
·         Memorial Day Picnic: All-day picnic with the church
June
·         Beach Days: All day at beach w/ bon-fire at night. (optional devotional or service)
July
·         Noodles & Doodles Fundraiser: Our biggest fundraiser event. Students create original artwork based off bible themes and verses. The artwork is then auctioned off at a pasta dinner or lunch. We charge $5-$10 a plate and the auction is either silent or live. This year we’ll be doing a live auction.

·         Fast Food Tuesdays: We meet at a local fast food place for a couple hours and hang out for relational time. Sometimes we’ll change the location weekly or monthly.

August

·         Summer Camp: Combined youth camp with churches from our denomination
·         Magic Mountain Trip: This is our final summer youth event
September
·         Labor Day Picnic: All-day picnic with the church

 

 

KingChavez Campus Club Update.

Update on our campus club at King Chavez Academy of Excellence. We began a second after school club consisting of 2nd -5th graders last week. This was in response to the siblings of our 6-8 grade students waiting in the after school programs until our club finished. In the last two weeks we have had close to 30 2nd-5th graders show up pushing the total of students attending both clubs to around 70!!! All this since we started this past February. God has definitely been with us granting us favor within the school and with students. Its amazing what a group of committed, caring adults can do. It doesn't hurt that we bring pizza too, making for a lot of left over empty pizza boxes.

Please keep us n prayer and if you are interested in starting a campus club or would like more info, hit me up.
-NG

Project 25

Over the last two plus years I have had the privileged to partner with Urban Youth Collaborative (UYC), a ministry committed to connecting churches to every middle and high school in San Diego.  To date over, 50 churches, sponsor and support about 75 lunch time and after school bible clubs. One of the highlights of the year is Project 25. It’s a huge service project based off the parable of the talents in Matthew 25. UYC hands out a hundred dollar bill to 50 clubs. Each club must read the parable and then come up with a way to invest the money into a service project. Students then make and submit a 90 second video documenting their project. On May 24 of this year UYC will host the Project 25 Award Ceremony at the Rock Church. It will be a red carpet affair with; photo ops, celebrities, free food. Awards go to 1^st, 2^nd & 3^rd place as well as to the school who’s represented by the most students and the most viewed video.

More than anything, the greatest part of Project 25 is the thousands of students all over San Diego campuses doing things for the kingsdom.

 

If you are in the San Diego area and are interested in campus ministry please conact Urban Youth Collaborative for more info.

Book Review: Firing Jesus by Greg Stier

I just finished the book, Firing Jesus by Grieg Stier. Actually I just finished my second read of the book. Not because I didn’t get it the first time, but because it was so good. It’s a fiction story about a ruse to fire a youth pastor (who is in more ways than one like Jesus). The whole premise is what would actually happen if Jesus was the youth pastor in your church. It’s a short but compelling read and without giving too much of it away here are a few points I drew from it personally.

1.       What is the heart of the youth ministry I am leading?

2.       Is my focus on reaching the lost or attracting the lost?

3.       How is my relationship with the elders/pastor?

4.       Have I fallen into the rut of routine youth ministry?

5.       Is “my” way of doing ministry getting in God’s way?

Greg weaves a story that puts you in the middle of a heated meeting discussing the actions of a youth pastor who rocks the boat without actually breaking the rules, at least God’s rules. After reading it for the second time I made it required reading for my leaders.

Suggestion for Students

The book is a great tool for students too, as it has student reaction (positive/negative) to the youth pastor’s ministry philosophy. I was blessed to actually get 6 copies of the book from Greg Stier and I came up with a two part plan to get our students to read and discuss it with one another.

1.       Pass out the copies to six students and give them one week to read it.

2.       Once done they had to find a student who had not read it and give it to them with the same instructions.

It has become the talk in the ministry and I’ve overheard students share how angry they were becoming with some of the characters.  Other students have shared with me how God has given them a greater burden for reaching the lost and how they are going about it.

