There's No Such Thing as Part-Time

"Raise your hand if you're a part-time youth pastor or youth leader," said Kirby St. John. "You guys are my heroes."

What!? This was a little stunning to hear, and it was the first time I had heard it. Here's why he said it. As a part-time youth pastor, putting in time at another full-time job, we are putting in about 50-60 hours a week-- not with our families. That's on the verge of, if not firmly entrenched in, workaholicism (don't even get me started on how stupid of a word that is). We was admiring our dedication to God's call.

It was good to hear from someone who is in full-time ministry for so many reasons. The first? Self-loathing. If you are a part-time youth pastor or youth leader, you may have struggled with this as well. I've asked myself, "If I'm called to be a pastor, why don't I just quit my full-time job in faith that God will have a full-time pastor job for me?" The answer of self-loathing comes back as, "Because I must not have enough faith."

That's wrong for so many reasons, but I'll touch on one: Paul, the Apostle and evangelist, worked a full-time job making tents (the type you see setup at a farmers market). But, as far as we know, he didn't have his wife and kids suffering from his absenteeism. Those kinds of hours require some deliberate family maintenance. I came home from my 40-hour tent making job, only to immediately head to my home office to study and write a sermon. In the in between time, my 3-year-old welcomed me in, and asked, "Are you going to stay in my house now? Going to stay?" As opposed to go to the office. Or church. Or youth gathering. Or a meeting. "Yes, I'm going to stay... it's my house too," I replied. He repeated his question a few more times, just to make sure I understood. I understand all too well.

The second? Recognition of effort. Part-time pay and hours does not mean part-time ministry. Ministry is full-time. Whether you have a set number of office hours, or expectations of hours "put in" to your ministry job, there are countless other tasks and responsibilities of student ministry that add up. Putting in 10 hours each work could mean: 2 hours for youth gathering, 1 hour for worship team practice, 1 hour for setup/tear down, 4 hours for study/sermon prep, and a monthly meeting with leaders. What we don't add is the time spent thinking about our next fundraiser for missions.Praying for kids. Praying for the leaders. Praying for God to lead us and tell us what to do next. Replying to parents emails about great ideas (they are great). Carefully thinking about how to reply to those parents. Preparing for camp. Preparing for retreat.Planning group events. Keeping in touch with kids who have been AWOL for a few weeks.  Some of that is just part of life. But so much more is either self-imposed or God-imposed. What gets cut out must be those things that God doesn't prioritize.

This could easily become a rant about how much a part-time youth pastor must do, but that's not the point here, because any leader in a church must only do what God has called them to do, and what God is telling them to do right now. The point is, my own self-loathing and embarrassment that I wasn't full-time was annihilated by an encouraging word from a respected leader. Someone who didn't follow that statement up with, "but have you thought of doing XYZ? It would be great!" There was no catch. Just encouragement. Just a word from God through his obedient vessel.

On Their Own

The question may come to a youth pastor or leader, the shepherd, of "when to let go?"  When has discipleship set in?  When are the training wheels off?  If it is a matter of sooner or later, I would say later, not sooner.

 

The Importance of Retreats - Recap

Retreats, camps, meetings, lock-ins, advances... Call them what you want, but these times are highly important for community development.

This series outlines just some of the importance of retreats for student ministry.

• The Importance of Retreats
• Road Trip
• Shared Tribe Experiences
• A New/Different Voice
• Opportunities
• Testimonies
• Retreat Tips
• Coming Home

Retreats - Coming Home

Coming home

Here are a few things to avoid when coming home from the retreat or camp.  The first is with parents.  Give the parents a heads up on what to expect when kids come home.  Teenagers are already moody.  When kids are picked up or dropped off back home, well-meaning and loving parents are going to want to re-connect with their kids.  That is great!  However, these kids may have pushed themselves to the limits of what their bodies will handle when it comes to sleep. Staying up late and waking up early combined with caffeine and emotional experiences at the altar can yield really cranky teenagers.  Really cranky teenagers and a will-intentioned parent can end up in a car ride filled with fights.

