“Sounds great! Now all we need is a ton of volunteers.” January 2008. I had just pitched my plan to reinstall small groups into our high school ministry. My supervisor loved the framework. Next step: triple our volunteer roster. Gulp. Finding mature followers of Jesus to invest in students and families is as difficult as it is necessary.…
Uh-oh. You’re supposed to give a Christmas message at a community party or youth event or at your Toastmasters meeting…and you forgot? No problem–here’s a quick message you can share in any setting. Merry Christmas! A Christmas Gift Christmas traditions abound.…
I had my favorite staff meeting this week. My pastor took us to a 10 AM showing of “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” followed by lunch. The catch? There was none—he just wanted us to have fun and enjoy being together.…
T.J. was one of those kids every parent prayed for. At 16 years old, he was strong in his faith, passionate about the mission field, full of joy, and a real practical joker. T.J. was a student who had been at our church for years and was loved by many!…
You’ve chosen the right team and you have told them everything they need to know about leadership, but they are missing something special, something intangible, something that would make them stellar. You realize that you need to mentor them to take them to the next level.…
Developing Your Adult Volunteers as LeadersBy Doug Franklin Having good adult volunteers in your youth ministry makes all the difference. It’s a great feeling when you have a few people that “get it” and can come along side of you to help make an impact in students’ lives.…
I am egocentric. I am selfish. I am driven by personal goals. I am wanting to see the change in student’s lives. I am unaware that anyone can do the same job as me. I am a youth minister. Sound like a bad commercial for youth ministry?…
We often measure the size and impact of our youth programs by counting the number of students that come each week. But have you ever thought of your ministry in terms of capacity for developing transformational students? It’s easy to talk about how many students are coming; after all it’s what most sr.…
One of the ways that God continues to amaze me year after year is how he provides our ministry with volunteers or small group leaders who are as passionate about discipling teenagers as I am. The question that I am constantly asked by various youth worker is “How in the world do you get all those volunteers to help out with the student ministry?”…
Got volunteers? Getting them is one thing . . . but what’s the trick to keeping them? Glad you asked. 1. TIME No- not the magazine- the other thing that we don’t have enough of. Yes, no matter how you slice it, our volunteers take time.…
