I hope that title caught your attention. Kajabi Kan Kan is a game that we learned at summer camp and has been a hit for almost the life of our church and summer is a great time to play it.
Summer time gives us the chance to really spend more time with students, connect with them and teach them to reach out to their friends. Believe it or not some of our students are bored this summer. Every summer we make the choice to turn it up a bit. Summer provides a great chance for us, as youth leaders, to spend more time with students and get involved in their lives. We have made a choice as a student ministry to go hard and fast every summer.
This summer we are using Doug Field's teaching series called: "When People Meet Jesus". Every week of this series we are asking someone to share their story about meeting Jesus. We are meeting in our building for three weeks and then the fourth week we go to the park with the purpose of making it a day to reach out to our friends. We have a BBQ for the students for free (it cost us like $70 for water and hot dogs) and then someone shares their story. After that we play Kajabi Kan Kan (rules described at bottom).
This has been a great chance for us as leaders to have some time to connect at the park before the students get there. The leaders love it! It provides the opportunity for us to hang out with students and just get to know them more. Last night we brought squirt guns (it has been 110 here in Vegas) and made a night of it. We have seen that students are more likely to come to the park and play Kajabi in a really chill setting and it feels less like "church" to them. It has been super exciting to see student invite their freinds to a game they are excited about and reaching out. It has been worth it.
Kajabi Kan Kan is played with two 50 gallon trash cans and ropes that are about 10-12 inches long. The ropes have knots at both ends so they don't slip out of your hands. The rules are pretty simple: don't let go and don't touch the trash can. You need someone to be a ref with a whistle to signal if someone is out. As the circle dwindles down you remove a trash can. Something you can do too is put the students on 4 teams of 4. Have them work together to get the other people out. It is so much fun!

Labels: evangelism, Games, Neal Benson, summer plans

I have always been a person that loves to learn and that also loves to implement. According to my strengthsfinder my top strength is learner and my number two is achiever. This has worked well in my life because I am naturally motivated to learn something new and then to go and achieve what I have learned. However, when your primary mode of learning becomes failing then achieving becomes incredibility difficult, at least from a motivation stand point. Let me explain myself. I had the privilege to create a student ministry from scratch 5 years ago at my church Bay Area Fellowship. In the first year we did things more wrong then right but quickly course corrected thru great resources like PDYM and thru great mentors like Doug and others. These corrections led to a complete restructure and we were off and running. We created wknd services and quickly were doing them multiple times (1 Saturday night, 3 Sunday morning). A while after we started small groups in homes on Wednesday nights and started funneling students into them. We created our own version of h.a.b.i.t.s. (called C.O.R.E.) and had two blowout core students events a year. We really were firing on all cylinders and growth was a great bi-product. Our church was building a new building and we were posed to take over the city. We had started another campus and had transfered over all of our principles to their student group and things were great. I know it is not all for the numbers but just to brag on God in 4 yrs we went from nothing to roughly 600 students at two campuses with a staff of 5 and the future bright.

Then my dilemma. We moved into the new building, but we could not build what we had planned (2 separate rooms 1 MS/1 HS) instead we are still all in one, we had to do ALL the work in our room, we lost our staff completely to the main service, down to just my wife and I, our student pastor at the other campus became the campus pastor ALSO, we canned our small groups because they SIPPED (that's for you Doug), had completely revamped our purpose/image/process around the move and staff which is now in shambles, hired 2 part-time guys (to replace the other 4 full-time) one of which I had to let go, starting 2 more campuses and losing no lie 50% of our leaders, and are now sitting on the brink of sheer what the heck do we do. SO I am finding it hard to continue to achieve when so much has failed. I know maybe you're expecting "but here is the great things God did through all of of that." Nope, not yet. However, it has definitely led me to try and learn again because what got us here will not get us there because what got us here ain't (Texas slang) here anymore.