 

The best advice I can give is to proactively cut this off.  Welcome them home, pray for them, and be warned that they may have a lot of energy to burn at the onset.  They're going to be excited to see you too, and may just start talking.  Parents should welcome, but not expect, immediate conversations about how great things were.  Don't dive right into all the things that the student needs to get accomplished when they get home.  Give them a chance for a nap if they want it.

 

After a week of camp, it's really easy for a student to rationalize (even some adult leaders will do this--guilty as charged) not going attending church on the subsequent Sunday.  "I was just at church for a week-- that's like ten weeks of regular church!"  Challenge them to not skip.  Show up and lead by examples of their faith and commitment.  Along with that, talk deliberately to a few students to see who are willing to share their testimony from camp.  Even better-- record it, and make a montage of testimony clips-- and share these with the larger congregation.

 

Despite the concept of "church night" being a dying concept, most youth gatherings meet on Wednesday nights.  Ours does not.  We meet on Sundays.  If you do meet on Sundays, and you are coming off of a weekend retreat, do not cancel your gathering.  Make it known that you are going to gather-- it is on, and it is time!  This gives the immediate opportunity for them to continue the worship and depth that they had while they were at camp, and to bring that energy and enthusiasm for God back.  This is a living testimony to those who did not or could not attend.  Furthermore, it shows that "camp experiences" -- those things that are done when away -- aren't limited to those places.  God is not bound by geography.

 

Conclusion

Retreats, lock-ins, camps, and conferences can be an experience, with students and leaders immersed in a culture of spiritual development and movements of God.  While they can be physically exhausting, they are simultaneously restorative as an experience.  While not revolving a student ministry around camps and retreats, these are excellent support to what you're already doing.

Retreat Tips

Retreat Tips

Don't avoid retreats.  It's very easy for a pastor or a church to become self-involved.  It is important to look up and out to meet with other believers and fellowship, worship God together, and pray for each other.  When at the retreat, contrive ways for your tribe to mix it up and mingle with other tribes in attendance.  Challenge them to sit in different spots for each chapel service.  Challenge them to sit with other groups during at least one meal.  Challenge the older students to "adopt" a younger student for the event, having them look out for the younger ones and encourage them.

Update Twitter/Facebook with blurbs and pictures of what's going on so that parents at home have some connection.  Use this ability to solicit prayers so that the greater congregation has a connection to the students.

As the leader, take advantage of the time with other leaders.  Ask about their gatherings.  Talk about books you are reading or podcasts you listen to.  Talk about fundraisers, outreaches, gathering formats.  What are your students studying?  You might learn a great idea of how to accomplish something that has been a challenge for you.  It's really easy to start spouting off all of your great ideas.  Instead, really work on your listening.  Let God pour into you through others.

As the leader, set the example for your tribe.  When something needs to be done (chairs moved, garbage picked up, etc.), be one of the first people to jump up and do it.  If you bring other leaders from your tribe, require them to do that same.  These are the examples of being servants that build credibility.  If there are option breakout sessions, make them required for your leaders and students.  If there are no breakout sessions scheduled, have your leaders put together something for a daily meeting with your students.


Continued...

The Importance of Retreats - Opportunities

Opportunities

There are several opportunities to "bring something back" to your gathering.  The first is to implement good and scriptural techniques that would help your tribe engage more deeply with God.  At worst, there are new discussion points as you may have to scramble to perform damage control due to an over-zealous but under-informed/-educated/-prepared preacher poor self-restraint and lack of a governor between brain and mouth.  In any case, when retreats hand out lemons as part of the registration fee, do not neglect the opportunity to make lemonade.

Continued...

They Need Good Pastors and Good Churches Everywhere – Kevin DeYoung

This article is pointed-- at some of us! Thanks to Pr. V for passing this on to us.

From Kevin DeYoung's response to an article by Bill Steeger. Here is the portion of the article that DeYoung quotes.

It’s amazing how many young pastors feel that they are distinctly called to reach the upwardly-mobile, young, culture-shaping professionals and artists. Can we just be honest? Young, upper-middle-class urban professionals have become the new “Saddleback Sam”.

Seriously, this is literally the only group I see proposals for. I have yet to assess a church planter who wants to move to a declining, smaller city and reach out to blue collar factory workers, mechanics, or construction crews. Not one with an evangelsitic strategy to go after the 50-something administrative assistant who’s been working at the same low-paying insurance firm for three decades now.

