Youth Specialties Blog

The Perfect Youth Ministry Volunteer

By Youth Specialties on May 22 2012 | 0 Comments

Youth Pastor, Chris Dortch, in North Carolina recently posted on his church's blog looking for volunteers. Here's what he's looking for — sounds pretty good to us. 

What would the “perfect” youth ministry volunteer look like?  I think I have an answer, but first let’s address some of the myths.

Myth #1 “You’ve got to be cool.”
Let’s face it, we probably weren’t that cool in high school and we’re certainly not cool as adults.  Students don’t need someone to be cool, they need authenticity.  If you are willing to be yourself around teenagers, you’re a great candidate for volunteering in the youth ministry.

Myth #2 “You’ve got to be young.”
Sometimes we think that the 20-somethings “relate better” to teenagers because of their age.  Most teenagers have a hard time telling the difference between at 25 year-old who is married and a 37 year-old who is married (they are both “old”).  Research shows that teenagers are actually drawn to the oldest person in the room who will listen to them and take them seriously.  If you are willing to listen to teenagers and take their problems seriously, you’re a great candidate for volunteering in the youth ministry.

Myth #3 “You’ve got to act like a teenager.”
There is a difference between being child-like and being childish.  One of my youth ministry heroes, Duffy Robbins says, “Teenagers don’t need adults who act like teenagers.  They need adults who don’t freak out when teenagers act like teenagers.”  If you can act like an adult and not “freak out” when teenagers act like teenagers, then you’re a great candidate for volunteering in the youth ministry.

Myth #4 “You’ve got to a Bible scholar.”
Sure, we want you to know something about the Bible, but we don’t expect you to have all of the answers.  In John 9, the man born blind gives us a great example of how to respond to questions we don’t know the answers to, “Whether Jesus was a sinner or not, I don’t know.  One thing I do know, I once was blind but now I can see!”  If you are willing to help students discover answers to their questions, you’re a great candidate for volunteering in the youth ministry.

Myth #5 “You’ve got to know everything in teen culture.”
It’s okay if you don’t listen to Justin Bieber and you still listen to Abba on vinyl.  Students want you to be you.  Many of them would even love to hear stories about the time you were in a KISS cover band!  If you don’t know who Justin Bieber is, you’re the perfect candidate for volunteering in the youth ministry.

If these aren’t the things that teenagers are looking for, what do they need in an adult volunteer?

Reality #1 “Students need adults who will live a life honoring to God.”
Students are searching for adults who are authentic in their walk with Christ.  If there is one thing that teenagers have a keen ability to spot, it is fake people.

Reality #2 “Students need adults who are interested enough to learn their name.”
Students want to know if adults care enough to remember their names.  When I first came to Christ Community Church over ten years ago, I had a middle school girl ask, “Do you know my name?”  To my embarrassment, I had no clue.  I told her that if she reminded me of her name one last time, I would make sure that I knew it the next week.  I will never forget Alice.

Reality #3 “Students need adults who are interested in their life.”
Students need adults who will spend time with them, pray for them, say an encouraging word, believe in them, and simply laugh with them.  Students want to know if you are willing to come into “their world” and discover who they are.

Reality #4 “Students need adults who are consistent with their attendance.”
Students are familiar with adults who come in and out of their lives like a revolving door.  Teachers change from semester to semester.  Parents change from alternating weekends.  Teenagers need to know which adults are going to be consistent in their life.  This is one of the reasons that I have committed to youth ministry for nearly twenty years.

Students may ask it this way, “Do you care about me?  Do you know my name?  Will you be here next week?”  If you are willing to show teenagers you care about them, willing to learn some names, and be consistent with your attendance… YOU are the perfect youth ministry volunteer.

We believe that every teenager needs five godly adults who are investing in their lives.  When a student in our church’s youth group is asked, “Who are the most influential adults in your life?”  We want their parents and adults from our student ministry to be in their top five!

Originally posted on Christ Community Church's blog.

Chris Dortch has been in ministry since 1993 and has been the Lead Youth Pastor of Christ Community Church since January of 2002.  You can find a few of his resources at Download Youth Ministry. 

By Youth Specialties on May 22 2012 | 0 Comments

---

Numb to Numbers

By Shawn Michael Shoup on May 26 2009 | 1 Comments

Are you thinking numbers?  Many youth workers are — especially as the summer draws near and several youth groups see a seasonal drop in attendance.

Does measuring success in youth ministry = playing the numbers game? I’m a firm believer that the fruit of ministry does NOT boil down neatly into how many warm bodies are in a room at one time.

Numbers are important, yes… but that’s only because numbers — in this context — are people. And hopefully, these “numbers” are lives that are being influenced.

Measuring this kind of influence isn’t easy. How do we know when we’re growing? When we’re succeeding?

I suppose it comes down to… (I’d better stop and think here. I’m supposed to be a paid “professional”. I should know the answer to this.)

…Jesus.

Jesus showing Himself larger in a student’s life than the influences of the culture.

A student becoming the hands and feet of Jesus through outreach, serving, and loving people that everyone else rejects.

A student that desires daily communion with Jesus.

Jesus living through a student that stirs up some old, religious thinking.

A group of students that have Jesus‘ heart for others more than they are interested in getting self-gratification out of a weekly service experience.

A group of students who value worshipping Jesus, not just by singing songs, but with their lives.

