Tag Archives: best practices

BEST PRACTICES : Serving More Than Just The Youth

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As a youth worker, youth pastor, or youth volunteer, we have signed on be role models, teachers, disciplers, and mentors to the students. Many times I find myself meeting with the students after school, writing curriculum for them, spending evenings at their sporting or musical events and generally just doing everything I can to serve them. But recently I have been challenged by several people in my life and also God’s calling to start to look at the bigger picture of who I am serving, for these students.

Parents
The first big one that has been on my radar are the parents of the students that I am ministering. Reggie Joiner‘s book, Think Orange: Imagine the Impact When Church and Family Collide… was the initial spur to bring the Church and parents together, and a highly recommended read. In the book, he notes that the families have been with the students before they started coming to the youth group and will be in their lives long after they graduate high school, so if we empower the parents, we are serving the students and the kingdom of God far more than only ministering to the students.

If we plan a ski trip or over-nighter, keep in mind the parents are probably paying for it, transporting them, dealing with a weekend of fun and not studying and so we should honor the parents. Have a Twitter page that you update every six hours on long trips so parents will not worry. Give them a list 3-6 months in advance of trips that are going to cost money so that they do not see you as just another big expense in a tight economy. One way that we at the Air Force Academy have been serving the parents is via two weekly emails that are sent out. The first is sent out every Monday telling about upcoming events over the next three to four weeks as well as general ways that they can pray for the ministry. This keeps them informed, even if their children forget to take home the flyers we hand out at youth group. The second email, called “Parents 360, we send out the day after youth group that gives a more general overview of what we talked about with all of the questions. In the email, we suggest that the family have dinner together and just discuss the topic and maybe what was discussed at youth group.

Senior Pastor/Chaplain
These people are usually the ones that sign off on all costs of events, who you send all parents and families that need some pastoral counseling, and ultimately responsible for the work that you do. They have as much or more responsibilities as you do, so who better to serve. Obviously we were not called to do there job, so we are not suggesting taking on their actual responsibilities, but more so doing some pastoral care. I have yet to be rejected when I stop by my chaplain’s office to ask if there is anything that I can pray about for him and then in the next 15 to 30 minutes, I devote time to specifically pray for what he has requested and just everyone that he will be interacting with that week. Remember, he is in the trenches with you. You need to be a band of brothers, not fighting each other.

Another way I have begun serving my chaplains is keeping them in the loop with everything that is going on. I am a huge believer in OVER communicating with everyone involved in ministry. This includes silly little things like letting them know I am having volunteer meetings which do not involve them at all to including them in emails where parents are very disgruntled over tough issues. If they do not comment or complain about the number of emails you are sending, be even more proactive in your communications. Attach them to the emails suggested before that you send to the parents weekly. Include them on vacation dates. Just let them know that you are keeping busy.

Church/Chapel Assistants
I love the chapel’s secretary and building maintenance person. They make my life easy, but I know that I need to be serving them too. One of the easiest and foundational ways to serve them is to clean up after yourself. If my job was to keep a building at top performance, I would be more helpful to those that are assisting me in this goal than to someone who is trying to make my life harder. Want this person on your side? Leave the place better than it was. If the floor was gross when you went to prepare for the event, clean it up and let them know you have helped them out. Talk about making friends fast!

The second way I have come to serve them is keeping a running tab of what they like from restaurants. Right now, I have an Excel file of all of the chapel staff’s favorite foods from either Starbucks or Burger King. Then every month or other month, I randomly show up to one of their doors with their drink or food. Every time I have, they have lit up with joy for first, the gift and secondly, the fact that I remembered their favorite thing. And for that secretary that you are daily (or even hourly) asking for help with something, think about showing up to their desk weekly with a Starbuck.

Speaking of which, I need to go get a Carmel Macchiato for the chapel secretary right now! Remember, love them like you love your students!

Too Much Social Media In Youth Ministry?

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Let me just say this right off the bat, if you are looking for quick fixes, you will be sorely disappointed. I feel that a change of intention is needed here and band-aids will not solve the problem.

