Lasting Student Ministry

Master Copywriter Reveals The 4 Step "Borden Formula" That Can Help You Capture People's Attention When Speaking...

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:00:00 +0000

Gary Bencivenga is a marketing master who is respected by the top marketers around the world.

One of his "Bencivenga Bullets" has a great article titled...

The "Borden Formula" for Giving a Great Speech ...or Writing a Potent Headline

It's written for public speakers and salesletter writers, but it's got some cool information for anyone who speaks in front of people and wants to learn a way to speak and grab people's their attention.

In the article he gives 4 things that Richard C. Borden taught people to imagine when they were speaking.

(Borden was Administrative Chairman of the Department of Public Speaking at New York University. He was also one of the nation's most popular speakers and sales trainers, as well as an author of books on selling and public speaking.)

Borden taught people 4 emotional outbursts that he to imagine the audience saying whenever you speak.

Here are the 4 emotional outburts:

"Ho hum!"
"Why bring that up!"
"For instance?"
"So what?"

Read the article about what these mean and see an example of how they work.

Don't miss the part at the end of the article about the "shake-me-awake-at-three-a.m." test for powerful headlines.

See the article here:

The "Borden Formula" for Giving a Great Speech ...or Writing a Potent Headline
(I updated this link. It was broken. Now it works!)

P.S. Like I mentioned already... I believe powerful preaching has to come from the anointing of the Holy Spirit to have lasting, life-changing affect, but I believe that we need to learn all we can about speaking in exciting and powerful ways.

P.P.S. If you haven't signed up for my new FREE E-Class...
"A Simple Formula To Easily Improve Your Talks"
(THE FORMULA: 4P + V = Improved Talks)

You still have time. We have 16 people so far who are going to be a part. Here are the details again...

When: Thursday, November 5th @ 10am PST/1pm EST Duration: Approx. 45 minutes
Cost: Nada - just your time
Where: Online! In my virtual classroom. Sign-up at the link below and you'll be emailed the link for the class.
Who Can Attend?: Any youth pastor. You ARE allowed to invite fellow youth pastor friends.

**How Do You Sign-Up?**
If you would like to join the others who have already signed up to attend this virtual class, then here's all you have to do...

Go to this link and enter your name and email.
http://www.lasting-student-ministry.com/eclass

P.S. If you have any comments about his 4 Step method (or the eclass), then let me know. Post them below.

"4 Components That Make Up A Powerful Talk"

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:00:00 +0000

After my last e-newsletter, about my upcoming free e-class, I've been thinking about what makes a talk powerful.

As I've been thinking about it, I've realized a powerful talk is way more than just WHAT we say. But the funny thing is that is the one part most people focus on!

What I've decided is that a powerful talk contain 4 components. I want to share them with you today...

"4 Components That Make Up A Powerful Talk"

1. Annointing - You need the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth he wants you to speak on. He has to give you the ideas on how to express this truth. He has to annoint the words when you speak.

Without this your talk is just a speech. It's not a sermon. It's not life-changing.

If you don't seek the Holy Spirit and let him guide you through the rest of the preparation, then the next 3 things I'm about to mention won't matter. Remember that!

2. Content - This is what you're going to talk about. In order for your talk to capture your student's attention and lead them in the right direction, you need to have the right content. You
need to focus on the right topics. You need the right Bible passage(s).

Not only that, you need to add the right stories, quotes, stats, etc. to connect with your students and encourage them to respond and live out what you're talking about.

Don't get me wrong. Content matters!

But Content is the part that most people focus on and forget the next two things.
And these next two things will impact your content and your "audience" in a huge way.

The correct use of these next two things can make your content really hit home or the incorrect usage can dull your content and sometimes cause you to strike out.

3. Structure - This is how you're going to put together the content. This has to do with how you start, how you transition from one idea to the next, and how you close the whole talk.

Certain ways you structure certain talks will make them more powerful. Other ways you could structure the same talk might have way less impact.

You can think of this as the skeleton of your talk. This is the part that isn't obvious to your students, but it's the part that holds the whole thing together.

If you aren't aware of the structure that you usually use and how it's helping or hurting your talks, then begin paying attention to it.

Learn new ways to structure your talks or learn subtle things you can add to improve your talks.

