youth ministry

This is Weird.

college, youth ministry

So this is weird.  I’m thinking about how we are all going to grow up one day.  I feel like just yesterday I was in high school, not understanding who I am and struggling to fit in.  And here I am, in college, with a slightly better understanding of who I am and people who are constantly affirming that.  It’s crazy.  And tomorrow, I’m going to be an adult.  Well not really tomorrow, but when I get to that point, I am going to wonder where the time went.  I wonder what it’s going to be like when we are 80 years old. Weird. So. Stinking. Weird.

As I looked online for curriculum, and pa-rouse youth ministry sites, I realized something.  One day, my colleagues are going to be the people writing this curriculum and making these sites.  My friends are going to be the ones speaking at huge conferences and camps like Centrifuge and Crossings.  I may even know the next Lecrae (and hopefully marry him!)  They are going to be writing books that I turn to when I want to pull my hair out, and making the curriculum that I will use with my youth group.  What is weirder, I might be one of them!  Whoaaa!  Thinking about this has made the reality that “One Day, I’m Going to Be an Adult” almost more real.  Should I start writing my book?  Should I start getting the curriculum I just wrote for our WarZone published?  hahahaha.  Oh my.  Tis Strange.

On another still-weird-but-less-frazzled note, while I’m thinking of youth ministry majors, I’m quite disappointed with some of ours right now.  I’m beginning to realize more and more that people go into ministry to correct their own lives.  It is so incredibly sad!  This mentality is very common in my peers, that “I had a messed up youth.  So I’m going to go to college, major in youth ministry, and I will become reformed and help those in their youth to make up for my sin in mine.”  And honestly, I’m sure that I felt that at one time or another, that the program would help reform me.  Why shouldn’t it reform me?  But there needs to be a legitimate, specific calling to the ministry.  I don’t want to see more teenagers suffer because their youth minister committed a major sin and had to leave the church.  And that goes for me too.

I’m incredibly scatter-brained today.  God answered a huge prayer last night, but I still am not happy.  I don’t really understand it.  But I need to learn to rest in His grace and armor myself with His Strength.  I can’t fight whatever funk I’m feeling alone! oh no no nooooo…

