…One of the clearest places where we should find eternal hospitality is at the Lord’s table, a banquet memorial where we proclaim the Lord’s death till he comes. The reason we come is that we are hungry–hungry for mercy, hungry for friendship, hungry for help, hungry for hope. There is no place for the self-righteous, the insiders who think they belong there. Jesus came to help those who are sick, and as in the days of old, there’s a bunch of sick people in the world….

[Full Article Link]

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What is your church doing to retain, train, and grow leaders in the 18-40 age group? What are you doing that works well? What doesn’t work in your context?

Why would your church not want to target a generation of 78 Million people (in the US)?

I am currently reading the book “The Millennials” by Thom and Jess Rainer. I highly recommend it. It can cause some great discussion in your church leadership…

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Maybe You are a Youth Worker that has been told you are too young/old/boring/playful/whatever to effectively serve in youth ministry. Maybe you have been sucked into church politics without even knowing it and you are now paying the price. Maybe you’ve been bullied by a youth parent/deacon/elder/Sr Pastor/whoever. Maybe you fantasize about what youth group would be like if “that kid or those kids” suddenly stopped coming. Maybe you want to hang it up, go work 9 to 5 in a cubicle somewhere. Maybe you have the feeling that nothing you are doing in your church matters, or you made a mistake coming to the church where you are serving.

Maybe you feel horribly inadequate and ill-equipped to deal with all the junk that is thrown into the laps of your teenagers and families. Maybe you have felt the constant pull between church expectations and building deep relationships between spouse and your children.Maybe you’ve had that deep feeling tearing away at you that something is not matching somewhere between your beliefs and what your church is teaching. Maybe you have that desperate wish to tell someone you are not “fine” ; that you are really dying and wasting away inside, your soul is screaming for something, somewhere to give.

I’m not going to tell you to just suck it up, or that it will get better. It really may get worse first, in a way you can’t even imagine. I’m not going to tell you to count it joy, that you are doing something right. While Biblical, it is the wrong time to hear it.

I will tell you I have been there.  I will tell you that you cannot walk through this alone. I will tell you that the longer you hold it in, the worse it will be when it finally comes out (because IT WILL, one way or another). I will tell you that you are not the only one who has ever experienced this. I will tell you that I will gladly talk, pray, cry, or whatever else to help you walk through this.

Youth Workers, we are in this together. It is not God who wants to see us like this, but the enemy that seeks to kill, steal, and destroy.

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The “they don’t get me” syndrome can happen when a Youth Pastor decides that their church has no clue how important Youth Ministry is, and it is completely up to the Youth Pastor to make sure the whole church knows it. This is a problem. Or maybe it’s the Senior Pastor that once served in Youth Ministry and you take it upon yourself to share your vast knowledge of all things Youth Ministry (that you have acquired in your whole 3 months of experience)  and just how much things have changed since 1971.

The ”they don’t get me” syndrome in essence makes Youth Pastors look like rotten little brats. It makes us look like we are throwing a tantrum, just to make our voice heard in the mix of all the ministry activities in the church. It forms an “us against them” image to all parties involved. That is not healthy. It paints a picture of the church that is closer to the one found in 1 and 2 Corinthians than that we find in Acts 2-5.

So how do we fix it?

The ”they don’t get me” syndrome fix starts in two places – Your spirit and your heart. Pray for God to show you what you should be doing with all the time you are spending thinking about how people in your church fail to understand the Youth Ministry. Find what that root of discontent is, and kill it. NOW!

Start to build bridges to the other ministries in the church. Understand that “those people” don’t have to understand all the details of Youth Ministry. They just need someone they can trust to do God’s work in the lives of students. It may be as simple as getting some quilters to make some cookies for small groups once in a while. Find ways to build relationships throughout the generations of your church(include yourself here as well). It will not be quick or easy, but the rewards will be eternal.

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Enjoy.

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I will not be there for the funnel cakes or deep fried Snickers Bars (as good as they may be). I will be there to impact people, point them to the Cross, and engage them with the truth of the Gospel. Pray for all those in Parke County, Indiana working to do the same. This is a bigger need than one person or one church can handle, but thankfully it is not too big for the One True God to handle.

In the Words of Greg Stier,

Viva La Cause! 