Overall it is a book that should be in the hands of every pastor, youth pastor and student. Do whatever you can to get a copy.

It's Worth It!!!

Recently I was doing some research on the relationships between youth and their youth leaders/pastors. After exploring the relationship I had with my previous youth pastors I decided to send out a little questionnaire to some current and former students. The responses I got back gave me a wider perspective on the impact I have and am having. Here are a few interesting observations

·         My oldest students were the first ones to respond. (from 15 years ago) This could be associated with their maturity or the fact that they are removed from the ministry and feel more comfortable sharing than those currently attending

·         Students were deeply impact by the examples of the adults. Both negatively and positively, students identified specific examples and experiences adults (non-youth workers) had on their Christian faith and their decision to continue it.

·         They didn’t mind I wasn’t perfect. They were very forgiving and it appears my being consistent proved more important than perfection.

·         Their biggest desire was relationship.

o   From leaders: This is an area I wish I could say was my positive, but it’s not. Even though I understand it’s impossible to spend significant time with every student, it was something they desired more of. Many of these were from students who were attending before I figured out I needed to develop leaders.

o   From peers: There was a consistent mention of how spending time with other students encouraged them to continue their walk with Christ.

 This small survey of current and former students gave me a glimpse into the impact I was having. After 15 years in ministry you can begin to wonder if it’s all worth it. I can tell you that it very much is. We are having an impact in areas we don’t even notice. As one example a student mentioned in an interaction I had with him that I didn’t remember. He said during one service he was being obnoxious and goofing around. He said I looked at him a few times but continued teaching. After the service he said he felt so bad because he was expecting that at any moment I was going to ask him to leave but I never did. He said he went home and prayed and asked God to forgive him and that night left an impression of the grace I had towards him.

In response to some of these questions I have begun to focus more on how I interact with students and I’ve also taken the opportunity to catch up with some former students. Win-win!!!

I'm Back!!!

Been away for a while due to school and work but I'm back and I've got a bunch of post ready for you. So if you haven't stopped following me, thank you. And if you have, well I hope you come back.
-NG

Campus Ministry Update

It’s been a couple of weeks since we began meeting weekly at a local middle school, King-Chavez Academy of Excellence, for an after school character club and things have been going great. The momentum has begun and students are showing up and we are packing out the library we are using as our meeting space. One of the teachers has also volunteered to help and committed to keeping the club covered in prayer. On an interesting note, we have been given permission to have students serve their detention time with us. If that isn't awesome enough, just this past Tuesday we were granted access to Grossmont high school and we will now be a weekly presence there supporting, coaching, teaching and encouraging students during their lunch time Bible club. The club was started about a year ago and the students are passionate about God and desire to impact their campus. We briefly discussed some of the ideas they have come up with and we look forward to returning next week and seeing what God has in store.

                All of this has come two years after God put in my heart to begin ministering on campuses. There have been times I wondered if I heard God correctly and wondered why it was taking so long, but when it’s in God’s timing He opens the door and we can walk in with His favor and authority. It’s been an amazing process and after 15 years in youth ministry He is still teaching me. Here’s a few thing I’ve learned in all this.

·         Patience: God teaches patience by making us be patient. If He has spoken to you or promised you something you can be sure He will see it through. He doesn’t make mistakes and two words you will never hear God say is “uh oh”.

·         Preparation: Ephesians 4:1-4 is one of my favorite passages of scripture. Here Paul encourages us to “live worthy of the calling you have received.” What that means is even though you may not be in the position or location God has called you to, you should be doing everything possible to prepare yourself for the day God opens that door. During the two years we were waiting we prepared by encouraging students to support their bible clubs and look for opportunities to serve on campus. They know what we are doing on campuses in our area and are supporting and serving.

