This post was originally posted at YouthMinBlog.com; follow the discussion there or start a new one here.

For a long time I struggled with getting small groups started at a church that doesn’t really subscribe to the whole “home group” idea. That was my whole perception of what a small group had to be: meeting at home with a group of eight students or so and having “small group” discussions. Now my mindset has changed and I’m realizing that a lot of what we already had in place for midweek classes and gatherings were providing the community and interaction that I thought our students might be missing out on. For instance…

What we call “Catalyst Discipleship”, a Sunday evening gathering of students after our worship service, has become one of my favorite times of student ministry during the week. It’s definitely a smaller group than our regular weekly program; it’s promoted as a place to “grow deeper with others”.

The format is fairly simple:

ACCOUNTABILITY: Maybe even a better phrase here would be “sharing life together. We typically open up by asking students to break into groups with one or two other students and share something specific about their personal spiritual life. Recent items of discussion we’ve used are: “What did God speak to your heart this week?”, “Do you feel like you are growing closer to God?”, and “What is one action point in your life where you heard God tell you to step out in faith?”

We encourage students that if their partner does not have an answer or is struggling with an issue that their role becomes that of an encourager. We go from this time into…

PRAYER: We want students in our ministry to be comfortable praying with and for each other so we make it a regular part of what we do.

SHORT TRUTH: What I mean by “short truth” is that this isn’t the night for me to write up a twenty minute message to share with the students. I want to present a pop culture idea, biblical truth, hot topic, etc. and then let the students disseminate it rather than me give a lecture or be the “talking head” up front.

There’s lots of great resources to make this easy, too. I like to use short video clips to set up the night. Examples of resources that we’ve used in the past include Nooma, the Skit Guys’ “You Teach” curriculum, and Trigger.

QUESTIONS: Ask questions and get out of the way. It’s as simple as that.

Your role becomes that of just facilitating good questions and sometimes helping that one kid to stay on topic. Don’t be afraid of silence after you ask a question. Ask it again in a different way. Give them some time to process and think it through before giving up or answering the question yourself.

And, honestly, to even list a format such as the one above seems too structured for what we do. You can break a large group down into a small group with leaders any time and anywhere. The idea is getting down to smaller numbers so that everyone gets a chance to share and be a part of the process. It’s great for relation-building.

What I love about our Sunday night group is that we’ve grown a really close group of students. We get together and have committed to loving and growing with each other. It’s not uncommon for us to tear up while sharing an emotional, real-life story with each other or, on the other end of the spectrum, laugh it up so hard that we’re all in tears. It just feels like a family. As Doug Field’s tends to say, “We weren’t wired to do life alone.” The community and relationships that are built in small group gatherings are a vital part of the health and impact of our student ministry. That’s why is I think it is so important to make small groups “BIG” in your ministry.

This post was originally posted at YouthMinBlog.com; follow the discussion there or start a new one here.

Sometimes a good way to look at things is by checking out the flip side of the coin, if you know what I mean. Let’s talk about…

HOW <NOT> TO BE A SUPERHERO YOUTH PASTOR/WORKER:

Never grow up.

Responsibility? Safety? Schedules? Communication? Respect? Rules? If your goal is to try to be like one of the teenagers, I’d be concerned about the health of your group for a variety of reasons.

Make sure that your self worth and security is based on feeling needed.

If you are a needy person, please don’t expect to get that from the “I love you / I hate you” up and down world of junior high ministry. They can’t help it; it’s just where they’re at developmentally. On a side note, as a leader (of any position), you will NOT be liked all the time – this includes parents and students in your ministry. Sorry!

Thrive on being wild and crazy.

Don’t try to become someone you are not. If you think that being hyper all the time is going to keep students’ attention, then good luck with that. I think authenticity speaks to students more than anything else. Just be who God made you and don’t try to “pretty it up”. You look better without make-up on anyway.

Go for comfortable.

Even though going the route of comfortable doesn’t promote life-change or encourage students to grow spiritually, it seems like the easy route that a lot of us choose to take. If Jesus’ challenge to “make disciples” and “go into all of the world” isn’t being offered, we’re falling far short of God’s best for our ministries. Are students being challenged in their faith? Are they being stretched? Are they growing in their relationship with God? Are they actively loving others?

Know what’s going on in student culture and student ministry at ALL times.

Being a student of culture is good. Being immersed in it, I’m not so sure. I’m thankful for resources like The Source’s “Youth Culture Window”, the CPYU, and YPulse to keep me informed without having to be drowning in a sea of it.

