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Adam Walker Cleaveland asked the youth ministry blog world: For those of you who are in youth ministry right now, what are the things that you would do in your first month of ministry?
The first month is hectic and honeymoonish, so it is tough to do anything effective. I argue that it takes a good year to get your feet wet and two years to start implementing your philosophy and theology.
Top 15 things I would do (or have done) in my first year of youth ministry:
15. Do not make promises you cannot keep. Your word in the first year has more weight and value than you know.
14. Listen…..and do some more listening without pontificating your opinions. You should be doing a lot of shaking your head and saying….uhu….yea……and smiling. Basically stand there and demonstrate the Christian nice.
13. If preaching/teaching is your gift, see if you can preach on a Sunday. Parents and adults need to see how you are around adults and not only with the kiddos.
12. Assessment. What is the church culture like? What are key qualities that define the church? What are the strong values? Who has the power? What families are the most influential? What are the needs of the students?
11. Do not feel that you have to accept every dining invitation.
10. Make a socio-gram. Map out who is friends with who. (both for families and students) The church directory is your friend.
9. Be aware of the parents that want to be your friend right away!
8. Come in with no expectations and expect it will take a good two years to really feel settled. And expect the numbers to drop.
7. Live in the honeymoon stage!!!! Take as many free lunches as possible because the church politics and drama will be coming! You know your honeymoon is over when you start becoming bitter at your church and you have your first confrontation with a staff member.
6. Befriend the church secretary. The church secretary has access to anything and everything in the church. If you win her/him over you are good to go. Yes they are annoying, but get over it. They can be your biggest fan or your worst nightmare.
5. Try to meet weekly with the lead/senior pastor. It is not only a great connection, but it allows for him/her to understand where you are at.
4. Expect a few kids to tell you why they do not like you and why you are NOT like the old youth pastor. Do not take it personally and get all offended. You are big boy or big girl and you can handle it. Do not start doubting your position and your abilities.
3. Establish very loudly and proudly when your day off will be. We were wired to rest. Yes I know the Fall calendar needs to get done, but it can wait. Tim’s mom will be okay if she receives her fall calendar a week later than last year. Start habits now.
2. Pick your battles. If your battles are about theological issues, get a life. By the way ditch your seminary books no one cares you have the BDAG and NT Wright’s new book, so stop leaving it out on your desk to make yourself look smart and well read. Trust me when someone wants to know what you think about theological matters they will come to you. Your first year is not about proving your theological standing.
1. Get a facebook and make a facebook youth group and upgrade your text messaging plan from 100 to unlimited. Subscribe to TextSignal. TextSignal allows you to send massive text messages to your students in 1 blast. Become tech savvy! And if you need a free i-phone go here.
I love you youth ministry world. You are great. Keep learning and thinking about the Kingdom and more importantly look good for the Kingdom.
Unfortunately FREE GIFT internet sites work. Call it a scam or a waste of time and money, but they are legit and I NEED YOU!
Freebie websites are simply brilliant internet advertising. Advertisers pay the Freebie website and the Freebie website splits their pay check with us by rewarding us with a free gift.
Two years ago, I received a Free Video Ipod and I was thrilled. My youth ministry buddy Tim Schmoyer has received:
· FREE 12-month subscription to Xbox Live
If you are willing to spend a hour online and spend about $25 to $30 to get a Free gift, here is the deal:
- Click this link: http://apple.v-bux.com/index.php?id=15123
- Sign up to create an account.
- Complete offers (like Blockbuster, Netflix or Stamps.com) to get 100% credit (usually about 2-5 offers) and then refer other people to do the same under your referral link.
- After you refer enough people who also reach 100% credit for trial offers, you receive your iPhone, iPod Touch, Mac, or cash for FREE!
Even if you only successfully refer 1 person, V-Bux still pays you a minimum of $80!
It honestly isn’t any more difficult than that. If you have any questions about the process, I have done it so feel free to ask.
I completed the trial offers of: (make sure you cancel them right before the trial offer expires.)
Stamps.com: WINDOWS ONLY! This offer was painless and easy. I signed up for a free trial month of their service at a time when I was selling a lot of stuff on eBay. They gave me $5.00 of free postage just to try it out. To get credit for trying this offer, just sign up for the trial, download the free software (Windows only) and purchase some postage with the free $5.00 they give you.
Blockbuster.com: is was a fun one. For $10.68 I got a month of unlimited movie rentals through their website, keeping up to 3 movies at a time and 4 in-store movie exchanges. Again, this offer took about 10 minutes to credit my freebie account, but that was on-time for this offer.
Yahoo success Center: Figured I’d check this one out since I am curious in how Google ads work. It cost me $4.95 to get two trial weeks of access to their site’s members area to learn how to optimize everything for Google and Adsense.