·         Trust: I had to learn to leave it in God’s hands until it was time when he placed it in mine to be the steward of it. It’s a hard thing to do and many times I was tempted to give up, but seeing God move in the administration staff of both campuses and how they literally opened the doors and welcomed us in was amazing.

·         His sovereignty: God is the one in ultimate control of the situation and sometimes we don’t realize that until after and we look back and begin to see how His hand and presence was there the whole time. Understanding the sovereignty of God brings confidence in knowing He is ultimately in control even when the situation seems hopeless. One of His greatest promises is that He will always be with us and never forget about us.

Building the Kingdom or Empires

“Are we building the Kingdom or our own empire?” This is a question I have learned to ask myself and my team to help evaluate where our motives are in ministry. One of my personal fears is being that guy standing before the Lord and claiming to have done many things in His name and yet being rejected. The temptation to build one’s own empire in ministry in the “name of the Lord” can be great. Whether it’s trying to keep up with the ministry down the street or keeping the Board happy, sometimes our success is measured in attendance rosters and relevance rather than the spiritual growth of students, whom we only have for a few years. The demand for return can often switch our focus from building the Kingdom of God to building our own ministry empire. From the outside they may appear the same, growth in attendance and activities, but from the inside it can all be in vain. Here is a check list I created for myself and my team. Feel free to add or change any and apply it to your specific situation.

Are we building the Kingdom?

·         Are we keeping the big picture in perspective?

·         Are we being inclusive or exclusive?

·         Are we maintaining a humble or prideful attitude?

·         Are we teachable or arrogant?

·         Are we searching for opportunities to build or boast?

·         Are we encouraging or discouraging others to grow?

·         Are we preparing to pass the baton or holding on to it?

 

 

Thrive Girlz Fundraising

In an earlier post (Joys of event planning) I wrote about us being the host church for this year’s San Diego Acquire the Fire event to be held in March. Part of our responsibilities will be serving roughly 600 meals over that weekend to staff and VIP’s. Yesterday the girls in our group sold cupcakes, cookies, brownies and other tasty treats to sell in order to raise funds. They literally baked hundreds of sweets. These young ladies have an amazing talent and I’m proud of the work they have done and what will come out of their efforts. All of their creations were a hit.







Thrive Girlz

Teaming Up: Partnering with other Youth Ministries

In the past I was asked to be a part of a group of youth pastors, from the same denomination, who were to represent their churches and help plan a couple of youth events where students could fellowship with one another. It never happened. The goal was to have 3 to 4 gatherings a year, but after the first two it became apparent some were only interested in personal agendas. That experience left me frustrated and a little hurt. Even today to see those repeating the same mistake hurts me because the ones affected the most are the students. Instead of defining my outlook on fellowshipping with other churches that experience forced me to be wise when taking the opportunity into consideration. Here are some of my thoughts on the subject.

·        Its Fellowship not Marriage: Unless it’s part of your job description to fellowship with other churches remember it’s a voluntary thing. We all have calendars and events and it may not be beneficial to fellowship during certain times of the year. The purpose of fellowshipping with other Youth ministries should be student and leader fellowship not mandated programming.

·       Find like-minded youth pastors/workers: They may not necessarily be from your denomination, but who cares. Find those who have similar visions. Last year I received a call from a youth pastor whose church is in close proximity to ours. He was inviting our worship team and I to participate in a late night event they were having. At first I was a little bit hesitant because of the bad experiences I mentioned but, after talking on the phone with him for a while I could hear where his heart was and the vision he had for this event. Needless to say we had an amazing time and after speaking with the youth pastor and listening to him share his heart I was greatly humbled.

·       Combine and Conquer: This is especially advantageous for smaller groups. You can lower the cost of events when you team up with other youth ministries. Not only can it be cost effective, but teaming up for camps, conventions or other trips can be a great opportunity for students to fellowship with one another.

·       Be Picky: Students deserve it. As their leader it’s my responsibility to expose them to things that will benefit them spiritually and not discourage them. Teaming up with unorganized events or leadership can have a negative influence on students and our ministries reputation.

