I remember a few years ago sitting down with my diocesan director and telling him that I wanted to create an innovative youth ministry. He said that he liked the idea and asked me what ideas I had. I listed three of them and he responded, “Chris, there is nothing innovative about those ideas, they are good, but they’re being done and have been done.”
At that moment I felt a little defeated, but at the same time inspired to really think outside of the box. Like a lot of youth ministers I was tired of the same old youth ministry, plus what used to work was beginning to break down.
No one wants a broken youth ministry. They want one that is growing and healthy. Churches need healthy and growing youth ministry because it’s what impacts and inspires the rest of the congregation. So, how do you avoid creating an ineffective youth ministry?
It starts with asking the right questions. Here are three that have helped me recently:
I used to crave a dedicated youth ministry space. A place where every week I didn’t have to worry about set-up or breakdown. I wanted a place where teens could come and hang out any day of the week. There is nothing wrong with having a youth space or building, it can provide stability, which every youth ministry needs, but it can also limit your thinking when it comes to evangelization.
Buildings can trick us into thinking all we have to do is fill them to be successful. We also assume that teens will start coming just because we have a youth space. The reality is that your ministry is bigger than any space your church could build.
Imagine, your church didn’t have any buildings, and you had to do ministry in a different way. What would it look like? Where would you go? How would you connect with others and why would you choose those places?
I like the fact that more and more resources are being developed for youth ministry. It used to be that our options were limited, which would be hard for those of us that didn’t have the time to create our own. However, outsourcing content can sometimes make our ministry a little lazy. Outsourcing can also get really expensive if you are worried about the graphics and media becoming outdated.
Imagine walking into your church with no curriculum or content available. Your pastor tells you that you need to develop it from scratch what would you do?
To answer that question you’d need to:
It would be difficult at first to develop a discipleship path without outsourcing, but it would also help you create something more personal and authentic to your church community. Instead of trying to fit your teens into a system you’d be creating a process that has them in mind.
Our ministry will grow stale if we never dream big enough. One of the reasons we don’t dream big is because we are too stuck in reality. We tell ourselves that we don’t have the right leadership, resources or enough of them. We continue in the way things have always been because we don’t see it ever changing.
Instead of giving into reality and focusing on what you don’t have, look at what you do. Set a vision and then list out mini goals to serve as mile markers to your destination. Sit in prayer with God, invite others into the process and move towards the vision.
You might not get there in the way you imagined and the vision might change, but it’ll help you get out of a rut. When you dream big it helps you look at different ways to have an impact and influence on others.
But, don’t ask these questions on your own. Build a BRAIN TRUST to help you. Bring these questions to your pastor, the parish council and your coworkers. The answers are out there, you just need to start asking the questions.