Ministering to Middle School

youth ministry

Middle School is tough, but here is an article that I found helpful: The Best of the Best for Middle School Ministry | YouthWorker.com
The Best of the Best for Middle School Ministry
By Jeff Tillson | Junior High Pastor, Grace Fellowship UMC, Katy, Texas. | March 2010
Let’s face it—hanging out with middle school (I call it junior high!) students in the hopes of bringing them closer to Jesus takes serious guts. It is an energy-packed, patience-stretching, sometimes smelly, time-consuming, thankless, awkward and overlooked calling. We are clearly the only people on earth who could get away with belching a Bible lesson or having a swim party in the baptistry. Junior high ministry veterans would agree that ministering to young adolescents is a blast, but it also requires a great amount of wisdom and smart ministry on our part. This quick crash course in junior high ministry has been developed after 10 years of good and bad ideas. Some are originals; some have been said before; all are crucial to consider as you seek to reach this awesome age group.
Celebrate Their Energy
Junior high students have an abundance of energy. I have met many well-intentioned youth workers who have attempted to contain or correct this trait with little success. The truth is, to minister to this age group effectively we must celebrate and wisely direct this God-given electricity. If we don’t, junior highers will be tempted to misuse their energy by distracting people around them, running around with a fire extinguisher or playing floor hockey with the senior pastor’s commentaries. I am convinced there is a better way!
Strategically Placed Games: Who says we have to teach 35 minutes straight just like the high school ministry? Try the 15-Minute Rule: For every 15 minutes of teaching, include an energy-burning activity or game. Maybe the activity illustrates a point, or it could be completely random. A strategically placed activity might break your flow, but it greatly enhances a junior high student’s ability to stay mentality engaged. Side note: Call me unspiritual, but after a decade of junior high ministry, I am doing many more 15- or 20-minute lessons than 35-minute lessons.
Mission Trips/Service Projects: While all age groups benefit from active learning and service, I believe it is most important in junior high ministry. Use their energy to play games with kids living in poverty, organize donations, mix concrete or clean up a local park. Don’t let these opportunities be extras or just summer traditions. Breathe active service into the ongoing fabric of your intentional ministry to junior highers. Allowing service to become your curriculum will be a powerful faith-shaper in the lives of students.
Participatory Worship: For some reason, junior highers still love silly motions to worship songs. While I’m not a huge fan, they are! A wise youth worker won’t push them toward adult worship songs too quickly.
Score Points with Parents
Effective junior high ministry cannot be done without the support of parents. Junior high guru Kurt Johnston wrote, “…it really doesn’t matter who you are or what you can do. As a seasoned junior high youth worker, I can tell you that effective junior high ministry boils down to two things: The sovereignty of God and the support of parents.” Here are a few tips that will go a long way with parents.
Communicate: Don’t expect a squirrelly seventh grade boy to remember the details of the upcoming camping trip. Not going to happen! We must learn how to deliver the information quickly and effectively into the hands of parents through a variety of means: e-mails, text alerts, newsletters, Constant Contact—just find a way to do it well. In the life of a busy parent trying to manage the family schedule and a full work load, we can see how frustration mounts and support wanes if we don’t get them the information they need. Remember always to return their calls, answer all their questions and make time for them.
Prepare and Encourage: Parents will admit that they are unsure about their abilities to guide their children through the junior high years. Be proactive in preparing them for the issues they will face, and be gracious in your encouragement toward them along the way. Even if you are a younger leader and haven’t parented a junior high student, your experience and knowledge of students provides a unique window into their lives. This window can be incredibly helpful as you partner with the parents you serve.
Make It Easy: Do we really expect parents to drive their children up to the church three nights in one week? Is it smart to do a junior high retreat on a weekend when most families are swamped with other things? We score big points with parents when we go out of our way to make their lives a little easier.
Invite Them into the Action: When I was a younger leader, it took me awhile to realize that parents make some of the greatest volunteers. They live with these creatures, experience their drama and witness all the changes their kids experience. Some of them might even be crazy enough to accept your invitation to the frontlines of your ministry. What parent in your ministry is just waiting for an invitation?
Don’t Forget the BIGGIES: Friendship and Identity
If there are two areas in which junior highers desperately need guidance, they are friendship and identity. With a different schedule, fresh faces and new surroundings, the onset of junior high is a prime opportunity for students to make important decisions about the friends they choose. Friendships created in junior high can have a massive ripple effect (positive or negative) on a student’s spiritual development—not to mention their decisions, attitudes and place in society during their lifetimes.
In addition, the awkward physical changes coupled with the rollercoaster of emotions create a distorted view of their identity and self-worth. Girls and guys can express scathing disapproval of what they see in the mirror every day. We must talk, teach and mentor around these issues as often as appropriate. Beware of the nonverbal message your ministry sends to students on these topics, as well. What is your ministry doing to support the building of healthy, God-honoring friendships? Are you showing the popular students and the quiet loners that they matter to God? Good junior high youth workers constantly wrestle with these issues.
Capture a Larger View
For a die-hard junior high leader, this next sentence is difficult to write, but I know it to be true: In my church, I want junior highers to have an unstoppable excitement to be involved in high school ministry. It is a new, ridiculous attitude that God is cultivating in me; and I think we play an essential role in building their anticipation. For example, I choose not take junior highers on a sweet ski trip to Colorado or go out of the country on a mission trip as our high school students do. I want our high schoolers using the best spaces on Sunday night and doing “cooler things” with possibly a larger budget. This is not to say that I shy away from being a champion of junior high ministry or that junior high ministry should be lame. I just see wisdom in having a larger view of the spiritual journey that my kids are on—a journey of which (only by God’s grace and entrusting) I am able to be a part.
So stay committed, remain humble, laugh often and love generously. Thanks for joining me in reaching this young and sometimes overlooked people group. What an awkwardly important mission field we have before us!
Jeff’s Best of the Best Middle School Ministry Resources
Best Middle School Resource: Middle School Ministry Made Simple by Kurt Johnston (Standard)
Best Middle School Web Site:SimplyYouthministry.com
Best Middle School Event: Christ in Youth’s “Believe” conference (CIY.com/believe/)
Best Middle School Curriculum: The “Uncommon” series, General Editor Kara Powell (Regal)

If You Believe in Change, DO IT!

christianity, youth ministry

This is a pet peeve of mine that I have had for a very very very long time, and I think it’s time I blog about it. Ha!