Empowering Students

Over the last couple of Sundays I have been paying attention to some of the other ministries in our church and seeing how students are ingrained and contributing. They are involved in praise and worship, multimedia and sound, children’s ministry and more. I get a sense of pride when I see them ministering knowing I had a hand in their development. I am also very proud of the fact that our church leadership is very open to the integration of youth into ministry. I see it as a vital role in the development of our ministries and future of our church. Here are some observations and suggestions I have.

It’s Youth Ministry not the Youth Pastors Ministry

Because it’s youth ministry the youth should be ministering. We believe in putting our students to work and giving them the opportunity to get involved in ministries within the church and outside its walls. When I first started I worked with the belief that our leadership team and I had to do everything. But once we began letting go of the reigns a little and allowed students to take more ownership of their ministry it just snowballed. It took some time but students have taken full ownership of the youth ministry and they participate in all aspects of our service from opening to closing. This also created a sort of cascading effect. Our young adults or college students reach down to our high school students. Our High school students reach down to the middle school students. We are currently talking about ways for middle school to reach down to the elementary students. The point of youth ministry should be preparing youth to minister.

Give them the Opportunity to Succeed and Fail

This is a tough one for me. By nature I am controlling and like things done a certain way. Handing over responsibilities to even mature students left me in cold sweats sometimes. But what I learned is some students thrive on the opportunities and rise to the occasions when tasked with a responsibility. They may not have always met my expectations but seeing the faith and maturity of a student grow before my eyes is rewarding as a youth pastor. Even when they fail it creates an awesome opportunity for coaching and mentoring. Once you start to delegate responsibilities to students you become aware of other opportunities for them. Then you begin to wonder, “Why didn’t I think of this before?” Just think about this for a moment. Students are taking on huge projects and assignments at school all the time and they understand responsibilities and deadlines. Granted they might not be good at keeping deadlines, but you’ll never know unless you try. And who knows, in all of this you might just be preparing your successor.

Put ‘em to Work

Currently students in our ministry lead worship, operate audio and media, open services, give announcements and occasionally share testimonies during services. We also integrate students into ministry during our main church services. You will always see youth on stage singing or playing with the praise and worship team and many of our older students teach Sunday school classes or assist teachers. Others set up and break down tables and chairs for our welcome areas. As you begin to examine everything it takes to run a church ministry you will find opportunities to put students to work. They have the time, energy and when it comes to things like technology they usually have the upper hand. Besides some of the obvious ministry opportunities I listed here’s a quick list of some responsibilities I give students…even when they don’t realize what I’m doing.

·         When a student has an idea for an outing or fundraiser, instead of them verbally telling their suggestion to me I have them write down all the information on paper. This makes them think through what it would take to pull it off. I’ll then use that student to help spearhead the project.

·         Text a student and have them forward it out to the others. Getting an encouraging text or invite from a peer can sometimes have more impact.

·         Have them hold the keys to the rental/church van during a trip. Nobody wants to be the reason everyone is stranded.

·         Have students help you plan your message or service. Give them the title and theme and have them find illustrations, testimonies or design a stage set. I currently do this with our youth worship team. I give them the title and theme of my message and I allow them to come up with the song list.

·       Include random students when planning events. Get their feedback and ideas. These students will usually be the ones encouraging others to attend.

Program Philosophies

The Questions

Last month I had the opportunity to speak with two visiting families. During our conversation they asked why we didn’t have a youth service on Sundays. They were sincere in their question and listened attentively as I explained the philosophy and the progression of how students move through the ministry. Both families were looking for a home church and both only had experiences with youth ministries that conducted their services on Sundays while their parents were in “big church”. Before I move on I want to state that I have nothing against churches or youth ministries who conduct their services simultaneously. There are so many variables that go into creating a philosophy for ministry. Collectively our main objectives are found in Matthew 28; to share the gospel, disciple and teach but, how we go about doing that varies from church to church. Understanding that we are all on the same team with the same goal we must root one another on in our success and lift one another up in failure. With that being said these conversations got me thinking. It was one thing that I knew and understood the philosophy of our youth ministry, but was it clear to students and parents.

