Tag: ideas

Quick Tip: Giving Students Ownership

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We are preparing for a special immersive experience the week before Easter for our student ministry. Our church creates a walkthrough Easter Experience that leads people through a wonderful interactive engagement with the story of Easter and the profound truths of the Gospel.

We have tried a few times to provide opportunities for our students to walk through the experience, but they haven’t worked out for a variety of reasons. This year we think we have it figured out: we are creating interactive stations and opportunities for our students to engage with what they learned alongside of their small groups.

One of the elements we are seeking to incorporate into this evening is a time of musical worship. But here’s the problem: my staff team isn’t equipped or gifted in leading worship. So we were faced with a conundrum: who will lead this?

Our worship teams are extremely busy with Easter, so we couldn’t ask them. Most people we talked to were busy that week. Then it hit us; we have students who are gifted musicians, so why not give them the opportunity? We talked to a handful of students and they jumped at the opportunity to serve and lead their peers in this way.

You want to know what happened in that moment? I was reminded that when students are given the opportunity, they will rise to the occasion. When presented with the ability to lead and disciple their peers our students are ready, willing, and capable to stand up and lead as disciples of Jesus.

Students are powerhouses when you give them the opportunity. Yes, they are young and immature. Yes, this may cause you a bit more work and require flexibility. And yes, at times they will fail. But how is this different from anyone else, including ourselves?

When given the opportunity, and with the right guidance, students can and will rise to the occasion. My encouragement today is simply this: give them ownership. Give them a chance.

When you afford students the opportunity to own their youth group you are generating excitement, buy-in, and unity for your ministry. Students who can take a leadership role will invite their peers. They will seek to help others be a part of your vision, mission, and values. And they will develop into the leaders you have been longing for.

This isn’t a mindset for a certain type or size of student ministry. This is an opportunity and a calling to invest in the next generation in tangible ways. This can and will look different from ministry to ministry, but we must ask ourselves if we are doing this.

Are we developing our students into leaders and providing them with ownership of our ministries? When we do this, we had better be ready, because I can promise you one thing for certain: God will move in and through these students and we will see them shake the world for His kingdom.

Quick Tip: Share the Stage

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I’ll be honest, I love teaching, speaking, and preaching. It’s one of the areas I think God has gifted me in and I love to help others learn about Jesus, the Bible, and the practical applications and truths it has for our lives.

But here’s the thing: because I love it so much there have been moments where I wasn’t always willing—whether consciously or subconsciously—to share that space. That’s hard to admit because I know it shut out people who not only wanted to teach, but were exceptionally gifted communicators who should be teaching.

There are people in our churches whom God has gifted with the ability to teach and speak, and we should honor them and God by affording them the opportunity to do so. We can look at all the excuses and try to rationalize away why they shouldn’t (no formal training, no degree, not a pastor, etc.). But who are we to stand in the way of who God has gifted and called?

Instead, we need to help develop and nurture our people so the body of Christ can be what it is meant to be. We need to help ensure a variety of voices are heard, different people of different backgrounds are invited to speak. We need to provide opportunities for people with different perspectives to share with our congregants. These moments allow our students to learn and grow in different ways, through different mediums, offered by unique and different voices.

A word of insight as it relates to sharing the stage: we shouldn’t just haphazardly allow for anyone to speak, but instead we should help shape and prepare people for those moments. We should walk alongside, guide and pour into them, and help them practice, prepare, and debrief. These intentional moments allow us to pour into and lovingly shepherd our people to use their gifts and abilities to help the church flourish and grow.

So from one person who loves to teach and preach to another, share the stage. Invite new and differing voices in. Create a culture of opportunity and allow for your students to hear and learn through the broader body of Christ.

Quick Tip: Knowing When to Cancel Programming

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Have you ever had to wrestle with knowing when to cancel programming or even if you should? I’ve worked in a variety of church settings with different perspectives and rationales on this topic. Some advocated for never cancelling, some had specific parameters for when you should, and still others put the choice in ministry leaders’ hands.

Today, my desire is to provide you with some perspective for when you should cancel programming. Granted, this must align with your leadership’s guidance and perspective so this may not be as simple as just cancelling programming. It may entail multiple conversations with leadership prior to ever having to cancel. It may also mean trying to find a middle ground.

This post is simply meant to provide a framework for you and to help alleviate some of the guess work that goes along with cancelling. So when should you cancel programming?

When weather is a factor.

Depending where you live this may not be as big of a deal as it may be for others. Living in places that get snow, have hills, and are prone to drastic temperatures swings has left us having to cancel more than once. This isn’t because we are scared of snow, cold, ice, heavy rain and flooding. It’s because we are being intentional in keeping our students, families, and volunteers safe. If safe travel is an issue and if the weather is being uncooperative, it is best to cancel to keep everyone safe.