Why is that? I can’t offer a definitive answer. It could be that God is legitimately calling an entire generation of young pastors to turn their focus to a small segment of the population that happens to look very much like they do.

Perhaps for Steeger and his crew, the issue is a matter of call. Is there a call or is there an attraction? In my flesh, I'd rather be in sunny Mexico or Hawaii, but in my spirit, which is empowered by and follows the Holy Spirit, I am called to Wisconsin. Maybe Acts 29 is attracting people who want to be like the other people in Acts 29 (Driscoll, etc.). We emulate those we admire, and until we start elevating the work (in our hearts and minds) of those who minister in small fellowships/tribes and low-populated backwoods areas in comparison to the megachurches, this will keep happening.

Don't get me wrong-- I'm not coming down on Acts 29. In fact, in the case of Acts 29, I'm just speculating.  But with Bible college, I have some experience.

At Bible college, how often was some church building verge-of megachurch Preacher was invited to speak at chapel? Hundreds. These are how we measure success. These are the ministries and efforts that are propped up and highlighted in our formative ministry educations, and therefore, these are who we emulate.

Key quotes:

"As I like to remind idealistic twentysomethings, community is a wonderful ideal until you have it. It's easy for Christianity to be nothing but cultural wallpaper in the Bible belt. Sins go under cover for years and sometimes generations. The gospel can devolve into family values, moralism, or Republicanism."

"Preaching the gospel week after week is heroic."

"Be willing to suffer, but don't feel guilty for pleasure."

Put your thoughts in the comments section.

Read the complete article here:

They Need Good Pastors and Good Churches Everywhere – Kevin DeYoung

The Importance of Retreats - Shared Tribe Experiences

Shared Tribe Experiences

The community that is built in 48 hours of immersion as a community at a retreat is worth more than 12 weeks of 2-hour meetings.  The depth of community that happens as students worship together for hours and hours over the course of a weekend is unobtainable through the normal youth gathering structure, and it is not to be ignored.

New Friends

The friendships that are formed not just within the tribe but with other students from the area are great to see.  It's a subtle encouragement that says, This is not limited to you.  God is moving all over the place!  You are not alone.

Witness

At retreats and camps, students are able to witness several things.

1. Other people worshiping God
2. Other ways people worship
3. God moving in others
4. God moving in their friends

Continued...

Adopting a Spiritual Vocabulary - Series

Adam Posegate shared a four-part series on Adopting a Spiritual Vocabulary, and the importance of what it is we speak into the lives of those we shepherd.

Part 1: What is Normal?
Part 2: Does our "Normal" Honor God?
Part 3: A Different Type of Relationship
Part 4: Conclusion

Adopting a Spiritual Vocabulary - Part 2

Is our culture E!, People, and gossip?

If a significant (read: great amount of) of our conversations revolve "entertainment news" or celebrities or even the personal and dating lives of those around us, there's a chance that our "normal" is gossip. Does our "normal" honor God? Are we praying for others as we consider them, or are we talking about everything they do wrong?

Is our culture political, CNN, and Fox News?

If most of our time is spent preaching and teaching moral theism and cultural values, instead of equipping students to be disciples and learn these things from scripture on their own, we may be missing the mark. Getting conservative Christians riled up about politically conservative values is lazy when only done for the sake of preaching to the choir. Rev. Tim Snell once said, "You shouldn't talk about those in elected office in ways that you wouldn't let your own children speak to you." He's right. We cannot make our gatherings a political safe haven for either the left or the right. Chances are, 90% of our students don't really care about politics anyway. We must create a spiritual safe haven and sanctuary-- sacred space that is set apart for worshiping God and learning how to be his disciples.

Is our culture ESPN and SportsCenter?

I once served with a small group leader who would almost exclusively talk sports with his group of guys. Sometimes, to seem relevant, he would also entertain conversation about video games. When I would fill in for him to cover the supporting spiritual materials for that evening's gathering, the kids would comment how they never go over "that stuff." This leader would say that he was doing this under the umbrella of "building relationships." Their normal was sports. In 10 years, sports won't give our students the tools for discipleship that they can only get from scripture. We must love our

students enough to build a different type of relationship.