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Photo Credit: thinkresearch.org.uk

While there are varied experiences based on the context you are dealing with (such as urban vs. rural ministry), I am finding that in the Rural Youth Ministry/Traditional Church context, something went haywire about 1975, then it was fixed with “band-aids, baling wire, and duct tape” about 1985, then that all fell apart about 2005. What is this something that broke? Different denominations and churches are going to use different terms, but I’ll throw this one out there – Community Discipleship.

I was kind of late to the game (born in 1979, entered Youth Ministry in 2001), but I see from experiencing the post-1985 quick fixes while I was in youth group what I’m sharing today. Band-Aids and Duct Tape are poor tools to use for eternal matters. Facades do little if he foundation is weak.

I propose that we make the hard choice to re-think what we are doing to build disciples in our churches! We need to suck it up and go for it full-bore to make a difference in our communities. This “playing church business” isn’t going to cut it in our present generation. Whatever that looks like to make fully devoted followers of Christ, we must do. Time is short. Are you in?

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1) I know well the Pastor being “honored” (He was my pastor for a number of years while I was growing up)

2) I know he can take it in good humor.

3) I know it is very fitting for that area of the country (not a lot of “acting” required for the presenter?).

4) I know that the church he helped plant meant it out the utmost respect and love

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Photo Credit : stepawayfromthecake.com

It’s easy to chart what you need to do to improve your church. It is exponentially harder to actually accomplish it. On paper it may look easy to hit those milestones and measures, but when you throw in the personalities and agendas of all involved, things can get quite messy.

At this point, you’ve probably learned nothing you didn’t already know. In stating the obvious, we need to look at  what makes the difference between a church that is doing a lot of “good things” versus one that is making great gains for The Kingdom.

Define the purpose of your meetings. Are you having meetings simply to schedule the next meeting? Are you forming committees for the purpose of having another committee? Most of us have been in those endless meetings that have plagued our workplaces with equally endless and vague names and processes. Please don’t make us endure that at church too. We already have too mant of “those meetings” on our calendar.

Define the purpose of your ministres and programs. In college, I went to a church that had an “Old-School-Texas-Fundamentalist-Pastor (in that order)”. He had an awesome statement that defined what the church did and didn’t do – “Aim at Nothing, Hit it every Time!” We often have those meetings where we start (or copy) a “program”, not entirely being sure what it’s supposed to accomplish or how it fits the overall vision of the church. Bottom line is this – if you don’t know what it’s supposed to do, it might not be a good idea to start doing it…

Define who you really are. You are not Saddleback. You are not Willow Creek, LifeChurch, or any other Mega Church. That’s ok. Be the church that God has called you to be in order to reach His people in your area. Stop trying to be a copy of someone else that God has designed to reach a different group of people in a different context. Note that it does not give you a free pass from being excellent in striving to do great things to impact the world and show them God’s Glory.

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However, I was presented the opportunity to take some of my Leadership Students to Worldview Academy thanks to a few forward-thinking leaders in our church. As a budget-minded Youth Pastor, I was unsure what to expect for that amount of tuition. I was pleasantly surprised. Honestly, I put very high expectations on Worldview and they surpassed all of them.

The faculty did an excellent job in connecting with the students, while giving them deep spiritual and Biblical truths. The college staff/small group leaders were a collection of “best of the crop” college students from all over the United States and Canada.

The teaching was split in four distinct categories: Servant Leadership, Theology, Apologetics, and World Issues. All were handled very well by the faculty. They taught middle school and high school students things I’ve seen college students stumble and wrestle with. Plus, they did it well.

This is the only camp I have ever been to that prepares, then turns loose students to practice evangelism in groups on a state college campus. I was very pleased at the level of  boldness shown by the students! They brought it!

The camp part of the experience was well done in addition to the teaching. The facilities at the college were great. There was no complaining at all about the food (maybe except for the five or so pounds I gained…doh!). I heard great things from my students about the small group studies and team-building exercises.

The students I took also have already used the things they have learned in the time they have been back. Three of my four students were part of a mission team last week that helped a small church conduct its Vacation Bible School. They helped a church of 20 handle 60 kids. Four of those 60 kids began a relationship with Christ last week. One of four that was lead to Christ by a Worldview Academy 2011 Student. Another Worldview Academy Student gave the Salvation Message and Invitation on Thursday night. They are ready, bold, and prepared.

Well Done, Worldview.

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