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10 Signs That Insecurity Could Be Eating Away At You And Your Youth Ministry

May 3, 2012 in Balance, healthy ministry, Leadership with 5 Comments

Insecurity in leadership is one of my greatest concerns as I look ahead to the future of youth ministry. It doesn’t matter how focused we are on seeking the latest and best ways to minister if we are not secure in our leadership. Whether you are a volunteer or a full-time / part-time paid youth worker, your youth ministry will reflect your security, (or insecurity).

Are you secure in God’s calling, strength, and purpose for you? Or, Is your life and ministry swayed by your insecurity?

Here are 10 signs that our ministry (and lives), are swayed by insecurity:

Our days begin with a long list of tasks that focus on keeping others happy, rather than seeking God’s affirmation.
We constantly compare ourselves to other youth workers or the youth ministry down the street.
We say “Yes” to every event and program idea: We are scared that by saying no, we might lose popularity.
We can’t miss a phone call at any time of the day: If we do, it eats us alive to wonder what the call was about.
We would rather be good friends with students, rather than being a solid leader to them.
We regularly lose sleep when students, leaders, and parents disagree or disapprove of us.
We constantly complain to friends about the latest conflict or disagreement in hopes to gain support and affirmation.
We feel defeated and devastated when an event or program doesn’t quite live up to what we and others hoped, (rather than seeing it as an opportunity to grow and learn).
We have a tendency to fish for compliments from others, and are fueled (and ruled), by their affirmations.
We feel distant from God and feel a lack of security and confidence in Him (and His promises…)

If you are like me, there are many things on this list that I relate to. I have times when I feel confident and secure, and then there are times when I feel desperate and insecure in myself and my ministry.

I know this might be completely obvious, but who are we trying to please?

As you go through your day, consider your motivations, your decisions, and your feelings. Are they driven by the intense need to keep others happy, or are you striving to please God and let his leading bring fruit to your life and ministry? I know this might seem so obvious, but it’s one of the greatest issues I see in leadership in churches today.

Are we really living to please God, or living for the approval of others? Are we allowing insecurity to define our lives and ministries?

What would you add to this list? What are some of the indicators that your ministry and life is defined by insecurity?

Phil <><

How to Avoid Youth Ministry Burnout: Part 2

April 25, 2012 in Balance, healthy ministry, Leadership, Mistakes with 0 Comments

This is part-two of a two-part series looking at burnout in youth ministry.

Since I wouldn’t stop, God shut me down. He stopped me totally in my tracks. If I don’t get enough sleep now I am sick for 3 days. I MUST sleep. If I don’t exercise, my muscles stiffen up and I can’t move. I HAVE to work out daily. I have suffered from a stomach problem for 13 years (non burnout related.) It is exasperated by stress and poor eating habits. I HAVE TO EAT WELL.

God literally stopped me. He said ENOUGH is ENOUGH. I am not saying that the Lord laughed at me. Instead FOR ME, I couldn’t/wouldn’t listen. So He gave me signs to help. As I mentioned yesterday, I know others that have come under the weight of similar afflictions.

I have come to see when I don’t listen, the Lord grabs my attention. He wants me with him in this for the long haul. Continue Reading…

Youth Ministry Burnout: Part 1

April 24, 2012 in Balance, healthy ministry, Leadership, Mistakes with 1 Comment

This is part-one of a two-part series on youth ministry burnout.

I could not believe that this ministry veteran was telling my story. Years of serving and then one day the weight crushed him. Us “Type A,” personalities are wound tight. On a good day. We are workaholics, especially when it is something that we really believe in. Our minds are always racing. We never “shut off.” We are moving and moving and if you aren’t coming with us then well, get out-of-the-way. We don’t thrive at “days off.” Vacations can be a hard sell. We eat too much or live off of an IV of coffee. Actually, we feel guilty when we do things for “ourselves.” (I recently used a gift certificate I received for a facial… a year and a half a go). It feels like when I do “take time” things just blow up anyway.

Eventually we run ourselves into the ground. I have sat in my bed sick with pneumonia and continued on getting done what needs to be done.

4 Plans Every Youth Worker Should Be Making? Part 4: A Personal Plan

April 13, 2012 in healthy ministry, Leadership, planning with 0 Comments

What’s your personal plan? I’m not talking about loving God, loving students and doing ministry for the next year. Have you prayed about the course your ministry is taking? Have you prayed about the next steps for you? You know, will you be in youth ministry all your life or will you one day ‘grow up’ and graduate to ‘real ministry’ one day, (as we often get asked). Are you a volunteer who is destined for full-time ministry or are you being pressured to minister somewhere else because YOU think you are getting too old? Are you wondering if your current church would keep you on long-term as their youth worker? Do you dream of starting a church, but don’t know how? These are just some of the questions I hear from youth workers.

Bottom Line: Do you know where you are going in ministry? Have you stopped to ask?

