vacation from God...

For too many years, I have been connected to churches that seem to scale down activities and ministries and connection times in the summer because the majority of people disappeared from the "body".  Is this true in your church setting?  It's the 11th commandment that got cut from the stone tablet... thou shall not attend church/worship in the summer and thou shall not have any dynamic ministries happen while people are away!

What's happened in our churches?  In the first youth ministry I was part of as a volunteer and intern, we had a different philosophy of ministry than most of our church family... summer was the time to connect with students, and we met them every week at some event or program, either at the church building or "on location"!  Some weeks, we had a senior high event, a junior high event and a weekend event; we were serious about building relationships with our kids.  We had a summer theme, outfitted with t-shirts for the summer and a summer "handbook" with the details of what would be happening over the summer months while the kids were home from school.  We had a wildly active and popular youth group; we had a close knit group and a group that went on an adventure with God at every turn!

What will you do with your youth ministry and the students in that ministry this summer?  There is still time to decided to keep the "open" sign lit and ramp up the schedule to "fun through connection"!  Think of the kind of impact and influence you could have with your kids by connecting with some or all of them 1x per week over the summer... 1000 Sunday school lessons on 1000 sleepy Sunday mornings will never compete!  For starters, steal this idea... this one is a proven idea that has stood the test of time!

We called it "Follow the Sunset"... we would meet at the church around 6:30pm and pile in the van/vans. We would drive to a local park with a great view of the landscape; sometime the drives were a bit further... we would take the various outdoor games along (we had a game bag filled with the necessary tools)  We take a snack and bring some water and play in the park and watch the sun set in the west (choose your park carefully)  As the sun set, we spent some time discussing a theme for the evening and some scripture to accompany the theme, and then we would close in worship and or prayer depending on if we had a guitar player that night.  This worked, and we kept changing it week after week... sometimes we would stop for ice cream and other times we would stop by to help a "neighbor", but we always ended the night with the Son!  Don't settle for taking a vacation from God this summer... stay open for business and watch what the Son does to you, your kids and your ministry!  Be blessed!

remember... and say "thanks"

Happy Memorial Day... and a great day it is; praying that you have the chance to get outside and enjoy the beautiful sunshine before it gets too hot! On this day, when so many of us have a day off, and I am praying that your Senior Pastor closed the office today or you were bold enough to take the day off, please take the time to remember the men and women who serve so faithfully to defend and protect freedom around the world. They sacrifice their time, their energy, their wants and sometimes their needs for the sake of a higher calling to serve,protect and defend. They serve, even if it means time away from their families; they serve so that you and I can have this day to rest and say "thank you".

If you have to do any "ministry work" today, spend some time remembering your volunteers and taking some time to say "thank you" for their service and sacrifice to your youth ministry. Send your volunteers and thank you note today, and mail it the old fashion way! If any relgion in the world has a grasp on true service and sacrifice, it is Christianity. Our leader, Jesus Christ, built service and sacrifice into the DNA of the "movement"; His rebellion against the religious leaders of His day was built on the platform of service and sacrifice. And Jesus himself, gave himself as the ultimate sacrfice for us so that today we can live in freedom; freedom from sin and death. So, remember... and say "thank you" to those who serve and sacrifice!

Jesus... thank you for your great love for me and the sacrifice of your life so that I can have life and live it more abundantly for you today!

Family... thank you for the sacrifices you have made to allow me to be a pastor and youth leader; to tkae care of others when I could have been taking care of you.

Spouse... thank you dear for taking care of the kids when I have been away on countless youth trips; being the confident and strong leader in our home.

Youth leader... thank you for the countless hours of service and sacrifice you give to students in your ministry and in your community, planting seeds of love and hope in the name of Jesus.

Volunteer... thank you for your dedication to ministry and your commitment to students and other leaders. I know you never hear the words "thank you" and you never get a paycheck and you may never see any earthly reward, but your willing spirit and your presence is a gift to our students and our minsitry.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH WITH LOVE AND PEACE IN OUR HEARTS TO YOU! Everyone... be blessed!

ministry "platform"

