Youth Ministry Ideas » Youth Ministry Culture

How To Get Your Youth Ministry Students To Connect With You

Steve — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 17:34:30 +0000

This picture was from a youth ministry where we had a Friday Night connect time called: Chill Time

One of the things that I have come to realize is that of getting your youth ministry students to connect with you as their leader. This is important so that when you move them towards being active with some type of event or activity that you would like for them to do – they are more likely to do it and respond to you.

So how do we get them to connect with us?

I watched a video about marketing recently and in this video the guy speaking talked about how great companies always had a face to connect people with. When you think of Apple you thought of Steve Jobs, Facebook – Mark Zuckerberg, Christianity – Jesus. This was a pretty extensive study and we are wired to follow and connect with people so that is why Facebook and Twitter are so popular because people are interested in people and not organizations.

I have heard many times, and admittedly myself, that people like Jesus but not the church. Jesus knew that he had to invest and picked his disciples to “follow” him. And in the same way we need to connect with students to help them follow us so that we can speak truth into their lives.

It all comes down to this: Spend Time With Them

Duh right? But seriously, how much real time are you “spending with them” outside of the up in front of them thing? Create times of recreation where students can see you in action. Where they can see you laugh and run and play and allow them to peer into your life. A lot of youth ministry leaders get a lot of crap for having “fun” events and actvities for students, but its because they don’t understand that you need to connect with them and get them to a place where they want to follow you.

The best time to do this is right at the beginning of your ministry job but can be built upon if you have been there awhile already. We get too wrapped up in administrative stuff that others could be doing for us and we need to hand that stuff off as much as possible.

So much of being effective comes down to relationship. When I feel like I have failed it was due to lack of relationships with people. So get active and create times of relationship building. Build bridges don’t destroy them. Explain this part of your philosophy of youth ministry to your leadership so that they get it.

What kinds of connection activities are working for you?

New Movie Divided asks, “Is Modern Youth Ministry Biblical?”

elicork2 — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 22:01:12 +0000

A controversial new film, titled “Divided”, is stirring up youth ministers across the continent. “Divided” seeks to find the solution to the problem within modern youth ministry. In it’s 54 minutes of interviews, it boldly concludes the there isn’t just a problem within modern youth ministry; the problem is modern youth ministry. Personally, this has got my conscience stirring.

According to the movie’s website, Phil Leclerc is on a journey to discover why modern youth ministry is failing. In documentary style, he interviews youth, youth ministers, and pastors. With much research he learns the shocking answer: “modern youth ministry is not founded upon the Word of God but upon the ideas of men.” This, Divided claims, is why 80% of youth kids leave the Church when they become adults.

Divided has a sobering message: Modern youth ministry is not Biblical. If it’s message line up with Scripture, then the implications are extreme for the Church and it’s youth ministers. How extreme? If very idea of what we consider to be youth ministry is not ordained by God, then we have been violating God’s law! It is apparent that we have been following man’s wisdom instead of God’s. Therefore, repentance would be in order. Then a total shift would take place in the format and methodology of properly ministering to youth. That’s the very thing Divided is calling for.

The message of Divided is not one of hopelessness and finger-pointing. The men of the interviews give us this solution: “Conformity to the Scriptures… [is the key] to rescuing youth.” Deuteronomy 6, Psalm 78, Ephesians 6, and others are offered to support this forgotten model of youth ministry. In these passages we read that the duty of instructing children is the parents responsibility. Thus, this gives youth Pastors a new job. No, youth ministers will not be unemployed. Instead, they may find it s fitting position to come alongside parents to disciple their children, as entire families worship and learn together. The short film hopes that this simple solution will bring change to today’s Church.

I Highly recommend that everyone watches this brief documentary. It can be viewed in it’s entirety (until Sept. 15, 2011)www.dividedthemovie.com.

Please consider the integrity of this film. Ponder it’s controversial message. And, of course, look to the Scriptures for verification.

Do you agree/disagree with Divided? Why/Why not? Is it’s message accurate, helpful, harmful, or heretic?

