National Youth Workers Convention in Nashville

I have been working with a group of very talented, energetic, and faithful people here at the Youth Specialties convention in Nashville this week. This year I am working with Youth Specialties on the Affirmation Team trying to show the youth ministers here how much they are appreciated and loved. I have had the opportunity to visit with a large number of youth ministers while here and listen to them talk, cry, and laugh about the ministries that they lead. There is just something special about worshiping in a room with 5,000+ people who love Jesus and love youth. If you have not told your ministers, children's minister, youth minister, music minister, or other staff that you love them and care for them this week, do that today! They are special and they love serving you. They serve you and your church every day, make sure they know how much you appreciate them. From The Ministry Group at http://www.theministrygroup.com/ at the NYWC, have a great day.

Crazy Jesus Junk

I just love crazy Jesus Junk. I just do. Some people find it very offensive and rude, some just pass it up, and others like me think it is something to think and talk about. It gives you an opportunity at the local store to share what Jesus is about. Not a little growing sponge that will grow 600 times his own size, but the real life savior. What do you think about this Jesus Junk? Offensive? Rude? Funny? Other?
Let me know. Post your opinions here or email me at eric at TheMinistryGroup.com

A big thanks for James for emailing me this photograph.

Run for your Soul!

If you have been around us at The Ministry Group long, you know how much we love what Mike Yaconelli had to say and the way that he said it. Last week I was talking to a youth minister in Texas and he was bragging about the ministry at his church and one of the things that he used to prove this to me was the fact that he and his wife had not been on a date in almost six months because of all of "the ministry" that had been going on. What? Who? When? What are you talking about.

Later that day I remembered the following story from Mike Yaconelli and I wanted to share it with those who may not have seen it yet. So, sit back, read, and think about what you are doing for the health of your church and your soul.

Run for your Soul!

By Mike Yaconelli

Recently I was talking to a youth minister about her church—which she described as a constant center of ministry and activity. While in awe of all the church was doing, I wondered what price the staff was paying.

"Oh," she said, "all of us on staff work 70 to 90 hours a week. When we were hired, it was explained to us that the time is short and those who want to be in God’s ministry need to be committed. One of the board members told me, ’We can rest when we get to heaven.’"

I didn’t reply. I was stunned.

My silence made the moment noticeably awkward. Finally I said, "Sounds to me like your minister is a workaholic."

"No," she replied defensively, "he just has a real missionary heart."

"No," I said impulsively, "he’s definitely a workaholic."

She changed the subject, but I haven’t been able to shake our conversation. In this age of the megachurch, our culture worships doing. We put busy people on pedestals—especially if the busyness results in bigger and more.

But when you take the pagan worship of busyness and add to it the biblical mandate to reach the world, you have a lethal combination. The church has baptized busyness and activity and basically formed a pact with the devil. This pact has succeeded in silencing those who criticize the trend toward hectic, overworked, burned-out, spiritually dry ministers who—in the "name of God"—neglect their families, their souls, and their physical well-being.

If I can be so audacious as to "blaspheme" the Gospel of Growth, I respectfully suggest this modern rush to urgency is not only wrong, it’s arrogance gone mad.

The moment we believe the Kingdom of God is dependent on you or me, we’ve either experienced a schizophrenic episode or we’ve misunderstood our roles as Christians.

Yes, we are to be salt and light. Yes, we are to "go into all the world." Yes, we are to "make disciples." But last time I checked, it took Jesus three years of concentrated effort to make 12 disciples—and it took them the rest of their lives to understand what discipleship means. Last time I checked, Paul suggests we are in Christ, not working for him.

If you’re a youth worker in a church in which the Gospel of Growth rules, RUN! If your senior minister is a winsome, captivating, entrepreneurial workaholic, grab your soul and get out before it’s too late.

But when you blow the whistle on the workaholic or rebel against the Gospel of Growth or suggest that God might be calling you to stop adding more activities and people and start growing the ones you have, your very commitment to Christ is questioned. Then you’re isolated, criticized, told you’re not a "team player"—and finally condemned.