There are a lot of qualities youth pastors should have. For the flip side of this post, read Jeremy Zach’s article from earlier this week.

[Photo by: Thomas Milne]

This post was originally posted at YouthMinBlog.com; follow the discussion there or start a new one here.

I think managing our time is one of the least conquered skills in the youth ministry profession.

I’ve seen one too many of my peers give it their all — filling up a monthly youth calendar, going to student’s extracurricular activities, taking late night phone calls, going out for sodas/coffee, and inviting students into their homes at all hours with disastrous consequences. It’s to the point where I think it’s one of the top reasons that so many youth workers “peter out” after only a couple of years. They’ve over-committed themselves, over-filled their calendar, said “yes” to too many things, and many times leave no space for their home life, rest, or self-edification and spiritual growth.

All of this leads to burn-out.

Some of this comes from self-inflicted pressure to perform and do our best (I’m talking to you, Mr. Melancholy/Perfectionist) and other times the pressure actually comes from our church staff to “keep the calendar full and the kids busy”. Busyness has almost become a badge of honor that we wear like another feather on our hat. It’s another notch on our belt towards self-fulfilled feelings of adequacy.

Truth be told, though, real student ministry and life-change isn’t going to happen through a full calendar of ministry events. In fact, I’ve even heard of parents complaining when the student ministry calendar becomes too full! Interesting, huh?

My advice? Set very clear boundaries between work and rest.

• SET BLOCKS OF TIMES IN YOUR DAY/WEEK THAT ARE RESERVED FOR DOWNTIME. If you’re a family man, your family will love you; if you are single, you are setting yourself up for long-term ministry health.

In my personal life, my two days off are generally reserved for family and free time. I also do my best to keep my family in priority in the evenings — from about 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM. If a student calls during this time, I will ask them if it’s all right if I call them a bit later or the next day. 9 times out of 10, most students have no problem with that.

• TALK PUBLICLY ABOUT YOUR “FAMILY/REST TIME”. Don’t announce it in a way that makes it seem like you are “off limits”; talk about your personal time as your time set aside to refill and refresh, to be with your family, and to spend personal time with God.
• DON’T TAKE WORK HOME WITH YOU. Do your best to keep your work e-mail separate from your personal account. Don’t stop by the office on your weekends unless absolutely necessary. And as much as possible, keep your paperwork on your work desk, not the family couch.
• SABBATH, MEANING “TO CEASE”, IS A BIBLICAL PRACTICE — PRACTICE IT! When you have down time, set apart some time for recharging. Relax. Be still. Listen. Pray. Read. Rest. Just as rest stops are necessary on long journeys, if you want to make the long haul in youth ministry, make sabbath a priority. It’s okay to not “live and breath” your job all the time.
• REST IS A PLACE OF BEING NURTURED. It’s a sanctuary, a place for growth, and a place for protection. It becomes a place where we can regain our strength, gain our bearings, and heal our wounds.
• LEARN HOW TO SAY “NO”. You don’t have to do it all. It’s hard at first, especially when you work with a smaller team, but this is for both your personal health and the health of your overall ministry. Doug Fields has a great book to check out in this regard titled, What Matters Most. Bottom line: don’t overstretch yourself in one arena to make yourself ineffective in all the others over the long haul.

Don’t fall into the trap of trying to do it all. Nobody can set themselves up for that without failing.

Rely heavily on Jesus, find your rest in Him, and you’ll find yourself healthier and steadfast in your resolve to reach out to students.

[Photo by: 96dpi]

This post was originally posted at YouthMinBlog.com; follow the discussion there or start a new one here.

I first heard about Twitter two years ago when I was researching for a parent Internet workshop I was preparing to teach. When I found out that the purpose of Twitter was to supposedly answer the question, “What are you doing now?”, I actually laughed about it. I made fun of it in front of my class! But then I signed up for an account and tried it out. The rest — as they say — is history.

You can now follow me at http://twitter.com/shawnmichael. As you can see, I’m pretty much fully immersed in the “NOW” culture that is Twitter.

If you need a little help with how Twitter functions, take a second and watch this…

HOW HAS TWITTER BEEN A RESOURCE AND A TOOL FOR ME IN YOUTH MINISTRY?

* It has helped me network with youth workers locally. I can keep in touch with what local youth workers are doing outside of our monthly network meetings. Depending on what they are tweeting, I can find out what they are teaching, what they are struggling with, how I can pray for them, and — yes — what they are eating for lunch and other trivial things that people tweet about. But I see value in ALL of it. I like getting to know people outside of their youth-ministry-world, too.