One of my favorite self-made quotes that I have been saying for years is, “Don’t complain about something unless you are willing to change it.”

I will always say that, and I have made an addition appropriate for the rest of this blog’s rant: “NEVER complain about something you wish to change, unless you are ACTIVELY working to change it.”

After working with four different youth groups outside of my own experience being IN a youth group, as well as listening to stories from all my friends who have BEEN in youth groups, as well as being in youth ministry classes where I hear stories ABOUT different youth groups, there is a common theme: Teenagers want change in their youth group. They want more unity. They want to be close. But they don’t want to be the one to step out of their comfort zones and change it. So they sit back and complain.

My challenge to any teenage students is this: If you want a change to happen in your youth group, YOU need to be the one to initiate it. If you know that something needs to happen, something needs to change, ask God for wisdom concerning the area. The Bible tells us that if you are lacking in that area, to ask God and that He will graciously provide. If you realize a need for change, but don’t know how to change it, ask God for discernment.

This was a short rant, but I hope that you will take this to heart and apply it to every part of your life.

Plant, Water, Watch :)

bible, christianity, god, youth ministry
Sent from my mobile. Enjoy.
_____________________________________________________________

I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. 1 Cor 3:6~7.
Theme off my summer :)
Ministers, being ALL Christians, are simply God’s workers. Some plant seeds, meaning they are initially working in a person’s life. Some water those seeds, meaning they are invested in discipleship. We are all Planters at some point, & Waterers at other points. You might be a Planter & Waterer for the same person. It is inevitable that it will take multiple Waterers for even just one person.
The task isn’t easy; that’s why there’s a great reward for it. Every person who calls on the name of the Lord for salvation is called to be a Planter & Waterer. But in the end, it is God who causes growth. When a person you’ve been ministering to comes to Christ, it’s not YOU who have saved them, but the irresistible grace of God that draws them to salvation. You are indeed essential, but glory is God’s.

Surrendering it ALL…even my vocation.

