L.E.A.D.

This week in my planning phase, there's a focus on leadership development. I'm sure you're wondering "shouldn't he focus on leadership development every week of the year?". Well, I do. Throughout the summer, it's a goal to meet with every volunteer youth worker who I serve with. But I also take time to review and look to the future of how we disciple our teenagers at LRC.

One thing that we've been big on over the past few years with our senior high youth group is "student leadership". Essentially, it's a handful of students in our ministry who say "I want to be discipled for one year and take part in serving at my youth group". These students go through a discipleship track throughout the year with myself and essentially run the show on friday nights. Without our student leaders, our youth group would be a bunch of adults spouting off a bunch of words to teenagers for a few hours, entertaining them here and there with a game or a movie and then telling them to go be entertained in big church when they graduate... and I'll stop my rant there.

Every year, I sit down and go over the leadership lessons that we go through once a month. Most of it is mishmashed from previous years and we do our best to teach biblical leadership with the least amount of extrabiblical heresy as possible. This year, I've developed an acronym for the word LEAD.
This year, our students will be learning that if they are going to lead, they are going to be

Learning that leadership is about learning from Jesus and from others.
Empowering other students to serve and be a part of their faith community.
Asking tough questions that challenge the status quo in order to do things better
Directing those who are watching and following them by not just "going" but "showing".

Think it'll work?

Till next time,

State of Youth Ministry in Canada

A few years ago i participated in a nation wide survey of youth pastors. The results were compiled into a book called "What's Happening: The State of Youth Ministry in Canada"
The book is packed full of stats, numbers and figures that you have to decipher for yourself... but loaded with truth and frightening outcomes.
Overall, it was encouraging to see a canadian statistic of what is happening in youth ministry locally and not just next door in america.
If you haven't heard of it, check out these videos. Ask yourself what resonates with you and your context and what doesn't. Make sure you watch both videos too, eh?

Something needs to change

As the summer is upon us, it’s time to reflect, review and seriously question our calling before jumping into another year. I love the summer for allowing time for that. It’s a process that takes more than a weekend and if you read previous posts, is a non-negotiable in our youth ministry year here at Lincoln Road Chapel.

One item up for review in today’s post is the way that we operate financially….

As a youth worker, I’m sure you’ve been introduced to the headache that money can add into any ministry dynamic. There are many contributors to this headache… here are just a few…
-when money is involved, there is always a chance that it can be mishandled… if you’ve been a youth worker for a while, you most likely know some folks who’ve been fired over an issue like this.

-when you have to collect for something, you often feel like a travel agent.

-when you have families with multiple students in your ministry, you most likely are aware of the strain that multiple events are putting on their finances.

-even when you give the blanket statement of “we’ll do anything to make sure your child can get to ________ (fill in the blank)”, you know there is a sense of shame that comes with not being able to provide like the other family down the road…

I’m sure there are many other contributing factors to this headache that you could add to the list… and here’s the tipping point for me this year…

When your ministry has even one event that is not affordable for a teen or family, you run the risk of segregating that family or teen for their whole tenure in your ministry.

I thought about continuing with this post, but I think I’ll end it there. We all can agree that you can never eliminate the financial aspect from what we do, but there are definitely ways to do things differently. For our student ministry team here at LRC, it means we’re continually cutting back on retreats and big events, supplementing them with other ways of doing youth ministry and ultimately seeking ways to reach teenagers with the love of Christ regardless of economic background… and that will never be done if we continue doing things the way we’re doing them now.

Something needs to change for us… what about you?

Closed For the Season

This week, 3 of our once a week programs are coming to an end.

Innermission: our more intense/study based junior high sunday school is ending for the year.
Xtreme Youth: our high energy, outreach focused evening finished last night.
LINK: our highschool no-one-can-stop-when-it-gets-going machine is coming to an close for the season on friday night.

When I was beginning my first summer here, I always questioned why we shut down...
That was until the fall came again. The benefits were huge. Here are just a few...

1. It gives regular leaders a break in order to preserve them for the next term. It's called Sabbath. God created it and said it was so important, it became a top ten issue in life.

2. It gives the leadership some time to reflect on the previous year and identify what was done right, and usually, what was done wrong and needs correcting.

3. It gives the point leader some time to spend in study and preparation to make sure that no one has the excuse to fly by the seat of their pants... that includes every leader and every student leader. In other words, when those you lead fail, it's usually because you have failed to lead them... so take the time to lead them well by being prepared.

4. It gives you time to connect with people... away from the programming and the events. Time to ask unrelated questions to "ministry" that often matter more to our students and adult leaders in our ministry-- questions that show that we're human, that we care and that this is more than just getting a job done, but is all about journeying through life as we chase after God's Spirit...

5. And finally, it gives you time to Selah-- you see it in the psalms. After something has happened or said, authors would pause and say "Selah"; which scholars have spent much time deliberating a meaning but come to this conclusion... Stop and listen... stop what you're doing for a moment and listen to the God of the universe whisper. It's during these momenets in which we often make some of the soundest, wisest and most important descisions that determine the outcome of our futures.

and isn't that worth the time to just slow down?

Till next time,

Living in the Moment

As youth workers, we live for the next event…
Some of us are planning a summer trip
Some of us are planning an end of the year bash.
Some of us are finishing the year strong…
And for some of us, we’re just hoping to survive june so we can sit down, lament where we’ve gone wrong and pray that God will not let catastrophe come upon us again.