* I can also follow leaders in the field of youth ministry. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gleaned some of my best ministry ideas in the past couple of years from my Twitter stream. In addition, I’ve even been able to send short comments to them and, in some cases, hear back! What fun!

* Lots of great student ministry sites utilize Twitter. Be the first to hear about new content, prizes, and youth ministry ideas that they have to offer.

* Keep parents/guardians informed and updated on student trips. Parents can now get updates from camp, youth convention, weekend retreats, etc. in real time and it is as easy as sending a text from your phone.

* Students ministry pics and video are also easy to publish… through services like TwitPic and 12Seconds.tv or even simply posting links to Flickr, YouTube, or any other media site.

* Stay current on just about any topic. Twitter is a great way to keep up-to-date on youth culture, local news, youth training events, etc.

* Get quick answers to general questions. Sometimes if you post a question, you’ll get answers within minutes. For example:“Does anyone have a good resource for teen counseling in the event of a family loss?” “Looking for an extra pop-up tent that I can borrow for camp next month. Any ideas?” “Is there a good online resource for junior high small group curriculum?”

* Get travel help when trouble arises. True life example… I texted the following: “The interstate is shut down due to snow. Anyone want some surprise overnight visitors on the eastern side of South Dakota?” I had about six invites to stay overnight within a couple of hours. Not bad at all!

I could keep going… Twitter has opened up a whole new world of resources for me. I hope I’ve encouraged some of you to, at least, give it a try. If so, let me know! I’d be glad to help you get started.

This post was originally posted at YouthMinBlog.com; follow the discussion there or start a new one here.

Youth ministry can be a lonely place. As Doug Fields tends to say, “We weren’t meant to do life alone.” I think this is especially relevant in student ministry.

I can remember first coming into my ministry position as a ‘newbie’ youth worker looking for and desiring a connection and a network that really didn’t exist in the city where I was located. I saw another denominational network that was doing a tremendous job of resourcing, equipping, and encouraging youth workers and I jealously wanted that same thing for myself!

I started making phone calls. I called our district guy and left a message, hoping to make a connection. I waited for a response… and waited… and waited. I called again and finally got on the phone. I asked about what kind of collaborative events, activities, etc. were available in our district. His response: “Summer camp.” O, for joy! (my sarcastic inner-response)

In short, I felt alone.

Not good. Not encouraged.

Just A-L-O-N-E.

I knew that there were other youth workers in town doing great things, so I started making phone calls.

Here’s a few thoughts on how to connect with other youth workers and why I think there’s so much value in doing so:

• The first place to check to see if there is a network of youth workers in your area may be the National Network of Youth Ministries. Just put in your zip code and see what it pulls up. If there’s a network listed in your area, the contact information and meeting times are generally included in the links provided. Pretty slick.

• Of course, not all networks will be listed. You may have to make a few phone calls to discover if a network exists in your town.

• No network? If this is something that you value, then I’d make some more calls and get one started! My guess is that there are other youth workers in your area who would be just as excited as you to have one!

• Determine what your gathering will look like and how often you’ll meet. Our local network, just for instance, meets regularly once a month. Our gathering meets at a local coffee shop, where we hang out and share experiences (and usually prayer requests) for this first half (for us, an hour) and move into a more focused discussion/topic/training for the 2^nd half (for us, another hour). This seems to be a great mix for our community, but find out what works best for you and others where you’re located.

• Get as many youth workers as you can involved. Make it something that they can not only gain from, but invest in. I think this makes it more valuable for those involved. People generally find something is worth their time and energy the more that they have personally invested in it. In our network, we try and have as many youth workers as we can take on and facilitate the monthly topics that we share at our gatherings.

There are lots of ways that you can engage youth workers online, too.

• Create a graphic to promote your gathering and share it with area churches (see the graphic for my area’s youth ministry network pictured above).

• Have a resident geek create a web site for your network where you can share participating youth worker’s contact info, blogs, and student web sites. It’s also a great way to promote community, get people involved in online discussion, and provide promotion space for city-wide events and activities. Again, here’s what ours looks like (created with a free WordPress.com account).

• Use some form of an e-forum to communicate in between gatherings. This is great when corporately planning for a city event, prayer items, network updates, etc. We use a free account created through the Google Groups service. We set it up in a discussion-style format so that when any one person responds to a thread in the discussion, it goes back to the whole group – a great networking tool.

These are just some ideas, but I hope they provide a way for some to jumpstart a beneficial gathering of youth workers in your area. Let’s get our act “TOGETHER”!