Our Philosophy

It took a while for me as a youth pastor to find the right fit for our ministry. Like I said before, our main objective is still to share the gospel with teens but, what it looks like in our ministry may be different than the one down the street. Unlike the majority of youth programs, youth services never really worked for us. I mean we put some great creative planning into our services and tried multiple things but, it just did seem to work. What was working though was our home bible studies. We were packing houses like nobody’s business. I often thought, “How could I transfer this attendance to our weekly services?” We tried everything but no matter how hard we tried nothing seemed to work. So after a lot of praying and struggling we decided to scale back our youth services to a once a month combined service of Jr. High, High School & Young Adults. During the week we have home Bible studies for High School & Young Adults. The Jr. High Bible study is done during our churches mid- week program. This seems to work out best because of most HS & YA students either drive or have friends that do. Jr. Highers on the other hand depend mainly on parents. This set up works extremely well for us.

 

 One of the main reason we don’t have youth service on Sundays is because we, as a church, focus on families worshiping together corporately. This has been ingrained in our ministry for so long it’s very natural. It also allows our high school worship team and soon to be Jr. high worship team to be integrated into the Sunday service program.

The Idea

Because of those conversations I have been making it a focus this year to get this information out to our members, parents and students. I want them to fully understand the whys of how we do youth ministry in our church. Some of the ways I’ve started doing this is by:

·         Using it as a teaching topic

·         Sharing it during youth and department head leadership meetings

·         Creating an info flyer for parents

·         Social Media updates on our Facebook page

Suggestions

Remember youth ministry philosophies will differ from church to church. Some variables may include things like; pastoral recommendations, specific job descriptions, geography, staffing and available space. Here are some things I would suggest you take in to consideration when planning or considering changing your ministries philosophy.

·         Resources: Rides, space, volunteers and other resources can affect your ministries philosophy.  But don’t let the lack of anything get to you. Just because you don’t have it now doesn’t mean you won’t have it later. If you have a specific program in mind that you feel is vital to your ministries philosophy, make time to write out a goal setting plan to obtain those resources.

·         Don’t Force It: Don’t try to force a program because you think you need to have it. If it’s not working or students aren’t responding take a step back and see if there’s anything you can adjust on your part. If things just don’t seem to be clicking don’t be afraid to scrap it or make a change. Forcing a program that doesn’t work will only cause frustration.

·         Focus on What Is Working: If a program is working do what you can to praise and reinforce it. Let your students and volunteers know why that program is part of and how it fulfills the philosophy of your ministry.

·         Adjust and Tweak as Needed: (See post: Tapatio & The Bible) Don’t be afraid to make adjustments to programs that have strayed of course or are no longer working. Just be sure these changes are thought through and planned well. Be careful because, too many changes can create confusion and backfire.

·         Ask, Ask, Ask: The youth ministry nation is filled with seasoned veterans who have years of experience and wise counsel you can draw from. Don’t be afraid to ask.

·         Share It: Share it with your students, parents, pastors and leaders. Do you best to make sure everyone knows why you do the things you do in youth ministry. It would have been great if those families that came to visit our church would have had the opportunity to know upon arriving about our ministry. I’m glad they asked and I was available, but what if I had been in a meeting or out of town. So this last point I’m putting into practice as I write this.

 

Tapatio and the Bible

For those of you non-Hispanics who might not know, Tapatio is a hot sauce and we Hispanics love to put hot sauce on everything. Once I even witnessed a mom add hot sauce to her baby’s bottle…okay I’m exaggerating just a little but, it was an experience I had with Tapatio that caused me to alter the way I did youth ministry. And just in case you’re wondering it was not because I got sued for playing a crazy game during service…although it has crossed my mind.

