We’ve Moved

If you’re looking for up to date posts and information and resources supporting and equipping those in ministry with youth, visit www.youthministryconnection.org.

Partnership

I’ve been reading the book The Monkey and the Fish: Liquid Leadership for a Third-Culture Church, and it has me thinking about partnerships – for youth ministry and for the church as a whole.  Where in the world beyond our church walls should we be entering into partnerships that would be mutually beneficial? 

Every so often I get the question from a small church youth leader that goes something like this:  we don’t really have any youth in our church, but we want to do something?  Or this:  we can’t get any momentum in our youth ministry because we only have a handful of youth in the church?  Youth ministry in those settings in its traditional understanding is difficult.  But is there a school nearby or an afterschool program where church volunteers could tutor?  Are there community partnerships where church members could lend their energy to start a leadership program for young people?  Is there a mission in town – food pantry, shelter – where that handful of youth, with friends they invite, with adults from the congregation, with friends from the community gather to enhance the mission? 

A small town church in Missouri was struggling to keep its doors open some years ago.  Membership had aged and some pastoral struggles had taken a toll.  Some of the leadership met and talked about what gifts their congregation had and what was needed in the community.  Several of the leaders were good cooks, and another member owned a local funeral home, and several more were farmers, so they pooled their talents and offered a ministry to the community by providing family meals for anyone who had a loved one pass away, member of the church or not.  The church became visible in the community as a place where people cared, attendance increased, and the church grew remarkable over the next five to ten years.  All from a strategic partnership that used the gifts of the congregation to meet the needs of the community.

As youth leaders what are the gifts of our congregations, and what are the youth needs in our community.  Perhaps that is a good place to start conversations about the next steps for our ministries, whether we have 2 youth in our congregation or 200. 

By the way, since I realize now I never referred back to the book, it has some great images and challenging thoughts that make it worth the read.  If you are perusing in a bookstore, turn to the Liquid Bruce Lee chapter for some good examples.

Visit with Doug Fields

I’ve mentioned this opportunity before, and I checked this week into the registration process.  The UMC Division on Ministry with Young People (DMYP) is hosting a gathering with Doug Fields on Friday, February 26, in Chicago, in conjunction with the Simply Youth Ministry Conference.  The cost is just $29, and you can register now on the conference website: http://www.regonline.com/Checkin.asp?EventId=706057.  If you are interested in going for one day and carpooling, let me know and we might arrange a meeting spot or two around the state.

The National Study of Youth and Religion

If you’re not aware of the research of Christian Smith and the National Study of Youth and Religion, it is worth checking out.  The reports, which can be found on the National Study of Youth and Religion’s website, are easy to read with executive summaries that can be scanned quickly for the information you need.  For example, would you like some help asking parents to get more involved in the ministries to youth in your church?  Share with them the strong correlation between active religious involvement of the family and stronger family relationships (click here for the specific report).  Christian Smith has a couple of good books that present the findings, including a newer book on what he calls “emerging adults”.  While books on statistical information aren’t always the most exciting, these are well-written and can help you in assessing your ministry in light of current research.

Who are Youth Workers?

Who is a youth worker?  I was presenting to a group this week and realized that it may be of benefit to expand our definition to impact how we are ministering to and with youth in the local church.  If the only youth worker in a congregation is the person assigned (sometimes paid and sometimes not) to work with young people, then our ability as faith communities to be in the kind of intentional relationships that it takes to truly impact the lives of young people will be limited.  What if we defined youth workers as everyone who provides ministry to the youth, and we encouraged everyone in our congregation to see themselves as a youth worker?  Imagine a church where every member took responsibility in our mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world by mentoring at least one young person, guiding and teaching and helping that our teens realize that in Christ’s love they can transform the world around them.  As important as all of our ministries directly with youth are, I’ve wondered lately if connecting our church members to their responsibility as mentors should be the primary role of those of us leading youth ministries in our churches.

The 2003 Exemplary Youth Ministry Study (www.exemplarym.com) showed a direct correlation between effective youth ministry and the ownership of youth ministry by the entire congregation.  While I wholeheartedly believe that we need to convince the church to recognize and value the professional field of youth work, I also think we need to show our congregation members that they, too, are youth workers.  All are called by God to be in ministry, and some are called to order and serve the church.  All are called by God to be in ministry with young people, and some are called to order and serve those congregation-wide ministries to youth.

