eZine 09.11.2001

TheSource4YM.com
	Jonathan’s Resource Ezine

Weekly Resources, Ideas and Articles from The Source for Youth Ministry
Tuesday, September 11, 2001

In This Issue

• DO I REALLY HAVE TO PLAN BEYOND NEXT WEEK? Keeping Your Eyes On Your Goal
  
  
• SAMPLE YEAR SCHEDULE
  
  

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DO I REALLY HAVE TO PLAN BEYOND NEXT WEEK? Keeping Your Eyes On Your Goal

By Jonathan McKee
September 11, 2001

I know of a great cabin by Donner Lake about 2 hours from me in Northern California.? I rented it every year for my campus ministry snow retreat.? It had a huge main room where we could have all our large group time, a great kitchen, excellent sleeping arrangements and it was always covered with snow.

Problem was- this place started to get popular.? I had to start booking it at least 6 months out.? No problem- only a 10 minute phone call in July- who can?t do that?? Well, every year I had friends in ministry calling me up in November or even December asking me if I knew of any cool locations for a January snow retreat.? As you know, a weekend retreat is a great time to pull kids out of their world for the weekend, build relationships with them and maybe even talk with them about the choices they?re making.? Sad thing- every place was booked at this point.

?Oh well- I guess we?ll just go up and play in the snow for a day then.?

A day in the snow?? Sure that?s fun- it might even bring out some new students . . . but was that the event you wanted to do?? What about getting away with students for a weekend?

DON?T FAIL TO PLAN
It?s a shame when opportunities for good ministry are missed because someone simply didn?t make a phone call in July.

It all comes down to planning.? People don?t plan to fail, they fail to plan!

As I was previewing Jim Burns new book THE YOUTH BUILDER, I underlined this statement, ?Vision usually isn?t the thing that hinders most youth ministries: it?s a lack of administration that sinks many of them . . . in reality, a well administered ministry will provide more valuable time to spend with your students.?

Planning ahead is important.? So how do you do it? How do you make sure that you aren?t going to miss a 10 minute July phone call? And aren?t there more things than one snow weekend to plan?

JUST TWO HOURS A YEAR
Every year take just an hour or two- no joke- just an hour or two- and lay out your year?s schedule.? Start with a blank piece of paper or a blank computer screen and start planning.

I.? START WITH PURPOSE
The first thing we have to do is remember our purpose.? Let?s not fall into the category of ministries that plan events, activities, camps and retreats simply because ?we?ve always done that.?

What is your purpose for your ministry?? Is it Biblical?? If your purpose is ?To have the biggest youth group in the town of Plano Texas,? then, chances are, your purpose isn?t Biblical.

As a campus outreach ministry, my purpose was always something like?Reach this campus with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ, disciple them and plant students into the local church.?? You?ll notice that statement has three purposes: reach, disciple and plant.? Most good purpose statements will have different purposes in them.

Now there are some excellent training programs that focus on just that- developing your purpose.? We could spend this whole article about vision statements, mission statements, etc.? As valuable as that is- I?m going to assume that we?ve already done that and you can simply plug your mission, your vision, or your purpose right on the top of the page.

In Doug Field?s book ?Purpose Driven Youth Ministry? he gives us an example of a purpose statement from a church in Mesa Arizona (page 63).

?The goal of our student ministry is to expose teenagers to God?s love, to equip them to exalt God, enjoy other believers, and experience the work of the ministry.?

This statement from a church we will call ?First Church of Mesa? values five different purposes: evangelism, discipleship, worship, fellowship and service or ministry- great basics for any youth group. (if you haven?t checked out any of Doug Field?s Purpose Driven stuff, and you have the budget for it- check it out- it?s great stuff:???? ) If you haven?t ever put a purpose statement together, I encourage you to do so.? As we dig deeper into the planning process you?ll see the importance of developing your purpose.

II.? LIST ALL THE EVENTS, ACTIVITIES AND PROGRAMS YOU CAN THINK OF
Now that your purpose is clear, take the time to brainstorm every event you?d like to do this next year, every event you did last year, every event the church next door did last year and the events you always wanted to do, but haven?t done for some reason or another.

No joke- just start listing stuff:

Trips:
Utah Ski Trip
Six Flags Amusement Park
Israel
Rio Linda

Camps:
Woodleaf
Estes Park
Hume Lake
Snow Weekend
Weekly Programs:
IMPACT- Tuesday Night Program
Celebration- Sunday AM Youth Worship
Soul Xtreme- Student led campus outreach club
Going Deep- Small Groups

Mission Trips:
Mexicalli
Salvation Army Work Day
Ireland

Activities:
Video Scavenger Hunt
Christmas Banquet
Concert

Misc.:
Billy Graham Crusade
Harvest Crusade


You get the idea.? Your list should be much longer.? If you start out with the previous year?s list of events, it?s not hard.