Growing up, my brother and I were very plain eaters. No mayonnaise, mustard, onions, pickles, or condiments of any kind. The only thing allowed to touch our food was ketchup. Unlike my brother though, whose staple continues to be pizza with no sauce, baked chicken breast and French fries, I dared to venture out into different culinary experiences. One thing that was off limits though was hot sauce. I think mainly because, as a kid, my dad used to make me eat jalapenos whenever I cussed. It was a fitting discipline. After getting married my wife introduced me to various types of foods I had never tasted. Most I liked and some…well…not so much, specifically a certain type of enchilada, but we’ll save that for another time. The most important thing to her was that I at least tried it. So one day as we were watching a movie and eating popcorn, unbeknownst to me, my wife sprinkled a few dashes of Tapatio on the popcorn. I reached in and grabbed a hand full and what happened next can only be described as a sort of Pentecostal religious experience. My eyes were open to the wondrous glory of Tapatio and buttery popcorn. I think I even rolled around on the floor. I couldn’t stop eating it. God bless my wonderful wife!!! I remember suggesting to her all the things I could put it on and she would just give me a sympathetic smile. But it all came down to what my wife would say. “How can you not like something if you never try it?” To this day I put hot sauce on my food because I once tried it on popcorn.

So how does this relate to the Bible? Well as almost every youth worker that I have spoken to has gone through that stage of trying to stay relevant and sometimes placing more importance on events and curriculum than actually ministering to students. Well I had hit that stage. I was wondering why the youth ministry was feeling shallow and the students didn’t seem to have a hunger for the Word of God. Now don’t get me wrong, we had plenty of students attending and they had a hunger, but it was more for worship experiences and activities than actual bible reading. As I was pondering this and asking God if I needed to attend better seminars a funny thing happened. He brought back that moment I first had Tapatio and I remember feeling the Holy Spirit saying, “They need to taste the Word in order to have a hunger for it.”  BAM!!! It blew my mind.

The Changes

After praying, searching scripture and seeking some counsel my team and I made some changes to our programs. It wasn’t a major reconstruction, more of realignment. Now please understand we have always taught from the Bible. What we did was re-shift our focus to the Bible and not so much on the hype of youth ministry. Trust me; I was just as skeptical as you. Once the realignment was made we saw a huge jump not just in student’s desire for the Word but, in their maturity and desire to evangelize to their peers. What we did was nothing new. Its basis is biblical and that’s why it worked. To give you a better picture of what we did here is our schedule before and after.

Before:

·         Mid-week Jr. High & High school bible studies @ church

·         One combined youth service a month

·         Sunday youth discipleship class

Changes:

·         Mid-week bible studies were canceled and we replaced them with our Jr. High service: Midweeks are devoted solely to Jr. Highers and this allowed our High schoolers and young adults to volunteer in the ministry.

·         High school bible study (Biggest Change) was moved to Fridays and location changed to homes. We also included our young adults in this study. We study one book at a time verse by verse. This has now become our single greatest attended youth program.

·         Sunday discipleship class was canceled. We encouraged our students to attend the adult discipleship class given by our churches awesome discipleship pastors.  They responded in numbers creating the need for them to add an additional class. Youth now make up the largest percentage of students in our churches discipleship class.

Be prepared

As a result of these changes not only were the students studying more but so was I, partly because I was answering more and more questions they had. One sure fire way to measure if your students are reading the bible is in the questions they are asking. The more they are reading the more questions they will ask. This is a great opportunity to spend some one on one time with them while digging into the Word together. So hopefully the next time you see a bottle of Tapatio or any other hot sauce you’ll remember this blog.

So what about you

·         How would you rate your hunger for the Word?

·         How would you rate your student’s hunger for the Word?

·         What are some things you doing to create a hunger for the Word of God in your ministry?

