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.

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.

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/
  
  
  
  

New Ministry Openings with The Ministry Group (at www.TheMinistryGroup.com )

We are currently searching for several ministry openings. All at this time are for youth ministers in Arkansas and Texas. If you, or someone you know, might be interested in finding out more, please contact us at www.theministrygroup.com or email me at eric@theministrygroup.com.

Please pray for me as I pray for you,


Eric