So here is what I don't know:

• I don't know if small groups will work in our wknd services once a month but we are going to try it. (All of our leaders are already there and so are all of our students)

• I don't know if I can continue the pace but I am going to try and hire

• I don't know if we can replace all the great leaders we had but we are recruiting and training like crazy

• I don't know if our new process/purpose will stick but we are pushing students to follow Christ

• I don't know if the other campuses will kill us or not but we will help build them on what we know to be true and transferable

• I don't know when Jesus is going to come back but I hope I didn't miss it

• I don't know if this is really that BAD but I know living in Africa would be way worse and my hearts breaks

• I don't know if I will continue to be a student pastor but I know I am selling my house and moving into an RV because I cannot continue to get when I have the chance to give

• I don't know if any of this makes sense but I hope that we can share our struggles and life and know that none of us are alone

Labels: Jason Gerdes, leadership, stress

Ahhh yes - the name. PDYM. I love it. It's exactly what I want to be about - purposefully leading a youth ministry. Not aimlessly wandering all over the place ("What, another lock-in? Same time next weekend? Sure!") but really trying to measure up to the picture of the early church in Acts 2. Whenever someone asks me about calling their ministry PD, though, with the same terms for the five purposes, my first question is, "Do you really need to?"

In your context, does the name help or hinder? Where I am right now honestly it's probably not so much of a help. But don't get me wrong - I've been totally privileged to see some fantastic youth ministries that completely line up with the five purposes, clear goals, good evaluations and all the rest. And sometimes the leadership has even based their ministry on the PDYM book and principles. But some of those ministries don’t even want to call it by 'The Name'. Maybe it's about needing to stake a claim of more ownership. Or maybe it's because there's been some negative press in their context about Saddleback or Rick Warren or Josh Griffin (oops - I mean Doug Fields). But whatever the reason, how have you worked around it? Has it been an issue in your environment? Any pointers you can offer on how to bypass these kind of obstacles? And I know this is sometimes an issue in the States as well, so weigh in if you’ve got something that helps...

Labels: criticism, international, obstacles, PDYM

Every spring is evaluation time for our youth ministry. We landed on spring because it is a natural transition time in our ministry calendar. We actually do two different things every spring; a youth staff retreat and 1-on-1 evaluations.

Our youth staff retreat usually consists of 50% fun/hang out time and 50% evaluating/planning time. It is something our youth staff (volunteers and paid) look forward to each year. As we are winding down the school year, planning the summer, and looking forward to fall it has always been very helpful. It is up to you if you just do it locally in your church building or go away to a cabin or retreat center. We have done both in the past and the success of each highly depends on the people involved and specifics going on at that time. This year we evaluated our purpose statement and if we all still agreed with it and it's effectiveness. It was a great discussion about the purposes and what they really meant for us. We ended up keeping our 5 descriptive words but changing the format we present it in so it will be more easily memorized and understood.

The second part of our spring evaluations is our 1-on-1 meetings. It is exactly what it sounds like, I meet with every youth staff member individually, paid and volunteer. I have been amazed, especially this year, at how valuable these evaluations are. Sometimes it is hard to hear some of the comments, but definately helpful for me and the other person. I learn a lot from everyone else during these meetings. There is a form/questionaire they fill out then we talk through their answers. Very simple but good. The last question on the form is whether they want to commit for another year. This way they know that they are not commited for life, and it gives them the chance to get out at a natural transition point in the ministry. I have had volunteers decide to stop after their evaluation, but it has always been the best thing for them and the ministry and has never been a hard thing.

Anyway, just something we do that works really good for us. I hope you can take the idea and adapt it to your situation. If you want to see the form I use, you can get it off our youth website: www.cloverdaleyouth.org. Feel free to take it, change it, adapt it, and use it. It is just an adaption I made from several different sources. All I ask is to let me know how it helps.

Labels: Brian Seidel, evaluation, free form

Well if you know me, you know this is a word i use to its fullest capacity.  You may think waste of time or way to anal how you can approach life but in how i am wired for life evaluation is a great tool we can use to our advantage in life & ministry. I tend to process & evaluate on a weekly level, but also do a major one about every 3 months.

Labels: danny bowers, evaluation, leadership

I wrote this article for our church newsletter, but I thought it would be a valuable thought for all of us in youth ministry. May it be of help and encouragement to you.

“I really felt close to God at the winter retreat,” he said. “But now I’m struggling,” he continued, “because I don’t feel Him anymore. I’m trying, but it’s just so different. Why can’t I feel God like I used to?”

These were the words that a young man spoke to me as we were sitting in my favorite pizzeria enjoying our slices. His words were not unfamiliar to me. I hear them from students on a regular basis. I hear them from adults during altar ministry on Sunday mornings. There is something inside of us that longs to feel God.