Lack of volunteers.

This is not to say that if you don’t have volunteers you can’t have programming. But if you don’t have enough to safely run programming and care well for your students, it may be necessary to suspend programming for that day.

When schools cancel classes and/or activities.

A great metric for cancelling is looking at what schools are doing. Did they close for weather? Was there an early dismissal? Are afternoon and evening activities happening? These are key metrics to help determine if you should cancel programming.

When there’s illness going around.

This is one that you need to keep an eye on because depending on the sickness it could spread quickly in your group. Many of us unfortunately learned this during 2020. But if there’s a stomach bug, the flu, Norovirus, Covid, or really any nasty bug it may be advantageous to cancel programming.

We have done this a few times because we had highly contagious bugs going around and rather than potentially add to the spread (and put our immunocompromised people at greater risk) we have opted to cancel.

Around holidays.

We cancel programming around Christmas and Easter because we know many families are extra busy, spending time with loved ones, and traveling. So from a programmatic standpoint it makes sense to cancel our gatherings. This also affords our volunteers and staff time to catch their breath and be with their loved ones on special days.

Culturally specific reasons.

We live and work in a tourist-heavy economy. This means typically during peak tourist season our locals tend to leave because tourists come in, which directly affects our ministry. Because of that we change how we do ministry in the summer months and suspend normal programming for the sake of summer programming.

You may have similar circumstances for spring break or Christmas break. Or maybe your community has different events and activities throughout each year that pull people away from ministry programming. That may be a reason to cancel.

At the end of the day, the safety and care of your people is paramount. You need to make a judgement call and know that in your heart it’s the best decision you could make. It may not always be the right one, but if you make it for the right reasons you have made the best decision possible.

Quick Tip: To Host or Not to Host a Big Game Party

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Sunday, February 9, is coming. Do you have any plans? What about your ministry or church? Is this a big event for your ministry?

This is a Sunday that I enjoy each year. The commercials, the game, the fellowship, the food, and honestly the conversations that this Sunday fosters just makes it really enjoyable for me. When it comes to ministry on this particular Sunday, I have done it all: I’ve hosted huge outreach events, smaller gatherings, and then just hung out at home with Elise and enjoyed the game together.

None of these are inherently the wrong or right choice. When it comes to your church, your vision, and your community, you know what will work best for your group and ministry.

This isn’t a post to say, “Here’s the right way to do ministry on this specific day.” Instead it is a challenge to think through what is the most effective way to do ministry on this specific day, and how does it align with and strengthen your ministry’s vision?

When we host events like this, we need to think critically about the “why,” “how,” and “what” components. Why are we having this event? How does it align with our vision? How does it help us reach and retain our target demographic? What is its purpose? What makes this event worthwhile? How do we measure a win?

When we step back and critically assess those questions and consider how to best reach our students or church, then we will have an opportunity to reach more people.

I’ll be honest, I’ve moved away from larger gatherings in youth ministry world because we just haven’t seen the reward for the all the work and energy we put into that singular moment. Instead, we encourage small groups to gather together with friends and family and watch the game. That way each group can determine what their time looks like and shape their gathering to best fit their group.

Remember, you’re not trying to find or build a one-size-fits-all event. Instead, allow for organically created moments to build community and relationships.

What does your ministry look like for the big game, and how do you measure the success of that event?

Quick Tip: Don’t Forget Your Family

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Ministry is an interesting career for a variety of reasons. We work weird hours. It’s really difficult to explain what we do. Weekends don’t exist in the traditional sense. We are highly involved in people’s lives. We have one to two days a week that are bigger than all the others. Two days out of the year are like our Super Bowl. Our phones and emails always seem to be going off. Work never seems to be done because something always comes up and discipleship never stops.

But let me ask you a question: how often do you bring work home? Or perhaps the question is better asked this way: how often does work distract you from or take priority over your family?

Please understand I’m not trying to call anyone out or be critical. I am trying to challenge our perspectives and to make sure we are focused on where we need to be first and foremost. We have to remember that our priorities fall in this order: God, self, spouse and family, community, and then church. You may read that and want to push back, and I hear that. But why? Why do you want to push back?

I think it’s often because our systems and priorities are out of order. The reality is our relationship with God is our first priority and then the outflow has to be to our primary relationships which are our families. Community should be next because I would argue if we can’t care well for our immediate communities, we have no business caring for a larger church body.

But the point of this post is to challenge all of us to keep our priorities in check, specifically with our families. When we are home, our family should be our focus. We should leave work at work. Our laptops shouldn’t come on vacations. Phone calls shouldn’t interrupt family time.

This may seem hard, but we need to honor our priorities in the right order. That means we need to share our priorities with our staff teams and church. We need to ask for help and accountability. And we may need to take bold steps like turning on “do not disturb” or removing email apps from our phones. Taking these steps will help us grow closer to our families and show our spouses and kids that they matter the most to us, as they should.