The topic of how and why we can use social media in youth ministry has been talked about lot by many other people smarter than myself: Adam McClane, Daneil Darnell from Collide Magazine, and Brian Kirk from rethinkingyouthministry.com. I agree with many things that they say, but as I talk with youth workers, am finding issue with several different things with social media.

This idea started with several key conversations I have had in the past year. The first one was talking with a youth worker who wanted to keep his personal life separate from his ministry, honorable and smart. His solution to this idea was that he needed to have three Facebook usernames and would spend up to 4 hours total a day checking everything because it was so disjointed. Another conversation not long after that, a solo youth pastor without volunteers told me how they would spend one day a week for the sole purpose of their ministry’s online presence. Finally, I constantly see staff and admin trying to redesign, rework, and reinvent a lot of stuff with their blogs, Twitter, Flickr, and everything else.

So what am I getting at? Look at the heart of what you are doing:

  • Face Time With Students Is More Important
    Time with students is vital. I find that I barely have enough interaction for them, my volunteers, the parents, my boss, and God. Am I being a good steward of my time? Unless you are LifeChurch.tv, there should be no reason other than to spend 20 seconds sending a tweet or 5 minutes making a Facebook event.
  • Online Promotions Just Do Not Work
    If you have a whole marketing department with your church, AWESOME. Then online advertising will work. There is a marketing practice that states you need to have audiences hear or see your ad five times for them to remember your product, seven times to be interested in it, and nine times before you start to really influence them.
  • Work To Your Strengths
    If you have volunteers, student leaders, or really involved parents that understand even just a little about social media, you have the opportunity to build some really amazing relationships with them and multiply the ministry by COMPLETELY handing off the project to them! As a college volunteer, myself and another student were in charge of the web design, maintenance, and social media presence for our youth group. This empowered us as volunteers to feel like we were investing in the ministry and in the kingdom and I feel forever changed because of it. And if you do not have those people in your ministry, you have a bigger need than updating another status.
  • Listen To God
    I love doing web designs because God has wired me to be equal parts relational with others and functional. So when I find my introvertedness kicking in, I know I can go write some programming code, play around in Photoshop, or simply be alone with God and my heart, mind, and soul become more still. But if all these social networking tools start to become a distraction with your relationship with God or others, it is time to put it away. Unplug and go out into the real world.

Christian Worldview with Military Brats : Application

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How Each Can Relate to the Other

As Modern and Post-modern Christians, we must be in fellowship with each other, regardless of differences that are not heretical.  As for Christians to the Post-Modern lost, Paul charges us to “become all things to all people.”  (1 Corinthians 9:22)  Thus, we must understand where they are coming from (understanding their story? J) and share Jesus with them that way.  If we can go beyond the simple definitions of why Modernists believe what they believe and why Post-Modernist need a different worldview, it becomes very easy to empathize with them and build meaningful and lasting relationships with them.

But with empathy, comes the necessary piece of being open to a better understanding of yourself and your faith.  We are not asking you to compromise your faith by any means, but much of the modern and postmodern worldviews are not core faith ideals.  If we understand their culture, understand how they look at the world, and can form our messages to them, form how we share the Gospel, and form our own thinking while we are with them to how they do it, we may quickly get to the heart of the relationships.  This can minimize frustration and many times shorten the path to a resolution.

One of the biggest aspects of ministering to teens is that we need to meet them where they are.  As volunteers and youth workers, many times this means that we need to shed some of the fears and issues we have in our own lives. This includes presuppositions of worldviews that are not foundational to our faith and ministry.  Can we look beyond our differences with students and love them as they are?

Worldviews with Military Brats

The military worldview tends to be a little different from the civilian world because of the experiences they have and family life they live with.  PCSing (Permanent Change of Station) for military brats is a way of life, parents in active-combat situations can be a constant part of life, and visiting many cultures and countries can broaden and mature a student’s worldview.