I encourage you to comment and discuss this important movie.

Eli Cork

Ideas Take Inspiration, Where I Found Mine.

nheyboer — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 16:35:04 +0000

We are all inspiration seekers.

In youth ministry we seek to inspire the youth in our communities. We seek to inspire for God. How creative can I be? How long can we walk that culturally relevant tight rope? Can we make cooler logos and use “artsy’er” PowerPoint backgrounds? We seek to inspire.

There isn’t anything inherently wrong with creativity, cultural relevance, logos or artsy graphics—truth be told the ministry I lead is saturated with that list—but all too often those things can place the pressure of inspiration solely on us. You may ask. “What’s wrong with that?”

When we seek to inspire for God, when we take on all that pressure, we are essentially swallowing a little red pill called Control. We love the illusion of having control and the power that ultimately lies in God’s hands.

So how do we combat the pill? I suggest we take the time to lower our guards and experience God through our students.

This past winter our ministry took 50 Junior High students to Spring Hill Camps in Evart, MI for our winter retreat. Spring Hill puts on superb winter retreats for Jr and Sr High groups providing hours upon hours of excitement with snowboarding, sledding, euro bungee, indoor pool, coffee shops, caffeine, more caffeine, the list goes on. In fact, the fun side of the retreat is the selling point for most students—and leaders—who attend with our group. Every day of the retreat there are 2-3 camp-wide worship and lesson sessions that simulate a youth group or church service. This is when students rock out with a live band leading worship in a style that electrifies campers. It’s loud… it’s crazy; there is a lot of running, screaming, smelly bodies bumping into one another and exposing their rancid pits with arms raised to the heavens. This is not the time to touch base with another person one on one; there is zero chance of audibly communicating with anyone because of the deafening volume of the music and crowd. It’s youth ministry paradise.

Yet, she heard it.

I look over at a cluster of students who came with our group and they are all smiling and shouting with joy… well, all of them but one. Let’s call this student Melissa. She’s crying. Standing amidst this joy she is showing sorrow; or so I thought. In situations like this I typically get the attention of one of our female leaders and direct them over to a student like Melissa, but not this time. I darted over to Melissa and her tear drenched face asking what was wrong. Not atypical of a 13 year old she glanced up at me and mouthed, “Nothing.” But it wasn’t her somewhat audible response that shocked me… it was her expression. She was smiling. Grinning ear to ear. Surely Melissa sensed my confusion—as it undoubtedly was visible now by my expression—she pulled my shoulder down, stood on her tippy toes, and said into my ear, “I just heard God’s voice. He told me he loves me. I heard God said, ‘I love you’.”

I smiled at her, mouthed the words, “He certainly does,” and walked out of the auditorium into the gathering area to be by myself for a moment. My eyes filled with tears; I had a hard time composing myself.

I wasn’t emotional because God showed up: he always does.

I wasn’t emotional because a student of mine encountered God: that’s our ministries Goal, we are somewhat prepared for that.

I was emotional because God showed Melissa who He is in that moment. He spoke who He is to a 13 year old girl at a retreat that is 75% fun. He inspired a little girl in an unexpected moment… because she was seeking.

And He inspired me… a measly youth pastor who prays he is serving the Kingdom properly. A measly youth pastor who needed to hear those words because life and ministry were wearing me out. I had popped the pressure of control pill in the prior months and I needed to hear from my Father that He loves me. God spoke to me, though a student. He inspired me, through a student.

While I aim to inspire students, while the camp aimed to inspire students, God ended up inspiring at least one student and her youth pastor with three little words, “I love you.”

It’s too easy for those of us who lead ministries to get caught up in inspiring others, creativity, cultural relevance, and the like. I encourage you to seek God in your students. You may be amazed at what you find.