Now I get it. There are always exceptions. But don’t make the excuse that exceptions are the norm. Never sacrifice your family for church. The church will always exist without us, but our families won’t.

At the end of the day, the question we need to ask ourselves is this: am I the husband/wife my spouse needs me to be and deserves, and am I the father/mother my kids need me to be and deserve?

Make Room for Leaders of All Generations

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I’ll admit, when I started to work in youth ministry the key idea for recruiting volunteers was to find the young, cool, and relatable college students or young adults. It seemed the mentality was “have cool young people leading and it will attract students to your program.” As I have been serving in student ministry I will admit that my personal philosophy and desires have evolved in this category.

I believe having leaders of multiple generations serving in student ministry isn’t just something we should be doing, but is essential in the discipleship process of our students. Different generations of leaders offer different perspectives, insights, skills, relational connections, maturity, and abilities to speak into students’ lives. Older generations have a better understanding of navigating life and its challenges while younger leaders can engage with the “here-and-now” parts of our students’ lives. Both of those generations are necessary and important for our students to help them grow and mature in their lives and faith journeys.

But how do we do this well? How do we not only encourage various generations to serve but also encourage our students to engage with them?

Start by highlighting the need.

Make sure people know there’s a need. Those of us who work in student ministries know there is a huge need for loving and capable adults to serve. But does your church know that? I’ll be honest: I’ve assumed this before but the truth of the matter is that people may not know.

I was talking to some elders a short time ago and as I was explaining what was happening in our ministry one of them asked me this question: Do you have enough leaders? I chuckled and said no, and they were shocked. The reality is that even our leadership may not know that we need more help.

To help people take a step of faith and serve, you must highlight the need. Talk about it. Share stories. Point to what more leaders could accomplish. The more you share the need, the better the opportunities for recruiting new leaders.

Extend a personal invitation.

In as much as I would hope this would happen, people don’t typically show up at my office asking to serve. I’d love that to happen but it only has a handful of times. The way I have typically recruited people is through a personal invite.

Reach out to different generations and ask them to serve. Take them out for coffee, explain the need, share why you are asking them, and ask them if they’d be interested. The more you can care for and invest in people, the more likely they are to jump in and serve alongside you.

Explain what different generations bring.

I love talking to people who think they are “too old” to work with students because I get to point them to the truth that they aren’t too old. Sure, as we age maybe we can’t play dodge ball or 9 Square as much (or ever), but that doesn’t mean we are dismissed from serving.

Students crave authentic, Jesus-centered, interpersonal relationships with adults, and I have found that older generations tend to be amazing at doing this. I love watching people in their 60s and 70s sit with students, listen and share stories, love them well, and show up at important moments in students’ lives. When you can highlight the importance of inter-generational relationships and the skills, insight, and wisdom that different generations bring, you will help to ensure that they see value in serving.

Show ways generations can participate and serve.

This is key in encouraging different generations to serve. We have different areas that people can serve and I would encourage you to think about places where people can step in. It may mean we have to think creatively or create new opportunities, but doing so will help your ministry to flourish.

These areas can include small group leaders, mentorship roles, managing the cafe or kitchen areas, helping with administration, teaching, mentoring and shepherding your leaders, leading training sessions, or any other areas where you see a need.

Create opportunities for generations to serve together.

Don’t isolate generations or have them serve in silos. Instead incorporate different generations throughout your ministry. Have leaders serve together from different generations, allow various generations to disciple and speak into the lives of your students, have all generations at training, and show equal value and worth to all generations.

This may seem like a “duh” reality, but our culture doesn’t always allow different generations to share life together and that can, at times, seep into our ministries. We must be intentional in creating opportunities to serve together and thinking about how our ministry is actively doing so.

Quick Tip: Remember Your Neighbors

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It is fairly easy for church staff to get focused on their ministry and church because it’s where they work, are involved, and the place that host the people they care for. But if we take a step back and look, we will see that there are other areas in our lives where we should also be invested. The place your spouse or family members work, your neighborhood, your friend group(s), or places and businesses you frequent are just a few of the areas you can and should have an impact in.

We have an opportunity, privilege, and a calling to reach people in all the spheres of which we are a part. Over the course of our marriage, Elise and I have seen these additional areas as opportunities to love and care for others in a variety of ways. When we lived in Iowa, we were able to help neighbors shovel their driveways or get their cars out of snow banks. We also were able to help people with moving when I had a pickup truck we could load up.

