Free Leadership
How Strong Is Your Foundation?
Aug 6th
It’s simple, you can’t build a 2200 sq. ft house on a 100 sq. ft foundation and yet we have all tried. We’ve tried to build on hype and hype is short lived. Those who want to build their youth ministry large, must build the foundations wider an deeper. Scripture says, ” When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Psalm 11:3
Here are my top five foundational builders
- Doctrine- I cannot emphasize enough how important this is. If we are not teaching our students biblical beliefs we are building on sand. Storms will come and if our students are banking on our next worship services to get them by, we are in trouble. Try teaching through the Apostles Creed for a semester. Doctrine is the steel that is laid throughout the foundation to tie it all together.
- Relationships- Go to that wedding, that funeral , even if you don’t have to. It’s foundational. You are showing that you care about more than just a youth ministry but a whole church family. Keep your relationships with parents, staff, and students hot. Make that phone call, post FB status’ when kids succeed, send that e-mail to parents, it matters. Ministry does not happen without relationships. Ministry is relationships.
- Vision- Where are you going? Where are you promising to take them ? What has God put on your heart and what has He shown you in His word? Organizations need vision. Make it plain and then follow up with the steps to make it happen.
- Execution- Do what you promised. Nothing will send cracks through your foundation quicker than unfulfilled promises.
- Mentoring- If you are not training students to lead, don’t unpack, you won’t be there long. We must have a plan and a path to lead students along. Weekly meetings with key students (see #2) and empowering them to do all that God has put on their hearts (see #3) will only strengthen the foundation. Don’t do a for a student what you can train a student to do.
There are more, but these have been my core values for over 20 years. Did I miss one? Let me know what has been foundational for you.
7 Tips For Launching Student Led Ministry
Jul 2nd
“Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought [them] to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that [was] its name.
So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.”
Genesis 2:19,20
Have you been wondering how you can release more ministry to your students? God shows us, by example, how to release ministry. Here are a few points I take from these verses
- God is not worried that Adam will some how screw up His creation.
- God has no ego. He was not afraid that Adam would steal his thunder.
- God trusts Adam even though he is new in town.
- God did not go back and change the names He didn’t like (he didn’t say “Aardvark, that’s a stupid name.”)
- God empowered Adam over the creation.
- God gave Adam a task He believed he could handle.
- God did not do for Adam what Adam could do for himself.
God shows us by example, how to trust students. Each of these steps are something we can do with our students
- Let students altar, throw away, or tweak your perfect plan.
- Put away your ego. It’s their ministry. Most of them will be there longer than you will.
- Put kids on the path to lead. Show them the path and lead them.
- Live with some of the decisions they make even if you don’t agree.
- Give kids a vested interest in their community of faith called the Church.
- Give tasks to students that set them up for success. (did you notice God did not expect Adam to name all the fish in the sea)
- God could have named the animals and then told Adam what they were. Adam probably remembered the names more because he named them himself. Students will own the ministry more if they are naming it themselves (and I don’t mean just naming the youth group but putting their names on the whole ministry)
I have created an evaluation sheet. Sign up for the Get it First program and its yours.
For more information on student-led ministry check out Endeavor
Are You Wasting Time?
Jun 10th
We waste a lot of time youth ministry with tasks and projects that do not advance the kingdom. Seth Godin offers this bit of wisdom from a recent blog post called
Cheating The Clock
Is Your Youth Ministry Leaking?
Jun 10th
Day 52 and the news (like like the oil) just keeps coming. The BP oil disaster in the gulf is a business/life/youth ministry in the making. Let me offer some advice about handling leaks:
You may be leaking students, vision, or enthusiasm , and these are just few of the possible leaks you may be facing. Looking at the questions coming out of the gulf, it seems we can do a better job if we will
1. Admit there is a leak. Ignoring it will not make it go away.
2. Determine the extend of the leak. Can I handle it myself?
3. Take responsibility for the leak. Someone has to own it.
4 Partner with others. Find the people in your network who can hep you fix the leak. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
5. Be ready to answer a lot of questions. Who? What? Where? How? and When?
6. Over communicate about the leak. If there is a problem, do your best to over communicate the progress you are making and the solutions you are coming up with.
7. Have a strategy for these leaks to not occur again. Collaborate to solve problems. BP just put cameras underwater to watch these pipes 24/7. Do you have systems in place to watch for possible leaks?
Leaks are bound to happen, but how we handle them is equally as important as stopping the leak itself.