It's crucial for your youth ministry team to all agree upon a standard and strategy of YM for you to succeed. As a way to align our team, before any volunteer can serve in the youth ministry at FBCCS they have to complete a background check, have a one-on-one interview with me, and read over and sign our leadership covenant. We ask leaders to commit to three areas: Christ, the Church, and the Youth Ministry. The covenant sheet elaborates on each of these. Click here to download it to your computer (tip: right click then select "save target/link as").I'd love to share it with you here. I know you can find freebies like this all over the place, but maybe this one will fit your needs or inspire you as you create your own. This is yours - edit it, use it however you want, and you don't even have to give me any credit! Enjoy! - Tim B.
Since I work at a recovering church in transition, I've largely worked without a job description for the last five years. This has presented a number of challenges, not least of which is dealing with the question of what exactly I'm supposed to be doing! But as we work through so many transitions at FBCCS and move towards focus in ministry in 2011, one thing the pastor, myself, and our personnel team are working on is crafting "forward-thinking" job descriptions for the areas of ministry I'm involved in. I use the term "forward-thinking" because instead of simply describing what I am currently doing, I want to craft a framework for ministry that describes what I - or whoever comes after me - should be doing in order to achieve the best results. So, with all that in mind, I'm experimenting with a new process for writing out these job descriptions using the acronym "P.E.E.P.E.E."
Yeah, that's right. Peepee. Each letter stands for a responsibility/step in a ministry, and though they would look different in application within each ministry, should (in theory) be transferable job-to-job. This may benefit you if you are in a similar situation to me, crafting your own job description.
Here's what each letter of PEEPEE stands for:
PHILOSOPHY: The staff minister is responsible for crafting a philosophy/vision/strategy for his/her area of ministry. Of course, this should be in line with the church's overall philosophy/vision, and should be done in conjunction with the direct supervisor/supervising team (in my case, my pastor).
ENLISTING: The next area of responsibility is recruiting people to do the work of ministry alongside you. I can't think of any ministry areas in the church that shouldn't be done in a team setting. A staff minister should seek to build a team that accomplishes the goals of his/her ministry.
EQUIPPING: After the staff person enlists congregation members to serve within his/her area of ministry, the process of equipping those people for the task at hand begins. The staff person should not be the one that does all of the work of ministry, but rather the one that directs and equips (Eph. 4:12).
PLANNING: After enlisting and equipping, the staff member must then begin the process of planning out all aspects of the ministry - making sure the right people are in the right place and that the logistics of the service/outreach/program are ready to go.
EXECUTION: You've enlisted, you've equipped, you've planned - the next step for a staff member is executing the service/program/ministry experience/whatever. This is the "pulling it off" phase of ministry, and often the only part of our jobs that people ever see.
EVALUATION: An often overlooked, but crucial step of a staff member's responsibilities is evaluating his/her area of influence. Evaluation should be continuously impacting all previous levels of the process.
I probably need a better acronym (something less bodily-function-ish), and I'm not sure how this will shape up on paper, but I'm going to give it a try and see how it goes. I look forward to sharing drafts of the job descriptions I come up with and how the process goes with you on here!
- Tim B.
So my ten-year youth ministry anniversary and my 29th birthday happened to be two days apart. There were a lot of different emotions I thought I would go through marking both of these milestones at around the same time.
I thought I would feel a sort of desperate motivation to make this - my tenth year of YM and my last year in my 20's - THE year that I made something big happen.
I thought I'd also feel a lot of regret about where I'm at, and more importantly where I'm NOT, in ministry.
But do you know what I feel more than anything looking back on the last ten years and thinking about what I've "accomplished"? I feel thankful.
Thankful that ten years ago someone took a chance on me and gave me an opportunity to speak, to teach, and to lead. Thankful that over the years teenagers have let their guards down and allowed me the privilege of walking with them as they seek to discover who God is and what His plans for their lives are. Thankful that parents have allowed me in to their homes to engage their children and families and be a part of something bigger than what happens within the four walls of the church building. Thankful that in the best of times and in the worst of times I've been afforded the privilege of simply being present in young people's lives.