Desperate to find someone to tell you you’re not crazy, you find no one in the church who will stand with you and refuse to bow to the altar of Growth.

But now you have someone to stand with you.

I’m telling you that you’re not crazy. You’re not lazy. You’re not uncommitted.

And by the way, before the disciples of evangelism start shouting about the need to evangelize now, may I remind you of how many times Jesus said to the people he healed, "Don’t tell anyone. Keep your mouth shut" (Matt 8:4, Mark 7:36, 8:26, 9:9, Luke 5:14, 8:56). Not only did he tell those he healed to keep quiet, but he also told his own disciples on numerous occasions not to tell anyone (Matthew 16:20, Mark 8:30, Luke 9:21).

Obviously evangelism is an important goal and calling of the church. But evangelism is not a justification for busyness, exhaustion, burnout, or the destruction of families. Many evangelistic missionary organizations have a reputation for leaders who’ve burned themselves out on the altar of evangelism. And then—when these charismatic, driven leaders collapse under the weight of their maddening schedules—they’re tossed aside for the next leaders who’ll also self-destruct.
Youth workers, you haven’t been called to crazy, maddening schedules. You haven’t been called to reach every student for Christ. You haven’t been called to fix all the kids in your youth groups. The weight of your youth groups isn’t on your shoulders. Your calling is to be faithful to Christ and to your families—and to reach those you can. Growth is not the gospel. More and bigger are not fruits of the Spirit.

A few suggestions:
1. Ask that your staff meetings be changed to talk about Jesus and your souls rather than business.
2. Ask for one day a week to spend on your soul—away from the office—as part of your job description.
3. Ask for a personal resource budget so you can read books that will help keep your soul intact.
4. Ask for a week every two months to spend alone, in silence, praying and reading and resting as part of your job description.
5. If your senior pastor is a workaholic who can’t understand anyone who isn’t a workaholic, quit and find a new job.

© Youth Specialties. Used at www.TheMinistryGroup.com with written permission from Youth Specialties. Permission is granted to distribute articles to other youth workers within your church, but may not be re-published (print or electronic) without permission from Youth Specialties at www.YouthSpecialties.com. Smal print, small print, blah blah blah. If anyone reads this small stuff, let me know and I will give you a free widget.

http://www.theministrygroup.com/

How Pastors Can Keep Youth Workers

When I first heard Mike Yaconelli speak at a youth ministry training in 1995, I was hooked by his knowledge of life, his love of Jesus, and his passion for youth. Over his life, Mike Yaconelli ministered to youth and to those who minister to youth and their families. Here is an article he published back in 2003 before his passing that was true then and is true today. Let me know what you think by contacting me at http://www.theministrygroup.com/.

How Pastors Can Keep Youth Workers

by Mike Yaconelli

I have a solution for the long-held belief that youth workers average about 18 months in a church before they move on or are moved out. I guarantee if pastors implement my suggestions, the average stay of a youth worker could triple or even quadruple. We're talking miracle here.

Believe that your primary job as pastor is to care for the spiritual life of your youth worker. Support the youth worker at any cost, because it will cost you.

Explain to the church that you expect the youth worker to be "out of the office" most of the time because a youth worker's office is his car, McDonald's, football stands, band hall, and surfboard.

Remind the church that when your youth worker's at camp, she's working.

When your youth worker makes a mistake, come to his defense. Help the church understand that mistakes are part of the job and that you couldn't be more pleased that you have a youth worker who's taking risks and pushing the envelope.

Keep pushing to increase the youth worker's salary and the youth budget.

Once a year, encourage church members with means to provide a weekend getaway at a cabin or beach house or condo for the youth worker and her family. Stock the refrigerator with food, arrange baby sitting, and tell her to take the weekend off—she deserves it.