Living where we do now in Pennsylvania, we have been able to get to know our neighbors and community even better and God has blessed us with opportunities to care for them. One of our favorite ways to do that comes during the Christmas season. We bake for our neighbors (including the staff at our local pizza shop), deliver the baked goods, and visit with them. It’s looked different year to year. Some years we use pre-made cookie dough or cinnamon rolls, other years we make the cookies from scratch. We’ve delivered rice cereal treats, and this year we may add candied nuts as well. It has become a tradition we love because we get to show our community that they are loved and remembered.

The point of this post though isn’t just to do things at Christmas, but instead to help us all think about how we can care well for the communities of which we are a part. It doesn’t have to be extravagant or involve things that only “people with money” can do. These are simple moments we can utilize to love and care for people and can be as simple as helping someone move, clean up a yard, deliver cookies or a meal, or simply visit with neighbors. This season, and this coming year, let’s make sure to remember and care for our neighbors!

Quick Tip: Gingerbread Houses Remix

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We just had our leader Christmas party this past Saturday and it was a blast! We had wonderful food provided by families in our ministry, we spent a good amount of time in fellowship, we shared stories, and played games. One of the games we did this year was a gingerbread house decorating contest.

Now I’ll be honest: we have done gingerbread houses before for both our leaders and students, and here’s what I learned. It takes a lot of prep time, you need to buy a lot more items for decoration including icing, it takes up a lot of time, it’s messy, and it can be frustrating for different teams or individuals.

So when the idea was floated that we should do it again, I’ll admit, I was skeptical at best. But my teammate shared that she had an idea that would make this go over well and by way less difficult than before. And let me tell you, she was right! Our leaders had a blast doing it and their creativity, story telling, and humor was on full display.

Now I know you’re anxiously wondering what we did, so here it is. We did cardboard gingerbread houses. A quick search on Amazon will bring up a variety of styles, sizes, and purchase options for you to choose from. The ones in the link above came with some decor but we quickly realized it wasn’t enough, so we bought more items to go with them. We purchased pompoms, pipe cleaners, stickers, markers, tiny presents (ones for dollhouses), little trees, and fake snow.

We packed up the unmade houses and supplies into baggies for each team and gave them fifteen minutes to build their houses. We then allowed each team to present their house to the judges and the stories we got for each home were just as unique as each of the houses.

All told, we spent less than $150 for 12 houses and additional supplies. We probably could have spent even less if we had shopped for the supplies at a dollar store, but time was not on our side for that. This is a great alternative to spending lots of money on an activity that could get fairly messy and would require significant prep work. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a fun new, yet timeless, Christmas activity.

Resource: A Fun Christmas Party Activity

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This year at our Christmas Party we are bringing back an activity we took a risk on last year because it paid huge dividends. The activity: decorate your own Christmas t-shirt with the opportunity to win a prize for your small group.

Last year we went with Christmas hoodies but that proved to be cost prohibitive, so this year we switched to t-shirts. The excitement, expectation, and energy this competition created has blown us away, and so we want to share this with you as a resource you could incorporate into your Christmas parties.

The objective: Create a Christmas-themed t-shirt that will impress the judges and allow your team or small group to win the prize.

The rules: Teams or small groups must design and create a Christmas-themed t-shirt using only the elements on their table. They cannot bring in any outside elements. Teams may exchange items with the game host if there are additional items available. Teams will have a set time to create their shirt and when the time ends, a member of the team must be wearing it.

Penalties: Teams lose points for using outside items, not having the shirt on at the end of the build time, having items on the floor (trust us, your facility team will thank you), not listening, or whatever else you’d like there to be penalties for. The judges can choose how many points to deduct for each offense.

Judging: Each person wearing the t-shirt gets 30-60 seconds to present (think runway style) their group’s design and explain why they should win. Judges will confer and choose the team they think has won. Judges can use scorecards to rank the teams in different categories (most unique, most likely made by someone’s grandmom, most over the top, most annoying, etc.) on a scale from 1 to 5. Judges can deduct points throughout the competition for penalties.

Prizes: We decided last year to incorporate a prize that we could reuse each year that would allow students to have a lasting legacy at our Christmas parties. We found an inflatable snowman that we have the winning groups sign with markers. We bring it out each year for everyone to see past winners and for the new winners to sign.

Variants: We are incorporating a new element this year. Teams can win advantages by participating in two additional competitions. The first competition is a lookalike contest where they need to do their best to look like a member of our student ministry team. The winners of that competition receive a golden gift box of extra supplies that only their team can use. The other competition is the team who brings the most first time guests gets a time advantage.

Supplies: We use large or extra large t-shirts with a variety of decorations including bells, tinsel, ornaments, bottle brush trees, fairy lights, jingle bells, pipe cleaners, bows, ribbon, and any other fun dollar store or Amazon items. We also make sure to have glue guns and glue sticks to attach the items, and we found these for a good price on Amazon a year ago. Lastly, we got some multicolored fabric markers to allow teams to draw and write on their shirts. The key is utilizing fun elements that are inexpensive.