Resource and Training Connections

As a youth worker in the local church, you deserve to have someone working to get you the best deals on training and connecting you to the resources that can make a difference in your ministry.  The Division on Ministry with Young People has a Facebook fan page that I highly recommend joining as they are working in many ways to do just that.  They provide information on upcoming training events, mission opportunities, and youth connectional events.  You’ll find discount information for almost all the large youth ministry training conferences, and they are constantly working to provide United Methodist connections or discounts for other resources.  For example, the Parent Link newsletter from Group now has a UMC version that you can use to communicate with parents.

On Friday, February 26, you are invited to a UMC Denominational Summit at the Hyatt-Regency, Chicago O’Hare, from 1:30 to 4:30pm.  Doug Fields will be part of a conversation on “The Next Five Years in Youth Ministry”, followed by a debriefing to discuss the implications and applications of Doug’s research as it pertains to the UMC.  The cost is just $29.  If you are registering for the Simply Youth Ministry Conference, you can add this on.  If you’d just like to come to the denominational summit, you can register by calling 615-349-7111.

Rethinking Youth Ministry

For Indiana youth workers, my goal in blogging here is to foster connection over time so that we can share our best resources and support each other in ministry to young people.  To that end, I’d encourage you to subscribe here and touch base from time to time for resources, ideas, connectional announcements, and conversation starters.

At the same time, I know from conversations with youth workers around the state that many of you are constantly looking for resources and ideas for your local church ministry.  My favorite site on the web for updated resources and ideas is Rethinking Youth Ministry.  The site has timely resources (they are currently giving weekly ideas for Advent) and they provide links to all kinds of other great resources for youth workers.

For those new to this blog, Mondays you’ll find resources for ministry, Wednesday connectional announcements, and Friday thoughts and ideas on ministry to youth and families.  You can subscribe on this page.

Think Orange

A few weeks ago I was in a conversation about youth ministry with a couple of children’s ministry leaders.  I told them, and I meant it, that if we really want our youth ministries to grow we need to focus most of our energy on ministries to and with preschool parents.  That is where faith habits and spiritual disciplines begin.  That is where parents begin making decisions that influence how their children experience the church, the essence of community and communion, and faith at home.

With that thought in mind, I recommend reading Think Orange by Reggie Joiner.  If you have a parent group, I might even recommend reading it with them.  He describes a whole philosophy for ministry with families, but even if you don’t embrace the whole, there are lots of tools and conversation starters.  He writes on page 217, “As leaders and parents, our primary calling is not to keep our children in the church, but to lead them to be the church.”  And if we as youth leaders or as a church have only 40 hours a year on average with a student (in a group, not alone), we absolutely must partner with parents to lead our youth to “be the church.”

Training and Connection in Chicago

As we form a new conference in Indiana, we are looking for ways to connect youth workers around the state for mutual support, resource sharing, and training.  Stay tuned for more information about connectional opportunities coming in the Spring, but also don’t miss a great opportunity that is connected to the Simply Youth Ministry Conference in Chicago.  On Friday, February 26, the UMC Division on Ministry with Young People is hosting a special chance for UMC youth workers to connect with Doug Fields on the subject of the future of youth ministry.  You don’t have to register for the whole conference to do the one day workshop on Friday, and if we have enough interest, we may set up a car pool or transportation from different areas of the state.  In the coming weeks I’ll share more details, but you can check out the details at http://conference.youthministry.com/.

Indiana Youth Institute Resources

Do you know about IYI?  IYI is a statewide organization that supports youth work in Indiana and provides leadership and research in areas of importance to raising our youth and children.  The website is www.iyi.org.  Two resources you should know about as a youth ministry leader in the church:

1.  Professional Development Grants (http://www.iyi.org/fundraising-grants/development-grants.aspx):  Many of our church youth workers have little money available from the church for training, but if you are working with youth or children, IYI provides grants for training of up to $750.  Applications are due by the 10th each month and are awarded monthly.

2.  The IYI weekly update provides information on issues of importance to youth, grant tips, and information on IYI training across the state (their training sessions are usually very good and affordable).  Sign up at http://www.iyi.org/consulting-services/help-line.aspx.

IYI also offers regional networking opportunities with other youth workers, low price one-on-one consulting or research help, a tips line for on-the-spot advice about challenges you may face in youth work, and a variety of training options.  While they aren’t faith based, they are very friendly to faith-based organizations and have a wealth of experience to teach on helping in the social and faith development of young people.