As I write this it is Monday morning. Like most of you, Monday mornings are not my favorite time of the week. When the alarm goes off I instantly go for the Snooze button. That’s why I set my alarm two hours before I really need to be up. I do this so I can snooze away and trick myself into believing that I got some extra sleep. Some days I feel like getting up and going to work; some days I don’t. But I get up and go to work.

I have an amazing wife. We have been married for twelve years, and we have a wonderful relationship. Most days we make each other laugh and enjoy one another’s company. However, at the risk of shocking some of you and shattering your stereotype of a pastor, I’ll be real and say … Sometimes I feel like being married; sometimes I don’t. But I stay married.

I have a relationship with Jesus. Part of any significant relationship is spending time together. That’s why a regular, personal time with the Lord is important. I’ll confess that sometimes I feel like I get something out of my quiet time; sometimes I don’t. Also, as I am sure you can identify, in the business of life there are plenty of other things fighting for my time. Some days I feel like having a quiet time with the Lord; some days I don’t. But I have a regular quiet time with the Lord anyways.

Here’s the point: If I lived my life based on my feelings, I would live on an emotional roller coaster. I would probably be unemployed, divorced, and living distant from God. However, I go to work every day, I stay faithfully committed to my wife, and I continue to spend time with God, not because I always feel like it, but because of a greater purpose.

The truth is that many of us treat Jesus like a drug. We get our Jesus-fix by attending weekly services, going on retreats, participating in church events, possibly going on missions trips, etc. and we are filled with great feelings when we do these things. But after a while the feelings wear off, and we live depressed, disillusioned lives. So what’s our solution? We go looking for another fix, of course. Our entire spiritual life is up and down, on and off. There is no consistency, and we often grow frustrated, and sometimes people just simply quit. Why is this? I believe it’s because the life Jesus invites us to includes our feelings, but is not to be based on our feelings.

Feelings are not inherently wrong. In fact, they’re quite good. God created us in His image. He feels, and He made us with the ability to feel. I enjoy the feelings I get when I am on a missions trip serving Jesus. I enjoy the feelings I get when I am singing and dancing before my God. Like you, I long for that sense of closeness. However, I have learned that I cannot measure closeness by my feelings alone, because my feelings are terribly inconsistent – they come and go, and they change based on circumstances. Yet God is consistent – He does not change, and He is always present. So what we are actually referring to when we speak of “feeling” God is our ability to perceive His presence. Understanding the place of feelings in our spiritual lives is very important. We need to acknowledge our feelings, but our feelings cannot rule our lives. Feelings are a part of us, but they cannot be the foundation upon which we build our lives.

When Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane He said to His disciples, “My soul is sorrowful” (Mark 14:34). He then prayed, “Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will” (Mark 14:36). Here we see Jesus, the Son of God, authentically acknowledging his feelings. He doesn’t feel like doing what His Father is asking Him to do. He doesn’t feel drinking the cup of death. He doesn’t feel like going to the cross and dying. Yet He moves forward anyway. What caused Him to keep moving obediently toward death? It was not His feelings! It was His faith in the Father, and His commitment to the purpose of God.

Jesus invites us to follow Him down this path. He says, “Whoever does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses His life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 10:38-39). The cross is not something very attractive to our feelings. It is contrary to everything we want to do. The cross means death. It means dying – surrendering our dreams, desires, and plans. I don’t feel like dying. But Jesus invites me, and He invites you, to come and die that we might discover true and everlasting life. The thing that enables us to respond to the invitation of Christ is not our feelings; it is our conviction and commitment to the purposes of God. We are called to be followers of Jesus. Sometimes we will want to follow Him, sometimes we won’t. But we must keep following.

I constantly challenge our students, and today I challenge you, to live your life for a greater purpose than feelings. If you have built your relationship with the Lord on feelings, you have built your spiritual home on shifting sands. Feelings come and go, but faith must remain consistent. My grandfather used to tell me that it’s not how high you jump; it’s how straight you walk when you land. He wasn’t negating the jumping. Rather, he was emphasizing the more important thing – the walking. The steps we take when we don’t feel God are the true test of the moments when we do feel Him.

Faith says: When I don’t see God, I will keep walking. When I don’t hear God, I will hold fast. When I don’t feel God, I will continue to live for Him.

