When it was time for me to step away from live streaming so I could rebuild the youth ministry, our options for replacements were tough. Fortunately, I had two high school students who had assisted me for a few months and were not afraid to take over. While we still needed an adult to oversee the operations, these two individuals (a sophomore and junior in high school) were ready to own the ministry.
How we got there didn't happen overnight. To get these young people ready for leading I had to:
SLOW DOWN AND SHOW THEM WHAT I WAS DOING
Too often we throw someone into ministry with the hopes that they'll just figure it out. But, if you've been doing something for a while you can make difficult tasks appear effortless. Whether it's taking on a specific task or leading a specific area of ministry we as leaders need to slow down, and explain what we do and why we do it.
LEAVE SPACE FOR CURIOSITY AND QUESTIONS
In addition to slowing down, I had to allow them to ask me questions about my approach. Additionally, I had to give them permission to try something new, and push back against my ideas if they had a better one. When a student leader (or even an adult) has this space it builds trust because they don't have to already know everything. Secondly, curiosity and questioning reminds them that leaders are constantly learning.
HELP THEM PROCESS FAILURES AND EVALUATE SUCCESS
There were times when we totally failed. Maybe it was the internet going down or a camera that had not been charged. When we messed up instead of assigning blame, we sat down and reviewed the process, and discussed how we can create safeguards to avoid these mistakes in the future.
When we did something amazing, or had a flawless livestream, we took the time to pick it apart and look at what went right. We taught the student leaders that not only do you need to examine failure, but success so that you have a clearer sense of what you do.
WHAT STANDS IN THE WAY
There are several reasons it's tough for us to grow student leaders. For example:
We might be afraid their mistakes are too difficult for us to recover from. We don't want them to feel shame and walk away so we get a little over protective.
We might not want to let go of something we enjoy. The hardest part about delegating is letting go of tasks we feel only we can do or we get so much joy from doing. Unfortunately, that fear can hold people back from thriving, and at worst it stunts ministry itself.
The biggest obstacle tends to be our own busyness. We might be reluctant to slow down because that means things don't get done in the short-term. And while there is a short-term loss, the long term iumpact is something we cannot ignore.
If we can raise up student leaders to take on responsibilities in our parish then we can give them the confidence and experience that translates into their every day lives. The more that we can raise up the next generation of leaders, the bigger impact it will have on the entire parish community. People will have hope because they see the Church has a future. Parish culture will thrive because the enthusiasm and curiosity of the next generation will be contagious. And most importantly, we will be passing along a gift to young people that can't be found anywhere else.