But more than anything else, I'm thankful that God has used me to introduce people to His Son and then say "forget me, follow Him."
For the past ten years, and all that God still has in store, I am so very thankful.
- Tim
PS - If you've been a part of my journey over the past ten years - whether in a big or small way - I am deeply indebted to you for your friendship, wisdom, and presence in my life! Thank you so much! People who I am especially thankful for and who deserve being mentioned by name are: Trisha, Teresa, George, Will, Steve, Dale, Joyce, Travis, Chad, Julie, Pastor Tim, Pastor Steve, Pastor Ronny, Greg, Heather, Amanda, Bob, April, Amy, Cindy, and Ron. And many, many others!
On January first, I officially reached the ten-year mark of serving in Youth Ministry (in some way, shape, or form).
On January 1st of 2001 I started as "Youth Intern" at First Baptist Church of Fairfield under the youth minister there (shout out Chad Ricks!). My primary responsibilities were developing worship for the youth group, leading the junior high guys' Sunday School class, and occasionally helping plan events/activities. I learned a TON in my time at FBCF, due in no small part to the fact that I had only been a Christian about 6 months when I started interning. I'm so thankful that I was surrounded by patient, discipleship-minded people who were willing to take a chance on me and encourage God's calling in my life.
Since then I've worked at camps and in various church settings doing a myriad of things, but always tied to or directly involved in YM. I landed in full-time YM+ (youth ministry PLUS other jobs that come with being on staff at a smaller church, i.e. worship, tech, media, etc.) at First Baptist Church of Cold Spring in October of 2005, a little over 5 years ago.
Aside from all I've experienced in Youth Ministry, in the last ten years I've also married my beautiful wife, graduated college, and welcomed Grayson - my son - into the world. It's safe to say that the last decade has been the MOST important, definitive, life-changing, insert-a-thousand-other-profound-adjectives-here of my life!
I'm hoping to write several posts over the next month or two reflecting on my experiences so far in YM and my thoughts on the future. There's a lot going on on the inside of me right now, and I'm expecting God to do some amazing things in the very near future!
Thanks for reading this blog and my ramblings here, and if you're on the YM journey with me, I encourage you to stay faithful and walk strong - there's a generation out there that needs the men and women God is calling to reach them!
More coming soon...
- Tim
I know I do, and it often makes me feel terrible about my ministry or myself. That's why I love the reminder this video gives me! Plus it's hilarious. BONUS.
- Tim B.
Have you ever seen footage on the National Geographic or Discovery Channel of salmon swimming upstream? It's pretty interesting to watch. I always feel bad for the fish that makes a good amount of progress just to be caught in the current and pushed back to where they started.
Sometimes I feel like working in Youth Ministry is a lot like trying to swim upstream. At times I feel like we've made a lot of progress, fighting against the currents of sin, self-centeredness, culture, low expectations, etc. in students' lives, but suddenly a swift downstream current will push us back to where we started and I'm left feeling like all the hours of prayer, studying, working on programming/events, and relationship building were wasted. It's in those moments I question my calling, my effectiveness, even myself.
I know if I've struggled with this then I'm not the only one. My guess is that many youth ministers feel this way and struggle with constantly fighting against the currents, trying to make a difference in teenagers' lives.
When I get frustrated with the lack of progress or the amount of regress in my ministry to students, there's one thing that I have trained myself to remember: what I'm doing is about obedience, not results. The most important thing I do in YM is obey what I feel God has called me to do and then do it in a way that honors Him. I may work for hours preparing content for Youth Group - prepping a game, choosing songs for worship, teaching them to our student band, rehearsing with them until they get it, studying for and preparing a message I hope will inspire youth to take their walk with Jesus to the next level, and creating an environment that will be comfortable and inviting for them - only to have a handful of students show up and spend an hour texting their friends, using the couches for a much-needed nap, or just stare at that patch of wall they've been studying for the last six weeks.
