Our team here at Group/Simply Youth Ministry spent two years developing an approach to a youth ministry staple—the sermon series—that creates a growth-rich environment for students. We discovered a lot along the way. For example, almost everyone in youth ministry uses sermon/talk series at their main weekly gathering, but very few are truly happy with the end results.…
Every great organization has great leadership… period. It’s going to be nearly impossible to become great if your leadership is sub-par. Believe it or not, this relates to churches as well. Many times, in church work, we find ourselves in a tough spot; desperate for help, so we compromise in the area of leadership and we get ‘Volunteers’ to serve in our ministries instead of ‘Leaders.’…
We will finish up the week with three more ideas to help your ministry maximize the momentum created by student baptisms: ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DEAL OF THE MONTH: $25 for $25 – Get a $25 Group Magazine Subscription & YOU ALSO Get a $25 gift card to SimplyYouthMinistry.com…
CARE FOR THE CHILDREN OF THE CRITICS If your critic is a parent in your ministry, please don’t judge their kids for their parents’ actions. That’s not fair for the teenager. It won’t do you any good, and it definitely won’t help the student.…
Ever watch SHARK WEEK on the discovery channel? Sometimes ministry feels like we’re swimming with the sharks and one is going to bite with criticism. Yesterday we identified a few different types of criticism, and today we’ll look at some healthy ways to respond to criticism.…
Leadership and criticism go together like owning a car and spending money to keep it working. No one likes the hassle that goes along with handling repairs, but we resign ourselves to the fact that repair costs are a necessary part of ownership.…
As we wrote yesterday, you have to work hard to build a great team. Here are a few more ideas for you to consider applying within your ministry: KEEP YOUR MEETING AGENDAS MINIMAL It is important to have an agenda for your leadership meetings.…
Most people would prefer to play a role on a solid, fun, relational team than be on a dysfunctional, conflict-filled, self-absorbed team. That’s a no-brainer! But, great teams are difficult to build. Healthy youth ministry teams are not only effective at reaching and discipling students, but they also have a strong sense of community among the leaders.…
Today, we are finishing up our conversation about leadership and communicating expectations. There was one more benefit of clear expectations that we weren’t able to fit in yesterday. EXPECTATIONS SET UP DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS WITH LEADERS When you need to correct a leader (notice we didn’t write “if”), your expectations will serve as an excellent starting point.…