Support his family. Encourage the youth worker to divide the day into three parts and work only two of them. Check on his marriage, and give him plenty of slack when the new baby arrives.

Before the job even starts, meet with the youth worker and then the board to make sure everyone's on the same page when it comes to expectations and results. Whatever you do, make sure that numbers and attendance are not the sole or primary success markers.

Don't expect that, now that you've hired a youth worker, she'll do all the youth work. Expect the congregation to volunteer to help the youth worker, and if there's no response, go with the youth worker to personally invite others to help. Believe that, for every five kids in the junior high or high school youth group, there should be one volunteer adult meeting with those kids on a regular basis.

Include the young people in the total life of the church, not just youth night. In fact, don't have youth night. Put them on boards, have them participate in the services and as greeters, and encourage the senior citizens to adopt someone in the youth group so each kid has an older mentor, friend, pen pal, and wise sage. Encourage both the kids and the seniors to exchange letters, tiny gifts for birthdays and special moments, and have the students put on a dinner once a year for their pen pals.

Spend a lot of your time working with parents, providing them resources and seminars (Understanding Your Teenager, for instance) to help families sift through what's important at this critical stage.

Part of the youth worker's job description should be the expectation that she takes one day a week on silent retreat, three days every three months, and one week a year just for working on her soul. Also give her a restricted budget for books that are just about our souls.

Meet with the young people on a regular basis, and have open question-and-answer sessions so they can get to know you as a person. Let them know your struggles, your flaws and your passion for them.

Ask the wisest elder in your church to attend the youth meetings and report back each month what he saw.

Plan service projects for both youth and adults.

Continually affirm and encourage your youth worker.

There you have it. A happy youth worker is a long term youth worker. Woo Hoo!

© Youth Specialties. Used at www.TheMinistryGroup.com with written permission from Youth Specialties.

Permission is granted to distribute articles to other youth workers within your church, but may not be re-published (print or electronic) without permission from Youth Specialties at www.YouthSpecialties.com. Smal print, small print, blah blah blah. If anyone reads this small stuff, let me know and I will give you a free widget.

"Scary Halls, Walls, & Stalls" will make you think!

When churches are looking to build their staff, but their facility is not kept up, what does that mean?

If a prospective church employee visits a church that is dirty, is that a deal breaker?

Is the physical appearance of a church building a reflection of the spiritual nature of the people?

Last week, my family visited in a new church in our community. We were very pleased by everything they had to offer. The people were nice, the worship music was great, the preaching made you think, and the facility was in great condition. Very very clean! In the past we have visited some churches, and served at some churches, that did not put on their "Sunday Best" for visitors. So when I read Kerry Bural's story, I knew I had to share with our readers at http://www.theministrygroup.com/

Let me know what you think after reading this.




Scary halls, walls & stalls
By Kerry Bural
Oct 6, 2008

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--My family and I recently attended a church we had never visited before, and we pulled into the parking lot eager to worship in a new place and to interact with new people.
At the door, we were handed a bulletin by a "greeter" who didn't say a single word. There was no one else around, so I don't think he was overwhelmed by incoming people. He simply said nothing. In fact, he didn't even offer a smile.

Well, at least we got a bulletin.
As we entered the building, we were immediately assaulted by the combined odors of dust, mold and undeniable "oldness." Frankly, the smell made me feel so uncomfortable that I feared it would keep me from concentrating on the teaching and worship.

I couldn't help but wonder if the odors were symbolic of the spiritual condition of the church.
Unfortunately, what we saw was as bad as what we smelled. The paint and wallpaper were a "blast from the past" that forced me into a time warp-induced head rush. The furniture was dated and dingy, and the carpet and pew upholstery were old, stained and filthy. It was obvious that no one had bothered to vacuum or pick up last week's trash from the pews.