Sometimes you will feel God, sometimes you will not. But like David you must say, “I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Psalm 34:1). Choose to live for Jesus because of conviction not because of circumstances – by faith, not by feelings.

Labels: feelings, purposes

After serving in the States for several years in local youth ministry, my family and I now find ourselves based in the Netherlands and serving in the European context (for almost two years now). We implemented PD ideas and materials for a while stateside (even was a PDYM state mentor for a couple of years), and now I'm hoping that some of us who are outside the US or ministering to other cultural populations in the States can talk about ways we're finding to bring PDYM values into our ministries. So consider this an open invitation for all to weigh in (regardless of where you are - I'm especially hoping to hear from the guy in the UK who said how boring the podcast is...that was brilliant!). What are you finding in PDYM that you can bring into your context, and then what just won't work no matter how hard you try? It's a tricky thing...so let's help each other out by passing on what we're discovering.

What do you think?

Labels: international, PDYM, resource sharing

I feel the need to preface this article, for some reason. What I am writing is something that has been stirring in my brain and I hope that it can hopefully help someone.
About 2 months ago we had our adult leader meeting. We try to do these every 6-8 weeks where the leaders get some time to hang out and just connect. I then take about 30 minutes to share my heart. At this particular meeting I shared about the need for us to have roles that we all fit into. I have felt our leaders not feeling like they have a, “job,” something that they can own on Wednesday nights. After the meeting, which I thought went great, I was really excited to see the buy-in level increase and leaders plug in more. It seemed like neither of those things happened.
All of that said, it got me thinking about what I call the investment mindset. I don’t know if you have a 401K or not, but I feel like my retirement is similar to investing into students (you may think I am crazy right now, but keep reading). Every paycheck I get, 26 a year, I ask my church to take out a set amount and invest that into my retirement. I don’t, “see,” that money so I just tell myself that I never got it. I don’t really miss it cause I never really “see” it. Then twice a year I get a statement in the mail that makes me wonder why I keep putting that money in there. I open it up hoping that, for some unknown reason, my retirement will be huge… but it’s not. Then I have to remind myself that this investment will take time to mature.
That is exactly how I think many of us feel about working with students (and our leaders feel the same way too). How many countless nights have you sat with a student listening to their problems, counseling them, sharing scripture with them and praying with them to only see them make the same mistake? Or what about the time it takes to make camp happen and all the hours you put into it, then you have to leave your spouse for the week and you just wish you could see them. Think about the last mission trip you went on. How amazing was it or is all you can think about is how tiring it was? Does it ever feel like some of this is worthless? We have all been there.
See student ministries is just like my 401K. It would be nice to have that time or money right now. Sometimes the sacrifice doesn’t look like it will pay off in the end, but we need to keep reminding ourselves that what we do is so worth it! If someone hasn’t told you that in while just think about the students you work with that will never forget you, trust me, they will never forget you and the constant time you put into their lives. The investment is worth it!

There are a lot of ways we can evaluate what is happening in our ministries and a very effective one that i have found has been to listen to feedback from others. There are three ways that I try to gain feedback for our ministry; speak with leaders (adult volunteer/staff), keep an open door involvement with students & ask parents their perception every chance i can.

I find that these three avenues i can do everyday of every week if i wanted to. They are not complicated & also have given me the most in-depth insight to the pulse of what is going on in & around our ministry. After 9 years of youth ministry these seem to be the best & most trustworthy options. However I am always wanting to learn and improve so; How do you evalute your ministry and what have been the best ways for you to do that evaluation?

Labels: danny bowers, evaluation

Are you feeling alone in youth ministry? Are you in need of some encouragement? Well, you are not alone! The PDYM community was designed to connect like-minded youth workers with each other to provide connection and encouragement. We’ve got our annual Spring Community Lunch happening all over the US various days throughout the next 2 weeks. It’s easy to jump right in and get connected with local youth workers. We have over 30 different sites. Doug Fields’ sent a brand new video training to each of the sites created EXCLUSIVE to this event…You won’t see it anywhere else! Simply Youth Ministry sent some freebies for our host sites to give away. We hope you can join us!

Click here to go to the State Map- click your state to find the lunch nearest you!

*Bring $5 to help the host site cover the cost of lunch!

I have an unhealthy distaste for graduation season.  At first, I thought it had something to do with the fact that once a year, every student minister has to wave goodbye to several students that have become special and personally connected to them.  