III.? MATCH EVENTS/ACTIVITIES/ PROGRAMS? TO YOUR PURPOSES
Now that you have your purpose statement written down and your list of possible stuff to do, it?s time to match activities and events to your purposes.? We can?t do that unless we really understand how activities can accomplish a given purpose.?

A Common Misconception
I don?t want to get on my soapbox, but this is the most neglected step I see in youth ministry planning today.? Youth ministries often plan activities, events, EVEN WEEKLY PROGRAMS without any idea what the purpose is for that particular activity.

Whenever I?m booked to speak at an event or camp, I always ask ?what is the purpose of the event??? Numerous times I will get a blank expression or a silence on the other end of the phone.

One time this happened and I clarified.? ?Is this an outreach event, a growth event or a leadership event??

?All three!?

That answer always kills me.? Let me just say this:

????????There are unbelieving students out there who never ever want to set foot in a church.?

????????There are unbelieving students who would go to church if there was a good enough reason (like an attractive member of the opposite sex inviting them).?

????????There are unbelieving students who are curious about spiritual things, might truly be seeking for an answer to the emptiness in their life and realize that the answer might be at church.

????????There are luke-warm students who have grown up in the church, heard a thousand messages, but don?t make a God a priority in their lives.?

????????There are believing students who have just made a commitment and are ready to grow.?

????????There are believing students who are ready to serve and minister to others.

Different events target different kids.? Let?s face it- if you want to target the kid who never wants to set foot in a church, 99% of the time you are NOT going to start by inviting him to a Wednesday night prayer meeting.? However, you might invite him to the skateboard event, the ski retreat or the concert.? If you want to provide a place of growth for the students who just made commitments to Christ, you probably are NOT going to just take them to outreach events that just present the Gospel and give and invitation each week.? However, you WOULD want to bring him to the new-believers? Bible study or the weekly CROSS-TRAINING growth program.

Don?t try to do it all with one event.? If you try to target all the above students with all your events- your impact will be week.? That?s why different programs, events and activities achieve different strategies of your purpose.

How to Match
To illustrate how to do this step, we?ll look at the above ?First Church of Mesa? and see how we would match events and activities to each of their purposes.

EVANGELISM
?First Church of Mesa? would need to have events and activities that reach out to unbelievers inside and outside the church.? Remember, these might be events that are just plain FUN and students in your group would feel comfortable inviting their friends.? They might even be events where the Gospel will be presented.?

It?s not bad to have an event with the simple goal of ?Bringing in lots of kids and showing them a good time!?? This will help you do several things:
????????1.? It will surround you with needy students
????????Matthew 9:12_13

??? When he heard this, Jesus replied, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor?sick people do.” [13] Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to be merciful; I don’t want your sacrifices.’ For I have come to call sinners, not those who think they are already good enough.”

????????2.? It will get your students comfortable with asking their friend to church

????????John 4:28_29

??? The woman left her water jar beside the well and went back to the village and told everyone, [29] “Come and meet a man who told me everything I ever did! Can this be the Messiah?”

????????3.? It will put your staff in the position to build relationships with outreach students

4.? Outreach kids will see opportunities to be involved in more church activities- many of these activities will present the Gospel message.

?Fun events? open the door to evangelism opportunities.? Don?t underestimate the power of a well-trained relational staff spending time with students in order to gain opportunities to share the Gospel. This can be as rewarding as an outreach event where the Gospel is preached.

Unfortunately, I?ve seen groups go overboard with ?fun events.?.? Week to week there is only fun and games, no depth and no staff building relationships with students..? I think most churches would agree that the primary reason they do fun and games is to bring students out and expose them to the life-changing message of Jesus Christ.? So don?t stop at fun and games- make sure that you also have EVANGELISM events that share the Gospel Message.

Examples:
– Back to School Swim Party
– Amusement Park Trip
– Weekend Retreat where the Gospel is presented
– Harvest Crusade or local outreach rally
– A weekly program with the purpose of outreach:


DISCIPLESHIP
What better purpose to follow EVANGELISM than DISCIPLESHIP.? ?First Church of Mesa.? does NOT want to just bring students to Christ and then abandon them.? They want to disciple them and help them grow in their faith.