4. Presentation - This is how present the content to your students. This component emcompasses the visuals (object lessons or media), the verbal portion (the tone of your voice is one example), and your body language (body posture or motions).

Once you get the content and the structure down, lack of focus on this component can still cause your talk to stall out.

Want some examples of how this can happen? A person who had some really good things to say, but keeps saying "Um", "Ahhh", etc. every third word has a presentation that distracts you from their content!

Another classic example is a person who has something important to say, but they present it in such a monotone way it puts you to sleep!

And those two things just focus on the verbal portion of presentation!

Imagine how improving not just the verbal, but also the visual and body language portions of presentation can take your talk to a whole other level.

How can you improve your presentation?
One way is that you might want to video record one of your talks just so you can listen and watch how your presentation adds or subtracts to what you have to say.

You can also pay attention to how speakers that you like present their content.

YOUR OPINION:
What do you think about these 4 components? Do you agree? Can you think of any I left out? **Post your comments below and let me know!

If you like this post, then please tell your youth pastor friends about it!
You can link to it on your blog, tweet about it, or email it to them.

By the way, people have already begun signing up for my free e-class that will reveal to them a formula that can improve the presentation of their talks. This will focus on verbal portion of your presentation.

If you haven't signed up yet, I'd love to have you a part. It's next Thursday, Nov. 5th. Here are the details again, in case you need them...

New FREE E-Class: "A Simple Formula To Easily Improve Your Talks"
(THE FORMULA: 4P + V = Improved Talks)

When: Thursday, November 5th @ 10am PST/1pm EST Duration: Approx. 45 minutes

Cost: Nada - just your time

Where: Online! In my virtual classroom. Sign-up at the link below and you'll be emailed the link for the class.

Who Can Attend?: Any youth pastor. You ARE allowed to invite fellow youth pastor friends.

How Many Can Attend?: A lot! The class can hold 500 people, so we should have plenty of people, but I do have over 500 with the combined email lists of people who have taken a sneak peek at the ebook or purchased the ebook.

*I'll allow people who have bought the ebook to have priority and sign-up FIRST, but after that I will open it up to everyone on all of the lists - including friends.

**How Do You Sign-Up?**
If you would like to join the others who have already signed up to attend this virtual class, then here's all you have to do...

Go to this link and enter your name and email.
http://www.lasting-student-ministry.com/eclass

Once you do that, then click the link in the confirmation
email that you'll automatically receive and you're set!

*Don't forget to leave your comments about the 4 components below and/or pass the link to this post on to your friends! Thanks.

8 Reasons To Put On Your Own Summer Retreat

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 20:51:00 +0000

I have two things today that I think you'll like:

1. Info on how you can sign-up below to access to the recording of the teleconference I did a couple weeks ago called, "7 Important Elements For A Solo-Retreat". This is a edited version, so you'll hear just the important information and not our conversation before.

2. A blog post called "8 Reasons To Put On Your Own Summer Retreat". I have a blog post with 8 quick reasons why I think you should try putting on your own summer retreat - especially if you never have!

Here it is...

"8 Reasons To Put On Your Own Summer Retreat"
When I was a youth pastor we put on a yearly summer retreat that was extremely popular with the students and was a very key event in the development of our youth group.

Here are 8 reasons why you should put on your own summer retreat:

1. You can control the schedule. How early the days start, how late they go. How much time is set aside for fun, for worship, etc. You can decide what you and your group does and what they don't do.

2. You can control the theme and the sermon topics. You can use this time for an extended focus on a topic you feel your group needs to have addressed. This allows your students to hear sermons that are designed (by you), for them individually and as a group.

3. You can control when it is. You can make the retreat be when it is the best time of the year based on your schedule, what you have planned for your group and what the student's families have scheduled.

4. You can control where it is. You can have it as close or far away from where you are as possible. You can even choose an area you've always wanted to go!

5. You can decide how long it is. You can decide if you want it to be 2 1/2 days like a typical retreat or a longer 3 1/2 day retreat. This way you can decide what you and your group can handle.

6. You can control what food is served. You don't have to put up with bad camp/retreat food. You can choose food that is good, designed around your andyour groups tastes and that is economical.

7. You can use it to help your group grow closer to each other without the distraction of other students/groups. You can use this time to help your group bond together. You can use it to help you and your leaders grow closer to your students.