Call me an idiot or stupid but these sites work. Try it your self: click here
The Crazy Contemplations is a place to gather people (especially youth pastors) to think theologically. I do realize that some of my thoughts/ideas/theology are not coming from the traditionalist/fundamentalist paradigm, but I need people who do come from the traditionalist camps to balance me out. We all know Jeremy likes to write in hyperbole.
Unfortunately, the CC has turned into a combat zone. Similar like the Pearl Harbor attack. I am embarrassed when I receive 20 comments on a post, and 15 of 20 are personal attacks and not critiques of the content in the actual post. There are a few posts that have gotten bloody and dirty. My blog is not a punching bag.
Let me be clear, I do not want this blog to become a bunch of people who think like me. I want a diverse group of people with different perspectives that are OPEN and willing to engage in the dialogue about the actual content.
It is my hope, prayer, and request that the people entering into the Crazy Contemplation madness:
* Come with an open mind
* Do not compromise personal theological convictions
* Critique content, not someone’s character
* Comment on the posts that you have knowledge about. Simply do your homework. Come educated. Do not write, then think. Think and read, before you write.
* Be willing to contribute and participate
If you do not follow these guidelines, I will block you. I have no other option.
Let’s keep Kingdom thinking and learning!
Last week, Dr. David Scholer passed away. Dr. Scholer lived with colorectal cancer for the past 6 years. His cancer was incurable and spread to both lungs. Over the past few years, Dr. Scholer was battling, and perhaps slowly succumbing to a terminal form of cancer.
David Scholer was the professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary. Dr. Scholer was a NT scholar who received his doctorate from Harvard, and written the thrilling volumes, “Nag Hammadi Bibliography 1948-1969 (1971) and Nag Hammadi Bibliography 1970-1994 (1997)”. His strong areas of expertise were in the NT, women in the Church, English Bible translation, Church and Judaism, gnosticism, Revelation, and 2nd century Christianity.
There is no doubt the Rev. David M. Scholer was a prominent NT scholar.
Thankfully I had Dr. Scholer for two of my seminary classes: Exegetical Methods and NT2–Acts -Revelation. Dr. Scholer was one of my favorite Seminary professors. He not only engaged the head, but he engaged the heart when surverying and exegeting the NT. Class was never dull with Dr. Scholer even when were contemplating some difficult past participle tenses in Paul’s writings.
Dr. Scholer you will be missed!!!! You radically changed my life in the way I view the 1st and 2nd century.
Every adolescent in the USA longs for community, belonging, and a sense of identity.
Therefore,
I am arguing that youth group needs to function as a tribe that is a safe and welcoming community and has a vibrant and distinct culture.
Chris Folmsbee in A New Kind of Youth Ministry talks about this idea of “reculturing”. He suggest we need to reculture the way we do student leadership, discipleship, missions, and outreach. I think a way to reculture our youth ministries is by starting with rethinking the elements within our youth programs. It is my belief that a possible way to reculture our youth programs involves creating community and clearly defining what is the mission of your youth program. We have to reculture the current culture of youth programming.
First, I love viewing youth group as a tribe. In the general sense, a tribe is a group of people who enjoy being around each other and share life with each other who all live in the same place. Tribes have this sense of fluidity and flexibility that generates this natural kinship. Being a tribe just does not happen over night. Developing a tribe takes time and time to invest in relationships, which as a result builds a strong communal bond. A tribe happens more organically and naturally rather than artificially, which is why authentic and natural community needs to be at the center of youth programs.
Second, a youth tribe needs to have a sense of community. Community aims at making others share their lives with others and making individuals find their identity and belonging. Generating student community in the post-modern world is so fragmented and isolated; and it is not natural to get to know someone just because. I have found that students actually feel awkward physically interacting with other students because 60% of their communication is done through technology, namely text messaging, emailing, facebooking, and IMing. Our 21st century students are socially awkward and socially illiterate. I am amazed at how many students do not have any social skills and/or any social awareness.
Pete Ward in Liquid Church argues that the art of arranging community has not died, but has changed. The ways to generate community in the post modern world for students is tough and solely relies on trust and time invested. Students still want to be with each other, they still feel that they need significant relationships, and they still want to make a difference in other people’s lives. So youth groups need to be focused around relationships and people, and not a tight program schedule.
Every youth group needs to exhibit a type of koinonia (Greek word for fellowship) that cares for, encourages, and accepts everyone. A koinonia that encourages everyone to share life with others and others to share life with you. Koinonia goes after realness, not fakeness. Lofink in Jesus and Community communicates that we are the people of God and God wants the gathered people of God to continue thriving and working out their salvation TOGETHER. The key to creating student communities is carving out space in youth programs for them to talk and interact with others and with the Biblical text.
