Posts Tagged With: ministry

How To Work With Parents

Posted on July 10, 2012 by Josh

I have made a number of mistakes in student ministry, but working with parents is one thing that I have done pretty well (I think).  I rarely have any of those meetings with parents where you just try to keep your head down while criticisms zing past you.  Here are a few things that I have done in order to maintain good relationships with the parents of our students.

1. From the beginning I let our parents know that things would be done professionally.  I try to communicate with them in a professional way, keep my commitments, and always have a plan.  When we take a trip with the students, I map out where we will eat lunch and where we might stop for bathroom breaks.  My goal is for parents to know that we always have a plan and that we are responsible.  I want parents to trust that I will do what is best for their student, and I will do it as professionally as possible.

2. I am clear on why we do things.  Because we have a strategy and values that shape what we do, we have a specific direction that the program is built around and we communicate that.  Sometimes a parent will suggest a program or event that really doesn’t fit with our values or our culture.  When this happens, it gives me an opportunity to talk about why we do what we do and how what works in the big picture.  By keeping the main things in front of us (discipleship and spiritual growth), I am able to not only cast vision, but also reassure the parents that we are working towards something.

3. I encourage them to be a part of the student ministry, and I acknowledge that they actually are the most important part of their students’ discipleship.  When I invite students to events or programs, I try to be sure that parents know that they are invited to come as well.  They don’t even have to come as chaperones or helpers, they can just come and experience what their student is experiencing.  I have had a number of parents who attended events with us who confessed that they were wary about what we did only to later realize, after attending the event, that things were far different from what they had imagined.  Some of my best volunteers have come from this, by the way.

4. I welcome comments and criticism.  This is not natural for me.  I don’t like to be corrected or critiqued.  But, for the good of the program and the students, I know that I need to hear other people’s opinions so that we take the best route possible.  I make it a point to be available and open to any comments a parent would like to make about the program.  Not only does this keep discussions from growing in the background between different sets of parents, it also allows me to understand the heart of the request.  Most of the time there is a real reason behind the complaint or comment.  If people are upset about the lack of a college class, it is because they are worried about their college student.  If people don’t think a program is working, it could be because their kid had a bad experience that I need to know about and then try to correct the environment.

Working with parents is a huge part of being a student minister.  Things go infinitely smoother when you and the parents of your students can work together to participate in the discipleship of their students.  If things have not always gone well, consider apologizing for your part in any of it, and then you might consider some of the things above.  Good luck.

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What Stories Motivate Your Ministry?

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Josh

Over the past few weeks I have been considering the topic of motivation.  I recently had the opportunity to sit down with our student ministry leaders and discuss where we are and where we are going as a student ministry.  I found that as I discussed the direction of the ministry, what really impacted me were the stories of change and transformation that had been written in our group over the past year.

For me, and for most people I would guess, stories motivate people.  When I dream about what we can become as a student ministry, I prefer to think of the stories that will be told rather than thinking up statistics or numbers.  It’s not that setting numeric goals is unnecessary, but if I want my heart and the hearts of others to be captured by our mission, I go to stories.

When I think about the value and mission of next generation ministry, here are the three stories that I see in my mind.

1. First, I see a young boy who is nine years old and desperately wants to feel loved and valued.  His home life is rough, and he does not have many friends nor does he feel very special.  I think about how powerful a role a church could play in his life by giving him some godly people to love him and share a message of the ultimate form of love found in God.  I think about how the direction of his life would be changed by his encounter with God and God’s people.  I see him growing up understanding his role in the church and his calling to make disciples.  I see him starting a family that is full of affirmation and love.

2. Second, I think about a young couple who has just had their first child.  These two people are just recognizing that they don’t have a clue what to do with this new life.  There is a pang in their hearts that is reminding them of the churches that they used to attend.  As they look at their child they realize that they want her exposed to the teachings of the Bible that used to be foundational for them.  As they pull into the church they are surrounded by people who welcome them and their child, helping them navigate their way through parenthood and the way back to God.  Their child grows up in the church and at an early age comes to an understanding of the gospel.  The family routinely prays together and goes on mission trips together.