8. It's fun and satisfying to see the end results of putting on something like this yourself. It's hard to explain the feeling of satisfaction you'll feel after a retreat that you put on. You'll be tired. But not an exhausted tired. It's a sit down and smile and sigh - when you think of all the cool stuff that happened- kind of satisfied. It's the "you worked hard, but it was so worth it" kind of tired. :)

If you would like to hear the recording of the teleconference I did a couple weeks ago called, "7 Important Elements For A Solo-Retreat", then sign-up below.

IMPORTANT:

1. Being on this list means you'll receive regular emails with more free tips so that you can pull off a summer retreat on your own. I think you're going to really like the info we send you. Some will be in audio format and other parts in text format, so you'll be able to listen to some info and read to learn other tips. If you don't want to receive emails with regular tips, then don't sign-up or unsubscribe after you hear the recording! :)

2. You'll also receive updates on the upcoming "Instant Summer Retreat" teleconference. This teleconference will help you learn how we specifically used the 7 elements to create really fun summer retreats that the students loved and that had great impact in their lives and on our group.
In the updates, you'll learn how we're going to make putting on your own summer retreat as "instant" as possible.

3. Plus this list will be different in the fact that you'll get to interact and give your feedback on a special "Instant Summer Retreat" blog we've set up. This will allow you to have influence and shape some of what the teleconference covers and is all about!

2 Types Of Retreats Every Group Needs To Do...

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:18:00 +0000

I believe that every group needs to do 2 types of retreats. Many focus mainly on one of these types, but miss the importance and the benefit of the other type of retreats.

Let's look at the 2 types of groups:

1. Solo-Group Retreats
The purpose of these types of retreats is to grow your group closer to each other. These retreats allow you and your students to get to know each other without the distractions of other students, since your group is the only one participating.

This is very important. Jesus took the disciples alone - without others - so that he could teach them specifically what they needed to know and be with them relationally. When you're a part of only "Multi-Group Retreats", then you don't have this opportunity. You're stuck on someone else's agenda and you have a whole bunch of other students for your to interact with (and distract them from building relationship with each other).

To build the relationships of your students with each other is so key to having a lasting student ministry. If they aren't "tight" with each other, then they won't last as a group if/when you ever leave.

Also, this opportunity to get your group away and teach them specifically about things - in an extended format/setting - is so important to help them grow spiritually.

This again is key for having a lasting student ministry, cause this allows you to build things in them that can help them to "last" in the faith after the graduate or move on!

*These type of retreats take more effort, because you as a leader are putting it on, but they are MORE than worth it!

2. Multi-Group Retreats
The purpose of these retreats is to grow your group spiritually by being around other students who believe the same as they do.

The benefits of these types of retreats is all about the strength and power of peer pressure -- positive peer pressure!

When they see other students worshipping, it encourages them to worship. When they meet other students who are "cool" (in their eyes), or like them, - who love Jesus - then it boosts their faith.

This also gives your students the opportunity to hear other leaders teach and speak into their lives in a way that you don't (or can't because of your closeness to them).

The great thing about these retreats is that usually they are put on by others organizations and you don't have as much work you have to put into them to pull them off. They also can usually do things (or have guests) you couldn't afford to do, because they have many groups all paying into it.

How I Used To Do These Two Types Of Retreats
When I was youth pastoring at my last group we would do a summer retreat that was a "solo group retreat" and then we would do a winter retreat that was a "multi-group retreat."

The summer retreat was completely in-house and put on by me. The students loved it and it grew in popularity year after year.

The winter retreat was put on by a friend who oversaw the whole thing and invited the groups to come. This was also popular with our group.

By having BOTH of these two types of retreats I was able to see the benefits that both provide. If we would've only had one of these types we would've still had fun, but missed out on benefits of the other type.

I would encourage you, if you don't already, to make sure your group does both of these types of groups. Both will help you to build a lasting student ministry!

The Power Of "Retreating"...

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 23:21:00 +0000

Some of the funnest memories of youth pastoring was when we went our our yearly summer & winter retreats.

What made the memories cool was the combination of fun, growing closer together as a group, getting to know the students in new ways, and seeing them grow spiritually.

Two examples of this I just experienced...

1. My nephew just got back from a Winter Retreat and he said something like, "That was the best experience I've ever had with God."