Matthew 28:19_20
??? Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. [20] Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

So ?First Church of Mesa? needs activities, events and programs where Christian students can grow in their faith.? Many youth ministries have this as their weekly program.? But realize, retreats, camps and activities can do this just as well.

A friend/youth worker in my area always takes his students on a ?Relationships Retreat.?? The purpose of this retreat is to talk to Christian students about their relationships with the opposite sex.? This is an excellent part of their growth as young men and women.? At this retreat, many of the students pledge ?to wait? for sex until marriage.

Many camps have the purpose of DISCIPLESHIP or growth.? It?s great for churches to provide a time of FELLOWSHIP and spiritual growth for Christian students in this atmosphere.

Don?t forget about Bible studies or small groups.? These are excellent ways for students to grow in their relationship with God and other Christian students.

Examples:
– IMPACT- every Tuesday night (weekly program)
– Bible Studies
– Small Groups:?
– ?Relationships Retreat?
– Winter Camp


WORSHIP
?First Church of Mesa? also needs to provide a time of worship, as worship is one of it?s purposes. We?ve seen a lot of ministries start to incorporate this more in the last decade as they?ve realized the power of the Holy Spirit through worship.? Worship bands like Sonic Flood and Delirious were some of the first bands that made worship songs ?mainstream.?? WOW Worship CD?s are growing more popular each year..

Many students are responding well to worship events- a program that?s centered around praise and worship.? Worship can also be a part of many of the activities and events we?ve already planned.

Examples:
– Celebration- (Sunday Youth Worship Service)
– IMPACT- every Tuesday night (worship is part of weekly DISCIPLESHIP/growth program)
– Winter Camp- worship band is brought along to lead worship
– Sitting together as a group in the main church service in order to experience corporate worship.


FELLOWSHIP
Fellowship is also a purpose of the above church.?? This church should include events that provide fellowship among believers.

Acts 2:42

??? They joined with the other believers and devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, sharing in the Lord’s Supper and in prayer.

?
I have received some emails from people who complain that I shouldn?t have all the ?fun and games? on my web site.? Several have even argued that every game MUST have a biblical application.?

I understand that some youth ministries have sacrificed any depth for JUST fun and games. HOWEVER, I?m concerned when people feel that we can?t provide students a time of JUST fun.

We must realize that our students are bombarded by hundreds of opportunities to make bad decisions each day.? Many of these are VERY attractive decisions . . . that result in a lot of pain.? One of the best defenses our students have against these tough choices is FELLOWSHIP.? Christian students should build relationships with other Christians to encourage each other during these tough times.

????????Hebrews 10:25

?????????? And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near.

Eccles. 4:9_12

?????????? Two people can accomplish more than twice as much as one; they get a better return for their labor. [10] If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But people who are alone when they fall are in real trouble. [11] And on a cold night, two under the same blanket can gain warmth from each other. But how can one be warm alone? [12] A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back_to_back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple_braided cord is not easily broken.

?
Don?t feel guilty providing a time of just plain FELLOWSHIP. Realize that relationships are very important to God.? So important- that he made his two ?greatest commandments? about relationships.? In short, ?Love God? and ?Love Others?

Fellowship is a great purpose and many of our events can provide that.

Examples:
– Fun events
– IMPACT- every Tuesday night (weekly program)
– Bible Studies
– Small Groups:
– Camps
– Retreats


SERVICE/MINISTRY
Ministry is the fifth purpose of ?First Church of Mesa.??? This church should provide opportunities for students to minister, serve and maybe even lead.

As student grow in their faith, serving others becomes an incredible part of Christian growth.? We can provide many opportunities for students to do this.? Leadership teams, where a core group of students help run your ministry, are a great way to achieve this. Leadership retreats, conferences and trainings are also very effective. Sometimes the best chance for a student to minister is in the opportunity to share their faith with a friend or bring them to church.

Examples:
– CORE TEAM- monthly leadership meeting
– Student Worship Team- lead worship, meet for a weekly Bible study and prayer time
– Leadership Conferences- DC/LA, Denominational student leadership conferences, etc.
– Students counseling at an evangelism event
– Mexico Mission Trip
– Bringing friends to church


As you can see- there are a lot of things we can do with students that do more than just ?keep them busy.?? All our activities, programs and events should have a purpose.? Take time to match our activities, programs and events to your purposes in this way.? This will keep you not only focused on the purpose at hand, but the big picture of why you are doing what you do.? Not to mention- this will help you answer questions from angry parents demanding to know why their child threw up after eating SPAM out a bowl, drinking a gallon of milk, and spinning around a bat 10 times!