By now, I was having sensory overload. My emotions were running high, but for all the wrong reasons.
Then I made my worst mistake of the morning: I visited the restroom. I was aghast to find dirty fixtures and a trash basket overflowing with ... trash (I'll leave it at that). I'm still mystified by the condition of this room. How did it get into such a deplorable state without anyone noticing? We were among the first to arrive, so this catastrophe couldn't have happened that morning. Was it left from Wednesday night?

All this happened before the service even started. By the time we broke out the hymnals, my ability to focus on the wonderful truth of Scripture and commune with the one true Creator God was significantly stifled. To be honest, I hardly remember a word that was sung or spoken.

In fairness, the experience was slightly salvaged when a few people took time to be friendly and speak to us. I'm sorry to say those efforts couldn't erase the negatives indelibly etched in my mind.

By the time we left, I felt like a good, long, hot shower was the only solace for my soul and body.
The experience kept me reeling for the rest of the day as I reflected on the many turnoffs I had faced in just one hour. Why was this church in such bad shape? Why are so many church facilities in a similar condition? What can be done about it?

As believers, we understand and say we believe that everything should be done for the glory of God. The condition of a church's facilities reflects a congregation's view of God and influences an unbeliever's perception of God. Are we doing ministry in such a way that it reflects His glory? Are we satisfied that we are presenting our best?

Here are a few suggestions for avoiding the "Scary Halls, Walls and Stalls Syndrome":
1) Assess the current condition of your church facilities. Acknowledge if and where they need cleaning or improvements and commit yourself to doing something about them. Decide now that you will take action. Your mission matters and your guests deserve better.

2) Be honest about the style and condition of your facilities compared to other facilities in your community. Is your parking lot in good condition? Is your landscaping fresh and tidy? Is your furniture and décor up to date? Visit the newest local mall and restaurants to get a feel for the architecture and décor of businesses in your community. How does your church stack up?

3) If you are not on your church staff or in leadership, enlist support from one or more who are. Together, identify and recruit a couple of the most detailed-oriented and germaphobic super sensors you can find. Give them a cool new title like "Details Matter Coordinators (DMC)" or "Guest Experience Optimizer (GEO)." Empower them. Give them a budget to work with. Give them authority over the House and Grounds Committee. Encourage them to ask a lot of hard questions and to make no assumptions in their evaluation.

4) Encourage the DMCs or GEOs to take a prayerful walk through the church campus, asking the Holy Spirit to open their eyes to details that may have been overlooked. To do this well, it takes some serious objectivity. They should pretend to be a guest seeing your facilities for the first time. Have them look down at the dirt on the baseboards and up at the spider webs in the ceiling corners. They should notice the rust in the restrooms, the stains on the carpet and the clutter on the tables. This should take them awhile. They should leave no stone unturned. If they are really brave, have them open the cabinets and closet doors.

5) Introduce the new DMCs or GEOs to your congregation and dub them as THE authority on facility freshness. Inform your congregation that your church is serious about going to the next level in this area and that the DMCs or GEOs have been empowered to help get you there. Give them a few examples of areas that need work.

6) Start and continually update a master "Facility Freshness Hit List." Consider inviting members to submit their concerns for inclusion. Divide the list between items that will require funding and those that require manpower only.

7) Get to work! First, determine your priorities. Don't try to accomplish everything in one week. The process should take several months to accomplish initially and then it should be an ongoing part of your ministry. Second, delegate what you can. Keep an eye out for church members who have really high standards to utilize their skills. Outsource anything that needs a professional touch. Methodically chip away at the hit list and watch how positive change energizes people to make a difference in the Kingdom.

Cleanliness and well-thought-out presentation matters in every store, restaurant and business we visit. When dealing with the facilities that play host to eternal and holy matters, why in the world would we not realize that how we present our message really does matter and details really are important?

Kerry Bural is vice president for public relations and marketing with the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

Copyright (c) 2008 Southern Baptist Convention
Visit http://www.bpnews.net/ for more great information.


The Ministry Group
http://www.theministrygroup.com/

Using Google Adwords to Drive Traffic to your Church Website.