3. Third, I see a teenager who wants nothing to do with God.  This student has seen Christians, but has no desire to live the way that they live.  He is too cool for it, and truthfully isn’t even sure if there is a God or whether or not all religions are basically the same.  He wonders what the point of life really is, and is longing to know if there is a reason for any of it.  I see a young adult creating a relationship with this kid, maybe by routinely visiting him at work.  This young adult befriends the kid and begins to share what he thinks life is all about.  As the teenager listens to the man and sees how he lives his life, the teenager begins to become open to the things of God.  After a few months of reading the Bible that the man gave him, the teenager asks the man how he can become a Christian.  Soon after that the teenager walks into a church and is greeted by students who he knows from school who celebrate with him that he has begun a relationship with God.  Together they grow in the knowledge of what it means to be a true follower of Christ.

These are the stories that motivate me each day as we make disciples of the next generation.  These stories are not far-fetched.  In fact, in God terms they are pretty mundane.  God can do all of this, and he allows us to be a part of these stories.   As you consider your ministry whether it be to inmates, students, or your own household, what stories motivate your ministry?

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10 Reasons Next Generation Ministry Matters

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Josh

As a student minister I hate to hear that people see ministry to the next generation (ministry to preschool through high school) as something secondary to the work of the church.  I know that there have been poor examples of next generation ministry.  There are student ministers who seem to be trying to get fired because of their lack of discernment (basketball dodgeball anyone?).  There are children’s ministries who are more committed to a method or a program than to the actual discipleship of our children.  Despite these examples, there are those who are truly seeking to plant the seed of faith in this rising generation.  Here are 10 reasons that ministry to the next generation matters.

1. We are called to make disciples in all nations and let’s assume of all ages.  Ministry to the next generation is obedience to the commands of Christ.

2. The next generation will be the leaders of our churches tomorrow.  Let’s be honest, what we invest in the children and students of today will be the foundation that the church will be built on tomorrow.  If students learn to appreciate God’s word, then the churches of tomorrow will be taught this desire.  If our students understand that their faith is something that is lived out every day, our churches of tomorrow will fight for something more than a Sunday morning faith.

3. The next generation will be the incredibly annoying church members of our churches of tomorrow…unless we can present them with a love for God and His church that allows them to see the church as a God-ordained missional community rather than a place that caters to their desires.

4. The next generation has genuine problems that the church can help with.  Spend a few minutes in Wal-Mart.  Look at how some of the children in there are treated by their parents.  Don’t you think that a place offering unconditional love and the story of a Savior might be relevant for those kids?  In this past year I have ministered to students with eating disorders, problems with cutting, suicidal thoughts, and bullying.  Some of them have imprisoned parents, divorcing parents, neglectful parents, and parents who have kicked them out multiple times.  These kids have problems and if the church is not able and willing to help them in this time, who would it fall to?

5. These children will be the parents of tomorrow.  Our students are 5-10 years away from being parents.  They will be responsible for raising another generation.  Ministry to the next generation speaks into more lives than you will ever know.  The church can have the honor of breaking patterns in families and reversing the fortunes of families for years to come.  The church can have the honor of building a foundation that healthy families and healthy marriages are built upon.

6. The next generation is not set in their path.  It seems to me that the older you get, the harder it is for you to change.  You mature over time, but over the years we build up a pretty sizable amount of baggage.  Intervening in a student’s life before they make bad decisions or set out on a bad path is an incredible way to make an impact.  We can’t control the student, but we can at the very least offer an option that is different from everything the world will be telling them.

7. The next generation can make an impact now.  I just read that a 27-year-old sold his company for 1 billion dollars.  There are teenagers moving to other continents because they believe that sharing the gospel is more important than living a life of comfort.  We continue to hear stories of young people doing extraordinary things.  Our world has evolved to the point that anyone can make a difference.  There are no age limits, but if we want to see young people continue to do extraordinary things it will take mentors and adults who can guide them and inspire them.