Praying through and developing a personal ministry plan is crucial for you, your family, your students, your church, and ultimately your usefulness in God’s Kingdom. Here’s what’s crucial about seeking God for your personal ministry plan: Continue Reading…

4 Plans Every Youth Worker Should Be Making? Part 3: Seasonal Planning

April 11, 2012 in Balance, healthy ministry, Leadership, planning with 0 Comments

In my previous posts I talked about the importance of youth workers being strategic planners and people who have a long-term teaching plan. Having a good prayerful plan can often be the key to greater effectiveness and help us hang in for the long haul. I know it is not always in our DNA as youth workers to enjoy planning, (or even be good at it), but it is a necessary part of becoming a successful and professional youth worker. Having a good plan will also help us gain greater influence from parents, church leaders, (and ultimately benefit our students).

The previous two posts were pretty in depth and full of information, but today I want to be brief with this idea:

An effective youth worker is constantly planning ahead at least one season.

In terms of events, calendar and programs, it is imperative that we are working at least 2-3 months ahead of where we are. For me, I call it a season. As I write this post, my whole summer calendar is published even though here in Michigan we are barely touching the Spring. It’s so important that we work 2-3 months ahead for a number of reasons:

1) Parents Need The Information: If we want parents to support our ministries we should be getting dates to them at least 2-3 months ahead. For missions trips, however, most parents will thank you if you give them the date 6-9 months out.

2) Volunteers Can Plan Better: If you want volunteers at special events and retreats, they need to book time off and make your program a priority. If you are working a month out, don’t expect to get any support. Continue Reading…

4 Plans Every Youth Worker Should Be Making? Part 2: A Long-Term Teaching Plan

April 11, 2012 in healthy ministry, Leadership, planning, Uncategorized with 6 Comments

In my previous post we introduced the importance of good strategic planning in youth ministry. Even though good planning is not in the DNA of many youth workers, it is a necessity if we want to have greater effectiveness as well as being able to hang in for the long haul.

Today, we’re going to take a look at what we should consider when creating a long-term teaching plan.

1) Consider Your Audience: Depending on whether your students are seekers, strugglers, or sold-out in their faith, will depend on what you plan to teach. It’s good to have different times or programs to focus on these types of students.

For example, our midweek outreach program is aimed at seekers and strugglers. Therefore, we are intentional about hitting topics and issues that are palatable for every kind of student, whether churched or unchurched. Here we address issues like: Dealing with fears, conflict, regret, relationships, making decisions, identity, self-image, life purpose, etc etc. You get the idea.

In contrast, our Sunday discipleship program is focused on struggling and sold-out students, (usually churched), where we teach deeper areas such theology, apologetics, spiritual habits, evangelism, etc etc.

Bottom line: Your audience will determine your content.

2) Ask Your Students What They Need: This is particularly helpful when teaching many of the felt need topics. Subjects like relationships are always going to be at the top of the list, but you will also glean much about what your students need by asking them. This might seem too simple, but so many of us negate to ask students.

One BIG way to ask students is to do a yearly survey asking them what areas of their lives they need help with. We do a survey like this every May and it allows us to develop some specific message series for the Fall and Winter months. For outreach and large group programs you will discover that you will ‘hit’ many of the same felt needs areas year after year. This is not a bad thing since our students are constantly battling through the same challenges year after year.

Bottom line: Don’t guess what students need, ask them!

4 Plans Every Youth Worker Should Be Making? Part 1

April 10, 2012 in healthy ministry, Leadership, planning with 8 Comments

It’s Spring Break here in South East Michigan, (although we had snow flurries after 80f temps a few weeks back). It’s typical that here in Michigan during Spring break, vast numbers of families leave to head South to warm places like Florida… Except people like me… I am sitting in my local Starbucks watching the white stuff fall from the sky.

Despite the cold weather, it’s a great week for me to spend more time investing in planning while many of my students and leaders are out-of-town. Although the idea of planning can be highly offensive to many youth workers, I believe it is an imperative part to what we must do to have an effective ministry and to pursue longevity in our churches. When considering plans, here are 4 types of plans I believe every youth worker must be praying through and working on:

1) Strategic plan. 2) Teaching plan: 3) Seasonal plan: 4) Personal plan

Strategic Plan: For me, when I arrived at my current church, I prayed about and created a 3 year plan that seeks to build year after year. This plan has been adjusted a couple of times, but there has always been a plan written down. It does not have to be detailed, but must give you a big idea of what you are looking to achieve by the end of each year.

As you look at my plans below, you will see they are pretty basic and a broad brush stroke for each year. I did not look to move mountains, I simply tried to create a plan that would help to build trust, build success, and build momentum. It’s important to realize you can’t change the world at once!

As a younger youth worker I tried to change everything at once and didn’t understand the value of patience and building things slowly. I know there’s a lot of pressure to come in and change the world, but “too fast too soon” doesn’t usually last for the long-term. It’s important that a strategic plan takes time to build a solid foundation that will last for the long haul.