Last week my family decided to vist a new church and we decided to choose the church to visit in our city based on our denomination and an Internet search for such a church. I was excited to see a few growing churches using Adwords to advertise their worship services, family events, and more. But do you know how those little adds on the side of Google get there? Do you know how to get that targeted traffic to your church? Keep reading and learn what businesses have known for years.

Highly targeted traffic is one of the most important entities in the Internet universe. Any church website administrator recognizes the importance of driving traffic to a website. The success of any church website does not rely entirely on the site itself. You may have a terrific idea for a website, offer an excellent selection of programs and worship services, or have an exceptionally designed site with superb content, but if you do not use the right strategies to advertise, your church webpage would not attract the high traffic you need. Attracting targeted traffic is a task that should be taken seriously for any church to succeed in welcoming prospective new members. Fortunately, there are internet-marketing tools that will help to drive traffic to your church webpage. One of the most significant, and effective, of these tools is Google's Adwords. Adwords is one of Google's advertising services.

How does Google Adwords work? Google is the largest search engine on the web receiving over 200 million queries each day through its various services. As Google is the most popular search engine today, webmasters are keen on having their websites achieve a higher ranking in the search engine results it provides. A high ranking can mean high traffic for that website. The search engine results page is also a great venue for advertisers to promote a product or service through ads and links. Consequently, Google launched its Adwords service, as a way for businesses, or in our case churches, to advertise products and services to a targeted audience. Google Adwords can guarantee instant traffic. In this service, Google displays relevant text based ads within its search engine results page termed as "Sponsored Links". Whenever a particular keyword is searched on, these relevant links appear in a separate section giving excellent exposure to the sites listed.

How do you use Google Adwords? First, you have to open an account with the Google Adwords Service. Then, you should indicate your target language, country, state and area. This is important because you would not want your church advertised in countries on the other side of the globe or even in another part of your state. You want to talk to the people who will come to your church this week! Afterwards, you should now create an ad group. This involves designing the ad, selecting keywords, determining maximum cost per click that you are willing to spend, and defining bid amounts. The most important step in creating a successful Adwords campaign is selecting an effective title tag that will catch the attention of your target audience. The title tag, generally a short phrase, is the most important part of your Adwords campaign so make sure that it is attractive and catchy. You should describe your church clearly and accurately. The most effective advertising conveys a clear message to the target audience. With a clear message, you will be attracting qualified people, which can eventually turn into first time church visitors. Thus, the importance of selecting the right keywords cannot be overemphasized. If you are in a small church or a large church, make sure people know that. If someone is searching for a small church to visit, they might not want to go to your mega church and vice versa.

There are keyword variations you can adapt to reach more prospects. Using these varieties, misspellings and derivatives can help increase the chance of your ads being served. Broad match is targeting keywords in a loosely defined manner. Here, the ads appear based on the keywords that have been queried by other users as opposed to exact match, which calls for the keyword to match the query exactly. Meanwhile, a keyword phrase set to phrase match will only appear when the exact phrase is searched on. A negative keyword is helpful in filtering unrelated pages.

After you have decided on what title tag to use in your ad, you must now define a budget in order to maximize exposure. Google Adwords recommend a daily budget for each campaign. However, you should determine a budget that is suitable and affordable for your church. You should also determine the maximum cost per click. Google will offer a recommended cost per click, but you do not have to stick with this. Usually, a number one position is not ideal as it can also attract unwanted traffic and useless clicks. A number two position is more preferred as it can filter useless clicks and provide traffic with a higher conversion rate.

To conclude, Google Adwords is an excellent strategy and tool in giving your church site maximum exposure in your community. Nevertheless, Google Adwords should not be your sole advertising campaign. It will definitely help you find the all-important, highly targeted traffic you need.

www.TheMinistryGroup.com

The Ministry Group

Helping Local Churches Search For and Build Their Ministry Team.

