How To Make Youth Ministry Less Messy

Youth ministry is messy in so many ways.  It’s messy because it involves relationships.  And because it’s messy it’s tiring and draining.  But, sometimes we make it more messy than it should be.

Courtesy of allen.goldblatt/Creative Commons License

If you want to make youth ministry less messy you need to know what you can control and what you cannot.  While you cannot control life what you can control are:

YOUR SYSTEMS AND STRUCTURES

When you create simple systems and structures it will expand your capacity to handle the messiness that life brings.  So, how can you make ministry less messy?

START SHARING THE RESPONSIBILITY

When you do ministry on your own it means you are going to take on more than you can handle.  When you are juggling tasks and squeezing things into your schedule the result will be disaster.

Learn to not just delegate tasks, but ownership.  Make sure people aren’t just sharing ideas but taking the responsibility to ensure the idea’s completion and creation.

FOCUS MORE ON YOUR STRENGTHS

There is a temptation to constantly work on our weaknesses.  All that does is distract us from doing those things that create the best results.  Make sure you are dedicating and protecting the time you spend on doing what makes you most successful.

LEARN HOW TO SAY NO AND WHEN TO SAY YES

I’m a people pleaser which can make my life complicated.  Knowing when to say yes and no takes practice.  To help you discern you need to:

• Know your strengths and weaknesses

• Build accountable relationships

• Maintain a clear schedule

Basically you need guardrails that are going to signify when you are getting to close to overcomplicating a situation.

ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS

One of the best questions you can ask yourself as a leader is, “Why are we doing this?” That question is the first of many that will help you create a more efficient ministry.

Look at what you do and ask the, “Why?” question.  Invite others into the conversation and determine whether or not you are doing what God is asking you to do.

MAINTAIN HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS

While relationships aren’t a system they can have an impact on your ministry.  If there is unresolved tension between you and a coworker, parent, teen, pastor, etc. it will make your ministry messy.

Build trust, and communication.  Work towards resolution and focus on serving one another.  If you can build healthy relationships you will remove a lot of messy drama that can slow you down as a leader.

Youth ministry needs to be simple because it needs to take on the messiness of life.  If you are preoccupied and overwhelmed by complicated scenarios it will hold you back.  Embrace simple and focus on what matters.