 

Campus Ministry

Knocking on Doors

For years I had a desire in my heart to get involved with campus ministry. I was after all pastoring students in the city I grew up in and who were attending the schools I had attended. I had spoken to a few youth pastors and in their opinion; campus ministry was not worth all the work. I was really surprised that youth pastors, who’s calling it was to reach students, thought it was too much work to go out into what is without a doubt the greatest student mission field. Needless to say it put a damper on my dreams but, the passion in my heart was always there. Then a few years ago while preparing a message sermon I was to speak before our congregation God began speaking to my heart. My message was on following God and daring to believe what He has planned. A conviction began to come over me and I thought, “How can you teach this when you have held back from campus ministry?” I immediately stopped what I was doing and sent an e-mail to the principal of the middle school that I attended and was located about a mile from our church.  Before I knew it a meeting was set up the Friday before I was to give my message. The principal was an amazingly humble man and welcomed any help we could offer. The only problem was the district was going through major cuts and he really didn’t have time. They had just lost one hundred teachers and he was now the principal of the Jr. high and elementary school. His plate was full and his heart was torn. For a year we played e-mail tag but the situation went from bad to worse and ended when the school was eventually shut down. I was frustrated. There were other schools nearby are church but, that middle school had a special place in my heart.

UYC & Nate Landis

During that year I had the privilege to connect with Rev. Nate Landis and Urban Youth Collaborative. An awesome organization that helps churches connects with schools. Crossing all denominational lines Nate’s passion is to see every school in San Diego be connected to a church. He came alongside me to meetings and gave me insight in the world of campus ministry. Constantly believing that God would open up doors he helped keep me positive and focusing on what God had placed in my heart. Even though we were not ministering on a campus Nate invited us to meeting and events giving us a close up look at what campus ministry entailed.

God opens doors
It had been two years since the middle school had closed its’ doors. Little did I know God was about to do something amazing. Where one door had closed God was about to open two. Even though we were still not on a campus we constantly encouraged our students to get involved in their campus bible clubs. Because of my work schedule change I began sending one of my volunteer leaders, Carlos, to the UYC meeting and it so happens that volunteer works at a charter school near downtown. Well God used him to speak to the principal and before we knew it we were in her office on last week and she more than welcomed us on her campus. The first meeting will be February 5^th. We were even invited to speak at the monthly “Coffee with Parent” meetings. Then one of our regular students told us about a need for a regular volunteer in her campuses bible club. Because it is a public school we only needed to be invited by the students. We’ll be visiting that campus next week and work on the details to be a weekly presence there.

What next?

As we prepare for these two campus ministries we are in full expectation that God will provide whatever we need. We know without a doubt it was Him who opened these doors. I am excited for what is to come but I thank God for people like Nate and Carlos whose hearts and time are available to God and students. I will continue to blog about the progress we make in this new area of ministry.

How to get involved in campus ministry

·         Pray, pray and pray some more: It might seem basic but it should be essential to everything you do. Recruit your churches prayer team, students and parents to pray for the schools in your area and for God to open the doors.

·         Be patient: It took us almost three years before the doors opened. I believe every youth ministry should be involved somehow with the schools in their neighborhood. Because of sketchy lawsuits some faculty are hesitant to allow volunteers on campus but, in public school all that needed is for the students to request one.

·         Talk to your students: Ask around and see if there are lunch or after school clubs on their campuses. If not see if they are willing to start one. (see above)

·         Find Help: There are many local and national organizations like Urban Youth Collaborative that you can partner with that have established reputations working with public and charter schools. A simple internet search will help you find one. Do your research and be discerning.

·         Serve: You may not be able to minister to students on campus but there are other ways of building relationships with schools. Most schools work with tight budgets so a team of students and parents who are willing to volunteer in any capacity is attractive to faculty.

If you are involved in campus ministry I’d love to hear what you are doing and what has and hasn’t worked for you.