Yesterday, I purchased a great book. At least after 24 hours of reading, it seems as though it will be one of those non-Christian books that will change the course for my ministry life and personally change me. Michael Hyatt, chairman of Thomas Nelson Publishing, has a new book out on the NY Times bestseller list entitled, Platform: Get noticed in a noisy world! (michaelhyatt.com) The subtitle of the book caught my attention when I first heard the buzz... "a step-by-step guide for anyone with something to say or sell" I could hear my inner voice crying out; some would call it my ego... "I've got something to say to the world about life, family, church ministry, teenagers, and new church development!" But as the books states, today there is so much communication and modes of communication and information flying everywhere that to be heard is virtually impossible. And I immediately thought about the "good news" that you and I are trying communicate with teens and their parents; "good news" about Jesus and His life-changing plan and purpose for each of us. Lately, I've been feeling like no one is listening; no one seems to care about the message. Have you stopped long enough to ask yourself "why"? Maybe this is not true of your church family and your youth ministry, but where I cme from and spend most of my time in ministry, people seem uninterested! Are we really being heard? Are we communicating the right message? Does our message contain a "wow factor" (from the book)? Is it "good news" to us? More on this later as I continue to read... thanks for letting me share my heart each week! I hope my words and ideas and sharing is helping you to survive, energize and thrive in your calling to teens and their families. Have a great Memorial Day weekend with family, friends and your church family. For next time, begin to think about the word, "drift", and how that word/idea rleates to your spiritual life and your ministry life. Be blessed!

living under a new command...

A New Commandment (1 John 2:7-14)  New Living Translation of the Bible

"7 Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment—to love one another—is the same message you heard before. 8 Yet it is also new. Jesus lived the truth of this commandment, and you also are living it. For the darkness is disappearing, and the true light is already shining.

9 If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is still living in darkness. 10 Anyone who loves another brother or sister is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble. 11 But anyone who hates another brother or sister is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.

12 I am writing to you who are God’s children
    because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus.
13 I am writing to you who are mature in the faith
    because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning.
I am writing to you who are young in the faith
    because you have won your battle with the evil one.
14 I have written to you who are God’s children
    because you know the Father.
I have written to you who are mature in the faith
    because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning.
I have written to you who are young in the faith
    because you are strong.
God’s word lives in your hearts,
    and you have won your battle with the evil one."

Something to ponder for today... does this scripture apply to us as leaders in our churches, and how are we living this out as leaders in the church?  How are we loving each other (those of us in leadership) across denominational lines, and those of us working for the "Kingdom" in various places?  When will the "church leadership body" unite to affect the necessary change that our world and our church families need for the future?  Praying for you all TODAY!  Keep the new commandment!

the youth ministry farmer

Most Monday evenings and Saturday afternoons, in the spring and fall, you can find my family at the soccer fields coaching a team or two of 7/8 year olds, aspiring to get some exercise, have some fun, and learn the game of soccer. Our family has been volunteer coaching for several season in our city-wide rec league. We make the time because we believe that God wants us to be youth ministry farmers. We have the seed of Jesus' love and light in our lives and we feel obligated to spread the seed on to others. We never get to talk about Jesus; we never get to read and discuss a story from the Bible; we never get to pray with our team; we never really get the chance to share our faith with the parents. But, we do get to be a positive influence in their lives; we do get to have some healthy, clean fun playing the game we all love; we do get the opportunity to get kids to smile and treat them with respect; we get to be the light of Jesus for 7 children. And the kids love playing for us! We rarely win all of our games, but we always shake hands and celebrate like winners. Do you see yourself as a "youth ministry farmer"? You are; you can be; you should be... You are sowing the seeds of respect, love, truth, fun, attention, listening in the name of Jesus to a group of students. Their hearts are ripe for a new seed to be planted; some of them need their hearts tilled because they have been beaten down by the world; soem will close you off and out of their lives. But you can not worry or stress over what you can not control. You are in charge of spreading healthy, truthful seed; that seed is the truth found in God's Word to us. And you can build relationships with your kids that will begin to softne their hearts to the seed that over time, will be planted in their hearts. You may get to see the "fruit/harvest" and then again, you may never get to see it at all! But tonight, like my family, you can rest your head on the pillow knowing that you gave it your all; you shared and sowed the seed of Jesus' love to the kids in your care. And the rest is up to the Spirit of God. Stay faithful to scattering the right seed... be blessed in your farming efforts!

healthy?