When youth ministries attempt to arrange community, there are two problems. The first problem is that too many youth groups attempt to create a communal bond in a short period of time, which may come across as artificial. Unfortunately, when students show up to youth group, there is not this magical bond between the students clusters. Youth pastors try to do a community building exercise when Timmy (the skater) hates Bobby (the surfer) and Katie (the dancer) dislikes Becky (the gossip) and Sam (the 12 grader) does not like Joe (the 9ther grader). Our wonderful community building exercise turns into a trainwreck and destroys the entire youth meeting. Youth pastors cannot expect immediately community building results, when doing a 20 minute community building exercise that will make everyone excited to be with each other.
Attempting to generate a natural communal bond takes time and means the youth pastor has to work hard at creating environments that help kids connect with kids who they typically would not connect with. I think a lot of this work has to be done outside of the church walls. Youth pastors need to have more events in the local community. For example, during a youth group meeting the group needs to go to the pizza parlor, or the movie theater, or the local coffee shop, or the burger joint and just get to know one another, naturally. No agenda no teaching lesson, just a simple hang out which will create (hopefully) a few commonalities between the students. Also, the youth pastor needs to be hanging out with students outside of the church walls. Students need to know that their youth pastor is normal and can function in a public place without always being super holy. Remember if youth pastors meet student’s on their own turf, yp not only win big points, but get to really see into their student’s world and who knows we may meet a few of the “unsaved” friends.
The second problem is that youth pastors love to hear themselves talk and pontificate their deep theological convictions. Youth pastors need to stop talking and need to start asking more questions to the students. We simply need to shut up and do more listening. The youth pastor needs to come across as not talking to them, but with them.
How do we know if we are successful in creating community? The students feel as though they fit in and are accepted right when they enter the church doors.
Third, each youth group across America needs an identity. Youth groups need to a specific thing that makes them different than what the students are accustom too. How would you define your youth group? What sets your youth group apart from other youth groups? What does your youth group value? What is your mission? What are your theological values that are represented in your youth group meetings?
I am basically saying pick a theological topic and make that topic a central focus. For example, a youth pastor may want to help students live the best kind of life by helping them discover their identity, find belonging and take part in God’s mission to restore all things. So by having a central theological mission in your group invites every student to know what the youth meeting is about and why they attend the youth meeting.
To have a vibrant and unique youth group culture means to have rituals, values, focus, coherency, and traditions that make students feel as though they are a part of something.
To look at youth group as a vibrant, communal, and radical group for Jesus may motivate students to take PRIDE in their TRIBE. Youth group is not something the students attend rather youth group is who they are and what they stay for as Kingdom followers.
Like every other Evangelical in America, I read THE SHACK over vacation. In USA church land people think THE SHACK is either heretical (DRISCOLL…weird) or theologically accurate(Mariner’s Church).
I thought the book was phenomenal. I highly recommend it. It is an easy and entertaining read. I am going to recommend it to my students.
Here are two reasons I enjoyed and appreciated THE SHACK.
(1) THE SHACK takes lofty theological concepts, namely trinity, pnuematology, forgiveness, free will, incarnation, and theodicy and makes them tangible, understandable, and relatable to the common folk. Our church fathers and scholars try so hard to articulate theological topics in such a technical way that no one really understands the content except them. THE SHACK offers a compelling story on how Mack meets the triune God in the same exact place where his daughter’s life was taken. THE SHACK in a very simple way takes tough theological ideas and intersects them with Mack’s story.
We have to remember that THE SHACK is fictional, and not a theological document. I found myself multiply times amazed at how Young covers profound theological ideas while keeping me entertained. At one moment I was thinking theologically and the next moment I was crying.
(2) THE SHACK effectively handles the problem of EVIL! THE SHACK deviates from the classical problem of Evil paradigm and moves towards a more applicable and real theodicy paradigm . God “the Father” (who appears as an African American woman), the “Son” (appearing as a 30-something carpenter) and the “Holy Spirit” (an etherial, hilarious, Asian lady) clearly communicate to Mack that God did not kill His daughter. Young states on page 154: God using evil for the good does not make sense? He is right. What is good and what is evil is too subjective. How does one determine what is good and what is evil? So what we think is evil may not necessary be evil in God’s eyes. Also, why should we link evil doings with an all loving God? Seemingly that is contradictory.
God’s love is not linked to killing Missy. Rather His love is linked to somehow dislodging Mack’s inner emotional log jam. Mack was so quick to blame God for the death of his daughter. But in reality God had nothing to do with Missy’ s death. God wants everything to do with getting Mack to move past his anger and forgive the person who killed his daughter. There is a brilliant line on page 227: It is okay to be angry when forgiving, but just do not let your anger prevent you from forgiving.
I think we as humanity always blame God for things He did not do. Unfortunately, our theological systems compute automated answers that do not necessary reflect God’s love and do not consider human emotions and experience. If your God is all sovereign and God killed Missy, than you will NOT have a grand old time explaining to Mack God killed his daughter. God is not a mass murder like Hitler. He is a healer and a redeemer.