Nate Heyboer

Director of Junior High Ministries

Community Church, MI

Are You Struggling? The War Behind the Ministry

elicork2 — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 11:09:30 +0000

Each passing day as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Ephesians 6:12 becomes more and more evident: For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

The idea that there are spiritual forces influencing the attitudes and behaviors of your pupils may seem unreal. We tend to play it down: it’s probably just hormones. Teens are emotional. It’s almost summertime — you know how kids get. Sure, these factors definitely come into play. But when we reason and rationalize these issues (inattention, poor attendance, distraction) down to natural causes, we miss the danger.

Firstly, we may become passive. With a sigh, exhausted leaders confess that “this is just the way it goes.” The danger here is that we are accepting mediocrity. In a sense, we are allowing destructive trends to grow. Pastors sit back sad-faced and watch children fall away. “What can you do?” Acceptance becomes allowance; passivity is enabling the enemy.

Consequently, if we don’t see the real danger of a real enemy, we will not fight against him. We lay down our arms as we think we don’t need them. But here is the proper analysis of youth ministry: “our struggle is not against flesh and blood.”

For example, think of a time when you exchanged some pleasant small talk with a new acquaintance. You’re talking about the weather, about food, or about sports. Then you attempt to bring up spiritual things. What happens? Eye contact is lost. Now heads are turning, looking for a change of subject, “Um, I wonder what’s for supper…” What is going on here? Why does ADHD seem to become ADH-H-H-D as soon as Jesus is mentioned? Certainly, the devil wants to do everything he can to stop the message from reaching the lost (Matthew 13:4).

Another instance of this surfaced. The Church was filled with anticipation. An international evangelist was making her way to town for a three-night crusade. Thoughts of what God was going to do buzzed around the Body. God’s people looked forward that special evening of July 6th. Then the strangest thing appeared on a flyer: Natural Healing, July 4,5; Crystal healing, card reading, etc. It seems that the thief was attempting the steal all that he could from this significant opportunity. Could this be a coincidence? Or are the “the powers of this dark world and… the spiritual forces of evil” scheming as they have been doing since the beginning?

Let us be aware of this: The devil is interfering with the ministry of Christ, and as Christ’s soldiers we must do all that can be done. Brothers and sisters, we must fight against our enemy — But how?

You are aware of the struggle. You’ve seen it before, and you are longing for a breakthrough. You pray for harvesters. You wait for God to pour out His Spirit on the kids. To see them on fire, excited, and passionate servants of Jesus: this is your hope; this is what you are fighting for.

One powerful weapon of spirit-war is prayer. Ephesians 6:18: And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. We cry out to the Captain of our Salvation to send in the forces, equip the troops, and destroy the enemy. There is power in the of Jesus, and strength unlimited in the hand of God to whom He pleads. As we pray in his name, we begin to takeover territory and captives are set free.

Please share the struggles you are currently facing in your youth ministry. How can you see satanic influence? What do you hope God to do about it? Let’s pray for each other and believe to see God completely remove enemy strongholds!

Also, if you have overcome such times of spiritual war, please encourage us. What happened? What was going on spiritually? How did you overcome? What is your ministry like now?

Make no mistake of this reality. We are under attack. Satan is our enemy, and we are his enemy. Let us fight together because the victory is ours!

1 Peter 5:8,9: “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith…”

Eli Cork

Youth Ministry Prom Ideas

Steve — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 16:52:39 +0000

It happens every year. So how do you handle prom with your students? Seriously – I’d like to hear if you do anything at all with or for them during this time – leave a comment for discussion.

I had a youth pastor friend who did something I thought was a cool youth ministry idea for prom time. What he did was he decided to be the chauffeur for some of his students on prom night. So he would be dressed up in a tux and had a hat with it and would pick up and drop off students at their various activities for the evening and even helped out with the after prom stuff.

He felt that it was better for him to be involved this way and be that youth pastor support for his students during an event that sometimes turns bad for students.

I have also seen youth ministries try to provide some after prom – all night activities – have they been successful? Why or why not?

So what do you or youth youth leaders alliance do for prom if anything? Does your community have something to detract students from getting in trouble with drinking, driving, and sex? Please share with the other youth leaders that stop by this site as I think if would make for some great discussion.