As many of us get older, we start to worry about our health. In our youth, we live and play and eat Doritos at every meal, along with a big glass of Mountain Dew! But, in our later years we start to pay more attention to the kinds of foods we eat and the amount of exercise we get. We pay more attention to the potential "warning signs" of an unhealthy lifestyle; we set our daily schedule around the Dr. Oz show waiting to hear about the latest "fears" that grip us as a nation! We are a health conscious culture but you might never know it based on the way we look, our inactive and sedentary lifestyle, and what we spend our hard earned money consuming. Now granted, some of us are smarter than others. Some of you have developed a healthy lifestyle and have been living that way for a very long time! Maybe you were raised in a home that focused on developing healthy habits, or maybe you encounterd an illness which forced you to change your ways! "Healthy" and our health is a hot topic right now. But what about "healthy" in terms of your ministry to youth? Do we see our youth ministries in this way? Do we see our local congregations this way? If you had to answer truthfully, would you say that you are part of a "healthy" congregation of Christ-followers, and is your student ministry "healthy"? A more personal reflective question might be... are you spiritually healthy? I know lots of churches that have good youth ministry programs but the "health" of those ministries and ministry leaders is on life support! The "health" of our ministry to students and families is critical if we hope to change kids lives and support parents in a way that honors Christ. Here at the PRC, we are trying to develop those "core" pieces of what makes a "healthy" student ministry... spirituall, emotionally, physically, and theologically. We would appreciate your help in putting to gether this puzzle. With your input, we hope to be able to offer more seminars and training session that come to you; to help you develop into a "healthy" leader and inspire you to create a "healthy" student ministry in your context. Please share your ideas here of what goes into creating a "healthy" student minsitry... and stay tuned for updates on our progress! The first step on the road to a "healthy" youth/student ministry? Start observing and reflecting our your ministry to students from this new perspective. In the end, we all want to be "healthy" and we all want our families to be "healthy" and we all want to be active participants in a "healthy" church with exciting and dynamic ministries that are "healthy"! Look for the signs... your body and the "body of Christ" is trying to tell you something. Be blessed!

Don't forget your graduates...

June is fast approaching and high school graduations will be here before you can blink.  Some of you will be saying "goodbye" to some of your most dedicated and loyal students; students who have ONLY known you as their "youth pastor".  You have listened, you have cared, you have encouraged and you have challenged... you  probably have even traveled with them and had some really amazing life-moments  with them.

In my first youth ministry position, it seemed as though I had spent more time with some of our more committed students than I had with my own family. (I don't recommend this looking back now...)

Have you planned to honor them is some way?  Are you planning to "bless" them in front of the whole congregation to acknowledge their commitment to your church family?  Honor them with a gift; something they will really use and not just shelve with the other "great books of wisdom" and dust collecting trophies!  Send them on their way with an age-appropriate copy of God's Word, or a daily devotional book that incorporates God's Word into the readings.  For several years now, I have been using the Message Solo New Testament edition by Eugene Peterson and NavPress.

Put aside your adversarial feelings about the Message Bible and check this out... our kids seem to really benefit by the devotions found in this resource.  To make them feel really special, spend the money on the "leather-like" edition; skip saving the money on paperback just this once!  This resource comes in a full Bible edition as well.

Say "goodbye" to the students that have meant so much to you and your ministry.  And don't forget to stay connected when they are gone... you will be amazed and humbled by the impact you have made in their life.  Be blessed...

Do you know what they are "into"?

Many years ago, I was asked by a parent if I was aware of what the students in our ministry were "into"; what books, movies, magazines and music were they "into"? I wrestled with this question and wrestled with the fact that I may not have been as attentive as I perceived myself to be... and so, I started out on a life-long journey to intentionally become an observer and consumer of pop-culture. And it took me into some very dark places. But along the way, I had the help of one of the greatest youth workers I know. His insight and biblical perspective have kept me grounded and in-step with teens for all these years. Hopefully this is not a new resource for you, but if it is jump on the CPYU train now; it's never too late! The Center for Parent Youth Understanding lead by Walt Mueller will be an invaluable tab/bookmark for your favorite web sites. The Center is based in Elizabethtown, PA, but is recognized as the leader in teaching parents and youth workers about teen culture. Here is the link to their website... www.cpyu.org

You've got to get "into" what your students are "into" and then you can help them find a biblical worldview in all the mess that they are pouring into their lives. You may get shocked or offended along the way, but you will build trust and friendship with your students and they will eventually let you speak "into" their lives. Become informed and keep the criticism and judgment to a minimum, even when you are tempted to "lecture" them for the stuff that they are taking in to their minds. Stay calm, stay informed, and stay focused on the love that you and Jesus have for them! Get "into" their world, and they will let you "into" their lives; someday, you will get the chance to get Jesus "into" their world in a way that will change them forever. Be blessed!

my response to "very small youth group"

"Help, I have 2 high school girls and 3 middle school boys in my church. What do I do?"