Labels: evaluation, evangelism, graduation

A number of years ago, Doug Fields published his book Your First Two Years in Youth Ministry. It is a wonderful book, and the first one I recommend to anyone just starting out in the field. In fact, the book came out when I was in my third year of youth ministry, and I would recommend it to anyone in youth ministry, period.

Last year when I was at the National Youth Worker’s Convention I saw a book entitled The Ministry of Nurture by Duffy Robbins. Since Duffy was going to be our speaker at our winter retreat just a couple of months later, I decided to pick it up. However, it was not until recently that I had a chance to actually sit down and read the book. As I began to read, everything was so relevant to what God is teaching me about ministry during this season that I found myself nodding my head in agreement with so much of what he was saying.

When I happened upon the date the book was written, I discovered that Duffy had written it in 1990. I wondered how this book had slipped through the assigned reading for my youth ministry classes both in Bible college and in seminary. After reading it, I would re-title it Another Book I Wish Someone Had Made Me Read During My First Two Years in Youth Ministry and package it as a combo with Doug's book.

It is a tremendous book that takes the youth ministry vehicle to the shop, puts it up on the lift and gives it a good inspection to ask whether we are really making fully-devoted, life-long disciples of Christ. It causes us to slow down, examine our programs, and really helps to focus us on the process of youth ministry.

I NEED YOUR HELP!

WHY GOD?
Have you ever said those words in your ministry? Was it earlier, later or now in your ministry. Sometimes we find ourselves as leaders having to make decisions or being caught in a movement or storm you are not really for sure how you got there or why you are experiencing it.

For example, how did I get caught in developing two major budgets, three proposals, hiring five workers, and developing an entire employee handbook in a thirty day period. Then to find out that God has been moving and you are being informed that God has been speaking to key leaders in your church to move them onto the next part of their journey in fulfilling God's purposes for his kingdom, while your opening up another campus and adding a fourth service for students and beginning to development a new student building and land development. Not to mention how to balance all the family life. Just when you think you have a grasp on it, God seems to impose his great sense of humor. Trust me I can always do less and work to do so regularly and make far lesser mistakes.

The wonderful part about this time is that I find God does several specific things that refines us to a new level. Here are couple of things I experience:

1. God has to remove the old sense of self assurance.
If I did what I always have done I would not be better in my walk with him or sharper in being able to lead others around me and I would grow stagnant and ineffective. God shakes things up to remove away my dull chaff.

2. God removes those who are not designed for the next phase of the journey or are unwilling to arise to the challenge. I am always wanting to find someone doing something better than I am to help me become a better leader. Sometimes God removes people & resources, etc., in order to send the right response to us. Remember your loss is God's opportunity to do something new.

3. God allows us to experience these hectic moments to keep us humble.
Trust me going through budget meetings can keep anyone humble. Whether through the mundane process of numbers and personalities (type A especially, no offense) or how will we increase 10% in giving to meet needs when the economy is getting worse. I am asking for lots of wisdom and innovation to handle the new task.

In all, I am always amazed as to how God keeps taking my feeble attempts and makes them huge successes for His Kingdom. We started the journey in ministry because when the light bulb goes off in someone and their life is changed the significance of God's power becomes real in us. So if this is worth it just for one or thousands and it is important to God it has to be important to me.

Remember to thank God for your experiences, they will not be waisted.

For those of you out there like me who are trying to understand Generation Y, I finally found a visual that clarified it for me so I totally get it now! Enjoy!
- Kevin

The Silent generation, people born before 1945.

The Baby Boomers, people born between 1945 and 1961.

Generation X, people born between 1962 and 1976.

Generation Y, people born between 1977 and 1989.

Usually I am a pretty laid back guy. I go with the flow. But here lately I feel as if I am in the middle of a tornado buckled in for the ride.

• Graduate Sunday is approaching.
• Summer Camp details have to be prepared.
• Oh wait I have no male leaders for camp! Beg church for adult leaders.
• Midweek small groups need attention.
• Got to get the bus ready for road trips.
• Mission Trip money has to be raised. Fundraiser, Fundraiser, Fundraiser! (the necessary evil)
• I just re-enrolled in school to further my education. Read the first 7 chapters of the Old Testament. (I would rather fund raise. Just Kidding!)
• Sunday night’s student study series ends this week. What's next?
• My grass needs cutting.
• I have not taken my wife on a date night in forever.
• My children are calling me by my first name instead of Dad because I have not spent time with them.

