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.

Proud moment

My son and niece leading worship during last weeks Jr. High Service. So amazed at what God is doing in our Jr. High ministry and in these two.

Students Stories

In early in 2010 I was teaching a series of studies on Job; his suffering and faithfulness. The week after we finished the class I walked into the room and posed only one question to the students, “If you could complain to God about anything what would it be?” I had them take their time and be real and raw, that God could handle their complaints. There was complete silence for literally five or so minutes. Just when I thought no one was going to speak a young girl asked, “Why does God allow bad things to happen to innocent people?” Another young girl asked why God doesn’t heal all the time. It became a domino effect. One after another began to express deep theological questions they had. Time quickly flew by and class was over. I could tell by the faces in the room some students still had stuff they wanted to share so I explained I would be hanging around if anyone wanted to talk. After I dismissed I began putting the chairs away and noticed a young lady standing at the door and behind her was a line of students. One by one I sat with them as they shared stories of hurts they had or were dealing with. I thought for a moment, “What can of worms did you open?”  Little did I know that class sparked something in the hearts of the students bigger than I expected.

A week later I was approached by a few students who wanted to do something about all the “stuff” their peers were dealing with. They came up with the idea for an event where they would share their stories through small drama skits and then with personal testimonies encouraging their peers they weren’t alone and there was hope. I agreed but, I gave one condition. The event would be run completely by students; leaders would help organize but not take the stage. What began as one simple question turned into our yearly “Un” event. The name comes from the title of our first event, Unalone. During these events students share stories of struggles with alcohol, drug addiction, broken homes, molestation and pornography addiction. It’s very real and raw but it’s not all somber. Student share how, through their struggle, they were able to find hope, forgiveness and restoration in Jesus Christ. My proudest moments as a youth pastor have been watching students pull back the curtain of their lives and reveal how they were able to get through their personal pain with their personal savior.

 

 

Pros & Cons of having your teen in youth ministry

I have two boys, 12 & 8, and one daughter who is 4 and all of them are growing up in youth ministry. What I mean is every one of them was born while I was the youth pastor. Over the years, week in and week out, my kids hang out with and are cared for by the teens in our ministry. They tag along on trips and outings and during one sleep over my oldest son outlasted everyone staying up all night. He jokingly said to me after looking around and seeing everyone else asleep, “Dad, they can’t hang.” Then last year an interesting thing happened, my oldest son entered Jr. High and officially became part of the youth ministry. He went from just tagging along to belonging. While I’m sure it was an adjustment for him I soon realized I now found myself in a somewhat of an awkward position. I mean I knew the day would come but, before I knew it, it was already here. After experiencing a full year with my son in youth ministry I found a few pros and cons. Here is a few from a list I complied:

Pros: in no particular order

·         You get an insider’s perspective on how things are working: I sometimes ask my son to critique my messages or the whole service. Teens are brutally honest these days.

·         You stay up to date on pop culture: Being more than a few years removed from my teens, my son keeps me up to date on lingo, style and trends. It’s not like I have to ask him…I just have to listen and watch.

·         You have an additional tool for evaluating volunteers: I like to ask my son how his bible study went and how the teacher did. Students are very observant and can tell if you’re prepared, nervous or confident. It can be like blood in the water for a shark.

·         You have someone to keep you honest: Am I living what I just preached or taught. He will be watching and it will impact him.

Cons: in no particular order

·         You have to pay for event registrations

·         You lose someone to tell funny or embarrassing stories about

·         You have to actually be sick when you want to play hooky

·         They get to tell all funny or embarrassing stories about you

·         Making clear the line between youth pastor and father
·         Teenage girls: nuff said!
·         Parents of teenage girls

·         Did I mention girls?!

 

Bi-vocational Youth Pastor

Yes, I am a bi-vocational youth worker. It almost sounds like a disease or something. I have not listed my secular job for a variety of reason, but I'll leave that to another time. My focus here is on youth ministry stuff.
A few years back my wife and I had the opportunity to attend the Simply Youth Ministry Conference conference.youthministry.com in Chicago. During a dinner there I had the privilege to talk with a youth pastor who'd been in full time ministry for twenty plus years. I congratulated him and was honestly impressed with his sticking in for that long because most youth workers end up "graduating" on to senior pastor positions. For an hour or so I pryed and picked at his vast experience and wisdom and he was more than happy to obliged me. But the one thing I took away from that conversation was how it ended. I remember telling him how truly impressed I was and I honestly saw him as sort of a YM hero. When he realized I wasn't in full time ministry he looked me in the eye and put his hand on my shoulder and said, "No Nathan, your my hero. You do what I do and than some." Needless to say I walked away from that dinner encouraged. I know all to well the ups and downs of splitting your heart and time between youth ministry, family and work. It's rough. You never feel there is enough time for either. I will admit that in the past it put a strain on my marriage and almost cost me a nervous break down. I remember going to bed wondering if I had spent more time with the students then maybe their spiritual lives would be better. To magnify matters my job requires me to change my schedule every 6 moths to a year. Working nights and planning sermons and family time on only a few hours of sleep can kill a person. I have wanted to quit many times; both my job and the ministry. I knew the importance of prioritizing equal time to both, but the thought in the back of my head was always saying "if you only had more time." It took a lot of praying and searching God for me to finally come to a place where I am okay with the position I am in. Having a great supporting wife who is always praying doesn't hurt either. If you are a bi-vocational youth worker or minister I have one thing to tell you. You are my heroes!!! I know its hard sometime and your heart wishes it could give more. Hang in there and just keep giving what you can give. God knows and he completely understands.
I'd like to leave you with a passage from Exodus chapter 4. Moses had been called by God to lead the exodus of the Hebrews and he's now giving God all kinds of excuses. God asks him a simply question in verse 2. "Then the Lord said to him, "What is in your hand?"
So let me ask this same question to you. What is in your hand? What kind of time or you dealing with? God knows what we have to offer. Whatever you are working with, if you are a bi-vocational minister, just give your best. God knows what He's doing and He's never been wrong before. To all my hero's out there keep on doing what you do because there is a generation of young people who need someone with the heart you have to lead them to a relationship with Christ.

Joys (Horror) of Event Planning

Here's a shot of the youth I work with. This is from 2012 Acquire the Fire event  acquirethefire.com Just in case you're wondering I'm the one on the far left holding a student, and yes I almost dropped him. ATF is a conference I highly recommend. This year we have the privilege to be the host church at the San Diego event that takes place in March. There's a whole bunch of stuff we have to get in order and I'll be blogging about the wondrous joys of helping to host an event for 3,000 students. Yes, that was a little sarcasm, but I really am stoked we are a part of it. If you are a part of a planning team or in charge of events for your ministry/job I'd like to know. What are some of the things you dread? What do you enjoy about it? Have a horror story or awesome testimony, I'd love to hear about it.

The beginging

Hello everyone. So here is my first venture into blogging. This actually started out as an assignment for school but, after asking myself and my wife (got to give her some credit here) what I should blog about the most natural thing was youth ministry stuff. Now, I've been following some pretty awesome youth minstry blogs that have been a huge help for me, mostly because I've come to realize that I'm no where near as bad a youth pastor as I thought I was...haha. But what I'll be attempting to do here is blog about what happens between events, the everyday stuff that nobody tells you you're going to deal with when you get involved in youth ministry. Not that it's all bad or that this will be my soap box to complain because you see what happens between services is really what youth ministry is about. The 2am calls from students or parents and last minute audibles I have to call when one my kids throws up on me on the way to service - life changing stuff like that. After nearly 15 years in youth ministry I might be a little late to the party but, I've got some great stuff to share.