This problem has the makings of a beautiful beginning to a youth ministry that will make an impact. You have the beginning of a small group ministry which is still the greatest, most effective way to reach kids with the story of faith and life. Depending on your gender, you find another leader of the same gender to meet with either the 2 girls or 3 boys; you meet with the other group. You begin your time together with a brief mixer/slash opening to your time together. (example... 15 minute opening to a Sunday school hour)

The high school girls will want to go deep into conversation about girl issues... high school issues... boy relationship issues... and you can help intersect those issues at the crossroads where life with Jesus as a follower and the world meet! middle school boys will want to go out into the yard and beat each other up (I think you know what I mean... that want action!) So, your intersection involves getting them to talk about life and faith with middle school stuff while action is occurring. Maybe there is an "odd job" around the church that needs done... check with your local church custodian! You have the "man-power"with some direction and guidance of course, and you can have a real-life/faith life discussion as the project is getting completed. Middle school boys love to eat; take them out for lunch after church for their efforts and finish the serious part of the discussion around the lunch table.

Be creative! Don't let the few numbers bog you down! Don't let space or the lack of resources burn you out and discourage you! You are on a mission with God to change the lives of teenagers and to help them experience the Kingdom life. When you take the time with them and they feel heard and understood, they will invite their friends. My only word of caution to you... get prepared now for the crowd of kids God is bringing your way; get your volunteers lined up now! Small groups multiply fast! BE prepared and BE excited about what God is going to do through your leadership!

A Few Questions for You!

What is your greatest need as a youth leader/youth volunteer/youth pastor?

If you knew you could get some help, would you accept it? Why or why not?

What would that "help" look like and feel like for you?

Please email me... tcbistline@mac.com or answer the questions here by leaving a comment.

Peace!

Question for Tim about a Very Small Youth Group

Hi Tim!

Here's a scenario for you, not unlike what some of our churches face!

Help, I have 2 high school girls and 3 middle school boys in my church.  What do I do?

Any words of wisdom for this hypothetical, but very real situation.

Thanks!
Tracey

response to "when they graduate"

Thanks for the question... Tracey!

I am certain that I am not the most qualified person in the virtual room to answer this question due to a trend I have been witnessing for many years now. Our students are leaving the church organization when they graduate, which seems like a normal "right of passage", but they are not returning to any type of denominational church organization.

If you haven't already read the book, You Lost Me by David Kinnaman, President of the Barna Group, then you really need to put down your current book and read this one. (www.youlostmebook.org)

In the past... 5 years ago... after students graduated high school, we stayed in touch via Facebook and other then, newly created social media outlets. In many instances, the ministries I was part of were primed and ready to launch a "young adult" ministry, and we piloted the ministry with students who were graduating. But, in more recent years, this is not working effectively.

Our reality, and you can read this in the book, is that our young adults are not finding value, meaning or connection in our local churches. And these are the kids who grew up in our churches... they are simply disappearing and wandering the spiritual landscape with no real desire or need to plug-in to the local church. As Kinnaman discusses, we have made following Jesus too safe and the issues we deal with in the church setting seem to lack connection to real life. We have abandoned the teachings of the Bible and forgot how to read it, study it and allow the Holy Spirit to teach us how to apply it to our lives.

If nothing else, Kinnaman's book should wake us up to our current reality which in turn could help us change course in our youth and young adult ministries; hopefully, more so in our churches. I wish I had some better answers! I am committed to reaching this next generation of followers, whatever it takes! Be Blessed during this Lenten season.

NEW RESOURCE FOR YOUTH MINISTRY

We have a NEW Youth Ministry Resource here at the Parish Resource Center.

Learning Bridges:  Quick and Easy Activities for Change, No. 1
by Jim Still-Pepper

Here's a promo blurb on this book:  Learning Bridges is a practical and fun resource that helps youth leaders create deep and meaningful conversations with their youth through the use of interactive activities.  The activities are designed to strengthen bonds, make time spent together more valuable, help kids open up, and create unique, teachable moments.  Nine key elements are presented that help get the conversation rolling.  


Jane's take:  There are open-ended questions and challenges which require people to interact and form relationships with each other.  They have a biblical base to them.  Some are for individuals; some are for groups.  Help get beyond the ordinary and the commonplace and get to a deeper level quicker.   For use with youth or adults.

Check it out, here at the PRC in our Youth Ministry library of resources, under the "Discussion Starters" section.

Question for Tim: What happens when they graduate?

Hi Tim,

I've heard that one of the big trends now is exploring what happens in the "gap."  Once the students have graduated from high school, how does a church make a place for them?  And what about the gap that develops between those that go to college and those that don't go to college?  What special things do you do at holidays when college kids are back at home?

What do you think?  Any thoughts or advice for those struggling with these questions?

Thanks!
Tracey