It’s completely normal to have something to look forward to—be it summer, the next big thing or what’s around the corner…

But try not to forget the here and now.

This weekend, I enjoyed a weekend off with my family.

We went to a wedding.
We visited grandparents.
We went for breakfast with friends.

It was great.

And it was mainly because we chose not to worry about tomorrow.

Yes, there are many stacks of paperwork, lessons, obligations and such to worry about the day back in the office…

But for now, it’s best to enjoy the full portion of life. Tomorrow will come, but today will be lost if we disregard it. So, in light of that—go and enjoy your day wherever you are and with whatever you’re doing today.

Cause if you’re so stuck in tomorrow, you’ll slip out of today and miss the best times in life.

Reminds me of a thought in Ecclesiasties…

The best thing we can do is to enjoy eating, drinking, and working. I believe these are God's gifts to us,
and no one enjoys eating and living more than I do.
Ecc 2:24-25

Why Giving Away Leadership Is So Hard...

As I stepped into my position a few years ago at LRC, I was the jack of all trades. I led worship, I preached, I led bible studies, I led a group of student leaders, I led games and I took on extra commitments… and this was my job. Or so I thought.

The kicker was that I could actually get away with doing everything and making sure it was done right. Nothing was really being dropped and the ministry ran smoothly if I was the one doing it all…

And all my leaders and student leaders had to do was show up on their given night and look pretty.

The problem with this style of leadership, is that it’s not really leadership at all.

It’s just one person doing everything for everyone else.

And that’s not leadership.

What it looks like now…
Lately, I’ve been understanding my role as coach more than anything. As I’ve given leadership away, as doug fields would say “I’ve worked myself out of a job”… from the outsiders point of view anyways.

On Wednesday nights, our youth leaders (some who happen to be highschool students) run games and small groups. I will be responsible for curriculum and teaching, as well as other youth leaders will teach the odd night and I’ll basically be a helper during the evening. Our junior high kids love our youth leaders… not just the youth pastor. And when something comes up, PJ isn’t always expected to come to the rescue… it’s often another youth leader.

On Friday nights, senior high student leaders run the show. They do evangelism, they do worship leading, they do games, they do food. And they lead. And they lead very well.
What do I do? I coach. This year, we’ve got a team of 9 student leaders who I meet with once a month for leadership development. We also have a few adult leaders who are here to coach as well. As adult’s we’re there to cheer on our students as they succeed and we’re there to cheer them on as they work through failure. Does it mean everything will run just as smoothly and nothing will be dropped?
Not at all… but it does mean that leadership is being taught and our student leaders will be graduating to take their leadership to other areas within the church and outside of the church…not to mention A-1 adult youth leaders when they graduate.

On Sunday nights, our young adults take turns leading small groups and take part in planning. Some of them even tell me when I’m off my rocker and point out areas of improvement. Did I mention that the same student leaders who graduated highschool are now a part of this group as well?

Fears you face as you give away leadership
If you’re the one man or one woman show at your gig, I desperately plead with you to give away leadership. Even if you can handle it. It will better those you lead in the long run.
I know that as the lead person, you have fears.

You may be afraid that people will wonder what you do day in and day out.
You may be afraid that you won’t have anything to do… yeah right!
You may be afraid that something won’t go right and people will blame you for it.
You may be afraid that others will think you are lazy.
You may have ego issues because you have a vision for your ministry… re-read that last one and tell me what’s wrong with that statement!

But these fears are nothing compared to the joy of working with growing leaders who will one day do the same thing for others as you did for them…

Leadership is never a one man show. It’s all about taking a few, building into them and setting them out take on their world…

Till next time…

Superstar...

I’m sure as a youth worker, you’ve felt the crunch to give more.

-a previous program is failing, and you want to come to the aid.
-you see a hole within the ministry you run, or something that
would be a great addition.
-there’s a great opportunity, you just need to find the time and
you could be the right person for the job.
-if you just gave it one more night a week, you’d see so much more
change…

These past few years have been a learning curve for me. To be blunt, I’m a rookie. I’ve been at my church for 4 and a half years, but I’m still learning the tricks of the trade. And with many “opportunities” to do more and give more, I’m learning that although it’d be great to do so, I just can’t. I’m sure you’ve had similar feelings and experiences.

Here’s something I’ve learned over the past few years here…

If it’s really important and not in my sphere of influence (or timeframe), it might be in someone else’s

If it would be a great addition to your church or drop in centre but you feel the strain, there might be something worth dropping that just isn’t working.

If it didn’t work in the past and you’re stressing because you don’t have the “right” way to do it, it’s probably not going to work in the future. Sometimes it’s okay to give up and focus your time and energy somewhere where it will be useful.

If someone keeps saying “if only we had someone to do _________ (fill in the blank)”, they might be the best person for the job and you just need to affirm and encourage them to do it.

If you feel like you’re putting someone else’s amour on, you most likely are. Stop, assess at the giant in front of you and ask the God of the universe how He’d like the battle to be fought.

At the end of the day, you’re one person. You can only do so much. So you have a choice. You can trust that your effort will be used by God as you entrust your ministry to others; or you can burn out trying to be the superstar youth worker.

In the words of a good friend and beloved co-worker, Len Habermehl, “Set your course, then sail towards it.”

Till next time,