To be continued...

Church Relevance article re: Francis Chan

Church Relevance is a resource I use frequently. Check out Kent's notes from a session led by Francis Chan (Crazy Love).

I love the point made to not get distracted by the details (while I say still pay attention to those details). Do not let them distract you from your mission.

What mission has God called your ministry to perform? I'm guessing, as you pray, it has something to do with "making disciples of all nations."

On Games

"We must make our youth group 'fun' so that kids want to be there! Then, while they're a captive audience, we preach and worship, and then they've experienced God without even realizing it!"

While that may be an over-simplification, if you really think about it, this is not far from the truth of many youth groups. Also, side note: if you know me, you know that "youth group" is practically a dirty word (youth group is who they are, vaguely by age, and not what they do). Say, for example, that your youth gathering is once a week for two hours. That's 2 out of 168 hours (24 hours x 7 days) in the week. For 166 other hours, your students are not at your youth gathering, and they are doing whatever in the world they want during those hours -- we have no direct influence. We need to take full advantage of the time we do have. As their shepherds, we must equip them to be disciples during those other 166 hours (yes, I'm including sleep time, because it's too hard to determine how many hours of sleep a teenager actually gets).

"If we don't have games, kids won't come."
Kids will come to youth gathering for a variety of reasons. They might want to know more about Jesus. They like the music. Their parents force them to. Maybe they even like the games. I am of the viewpoint that "recruiting" doesn't happen because of the games we play, but because of the relationships the have already developed or are developing. I posit that this is the number one "recruiting" method. We must equip our students to develop godly relationships with others, inviting them to youth gathering as prompted by the Holy Spirit. It's not about numbers. 10 students who are learning discipleship will be more effective in the Kingdom than 1,000 students who are merely being entertained.

What I am NOT saying
What I am not saying is that there should be no games, and that there should be no fun. On the contrary, there should be games. There should be fun. These are cultural languages that can speak to a higher truth. Games can support our efforts in ministry. The games should be engaging, and they should have a purpose. Everything you do in ministry should have a purpose. Start with the purpose (right, Rev. Warren?), and then act. The question is what is the purpose of the ministry?

Is the purpose entertainment?

Is the purpose discipleship?

Is entertainment the bait to trick kids into being discipled?

Then, after you have determined what the purpose of your ministry is, ask yourself these two questions:

1. Is this a stupid purpose?
2. Is this scriptural?

If it is stupid and unscriptural (entertainment as bait), then you have a bad purpose.
If it is stupid (foolish) by human standards, but scriptural and God-breathed, then you must do it.
If it is not stupid (foolish), and it is scriptural, then you have a sturdy foundation for proceeding.

What I am saying
"Is there even a good reason to play games?" Absolutely! There are many good reasons (even at your weekly youth gathering), but don't start with an idea and then look for a reason to do it. Start with your reason, and then look for a way to accomplish your goal.

For example, "We have a lot of kids who bring friends and guests, and not everyone knows each others' name. What can we do?" How about an icebreaker game that gets people to interact with everyone. Make a bingo chart with 24 personal items they must ask of the people in the room, then get signatures. That's just an example, but it gets people asking questions and learning about each other.

When God moves in one's life, it is not because they were able to pop the most balloons while blindfolded and dizzy (I don't know if this game actually exists, but it should!). It is because the Holy Spirit is invited to do something real in a person's life. There must be a deliberate approach to student ministry that does not include entertainment as bait. Discipleship must be direct, deliberate, and unapologetic. We are preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, who was crucified, died, and resurrected in atonement for the sins of every person. We are preaching a life lived for God and his purpose.

Whatever you choose to do, do it in obedience to God and in the power of his Holy Spirit.

A Challenge to Students Called to Ministry (especially college students)

It was my second semester at North Central University, and I was a junior. I had transferred in from Winona State University, leaving a year after the startling conviction from God that I had chosen a school based on mathematics and not obedience. I found myself lacking direction, even then. I had no mentor. I had not allowed anyone who was older to speak truth into my life, nor developed relationships with godly men who could offer advice.