2. His youth pastor, who I'm friends with on Facebook, posted picks on the retreat and titled them, "The Best Winter Retreat EVER!"

There's something special about getting away from all the distractions of life and focusing on fun and God.

It causes students to grow in ways they couldn't from a regular Sunday or Mid-week meeting.

It allows you to interact with them in ways you couldn't in your normal settings.

I know there is the whole "after retreat let down" where students kind of feel like they "lose" what happened. Youth pastor's sometimes even feel like they're going through a little depression afterwards.

But I think a well planned out "retreat" can really have a lasting, positive effect in these ways:

On your students
On your group as a whole
On your grow numerically and spiritually
On you as a youth pastor/leader.

Because of this, me and my friend Ben (who used to co-youth pastor together) are going to share our past experience putting on retreats that can help you as youth pastors/leaders. (We have a combined experience of over 30 years youth pastoring. Man that sounds old! Remember we started when we were in our late teens/early 20's!)

Here's what we'll be doing...

I'll be putting together some more "retreat" ideas to post here.
We'll host a FREE teleconference call that will help you get the most out of your retreats.

Also....

In the past I've received an email from someone thanking me for this ebook and telling me to keep "the great products coming".

It was nice to hear that they liked the ebook enough that they wanted me to come up with MORE!

*Well, in the coming weeks, I'm going to reveal to you guys the next "product" I have for you. It'll be something that help you to almost "instantly" put together a powerful summer retreat.

In the meantime...

***What are your comments, opinions or questions about this topic of "The Power Of Retreating"?*** POST them in the comments.

Cup 'O Affirmation

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 01:02:00 +0000

One of the things we used to do on our Winter Retreats that really had a cool impact on the adults and the students was something we called...

Cup 'O Affirmation

What It Is:
Everyone is given a cup (big red plastic ones) to write their name on with pen. (Or a newer, modern - more expensive option would be an Etch-it cup.) This cup will be used to collect affirmations that others write about each person.

How It Works:
On the last night of Winter Retreat and into the next morning people are told to write something that they like/appreciate about each person, fold it up and go put it in their cup. They do this for all of the students and adults who are there. We usually do this with everyone sitting around the room and some music playing in the background. When you're all done each person ends up with a cup full of positive things about themselves to read.

Extra Advice:

Make sure to give a lot of time for this. It takes a good amount of time even with a smaller sized group!
Make sure to have enough cups, pens (to write and ones to write on cups), and paper (people can tear strips off binder or printer paper) so that you don't run out.
The cool thing about doing it on a retreat is there's a different intimacy level that people have and feel for each other at the end of a good retreat that you just don't get from every day interactions.

The Impact:
It's hard to really get across how powerful this exercise is at the end of a retreat. The only thing I can compare it too is sitting around getting your yearbook signed by all your friends at school. But it's more than that. It really allows people to grow closer and edify each other like nothing else we ever did. The things that people write are so cool that many students (and ADULTS) keep the cups for a long time after wards!

I'd encourage you to try it on your Winter Retreat or any retreat! It's simple but powerful!

Ol' School Fundraiser To Help Your Students Raise Funds For Winter Retreat Or Any Event...

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:47:00 +0000

When I was youth pastoring we needed a way to help students come up with a significant amount of money in order for them to be able to afford going on Winter Retreat with us.

We thought of different fund raisers we could do and they all seemed good but none of them seemed to be able to raise the larger individual amounts we needed.

Until finally we came across ol' school fund raiser idea called...

"The Rock-A-Thon"

No, it's not the ancient practice of stoning people with a money raising twist.

No, it's not an i-Pod music marathon. :)

It's students rocking in rocking chairs to raise funds!

Before you click away, you might want to see how it worked and why the students loved doing it...(We even had students come to it who didn't even need to raise money. They came just to hang out!)

How It Works:

Each student rocks in a rocking chair for 12 hours.
They raise funds by getting people sponsoring them __ an hour.

Our Twist To Make It More Fun:

We did it from 8pm-8am (or 9pm-9am) in the youth room.
We had video game systems set up, watched movies, and had board games (Monopoly, Risk, etc.) set up.
We had a ton of junk food, soda, pizza, etc. to keep them fueled and going.
We had a 5-minute "bathroom break" once every hour to use the restroom and stand up and stretch.

