Away for the Weekend

I was gone this weekend at a wedding at the youth program went on without me. My absence from a weekend is a test as to whether or not Upward Ministries (the youth ministry at Nativity) is built with me as the focus or with God as the focus. Now, by no means is the weekend experience perfect when I’m here, in fact sometimes I’m a hindrance to making stuff happen, but I’ve recently reflected on the signs I see returning from a trip that will determine whether or not the ministry is built for God or for something else.

1. You work harder before you leave then before a regular weekend.
– If you are working harder before you leave for a trip you have to ask yourself, “What am I not handing over to my ministers?” Ideally, you should be prepared for your absence. You have to ask yourself, how much margin am I building into my schedule, and why isn’t each weekend being treated as an event than can be run without me?

2. People call you a dozen times while you are gone on what you consider simple issues. – When people call are they asking you, “How do you run this activity?”, “Where are the materials you requested?” or “What songs are we singing?” Why the mystery? Are people walking in each weekend and wondering, “No idea what we are going to do, but can’t wait to find out.” or are they confident in what their roles and responsibilities? I’m not saying people can’t call you for advice or in case of an emergency, but sometimes we expect others to be mind readers. How often do you share with your ministers the creation of a program? Do you really take the time to explain to them what you are trying to accomplish and are they ready to take hold of the weekend?

3. When you come back from out of town, no one really tells you how it went.
– Meaning, they are afraid of disappointing you, as if they’ve ruined what you’ve put together. If this happens it’s a sign of a lack of ownership, and it might not because they aren’t owning the program, it might be because you haven’t given them ownership.

When it comes to building a ministry based on a team, a church and God and not an individual, it takes a tremendous amount of humility and integrity. There is always room to grow in the sense of handing ownership over to others, making sure you are always setting up your ministers for success and you’ve set up a situation where you are simply a piece of the puzzle and not the entire picture. And that’s not something we can do on our own, it’s something we need God to help us with tremendously.