Sound familiar? I know I am preaching to the choir but I guess in some strange way it feels good to just complain about my “To Do” list to people who understand. Church members think I have it easy. Parents think I play and email all day. Other staff members are just as equally busy in their areas of ministry. Who understands? PDYM Community! So today as I was in our work room I stopped for a moment and thought of some things that will help bring order into my life over the next few crazy months that lie ahead.

1) SPIRITUAL REALITY CHECK
I am ashamed to admit it but I know my time with God has suffered over the past few days. I have let my schedule take over. I have gotten lazy. I have not given God the time He deserves or the time I need. I have to get back to reading His word, talking to Him, and listening. Just sitting in the quietness of His presence.

2) OPERATION ORGANIZATION
Today I rearranged my office. I made files more accessible. I cleaned up my desktop. (not sure what that has to do with anything) I threw away things I did not need cluttering my office. I can actually see my desk. For me when I don’t have to constantly look for things; when I know where my forms are; when I find my files; it helps me feel less pressured. Organize a little and see if that helps relieve the stress.

3) RALLY THE TROOPS
I confessed to my wife yesterday I was feeling overwhelmed. After listening she helped me understand some things I was having trouble with. It’s okay to draw strength from those around us. We don’t have to be a Super Hero all the time. Your spouse. Your ministry friends. Who can you lean on today?

We all realize Summer is quickly approaching. The busiest time in a Student Minister’s life. But if we are not careful we will come out of those summer months exhausted, dried up, and weary. (We do anyway but we can prepare a little better) And what a shame. If we are not careful we will miss the things God is going to do in our Student Ministries in the weeks ahead.

Take a moment today to recharge, regroup, re-energize. Your family needs you. Your students need you. God wants to use you. It can be a great summer and we can enjoy it rather than be controlled by its craziness.

~ Shane Becton

Labels: encouragement, Shane Becton

If you are like me, you are pretty deep into summer planning by now. In fact, our entire summer is already planned, now it is just wrapping up the details (the only reason this is true is because of my amazing volunteer staff, I am not that great of a planner. So don’t feel bad if your whole summer is not planned yet.)

I was talking with a youth ministry buddy of mine the other day, and he asked me how the summer was shaping up, if I was ready for the whirlwind of busyness that comes with youth ministry in the summer. I think my response shocked him when I said “our summer is actually less busy, so I am looking forward to the time to take a deep breath.” Once he was able to breath again and muster a few words out he responded with “that’s really cool.”

That conversation got me thinking about this youth ministry paradigm that we all tend to ascribe to at different times and how backwards it really is. I can think of a lot of stereotypical youth ministry decisions and attitudes that just don’t make sense; the first one being that summer has to be the busiest time of year for a youth pastor/youth worker.

Last summer, in an attempt to be a more family friendly ministry we did an experiment with our summer programming. We have always not done small groups during the summer, so those were already off the calendar. Then we combined our activity events with our mid-week worship service into one event. So on Wednesday nights we did an activity (swimming, water games, Frisbee golf, etc.) and a shorter devotional instead of a full message. So our weekly calendar was Sunday morning and Wednesday night activities, nothing else. No weekend events. The only things we did beyond that was Jr. high Camp and our Sr. High mission trip. Then we sent out our activity schedule for the entire summer to families in May so they could plan their lives and family outings.

Honestly I looked at our schedule and felt guilty. Were we doing enough? Would I catch criticism because the calendar was not as full as other summers had been? Actually the opposite effect happened. I had parents thanking me for the calendar and for reducing the fights between them and their student about attending the church activity or the family camping trip.

There were other benefits that came from it as well. First was for me personally. I was able to be with my family more during the summer, when my kids and wife are home. It also made being away from them during the week long trips of camp and the mission trip a lot easier. I also had more time to spend with God through devotions and prayer time. The same was true for our volunteer staff and their families. The student attendance was a lot more consistent with no real summer slump. And it opened the door for more relationship building opportunities. I had time to grab 4 guys and head to lake for the day, or meet students for ice cream on a random office day afternoon.

With all this said, we are doing the same thing this summer, but instead of feeling guilty I am excited for the possibilities it opens up. Honestly, it feels good to challenge the paradigm of youth ministry in the name of healthy, not busy.