How To Run It Effectively

Before the event:

Plan in on a Friday night, so you can sleep and "recover" before Sunday!
Get some adult leaders to help you that night. You need them to help hang with the students, help prep food & beverages, keep students awake, safe, etc.
Design and print up little sponsor booklets.
Have a place for the student's name, the supporters info (name, addres &/or phone #) and amount they are sponsoring them per hour. Have these choices: "$.50 an hour ($6)", "$1 an hour ($12)", "$2 an hour ($24)", "$3 an hour ($36)", "__ an hour" (allows people to fill in their own amount) and "____ for whole time" (allows people to commit just a flat amount). We made about 3-4 "strips" of these supporter pages per 8.5 X 11 paper. We also made a part at the end of the strip that they could tear off and give to the sponsor with their name and the amount they sponsored the student on it.
Promote it in your church's bulletin. Get it announced from the pulpit too - if you can. Promote it at least a month or so in advance.
What to promote - Tell people that you're looking for rocking chairs to borrow. (*Students are required to bring their own rocking chairs, but we always tried to help them find some.) Tell them students will be coming around on Sundays to look/ask for people to sponsor them.

During the event:

You need to constantly yell, "Keep rocking" - especially at the beginning. As the night goes on the students will get used to it and do it more automatically.
As it gets later you'll probably have to go around and tap students to help them stay awake. Remind them that it's to help them go to "retreat" to motivate them to stay awake. (*We used to bust out with Nachos around 4am to give them an extra energy boost!)
Have at least 4-5 movies you can play to give the students something to keep them entertained.
Give them a count-down at the end of the "bathroom break." Something like, "Alright get ready you need to be back in your seat in... 10... 9...8..."

After the event:

Have enough adults and/or students to help you clean up, so you can go home not too long after it ends, so you can sleep!
Give the church an update on the event on the following Sunday. Mention to the church that the students will be coming to collect their support funds.
The students need to go and collect the money from their sponsors. (*It's best to give them that job as their responsibility to do this. You don't want to have to collect the money for a whole bunch of your students!)

ALTERNATE TIME:
After doing it for all night for years, I got tired of staying up all night and tired at yelling and trying to keep a few tired students awake so they could have money to go. (Some didn't seem to care around 5:30am! :)) Instead of doing it all night I started doing it on a Saturday from 9am-9pm. That way I just had to keep students rocking - not awake!

*After saying that I'd encourage you to at least try it as an all-nighter the 1st time. It makes it more exciting and challenging to the students.

The students ALWAYS loved this fund raiser. They loved it cause it was fun, easy to do, and raised them a good amount of money. Like I said, we even had students come to it who didn't even need to raise money. They came just to hang out!

My Ebook Is Now Being Sold By Youth Specialties....

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 18:52:00 +0000

It was little over 7 months ago when I first released my ebook for student leaders called, "How To Build A Lasting Student Ministry".

It has been a cool ride...

I have now sold hundreds of copies so far. I am proud to say that I have not had one person ask for a refund yet!
I had a chance to write an article for Rick Warren’s Ministry Toolbox.

The cool thing is that today I get to announce that my ebook is now being sold by Youth Specialties (as an ebook, not a physical book)!

It just went live on their YSUnderground.com site. You can check it here.

The redesigned the cover and the layout of the ebook, but it's still the same great content!

If you're a youth pastor who is a part of a church plant that's 3 years old or younger and you want a copy of my ebook, then let me know. I'll give you it for only $6.

Why Do So Many Students Lose Their Faith In College?

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 00:00:00 +0000

This article will help give you some insight into how you can make the affect of your ministry lasting in your students lives.

"Keeping The Faith"

Looking For Topics To Teach On? Talk About These Challenges...

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 16:52:00 +0000

The Barna Group recently came out with a survey that reveals the challenges that students face nowadays.

It reveals that students are dealing with a lot of the same things they always have, but also some things with a new twist (like pressure of not owning the latest technology).

What you might not realize is that this survey actually can give you a lot of good ideas of things to teach on for the next few months!

Barna said it like this...

"Understanding the tensions that kids are wrestling with enables an adult to connect with a child at a deeper level. Acknowledging the challenges, relating teaching to the issues they face, and even praying more specifically for these young people are ways of retaining and even deepening the relationship while providing tangible assistance to each child."