What to do before an interview from www.YouthMinistryIdeas.net

I read the following blog by my new friend Steve Blanchard at his web page http://www.youthministryideas.net/ and thought it was some great information to share with our readers at http://www.theministrygroup.com/, no mater what ministry job you are looking for.

Steve writes: In my last two posts I wrote about my visit to a church in Iowa and that I was interviewing with them. I first wanted to say that out of 3 candidates that they narrowed it down to, I was told last Wednesday that they offered the job to one of the other two guys that had interviewed besides me. I was a little shocked based on how well everything went, but I’m ok with the decision as I prayed that the right thing would happen and so I will be staying put here in Montana for now.
With that being said, I did want to follow up and give you some information about interviewing with a Church.

Here’s what I would like to discuss:

• What questions to be prepared for


• What questions you should ask


• What Red Flags to look for


• When to talk about the salary


• Do’s and Don’ts
  
  
  
  What questions to be prepared for: In a general answer to this…be prepared to answer any question regarding youth ministry. I really liked how they decided to ask questions. They asked scenario based questions so that I could give them answers to real situations that I have experienced. Let me give you an example: “If a student approached you and shared with you about a sin struggle they were having, how would you handle that?”
  Other questions they may ask:
  -Explain how you do youth ministry.
  -What do you enjoy about youth ministry and what frustrates you about youth ministry?
  -What’s your spouses role while you do youth ministry?
  -What do you like to do?
  -How would you say students respond to you?
  -What is your plan for recruiting leaders to help assist you in the youth ministry?
  What Questions You Should Ask: It’s important not only for you to answer the search teams questions but also for you to be able to ask some questions back to them. This is actually fun because you can get a feel for how well they know what’s going on in the youth ministry or the church.
  Here are some questions to ask:
  - Give me some positive things and some negative things that you have seen in the youth ministry.
  - What was the reason/s that the last two youth pastors have left?
  - Explain what your church worship service is like.
  - Are there any expectations outside of the job description?
  What Red Flags To Look For: You may find yourself in a situation that seems good, but after interviewing you may find some things that might cation you from accepting a youth ministry job. Here are some things that I would say to proceed with cation or even rethink about accepting the position:
  - We’ve had 3 youth pastors in the last 3 years.
  - After reviewing the job description you’re not sure if Jesus could do the job.
  - While doing the interview and seeing the church you get a sense that you wouldn’t fit there.
  - The last youth pastor was terminated because of a serious problem (sexual misconduct, stealing, or attacking someone)
  When To Talk About The Salary: I think it’s great when church’s are forth coming with the salary, but when they don’t mention this upfront, then the appropriate time to talk about salary would be after they offer you the job, however, if the church has a lengthy process, it would be ok to inquire about it your 2nd or 3rd interview to see if if would be adequate for you to be able to live. It’s just never been a good thing to ask them right away how much they pay the youth pastor before anything else.
  Do’s and Dont’s:
  Do’s:
  -Dress up unless they say don’t because were casual (get a feel for what they want ahead of time).
  -Be prepared by knowing information about them heading into the interview.
  -Know your stuff (philosophy, scenario questions, your plan).
  -Be yourself nobody likes fake.
  -Ask questions that will help you get what you need to make a decision.
  Dont’s:
  -Over dominate the interview process by taking a long time to answer every question and chopping them off to ask your questions.
  -Be a slob. It still does matter how you present yourself.
  -Be quiet. This can be bad too.
  -Share all your deepest and darkest sins.
  -Be ungrateful. Man if you are having some great ribs say THANKS!
  
  I hope this process has been helpful to you and if you have more things that you would like to add to help those that are going to be interviewing with a church, then please leave your comments below. Maybe even tell a horror interview story for the rest of us.
  Good Luck!
  
  Thanks for sharing Steve! Please visit Steve at http://www.youthministryideas.net/ and see all the great things he has going on.
  
  
  Eric McFarland
  http://www.theministrygroup.com/