How To Give Your Ministry (And Yourself) A Break

What if the best thing for your ministry was for you to shut it down for a month or even two? Instead of doing ministry you would take the time to make changes and do some big picture planning. 

It might sound a little crazy but it’s something other businesses do all the time. We’ll see companies shut their doors for the day if they need to do a training. If an athlete is experiencing a physical breakdown they’ll shut them down for the season. There might be short term loss, but it’s all for long term gain.

When I share that idea with clients or other youth ministers, the response usually is:

• I can’t do that because my pastor wouldn’t allow it
• If we did parents would be upset
• Teens would stop coming and getting them back would be too hard

And while those are legitimate concerns, but sometimes waiting until summer would cause too much damage. If you wait too long to make changes you could risk set backs and even burnout. But, let’s say you propose this idea and your pastor or supervisor says, “Not going to happen.”  There are other ways of buying yourself margin so that you can make changes even if you can’t hit pause. For example:

IDENTIFY INTERIM LEADERSHIP

You need people to step up so that you can step out. Chances are it’s someone in your ministry that’s dedicated and been serving for a while. Invite them to learn from you by simply shadowing what you do.

Spend a couple of weeks having them watch what you do and ask you questions about the why. Then have them do some of the things you were doing and this time you observe them. Pass on more responsibility until they are ready to run the program in your absence.

Next, take a week away leaving them in charge and then sit down with them afterwards to review. If you want you can have a couple of people in charge, but the point is that you want to slowly equip your volunteers to own the ministry and lead it so that you can take the time to look at the bigger picture.

DO SOME PRUNING AND SLOW THINGS DOWN

Look at your calendar and ask yourself the question, “Do we have to do all of these events?” If it’s something new take it off the calendar because no one will miss it. If it’s something another parish is doing look at partnering with them so all the planning doesn’t all on your shoulders.

Consider canceling meetings and communicating information through email. If you need to train people record a video, post it online and share it with them. You can also look at extending your breaks and cancel programs that circle around Christmas, or Easter so that you can use that time to breathe and refocus. The idea is to gain back as much margin as possible so that you can continue to focus on the bigger picture.

SET UP GUARDRAILS TO STAY ON TRACK

In addition to looking at your ministry calendar start looking at your own schedule. Set firmer guidelines around when you arrive and when you leave. Take a break for lunch and dedicate time to praying, and learning. We’re not talking a lot of time, but just giving yourself 30 minutes a week to pray and 30 minutes to learn. The self investment will strengthen your ability to lead.

HAVE THE TOUGH CONVERSATIONS WITH THE POWERS AT BE

As you start to look ahead at the future talk to your pastor (or supervisor) about taking appropriate breaks in the ministry year to train and evaluate the ministry. If you aren’t sure how to convince them equate your ministry to taking care of a car. Every so often you need to give your car a tune up and oil change, not because it’s broken, but anything that’s moving requires maintenance. Your ministry needs rest because it’s something on the move and your goal is to keep it moving.

If you are still struggling with how to approach rebuilding your youth ministry feel free to set up a free consultation with us by click the button below or click on SERVICES up at the top and see how Marathon Youth Ministry can help your ministry thrive.

What are some of the benefits you’ve seen from taking a break?

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