I don’t know what challenges you are facing right now in your ministry, but I encourage you to challenge the paradigm. I give you permission to try something different, to be weird. Maybe summer busyness is not the paradigm you have to challenge, maybe it is the ‘bigger = better’ mentality or the ‘every mission trip has to be to Mexico’ idea, or ‘a good youth pastor doesn’t stay more than two years’ lie. Wherever you’re at, I encourage you to challenge the paradigm; we will all be better servants of God because of it.

Labels: Brian Seidel, busyness, calendar, stress, summer plans

This is not original. I got some of my thoughts from Chuck Bomar’s breakout session at the Orange Conference.

What is it that you desire to achieve with the students in your ministry? I am sure many of us know the ‘right’ answer, but are we operating in a fashion that leads to the results that come with the ‘right’ answer, or, do we operate in a fashion based on how we’ve been conditioned either through our training or our education?

I was always conditioned that success was achieved with big numbers. The larger the participation the better I was doing. The goals would be to max out our mid-week student service, to have huge turnouts for our student ministry events and camps, and to move students from our student ministry service into the big church service. The more students we could transition from just attending our group to attending the big church, the more deceptive success we had in the eyes of the pastor. He wanted to see results. He wanted to know that I was paying for myself with those results. So the pressure was on and I was conditioned to have a specific end result; a very shallow end result.

In 2004 my eyes started to be open through Purpose Driven. I started to see that yes God was interested in numbers, but it went beyond the numbers of attendees to our programs. It filtered over into numbers of students with changed lives, salvations, baptisms, and disciple being made. My eyes were being opened and I started being freed from oppressive expectations for shallow end results.

Chuck Bomar suggested that to make the “service” the end result, would be a bad thing. If we make having a large participation at camp without follow up our end result or our measure to success, then we have a bad measuring stick. Our measure of success should not be in numbers alone or in participation alone, but our ministries should be viewed as a means or a tool to a greater end result. Those results being the forming of spiritually mature adults. So how do you view your measure of success? Maybe you are like me, and when the pressure is on from the senior leadership to show proof of results, we tend to revert back to those bad habits that we have been conditioned to operate under. I would like to encourage you to view your ministry as a tool to a greater end. Spiritually mature students and adults.

Labels: leadership, Ministry, Nick Carnes

I recently transitioned churches. After 5 1/2 years my family & I moved cities, cultural settings and ministry locations. There is a lot that goes into these transitions, if you have never experienced one before, but the biggest learning i have had is in having a new senior pastor.

I tend to compare this experience with that special person you starting dating at some point in your life and you were hoping it will turn out well for the long term. Kinda weird thinking about dating your boss (in the world of ministry anyway), but really it has been much like that for me.

My biggest 3 learning's while working under a new leadership has been:

1- Communication is key. No matter how well the interview process went you need to be communicating daily. Even if it is just a phone call to say hi. You need to be able to get to know each other and at times it feels like over communicating everything, but for the working relationship to be healthy it is a must. You need to learn how each other process through changes. Deals with controversies. How you can celebrate together and especially be on the same page with changes. The relationship won't grow unless you share your lives together.

2- Embrace the awkward times. Dealing with a new leader you really don't know how they may take your jokes, ideas or ever personality. So instead of fearing the unknown, embrace the awkward moment- then follow up with questions. "Hey what do you think? What is going through your mind?" Invite him to feel the freedom to speak. Being your 'boss' in a sense he is probably going to naturally speak to you, but invite him to speak into your life. Speaking to someone and speaking into someones life is completely different. The relationship won't be fun unless you can get through the awkwards times.

3- Get ready for change. You may be the one that realizes how you have done things in the past has not been the best or it worker then, but not now. Be open and ready for a change. Be willing to navigate through each day with a loose grip on things. You have to be sure something you wanna fight for is worth the fight. I feel in the last 10 weeks of this new transition i have learned more than in the last 2 yeas of ministry. Maybe that is cause so much is happening so fast or maybe i am seeing things with a new perspective. The relationship could die if you become stubborn and unteachable.

Regardless of a new leader or one who have been serving under for years maybe a couple of these thoughts you could wrestle with or maybe you need to date your boss (sorta, kinda speaking)?

Labels: danny bowers, leadership, senior pastor