As soldiers are transferred every one to three years to a new base for a different tour, many times the military family follows.  This can create a very shallow worldview, one where you must maximize fun right away and not waste time on drama and uncomfortable situations.  Sure, they can make friends easily and frequently, but a lot of times their conversations only go surface level because if they go any deeper, it is too painful to know that one of you will probably have to move within the next year and a half.  As youth leaders, this means that we need to become vulnerable ourselves with them (while still holding to healthy boundaries) and let them know that you can be authentic with them and keep a safe environment.

As the family moves around, they get to experience many cultures, most likely visiting several continents within their youth and so seeing that the world is just bigger than the current community they live in.  This broadens their worldview with an understanding and probably even an appreciation and compassion for people with other worldviews.  This means that connecting with them probably will not be as difficult as with many civilian students.

With one or both of their parents potentially in active-combat situations, many times they have come to a more defined and mature worldview quicker than civilian students. This can be both a positive and negative thing for us as youth workers, knowing that they are probably ready to own their faith and really hold fast to it, but with the concern that emotions are sometimes hard to access in conversations or they may be overwhelming for them and it be hard to sift through so many of them at one time.

Christian Worldview with Military Brats : Positives and Negatives

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Criticism of Both Worldviews

Some issues of each worldview have been addressed already.  Modernity has brought about doubt with the mystery of God and the Christian faith, even as far as the existence of God and His power.  Because of this doubt, secularism has crept in and displaced Christianity from many people’s lives.

While modernity has clearly defined our faith in Christianity, it many aspects, it has pigeonholed the Christian faith.  What happens if God moves in radical ways and goes outside the lines of our theology?  What if the Holy Spirit empowers every Christian to begin to speak in tongue?  Would your faith be shaken too much?  I personally long for a God that I cannot clearly define and Moses would agree.  In Exodus 3, why Moses was speaking to God in the burning bush, he asks God for a name so that he could return to Israel and proclaim Him.  Would God say He is Lord of Israel?  If so, then He does not have power over every other nation.  Or maybe He is God of peace, but that means He is not Lord over power and protection.  Instead, He said, “I AM who I AM”, which left mystery and did not put Him into a box.

Post-modernity has issues of authority with their skepticism and lack of absolute truth, even an absolute truth in God.  But we also find issue with the fact that everyone has a unique story and what you believe does not necessarily apply to me.  While I believe that our past is extremely important (see below), I cannot agree that my life cannot impact you and some truths for me can be true for you.  In fact, my God is God of the whole world and does not need you to recognize Him to exist.  Friedrich Nietzsche is famous for his believe that God is dead because we do not need Him anymore, but God does not need for us to believe in Him for His sake, instead we must believe fully in Him for our sake.  So for us to stop believing, it would be better said, “we are dead.”

Positives of Both Worldviews

As mentioned, one of the best parts of the modernity worldview is that we have such a deep and rich theology of what we have as our core belief in faith.  I know that salvation without works is dead and works without faith is meaningless.  At the same time, science is something that can and does bring glory to God and can be a tool for His kingdom.  In bringing medical care to Africa and South America, we have saved many lives and as Jesus said, “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40)

Post-modernity has brought to light that Christians and the lost are more than just words on a page or a statistic to report to the church board.  We cannot simply get on our soapbox and condemn to hell those that walk past us for not knowing Christ.  Many times, we must tend to their mental, emotional, and physical needs before they are in a place to hear and accept the Holy Spirit.  In order for us to know what we can do, we must understand their story and empathize with them, just as we find Christ hurting with those who had hurt.   Secondly, there is so much truth in the issue of being skeptical.  As Christians, we need to be more environmentally conscience as well as understand that our marriage needs to be rooted in our faith.  Several of their concerns are valid and we should listen to what they have to say.

Christian Worldview with Military Brats : Post-Modernism Worldview

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1960’s – Present

Postmodernism is a movement away from the viewpoint of modernism.  For them, facts mean a lot less and experiences, memories, emotions, and stories are important.  This then means that we each have a story of our life with unique experiences and past.

