morethandodgeball.com

GUEST POST: I?m Thinking About Leaving My Church

I?m thinking about leaving my church.

I?m 22 years old. And I work with students at the church that I grew up in.

Now, when I say ?grew up in??I didn?t know Christ until I was a junior in high school, and this was where I met him. When I graduated high school, I didn?t go to college, and since I was staying at home, I decided to give back to the youth ministry that had given so much to me, and started working with 6th graders on Sunday mornings, and helping out with our mid-week youth worship service.

I?ve been doing this since for 3 years and I love it. Students are a fantastic bunch of people to work with, and Youth Workers might be the greatest group of people you?ll ever get to do ministry with. So. I love what I get to do at my church. But I don?t feel fed. I don?t feel the sense of community that my soul longs for. I am struggling and praying through whether or not I should leave this church, and start attending one here in town that I know offers those things. I am hurting over whether or not the students that I know and love at my current church are worth not getting what I feel like I need spiritually.

I know that I can work with students wherever I end up, but I?m talking about going from a 200 student ministry to a ministry of about 30-40 students. Which honestly has some cons for me, as well as pros. But a big part of it is that I love these kids that I work with now. I?ve invested in them for the past four years. They?ve been a big part of my life, and I hope I?ve made an impact on them.

I?ve wondered if it?s just me. If I need a spiritual attitude adjustment. But the more I think and pray about it, I see that the things that God has put on my heart, are not necessarily what He has put on the hearts of church leadership here. And that?s ok. We don?t have to be going after the same things, because as long as we agree that salvation is through Christ on the cross, and only that. The rest is neither here nor there, honestly.

So am I being selfish? I don?t know. I know that I am not growing spiritually like I have in the past, and I know this is part of the reason why. I don?t know if it?s reason enough to seek out a new community of believers.

Here?s the thing. I want your thoughts. And honestly, I?m sure I?m not the only guy (or girl) out there who is dealing with something like this. So, have you ever had to leave a church or ministry because you were giving a ton, but not getting much out of it for yourself? Is that a valid reason, or that that a line of selfishness to give yourself an out?

Anonymous would love to read your thoughts in the comments section of this post.

simplyinsider.com

Brand New: Girls Ministry from Start to Finish

We have a brand new start to finish resource we’d love to share with you: Girls Ministry from Start to Finish. Here’s what it’s covers:

Each week, you look at the girls in your church, and you dream about the opportunity to make a bigger impact in their lives. You envision a team of women coming alongside you, investing their time and talents to help teenage girls discover how beautiful and valuable they truly are. You imagine groups of girls gathering to talk about their life experiences and offering support and encouragement to one another. You picture moms and daughters experiencing healed relationships and new beginnings.

It?s just a dream?for now. But you can turn that dream into reality with the tools, tips, and training you?ll find in Girls Ministry from Start To Finish.

This resource is divided into two parts.

Part 1: The Strategy Who will lead your girls ministry? How will you structure it? How will it benefit your church? What impact can you have on the girls in your congregation and community? This section takes you from ?big picture? thinking all the way to hitting the ground running.

Part 2: The Tools and Resources This includes stuff that will save you tons of times: event ideas, sample Bible studies, and suggestions for curriculum. Use them as-is or customize them for your ministry. They?re all yours. We?ve also tossed [...]

simplykurt.com

Random Randomness

- After spending the better part of 3 days with middle school youth workers at SYMC, I am (once again) convinced that many of the sharpest minds in youth ministry are found in middle school ministry!

- At a conference like SYMC (or YS or any other large gathering of youth workers) you meet lots and lots of people. It’s always such a great reminder to me that God uses an amazingly vast array of people to pour into students. I’m so thankful that the stereotypical youth worker (young, cool, plays guitar, surfs, rides skateboards, has a tattoo….) is no longer the “norm”.

- We are starting a 3-week series this weekend called “STUFF”. We are using household stuff as object lessons to teach a biblical truth. It’s a series we have done once before with great success. This week’s lesson: Take Out The Trash!

- Quite a few people tracked me down at the conference to ask me about regional campuses (basically church plants that are still part of the mother ship). Questions about how we structure etc. My simple answer: “Treat them like a franchise with freedom” They are a franchise in that there are certainly some things that they have to do in line with the main campus because they are the same church. But there shouldn’t be an overly large amount of control…they need freedom to tweak the ministry to their context.

- Dear Denver Broncos, Please get rid of Brandon Marshall.

- Dear senate and house leadership, Please either sign [...]

collegeministrythoughts.com

Mission Statements Causing Confusion

Every church and organization has a mission statement. And, for the most part, every ministry leader has a mission statement for their specific ministry – especially in the church. Mission statements are important because they articulate (hopefully) what we’re about, what we stand for and what we’re seeking to accomplish. These are good.

But there is something I want to point out that causes confusion. Or, at least, can. And that is church-based ministries that have a different mission statement than the church they are a part of. I see this all the time. The junior high ministry has a mission. The high school ministry will have a different one. And the church yet another one. Now, the truth is when you boil mission statements down, most churches are basically saying the same thing…just worded differently. But different mission statements in the same church?

Really?

Are we really seeking an entirely different mission? Or, are we simply seeking to move people in an age-stage toward embracing the same mission? If we’re a part of a church, I hope it’s the latter. Sure, the vision of implementing and applying that mission should be unique for age stage ministries, but it’s not a different mission! Well, at least it shouldn’t be.

Here are 3 encouragements:

1. Make sure you agree with the mission statement of the organization you serve under. If you feel like you need to change the mission statement, you probably shouldn’t be there anyway.
2. Understand that college age people long to belong in the church as a whole, not just a ministry. Having the same mission statement as the church (and helping the students we work with embrace that mission)is a very simply way we can help them feel a part of the bigger picture.
3. College ministry is an assimilation ministry where we bridge people from relational connection in the student life of our churches into relational connections in the adult life of our churches. We need all the continuity we can get in order to be effective in this. And this continuity begins with the mission statement.

youthmissionsinsider.com

I hated short-term missions?

Please check out this great article from my friend Eric Iverson. Good thoughts to consider whenever you’re taking your group on a mission trip.

Fuller Youth Institute – Youth Missions Article

What do you think? Is Eric right?

marriedtoayouthpastor.com

It Really was a Stretch?

smallchurchyouthministry.com

Now It?s My Turn?

I asked u to post ur 3 faves and 3 “not so much” aspects of the Simply Youth Ministry Conference. Now its my turn.

My three faves? 1) Not knowing (or caring) who’s who: Did u know the color of your name tag meant something? I didn’t care and neither did most other people. Sure there are always some who want to see and be seen with the right color tag but for me? Was SO good just to hang with new and old friends. Got to know some folks a lot better over a few meals. Maybe next year we should eliminate the colors and be color blind?

2) My Small Church Track Attendees: There are other people like me! Other folks who have the same joys and concerns in ministry. People who def aren’t doing it for the pay check but do it for the love of sharing the Gospel with teens. We don’t take ourselves too seriously; no cockiness or arrogance about who we are or how big our scope is. We are who we are and we can laugh at ourselves. I had SO much fun with these folks. (Hey track attendees: FB friend request me!)

3) The Inside Track Team: I love these people like my (extended) family. Its one of the gifts God gives us in the Body of Christ. They loved, served, laughed, shared, and served some more. They share all year long about the ministry of the conference. I [...]