To read the study and uncover some powerful topics you could teach on, go here....
Read the results here!

Friends Contest Question...

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 00:29:00 +0000

I got an email from someone I'll call "Josh M" who asked a question about the Friends Contest.

I thought his question and my answers would help some of you...

Scott,

I got a question for you, with your friend contest. Did you just announce that it was invite your friends contest or did you give your students ideas on how to invite people? How did you deal with the bait and switch idea?

Thanks,
Josh
____________________

Hey Josh,

We just announced that it was a "invite your friends contest".

I told them that we wanted to encourage them to invite their friends and so this was a way to give them the incentive to actually do it! :)

I didn't need to tell them how to invite people.

Just by telling them about the contest and telling them about the special things we'd be doing was enough to help them invite people.

We were totally upfront about the whole thing to them and the friends they brought would hear it was a contest when they came. So I never felt like it was a "bait and switch".

Nobody - including the visitors - ever was bothered by it. In fact some of the visitors would come the next week and bring friends cause they wanted to win.

Hope that helps. If you have anymore questions, then let me know.

P.S. Do you mind if I post your question and my answer on my blog? I can just put "Josh M." if you want me to.
_____________________
(He replied back and said I could post his email then I replied...)

Another thing about the "bait and switch" concern...

You can tell your students to tell the people they invite why they're inviting them. They could say something like..

"We're having a contest called "The Friends Contest" at my youth group. Whoever brings the most friends wins 1 of 3 prizes. The prizes are ______________.

"They're going to be doing ________ this week. Do you want to come and be one of my visitors? If you have fun and like it, then you can even come back and bring a friend if see if you can win one of the prizes too."

Or something like that! :)

I know that some of my students straight out told their friends, "Come tonight and help me win this contest at my youth group!"

In some ways I think it made it easier for them to invite people, cause they could just use the contest excuse.

Let me know how it goes when it's all over. I'd love to hear how it goes.

(One other thing... It's always good to run ideas by your lead pastor to make sure he's cool with it. You might want to do that with this - if you haven't already.)

Types Of Gatherings Used For "Friends Contest"...

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 03:56:00 +0000

I said I'd post again today and tell you some of the types of things we'd do during the "Friends Contest" to make the gatherings really cool and visitor friendly.

It's late, but I'm still posting since I said I would! :)

4 Example Of Gatherings We'd Do:

Fun Night - Games, Competition, Lots Of Snack-type food, Pizza, Soda and Candy! We'd spend most of the night just goofying around and then we'd do a "half time" where I'd give a 5- 10 minute talk.
Talk Show Night - We did a take off of Oprah one year with a guy named Tony in a dress. We called it "Toprah". One year I did a "David Letterman" type night with stupid human tricks and all. The cool thing about this format is that it's really a "testimony night" in disguise. You can interview people with cool stories about how they came to know Jesus.

Game Show Night - We did a "Family Feud" type night one year, a "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" night, and even a "Let's Make A Deal" night. I would always end the night with a short 5-10 minute talk that went with the night. (ex. Talk about the things we trade our lives for for the "Deal" night.)

Improv "Who's Line Is It Anyway" night. Break extroverted people who want to play into teams and the rest can be the audience. End the night with a short 5-10 minute talk that goes with the night.

The point is make the nights during the "Friends Contest" fun, relevant, and spiritually meaningful. I didn't do a theme night for every mid-week gathering during the contest. Some gatherings I'd just do one fun element that we don't normally do.

Promote the upcoming gathering at the end of each night to hype it up and build momentum.

If you try this contest out, then let me know how it goes at the end!

*DONT FORGET:
The special Labor Day offer ends in 3 days. Grab the ebook at half price now or tell your youth pastor friends!

On Monday, I'll post another idea we did. Check back then!

Friends Contest

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 23:23:00 +0000

One of the best momentum builders I stumbled onto when I was in youth ministry was something we called "The Friends Contest".

The basic idea was that whoever brought the most friends to our mid-week gathering during the months of September and October would win a prize.