testimony, youth ministry
I was so busy yesterday, that I forgot it was a special anniversary—three years to the day I surrendered my future vocation to the Lord. It wasn’t an easy journey to that point, I can tell you that; and the journey since has been rewarding.
My junior year of high school (11th grade), I was fully immersed in church life. I ushered, led worship team, was fully involved in the youth group, volunteered for all kinds of things, led Sunday School…you name it, I did it! I struggled a lot with trying to fit in with my friends, as all teens do. There weren’t many strong Christian influences around me (looking back at high school, I can think of 4-6 other strong followers of Christ that I graduated with out of 216?). I guess the difference was I had strong convictions should I do something “wrong.” So I didn’t do much partying or anything, just because I knew it was wrong.
Winter rolled around, and I felt the Lord trying to tell me something. I was planning colleges and my future, and was decided on a major but worried about finding a college I could afford for journalism. My youth pastor was the first to say something that really made me think. He told me that I shouldn’t go far for college, because he needed me to work with the youth and “take over” after I graduate. I laughed at the thought of “taking over” a youth group; it seemed outright ridiculous to me…but I started to think about it. I felt like the Lord was trying to tell me something, but I ignored it because I already had my life figured out (I’m a planner, as well as stubborn). One by one people in the church started coming up to me, telling me about the spectacular job I was doing working with the youth, how I was a light in the church, how I needed to continue working with teenagers and was gifted, and blah, blah, blah! Each time I would thank them and start to think about what they were saying, but then I would go rebel. I repeatedly told God, “I’m not adequate enough. Find someone else. This is too hard for me! I can’t do this! This would take too much out of me! It doesn’t pay enough for the job I’d do.” I rebelled more and more, as I got flat-out drunk and embarrassed myself in front of my friends and lost their respect. I found my worth in boys, as I became completely obsessed with one and became a complete idiot with another. There was no way I was going to surrender my life!
I remember that night I got drunk, the next morning I woke up and taught Sunday School. I got in front of the youth, and became honest for the first time. I told them the previous night’s activities. I also told them what I felt God was calling me to. They affirmed me and the calling, and I rolled my eyes and didn’t listen. I began telling a few people, laughing at the preposterousness of it (real word). As I was softened, I pushed further and further until I hit my rock bottom. I went to summer camp and just struggled, because I knew what God wanted me to do. I bawled my eyes out every night, because I didn’t want to accept it. Finally, one night I was praying to God, repenting of the last eight months of nonsense. I asked why, what was the point of this. “This is what you’re meant to be” was the response. I looked up and around, and I saw teenagers praying, youth leaders helping them, people singing, etc (typical camp scene) and I knew it. Right then and there I said, “Fine God. If this is it, fine.” And I gave up!
I cried for months afterwards. I broke things off with the guy I was seeing. I honestly changed my life. I still was reluctant, but trusted. I told God that if was going to make me do this, to find a college. Bam. I told Him that if he wanted me to go to that college, to provide a way to pay. Double Bam. And soon my bitterness towards the surrender turned to joy.
You see, God knows what He’s doing. As I look back, it only makes sense that I would work with teenagers for the rest of my life. I went through an incredible lot as a teen, and I know that its purpose was for helping others. I have a strong sense of leadership. I also have ADD and difficulties with my speech, which is a requirement for youth leaders, haha! I was preparing for ministry before I even entered it, as I collected books and such. Isn’t it funny that I was preparing for something without even realizing it? That’s the power of God.
Every time I would tell a friend that I was going into youth ministry, they would reply, “That makes sense” or “That’s perfect for you!” Thanks friends, for knowing before I did! Not everyone was supportive, especially in my family (they wish I picked something that I would get a whole lot of money out of). But honestly, it only makes sense now.
I have grown a lot since there, partly because of the college God sent me to and partly because of the ministry God sent me to. I am not the same girl I was in high school, and people know it and can tell within the first few minutes of talking to me. God has been piecing the puzzle together for me, and I am letting Him. I don’t want to make plans anymore, because I know that His is already set down for me.
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 19:11.
hallelujah.
I’m scared sometimes, I’m going to be honest. There are a lot of criticisms for ladies in ministry, and I face it. And I also face the criticisms from my family and others. The scary thing is, I try not to worry, because I know the Father is taking care of me. He takes care of the birds, the flowers, the hippopotamuses. Who am I that He can’t take care of me?
Surrendering sucks sometimes, but man is it sweet.

A Youth Minister’s Rant…

christianity, youth ministry

What is knowledge if we cannot apply it?


This has been a question I have been asking myself a lot since I have been in college. I go to a very religious school, and spend all my time in the theology department with a lot of very intelligent people. But these people come off very arrogant to the rest of the school. There is the cliche that Biblical Studies majors are a bunch of arrogant jerks. Why is that? Because they sit around talking doctrine and theology all day and don’t seem to be very nice when it comes to the practical matters of life. Because when they see someone stumble, they’re on their case. Because they are extra judgmental. This, to me, is a problem. (especially since I know a lot of BS majors that are sweethearts.)

A brother of mine who is a BS major told me that he thought youth ministry majors need to switch to BS, a “real major”. Youth ministers today prove to be idiots time and time again because they don’t have enough knowledge about the Bible to minister to their youth, and don’t know theology and doctrine like they should. If they want to be effective in ministry, they need to be as intelligent as possible in the area of the Bible. As true as this is, this proves to me how arrogant BS majors can be.