8. The next generation can reach its own generation.  As we minister to the next generation, we recognize that we are also creating missionaries who will be able to go out to their own crowds and share the gospel in ways that an adult would never be able to.

9. Teaching the next generation gives us a deeper way to learn.  As we minister to the students and share the truth of the Gospel, we grow as disciples because we too are encountering the life-changing lessons we are teaching.  In fact, by teaching the word, we often develop a greater understanding of the word than if we had simply experienced as a participant in a class.  In addition to teaching a lesson, learning to disciple and serve students allows us to grow in ways that we could not grow without those relationships.

10. When we serve the next generation, we are also serving their families.  In fact, ministering to children and students must involve ministering to their parents.  We don’t just partner with students in next generation ministry–we partner with families.  As we partner with families, we are actually ministering to a significant portion of the church from preschoolers to grandparents.

Ministry to the next generation is disciple-making in one of its truest forms.  Churches who get this concept will be building up individuals who will be the salt and the light of their generation.

Categories: Doing Ministry, Ministry Philosophy | Tags: , | Leave a comment

5 Things to Know About Working in Ministry

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Josh

When I look back, I probably did not know much of what to expect when I became a full-time minister.  I knew about the job and my responsibilities, but I had not yet immersed myself in the world of ministry.  Over the past few years, I have learned some very valuable lessons about ministry and what it means to be a minister.

1. You are always a minister, even when you are “off the clock.”  If you are an accountant, you can basically stop being an accountant when you leave the office.  If you want to have an unbalanced checkbook or want to overspend your bank account, it will not likely impact your career as an accountant.  As a minister, you are always a minister.  When people see you at Wal-Mart or at the movies, you are a minister.  At night when a student needs to talk because of a mistake they have made or they have been thrown out of the house, you are a minister.  When you are doing your morning prayers, you do so as a minister.  It’s not something that you turn off.  It is who you are.

2. Working at a church changes how you worship at your church.  This is one of the big observations that many ministers make early on in their ministry.  It may not be universal, but working at a church will likely affect how you approach your church’s worship.  If you are like me, you wince each time you see a misspelled word on the worship slide or you get antsy when a transition seems to be taking too long.  I find myself having to fight the urge to constantly be evaluating the worship service while it is happening.  Some ministers also find that their current church has a very different style than they are used to.  It takes work, but there is a great deal of comfort and encouragement in looking around the room and realizing that these people are here to seek after God and you are there to help them do it.

3. You minister out of the overflow of your relationship with God.  If your relationship with God is struggling, you will struggle as a minister.  So many of my great ministry moments have come from sharing what I am personally learning or what I have recently read rather than from the talk that I spent time preparing.  If you are faithful in dwelling in the Scriptures, you will find yourself with a greater depth of ministry.  When you shrink back from God and try to do ministry on autopilot, everything suffers.  Ministry is too difficult for a foundation built on anything other than a desire to work for God’s glory and for His kingdom.

4. Ministry requires initiative.  Some churches have highly structured schedules and tasks for their ministers.  Most churches, however, simply expect you to take an incredible amount of initiative when it comes to accomplishing the work of your ministry.  Truthfully, it can be quite easy to coast in a church position.  There is a challenge in making sure you use your time wisely.  This takes constant evaluation and self-assessment, but when it works, you find yourself achieving things you never thought possible.

5. There is always more to do than you can possibly accomplish.  Your goal is not to make 60 cars in a month or bill 300 hours.  Your job is to help people become true disciples of Christ.  This takes time and does not work in some type of linear progression.  Your people will have ups and downs.  They will have mountain top moments and crises of faith.  They will experience transformation in one area and ridiculous choices in another.  And that is okay.  The goal is to be on a journey with Christ, being ever transformed.  Our goal is to do what we can in the time we have been given to help people along in that journey.  At the end of the day, we cannot control other people or even convince them.  We just do our best.  There will always be more people we could meet with or more Bible studies to write, but when we know that we have honored God with our time and efforts, He will do the rest.  A minister who works 80 hours a week will only be a minister for a few years.  Pace yourself.

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