Most of our church ministries operate with volunteers. Without them, many of our ministries would shut down. Many youth leaders have a problem recruiting volunteers. However, that's only one part of the puzzle. It's not just how to bring volunteers in service, it's also how you care for them. I've heard from some volunteers who feel they are essentially cheap (i.e. free) labour. Some don't feel appreciated or cared for.
Theology, as a basic definition, is "the study of God and God's relation to the world". As a Christian, we view everything through that lens of discovering God's relationship to everything. Youth ministry is no different. Youth ministry is no longer seen as "glorified babysitting". Youth leaders would rarely call it that. (Some parishoners may have subconsciously viewed it as such.) However, in the last few years, the connection between
Over the years, we've coordinated what we called an event internship where youth and young adults came to serve at Avalanche and Blizzard while honing their ministry skills. Over the last 12 months, we've redesigned that program into what we call "Slingshot". We recognize that today's young adult isn't always able to commit to a program long-term (some don't even know what they're doing the next hour). We also recognize
Everyone has a system of how they keep track of details, from contacts to tasks and everything in between. As you're getting organized for this next ministry season, here are some online tools we've found helpful in our office. Bufferapp: Keeping up with social media can be daunting, especially when you're sending out content. This app allows for you to schedule your posts ahead of time. e.g. Want to remind
August is usually a time when many youth ministries start to look at what the coming year could look like with prayer and planning. Megan Lane recently posted a blog entry on "Ministry Planning" with some great tips and templates you can use to work through what 2014-2015 might look like. Click here to read her post. BTW, if you want some help planning your youth ministry's 2014-2015, feel free
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. (Lao-tzu) What grand plans do you have? For some, youth ministry is seen as a catalyst for change, whether in students or for the church as a whole. For others, they have no idea where the youth ministry is going next week let alone three years down the road. (Change can be petrifying.) So how do you move forward
Evaluation and feedback are key in helping to see if a ministry is continuing the direction God has given. Regular feedback (whether informal or in a more structured approach) helps to give a "pulse" of where things are at. Every couple of years, it's worthwhile doing an audit of your ministry. The purpose of an audit is to give an accurate snapshot of where things are at. It takes your
For a lot of youth ministries, the weeks from the Christmas holidays to March break feel like an eternity. At the beginning of the ministry year in the fall, there's the adrenaline of a new start. Shortly after Thanksgiving comes the move towards Christmas celebrations. After March break signifies a change in weather towards spring, which brings excitement and the focus on Easter. After Easter is the final push towards
