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.
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.
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