“Postmodern philosophers have argued that there is no grand metanarrative (an overarching story or common experience that unites all human beings), and they have thereby attempted to deconstruct most philosophies and religions.”
(Jones, 2004. p 25)

Here are a few other parts of post-modernity:

  • Tolerance is necessary
    The news is saturated with war, terror, violence, destruction, natural disasters, and many other issues.  Rather, they would see love, even if taken too far, than fight over my values compared to your values. (Again, because my life affects me, but they have a different story)
  • Question everything
    Postmodernists are extremely skeptical of everything.  They have been lied to about so much.  “We will end war.” So much for that.  “We will be responsible businesses.” Can you say Enron or BP oil spills?  “Marriage vows of for better or for worse” followed up by 50% divorce rate. Why should they trust anything you say?
  • There is no ultimate truth
    If everyone has a unique story and different experiences, who is to say you know what truth is?  What is true for me is not necessarily true for you.  I believe that God will love and can protect me from the evils of this world.  Can a rape victim say the same thing?

Christian Worldview with Military Brats : Modernism Worldview

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1500’s – 1960’s

The Modernism worldview was a reaction to the Enlightenment era.  Science is king, facts are the structural support and foundational to the Modern Worldview is proving it.  We see this in our faith, with “The Four Gospel Laws” (defining salvation in a quick four points), “The Case for Christ” (validating the Bible), and a deep and rich doctrine and theology.

It is tough for modernist Christians to believe parts of the Bible still apply to today, including miracles, speaking in tongues, and demon possession, even though they are all present in the New Testament.  This is because there are no facts to explain it.  Thus, they question the details, that they may clearly define what they understand and approach everything rationally.  Look at modern science with DNA.  One hundred years ago, we would never have known this, but through rational speculation and research, we have come to understand much of DNA.  In many ways, this hurt the Church as much as it furthered the kingdom of God.

Another part of modernity is the idea of privilege.  With advances in medicine for longer and less painful life, air conditioning and vehicles, the Internet and television, and a “solution” for everything, we desire to be comfortable and too often become selfish. How many times a day do we feel like we NEED something, whether they are new shoes or the latest iPod APP?

Finally, as humanity has grown in this new advancement of knowledge, discovery, and ingenuity, they have gone from a mindset of religiosity to secularism.   Yes, the sun rises because God allows it, but many have come to accept that the sun rises only because of the laws of physics.  Thus, in a world explained by biology, psychology, physics, chemistry, mathematics, and language, why would we even need a God?



Christian Worldview with Military Brats : Defining A Worldview

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Last week, I told you that I would be putting together a series on Christian Worldview. This week we will feature that series in regards to Modernism and Postmodernism. I would love your feedback.

One day a little boy came to his father. “Today the teacher showed us a big round globe. She said was a model of the world. She said the world was just surrounded by space. How can that be? Dad, what holds up the world? Why doesn’t it just fall down?”
His father, knowing that this was just a child’s question, gave him a child’s answer: “It’s a camel holding up the world, son.”
The boy went away satisfied, for he trusted his father and for the moment it made sense. He’d seen pictures of camels holding up all sorts of things. So why not the world? But then he got to thinking about it and by the next day decided something was missing in his father’s answer. He asked, “Dad, I was just wondering: if a camel holds up the world, what holds up the camel?”
His father now thought that he might be in trouble. So, knowing that a quick answer turneth away further questions, he said, “It’s a kangaroo that holds up the camel.”
Again the boy went away, but this time only for a couple of hours. Back again with his father, he asked, “Dad, if a camel holds up the world and a kangaroo holds u the camel, what holds up the kangaroo?”
This time the father realized that he was in deep trouble. So he chose the largest animal he could thing of and he put a capital on it. That is, he shouted. People believe you if you shout, he thought. “It’s an Elephant holds up the kangaroo.”
“Come on, Dad!” his son retorted. “What holds up the Elephant?”
His father, in a fit of genius deriving from necessity, replied, “It’s…it’s…it’s Elephant all the way down.”
(Sire, 2004. p. 15-16)

A worldview is “the way that we view the world. We see everything through a specific lens: life, career, family, religion, etc.” Even more specifically, a Christian worldview “seeing everything with a Christian lens and a foundation in Scripture as well as a faith in our God.”