Church (capital C) is, as the bible describes, a body. It’s not just any body, it’s the Body of Christ. The church (small c) is a system, still a body or collection of believers, but like a real body it is also a system. It’s a system of relationships, of politics and of power. This is where most new youth pastors get in trouble, they don’t understand, until it is too late, that they are operating in a system they cannot beat and are unwilling to work within it.
New youth pastors enter a new position looking for the Big C and get the small c. Idealism is what kills the new youth pastor and I want to help stop the bloodshed.
In my previous post I shared that you, if you are a youth pastor reading this, are a designers among engineers, financiers and project managers. Designers, dreamers and creators see what could be but are often frustrated buy the realities of cost, procedure and rules.
I want to show you the way to get your ideas off the ground and, for lack of a better term, “sell” the youth ministry to those who don’t understand youth ministry. Here’s the first step.
Understand the Engineer
How to make the engineers your ally
The first thing to know about the “engineers” in your church is how they think.
The role of a board member is to:
“provide oversight and leadership for the church by ensuring its operations align with its mission, including strategic planning, financial management, supporting the pastor, and making decisions that reflect the church’s values and goals, all while acting as a spiritual guide and advocate for the congregation” – Gemini Ai
Their responsibility is to the whole church and not just the youth program and that needs to be your perspective as well. If you want to leverage the system for your ideas, design programs, meetings etc. that considers the whole church and not just you or the youth group.
Designers who are only interested in design don’t get very far and neither do youth pastors who only design for their youth ministry.
Care about, or at least show curiosity, in what your pastors, board or committee care about and you’ll be ahead of the game.
Making friends with engineers
Who is the engineer on your church staff or board?
The engineers are the ones who look at your ideas, your process and your programming and wonder, “What is going on?”. Because an engineer would never design anything like what you’re doing because it’s impractical. They say things like, “Why do they need 1,000 finger rockets?” or “Why does the youth room need a swimming pool?” But you clearly see why you need those things. Your goal in making friends with “engineers” is to close the gap and help them see why you need, what they might consider, impractical things.
The core of a designer is painting a picture of what could be. What value will this building have to a community? What impact will this label on a bottle of hot sauce have on a consumer. The youth pastor must be able to communicate what the youth ministry is, what it does and what it could be to groups of people who do not understand youth ministry. You are the Explainers in Chief. You have to paint the picture.
Find the “engineer” on your church board or parent on the committee who has the most to gain from a successful youth program or is interested in the future of young people and is willing to listen to that new ideas or change you want to make. Draw your dreams on a napkin, explain what it is and why it would be beneficial to not only the youth group but the church as a whole.
Designs don’t change anything
To say, “This is going to change everything” is a lie and a trap brought on by ego.
You may think, “If I can just explain youth ministry well enough, everyone will get it”. Also not true.
Designs, plans and vision without relationship are dead in the water.
Good youth ministry is not the “answer” to a bad the church. But good youth ministry does, in my opinion, make a bad church better. There’s no idea that you are going to have is going to transform the culture of your church. It’s just not going to happen.
The inability to foster change is not a slam on your abilities as a youth pastor or as creative person. There’s some amount of acceptance you have to have about the the influence of your role and about your ability to change some fundamental things about your church.
Even if you get your design approved, you still have to execute on it and execute it well enough to get your next design approved.
Maturity in ministry
The mature or maturing youth pastor must understand that the people in the middle, the people between your ideas and budget approval, are not the enemy, they are people who need to be understood, befriended and influenced by your passion to reach not only the youth of your church but the youth of your community.
Immaturity says, “I have an idea and it should be valued without question”
Maturity says, “I have an idea, but it needs fine tuning. Who can help me?”
Immaturity says, “This church doesn’t care about youth because they don’t approve my ideas”
Maturity says, “How can I use my ideas to help influence the system I am in?”
My mistake was to be to be so narrow minded about my role that I forgot that ministry is all about relationships not my ideas. The only thing I could see was my own ideas and why they were important and not how they might impact the whole church.
Youth Pastor, remember, you are working in a system. The system has been there long before you came to the church and will be there long after you leave the church. Recognize that creativity and ideas are meaningless unless you can 1) Build relationships with those who make the decisions on your design and 2) You can show how and why, whatever you are designing, no matter how impractical, will be of value and 3) You can execute on the ideas that have been approved.
If you’re a new Youth Pastor, I have a bundle for you filled with resources, just like this article, to make your first year in youth ministry easier and more productive.
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