Here’s a snapshot of my 3 year plan I have been praying and working through:

Year 1: Develop Relationships: Develop relationships with students, parents and youth leaders. Commit to listening first! Do not implement major changes. Listen to the people, review the programs, understand the culture. It’s imperative we listen and learn first so that we can build trust and earn the right to make changes…

Year 2: Tweak Programs: Continue to develop relationships with students, parents and youth leaders. Review the last year with students and leaders and THEN implement adjustments to existing programs and events. Create a teaching plan for the next 4 years and create a ‘big win’ event or trip that will rally people behind a cause or core purpose. (For us, this ended up being a huge mission trip that year). Continue Reading…

What Works Best in YOUR Ministry?

March 31, 2012 in healthy ministry, Leadership with 0 Comments

I love reading blogs… I love reading youth ministry books… I love listening to incredible youth ministry speakers… I love networking with other youth workers… Bottom line, I love these things because I love to learn how to do ministry more effectively, and discovering new ways of doing ministry! But here is the problem we all face these days:

With a greater access conferences, books, and resources, (and so much information to digest), it can be easy to stop thinking and praying through what works best within our own ministry contexts.

Before we begin to implement the newest idea or the ministry philosophy that has worked somewhere else, it’s imperative that we take important steps to ensure that new ideas and philosophies will actually work in our ministry contexts. In my last three positions, I have found that no ‘one size fits all’ approach works. In fact, I have had three different approaches for the last three churches…

Here’s what does work however:

1) Seek God’s guidance for your specific ministry. (Do we really spend days and weeks seeking God when it comes to implementing ideas and programs)?

2) Spend your first year listening and understanding the people, the community, and the church. (Just because we are the paid person with the expertise does not mean that God does not want to speak through the people). Continue Reading…

Continuing Youth Ministry Throughout The Summer?

March 28, 2012 in Book Review, Leadership with 2 Comments

Yesterday, we posted an excerpt from Two Sides: Finding What Fits Your Ministry. We looked at the philosophy of choosing to shut down youth ministry for the Summer. Today we’ll take a look the ‘other side’ of the philosophy of what it looks like to continue youth ministry throughout the summer…

Darren

Continuing Youth Ministry Throughout The Summer. By Mike Hammer.

Summer. It’s possibly the youth ministry season with the least stability. Reality check: the summer season will affect how ministry is achieved, regardless of setting. School is out. Families are traveling. Summer jobs are landed. A lot of voices and experiences are vying for the attention of teenagers. For that reason, it’s important to consider having ministry continue throughout the summer.

When students are going every different direction, two of their primary needs are relationships and stability. They need people that will continue to show them the love of Christ on a regular basis. The simple truth is that, because of the nature of summer, students will absolutely miss some weeks of youth group programming. But staying connected with them and helping them to know someone is still available for them, still going, and still loving them is important. It gives them a foundation, a reminder that even though school is seasonal, the importance of faith is not. Summer provides students more freedom, which means there’s probably an increased need for accountability as well. If teens aren’t connecting because the student ministry is hibernating, they’re missing out on the vital support they need from others.

The start of the school year is a natural ‘do-over’ for most teenagers. They’ll use the beginning of a school year to help determine who they are going to be for that year. Whether it’s the attitude or personality they display, the style of clothes they wear, or the activities they choose– it’s an opportunity for teens to “reintroduce” themselves to their peers. Staying connected to the youth ministry and people who care about them may help them keep a healthier perspective of themselves and who God made them to be. The positive interaction and influence they have throughout the summer can be foundational in friendships, connections, and decisions they make when school begins.

I have a student who is difficult to ‘pin down’ during the school year. He plays nearly every sport known to man. He’s getting ready for college. He takes advanced classes and is involved in several campus groups. He’s able to completely unplug from that life in the summer and engage with our ministry and Jesus in a way he never does during the school year.

All ministries usually see a decline in attendance during the summer. That can be deflating for any youth worker. But the teens who do come – they are coming for a reason. They want the interaction. They need the relationships. They want to grow. Summer can be the perfect time to take the students who ARE involved a little deeper – in faith, in connection, and in friendship.

What you should consider is: will I have the leadership necessary to continue through the summer?

If we continue through the summer, are there any changes we need to make?

What do we hope to accomplish?

Is this the best move for our ministry?

Summer Shutdown For Youth Ministry?

March 27, 2012 in Book Review, Leadership with 13 Comments

As some of you know, myself and a group of in the trenches youth workers created a book called Two Sides: Finding What Fits Your Ministry. This book is designed to help you engage ‘both sides’ of a youth ministry philosophy and help you own which ‘side’ you need to land on. Today and tomorrow, I will be posting excerpts from the book. We’ll be engaging the discussion of whether or not to shutdown or keep going for our summer youth ministry programs.

Let me know what ‘side’ you land on?