Don’t get me wrong, I COMPLETELY agree that if you are in ministry, you need to understand the Bible and try to gain as much knowledge as possible. But my thing is, what is the point if you have all this knowledge but can’t apply it? I know a guy who when he talks to teenagers, all he comes off as is brilliant…and over their heads. He cannot relate to them as teenagers because he was never taught how. Now this is where I defend the youth ministry program–the program at SBU teaches you how to relate to teenagers, gives you Adolescent Development class so you can learn where teenagers are cognitively/spiritually/physically/etc, and also provides a group of others going into the same field who can provide advice and such.

But my purpose isn’t to defend the youthmin department. No, I want to give you guys two verses that I have found to be true since being in ministry:

1 Corinthians 8: “Knowlege makes arrogant, but love edifies.” (NIV: “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.”)

How can we minister with just knowledge? It takes more. If we are just spitting out all of our knowledge, how is that going to reach them? It takes more.
(In all fairness, the chapter context discusses food sacrificed to idols, but I think this applies to all things if you read the verses to follow. Plus, it’s basic human truth.)

1 Corinthians 9:19-22: For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some.

Dr. Malone LOVES talking about the Indigenous Church–how if we are going to reach people, WE need to reach them at THEIR level. That means learning to talk like them, act like them, and learning about their culture and environment. Teens have their own culture, and honestly you have to learn how to relate to that. It isn’t something that comes naturally.

So in summary of this rant… Remember that knowledge isn’t everything. It’s important, yes. But how are you going to reach people if you can’t relate to them? Having knowledge creates a separation between you and that person, it doesn’t bring you closer. So learn how to balance book knowledge with practical knowledge.

(and don’t put down youth ministry majors!)

I’m not dead! :)

youth ministry

Hey guys, a quick post to tell you that I will try to be posting throughout the summer. Buttt, life is hectic! I got an internship at First Baptist Church of Maryville. It’s an amazing opportunity to work with High School girls and learn more about youth ministry while in the field. So far it has been crazyyyyyy!!! I have a special 16 girls that I am going to be trying to connect with personally throughout the summer a few times a week. We will be hanging out in discipleship, as I help to prepare them to become servant leaders in a global society (yep I stole from SBU’s mission statement, haha). In the first three days I have worked there, I put in about 25 hours in three days (including a 12 hour day yesterday, not including the work outside of the building!). It looks as if every Wednesday I will be out of my house from 8:30am to 11pm. Wooo!!! And during a particular week, my soul will be sold to a project that the other interns and I are in charge of doing (a VBS-type thing for middle schoolers, but like 2394871 times cooler). Plus camp, mission trip, missions projects, pool parties, etc etc etc.


So as you can see, chaos. Love it :)

Best way to contact me this summer is on my cell, or facebook. I can’t guarantee immediate contact back, but I will try. And also, let’s hang out. Done deal.

:)
Heather

5 minutes before class!

youth ministry

It’s interesting to me how God works, or at least how He changes your mind. He showed me in high school that He wants for me to dedicate my life to ministering to teenagers. I understood that. And honestly, I wanted to do high school–I was stuck on it. Doing middle school wasn’t desirable–because I know how I was in middle school! I was loud, obnoxious, and that was the time in my life that I went through all of my family drama. So I was pretty decided on focusing my life on high school gals.


But the Lord really showed me that I was favoring high school without even considering middle school. It’s almost as if I had pushed it out of my thought system. As He gave me opportunities to minister, it was to the middle school age that I was so firmly against. Last year I was a leader of a small group of middle school girls at Second Baptist Springfield. Then over the summer I was the Intern Interim Youth Leader at a church in St. Louis, where more than half were girls going into high school, with a few more boys and girls in middle school, and two juniors in high school. Then this school year I’m working with middle school girls at Freshwater Church. And then this past weekend, I was put with middle school girls at a Disciple Ship Now weekend.

WOW!

God has taught me a LOT of things during DNow, and it’s really starting to make me think about how selfish I was, even in ministry. And what’s interesting is how now that I am working with middle schoolers, I am constantly rethinking middle school and all the things I went through. There was a lot of trauma, that i refused to think about, and now it’s resurfacing. I am dealing. thank God.

♥Heather