I think our theological systems override our personal stories. I think we tend to get caught up in the WHY God did EVIL and do not caught up in HOW God will restore EVIL. THE SHACK is a great narrative that contextually translates theology in a very practical way. This is exactly why THE SHACK is resonating with Evangelicalism. THE SHACK communicates a real life story in a way that exposes a real Jesus that reconciles and transforms Mack’s life.
Blogger world, I am back. I missed you. We were in the Dominican Republic for vacation and we completed our move from Laguna Niguel to Laguna Beach.
My batteries have been changed and re-charged. The sun rays/rum of the Dominican Republic has generated an energized passion and vision for Youth Ministry.
What I learned on vacation:
1) The UK people know how to socialize very well. They are not socially awkward at all. Also, they are very opinionated, but are not offensive when communicating their opinion.
2) The idea of all inclusive is brilliant, but hard on the digestive tract.
3) It is amazing to get away and just be and connect with your wife. I highly recommend it.
4) It was very hard for me to turn off my brain from work mode and transition it to vacation mode. I found
myself wondering who emailed me and who ‘needed’ me? I had to rebuke those thoughts in JESUS name.
5) America has it really good!!!
mik and i after our 1 year anniversary dinner
my princess
me being me--which means me being simply stupid
this guy tried to steal my wife away from me
Ladies and Gentlemen of the youth ministry blog world, the CRAZY CONTEMPLATIONS will be taking a two week break because Jeremy and Mikaela will be in the Dominican Republic. No this is not a missions trip, but a vacation.
I need my batteries changed. I need to clear my head and process my heretical theology and youth ministry philosophy. I just need a break and to stop. So I want to dedicate this entry to the economic stimulus check and to God because they made it possible for us to escape to the DR for two weeks.
Also thankfully my church values time off and does not expect us to be a ministry machine aka a superhero pastor, which in my experience only produces BURN OUT. Too bad I have never met a burned and bottomed out pastor (sarcasm).
Also it is our one year wedding anniversary August 5th. It is crazy how fast a year goes by.
Audios!
It is my belief that youth pastors need to not only accept the classic youth pastor stereotype, but also add to it. The stereotype is this: A youth pastor is the random, crazy, funny, and fun guy or gal who loves kids and will run church programs to essentially babysit our church kids. Youth pastors are absurdly crazy for Jesus and he/she will make our kids crazy for Jesus.
We simply just have to accept this stereotypical notion because it is true. And if you are youth worker who does not fit the profile it is okay, we still love you.
But, we have to add to the youth pastor stereotype. Youth pastors need to be readers and thinkers. Unfortunately, youth pastors are viewed as the clowns of the church, not as the practical theologian. I strongly believe youth pastor have a sharp understanding of what ecclesiology works and their voice needs to be heard. Think about it…the best 21st church leaders were youth leaders, namely Andy Stanley, Tony Jones, Doug Pagit, Rob Bell, and Erwin Mcmanus.
During staff meetings the youth pastor needs to articulate his/her theological thoughts and contribute to the ecclesiological conversation. The elders and the senior leadership need to look to the youth pastor for freshness, ideas, and participation within the congregation. I am even suggesting the youth pastor preach quarterly/monthly and I am not talking about preaching on “youth Sunday”.
Here is the problem with my thesis; I am assuming youth pastors are being students of theology and reading everything and anything they can get their hands on. And that they are synthesizing and processing what they are reading and learning in a community (online, accountability group, other youth workers, co-workers, senior pastor, etc.)
Tony Campolo thinks: “Point blank, I am not impressed with youth workers. I find that they don’t know what’s going on in the world. That youth work becomes a matter of fun and games.
I think it is essential that youth workers need to wake up and become well versed in politics, western philosophy, current affairs, leadership theory, physics, and theology all while being a student of the student culture.
Yes, Yes, I know–trying to read everything and anything can get overwhelming and daunting. My own reading philosophy is about 70% of the reading I do (magazines, books, online articles) are more directly “spiritual” or ministry related. The other 30% engages worldly issues. Porn would fall in this 30% category. That was a joke….just case you did not get it. 99% of my jokes bomb anyways…
I realize that I am a youth worker and there is no neutrality in this post. It is my belief that youth ministry needs to be the focal point in church life. I realize my expectations of what a youth pastor is, is unrealistic and rare to find.
Essentially, I am looking for a youth pastor who will shave his/her head for the camp fund raising event and be an idiot, while reading Nietzsche, Dawkins, NT Wright, and the NY times.
A church should not just say: Yes we value the youth. The church’s actions should validate that they value the youth and the youth pastor. A youth ministry is always a great reflection of where the church is at and their value system.
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