Student’s who have given their lives over to Jesus on Mondays and Tuesdays, not just Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights.

Students who don’t just pay lip service to the words of Jesus, but act on them.

Lives that have been transformed and set free by the incredible, extraordinary love of Jesus.

Numbers are good. They help us to measure things. But numbers aren’t everything. I’d much rather have Jesus.

NOTE: This post was originally posted at Youth Min Blog.

By Shawn Michael Shoup on May 26 2009 | 1 Comments

---

Twitter of Faith

By Adam McLane on December 01 2008 | 6 Comments

Adam Walker Cleaveland, a youth worker from Livermore, California was recently working on his personal statement of faith for his ordination and had a crazy idea. Why not ask Twitter members to tweet their statement of faith? Is it possible to condense what you believe into 140 characters or less?

Here’s his description:

While fitting everything you believe is hard enough to do on one page, what if you only had 140 characters to do so? So, if you’re on Twitter (if you want to know why you should try Twitter, read this), please participate in this. This was the initial challenge:

Twitter of Faith: What do you believe? You have 140 characters – give us your statement of faith in 140 characters. #TOF

In order for us to be able to keep track of them, please add the hash tag #TOF to it, and then you can keep up with the results here. If you want to track both the hash tag #TOF and the phrase “Twitter of Faith” – this is a great way to view the results.

Here are a few results of this interesting and beautiful social experiment:

By Adam McLane on December 01 2008 | 6 Comments

---

5 Good Reads

By Adam McLane on November 18 2008 | 2 Comments

Go ahead, grab a cup of coffee, tea, or hot cocoa and enjoy these five blog posts.

1. The Time is Now by Doug Jones
2. The Video Revolution (disclaimer: muffled foul language.)
3. Setting the Tone for Effective Meetings by Craig Groeschel
4. 30 Days of Thanks/Giving by Tony Myles
5. Youth Pastors in a Negative Light by Mike Kupferer

By Adam McLane on November 18 2008 | 2 Comments

---

Students Say the Darndest Things

By Adam McLane on November 15 2008 | 2 Comments

This is a guest blog post from Brian Ferry from Cincinnati, OH

It doesn’t take long working with students before you realize that it’s the best gig around. Paid to play. We carry around wiffle ball bats and Bibles, we prep games involving gummy worms and discussion questions to help students encounter God. Most of us who got into this gig did so because we love being around teenagers. We may spend more time now with adults equipping them to invest in students but some of the best times we spend is engaging in conversation with these kids who God loves even more than we do.

Youth ministry is at once fantastic and extremely taxing. We need to know we aren’t alone. And we need to laugh. A lot. Whenever our tribe gets together we share stories of the hilarious stuff that goes down on the job. There are no shortage of stories. My only problem is that I don’t get to share and hear some of these things often enough.

I have some students that say the most amusing and ridiculous things. And I know my colleagues (that’s you) do as well. So I thought, this stuff needs to be heard and I need to hear what students are saying in other youth ministry contexts.

Recently I launched a blog called “Students Say the Darndest Things” where we, as youth workers, can get a quick, 10 second, laugh and a little jolt to keep us lighthearted and plugging away at curriculum or calendaring or writing notes to students or whatever.

Also, and more importantly, youth workers can contribute by sending a text via the blog and it’ll be posted.

Humor as fuel for ministry.

By Adam McLane on November 15 2008 | 2 Comments

---

NYWC Sacramento Recap

By Adam McLane on October 14 2008 | 2 Comments

If I could summarize the feeling of my coworkers this morning into a single phrase, it would be invigorated exhaustion. As much as this weekend filled us with excitement, filling us with energy, it was also a weekend where the whole team gave as much as they could and are completely tired.

Of course, I’m a huge fan of NYWC! So rather than sharing my reflections, here are some things about Sacramento from the blogosphere.

• Tim and Andrew both offered video recaps, highlighting likes and dislikes as well as sharing things they learned.
• Amber, Kurt, and I shared our experiences riding the magical mechanical unicorn in the exhibit hall.
• Sarah wrestled with all of the challenging content and Dan shares some quick insights on stuff he did.
• A lot of people were excited about speed dating, here’s Abby’s two sentence thoughts.
• Marko took a 24 excursion from Sacramento to our Convencion Internacional in Dallas.
• Jonas got to meet some of our speakers and Lily and Jonathan, our speakers, got to meet some of her favorite people.

It was a great weekend and the perfect kick-off to our fall convention season. As Trinity shared, “Change is in the air around here, and seeing as the wind is blowing a lot things are getting russled about.“

Did you blog about Sacramento and I missed you? Share your reflections, links, or comments.

By Adam McLane on October 14 2008 | 2 Comments

---

Five Good Reads

By Adam McLane on September 18 2008 | 0 Comments

Grab a cup of coffee and join us in chewing on these tasty thoughts.

1. 15 Things to Do in Your First Year of Youth Minsitry @ a Small Church by Jeremy Zach
2. Significant Changes in Youth Ministry by Tim Stevens (exec pastor at Granger)
3. Great Youth Ministry Resource Giveaway by Justin Ross (more should do this!)
4. Major Life Change for Me by Dan Kimball (this is really big)
5. Thinking about Parents by Kurt Johnson

By Adam McLane on September 18 2008 | 0 Comments

---

Page 1 of 2 pages  1 2 >