I have to remember in those moments that the results may not be what I expected - but I was obedient to the task God set before me. If I focused only on the progress I was making upstream I would often be frustrated, disappointed, or even feel like quitting.
How do the salmon do it? There's got to be something inside them that just keeps saying, "Swim, Swim, SWIM!" What we have as those who are called to minister to youth isn't much different. The Holy Spirit inside of us is urging us on, "Swim, Swim, SWIM!" Irregardless of what the results are, I want to be obedient to what God has called me to do. He will bring the results in His time. He will get me up the stream in His way and according to His will. I, and those on the YM journey with me, just have to keep swimming.
Keep swimming.
- Tim B.
Do you, as a youth minister, desire to have influence among the young people in your church and community? If you’re like me, being able to influence students with the life-changing message of the Gospel is the goal you’re aiming for, but it is also one that can often seem difficult if not impossible to reach.
The problem that many youth ministers/ministries face when trying to gain influence among the young people of their churches and communities is that they try to gain that influence based solely on a strong desire or assumed “right” to speak in to students’ lives. Without laying down some essential “stepping stones”, you will never be able to have the impact you hope to have on teenagers and their families. However, if you build a path toward influence by focusing on a few basic steps, you will see your influence increase and God begin to change lives and do something great in and through your ministry.
Instead of focusing on the end-goal, focus on each of these in progression to build the path to influence:
Intimacy
Before you are able to influence anyone, you need to be influenced by your Heavenly Father. Spending consistent time with God in prayer and devotion is the well-spring from which all of the following steps toward influence flow. Without being plugged in to the Source of the life-change you desire to see, how are you ever going to see your ministry become a catalyst for that life-change?
Inspiration
Spending time with God in worship, prayer, etc. will ultimately lead to inspiration. If you are consistently and earnestly praying for God to move amongst the young people of your church and community, He will eventually answer that prayer by inspiring you to some sort of action or next step to take toward that goal. He may speak to your creativity, your leadership, your passion, or your pastoral heart; and when He does, you will know!
Implementation
It’s important then to act on the inspiration that God has given you by implementing whatever changes, new strategies, creative programming, individual or group mentoring, leadership development, etc. you’ve been inspired to do. So often we feel led in a fresh direction, get inspired to do something, and then fail on the follow-through. This may be the hardest step on the path to influence because it often requires the most work or encounters the most resistance from our critics. But remember to be faithful not just to your inspiration but to the One who inspired you in the first place!
Interest
If you’re lucky, whatever changes or new directions you’ve implemented in your ministry will begin to generate interest among the youth of your church or community. It’s important that you construct your ministry so that what you’re doing captures the attention of students. Lack of interest or boredom among the young people you engage can not only kill momentum in your ministry but can kill your passion as well. Remember that patience is key – it may take months or even years to see the fruits of what God is doing, but staying true to what God has inspired you to do and working hard to implement that is one sure way to make sure that interest is generated and that those fires stay hot!
Involvement
Once students begin to take interest in what your ministry is all about, it’s time to get them involved. Make sure you have a process in place that moves youth along the most basic path of involvement: fringes à committed à core. You should be taking those students that are interested in the message of your ministry, helping them to own it for themselves, and then equipping them to be leaders.
Influence
Once you have generated enough interest, and students begin to become involved in owning their own faith and growing in to leaders, congratulations – you’ve gained influence! You will be amazed at how deeply you’ll be able to impact the lives of those young people God in His grace has seen fit to send to you. And remember – it all started because you relied on God and your relationship with Him to be the source of this influence, so remember to give credit where credit is due.
This may not be a sure-fire way to grow a giant-sized youth ministry, but it is a practical approach to gaining the ability to make a difference in the next generation of students for God’s Kingdom. Good luck in your adventures in YM – I’d love to hear what you’re up to! Comment this post or drop me a message using the “Contact” box at the top of this screen.
-Tim B.
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