Here are the basics of how it worked:

We started it at the beginning of Sept. (1st or 2nd week).
We ended it on the last mid-week gathering in Oct.
Anyone could win (including a guest who comes for the first time).
We announced the winner gave out prizes at the mid-week gathering the week AFTER the end of the contest. (This encouraged guest to come back one more time

We gave out 3 levels of prizes:

1st place $45 gift certificate to Old Navy (or any clothing store they like)
2nd place $20 gift certificate to Local Mini-golf/arcade place (or other favorite place)
3rd place $10 gift certificate to McDonald's (or any fast food place they like)

(**I personally liked giving out certificates instead of money, so I could control what it was spent on.)

Each week we would say who was in the lead, mention the prizes, and remind people that anyone could win.

Most years the students would really get into it and bring a lot of friends (everyone once in awhile it wasn't as successful, but usually was). It would also cause people to keep inviting friends throughout the year.

During this contest, I planned special things for our gatherings that would appeal to visitors and be events that people would want to invite friends to.

This was a BIG key to making it work. If you don't have something worth inviting friends to, then you won't be able to pull this off.

**I'll post some ideas about the kind of special things we did for these gatherings tomorrow.

Check back tomorrow!

Click here to see my special "Labor Day Offer" on my ebook.

Revealed: What Really Makes Students Happy...

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 20:46:00 +0000

MTV and The Associated Press did an extensive survery of 13 to 24 year olds and discovered some pretty surprising and encouraging things. Check out the beginning of this CNN.com article...

"NEW YORK (AP) -- So you're between the ages of 13 and 24. What makes you happy? A worried, weary parent might imagine the answer to sound something like this: Sex, drugs, a little rock 'n' roll. Maybe some cash, or at least the car keys.

Turns out the real answer is quite different. Spending time with family was the top answer to that open-ended question, according to an extensive survey -- more than 100 questions asked of 1,280 people ages 13-24 -- conducted by The Associated Press and MTV on the nature of happiness among America's young people."

Wait till you read what students said about sex. You won't believe it! You gotta check what they say about spirituality and belonging to a religious group.

DISCUSSION STARTER
This article/survey would be a good discussion starter. You could start by asking your students similar questions. (You could even video your own on the street interviews)

Then use the results of your survey with the results from this survey and have a discussion about happiness. End with some ideas about what the Bible says about happiness.

Read the whole article here!

Need To Improve Your Preaching Skills?

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 18:47:00 +0000

There's a cool new blog with a ton of info on how to improve your skills and how to do biblical preaching.

Check it out here:

"Biblical Preaching Blog"

Click and scroll around their blog. They have a lot of good stuff that can apply to preaching to students!

Parents Key Role In Helping Students Keep The Faith...

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 07:54:00 +0000

The recent survey from Lifeway Research showing that 70 percent of young adults ages 23 to 30 stopped attending church regularly for at least a year between 18 and 22 also revealed an interesting fact you might have missed...

--From article "Parents Can Help Teens Stay In Church"

Teens who, at age 17, have parents who are authentic examples of Christian faith -- proactive and consistent in living out their faith -– also are more likely to keep attending as young adults. Across the board, 20 percent more of those who stayed in church indicated they had parents or family members who discussed spiritual things, gave them spiritual guidance and prayed together.

"Despite the conflicts that often occur during these years, it is difficult to understate the impact of a solid family involved in the faith community on the future involvement of teens," Stetzer said. "And that isn’t something that can be faked."

-----------------

This confirms one of the points made in "How To Build A Lasting Student Ministry" (made by Brenda Seefeldt and others) that a lasting student ministry has to have an element that focuses on your students' families.

One way to minister to your students is by ministering to their parents and helping them to know Jesus or grow spiritually!

Questions To Inspire Action:

How will you implement this for the upcoming fall?
How can you improve what you're doing in this area?
Who can you bring onto your team to help with this?

Read more about what parents can do in this article:
"Parents Can Help Teens Stay In Church"

How To Help Your Teens Stay Christ-Followers AFTER They Graduate...

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 23:51:00 +0000

One of the keys to seeing your student ministry to have a "lasting" effect AFTER your students graduate is to help them get involved in spiritual activities WITH their parents and other adults.

Here's a cool resource to help you do this easily at your church:

Pray21

What is it?

From Their Site:
"The mission of Pray21 starts with teens and adults united in 21 days of prayer. Together we will seek and know the heart of Christ for the world around us, and be commissioned for His Mission. 21 days to Impact!"

New Report Reveals Why We Need LASTING Student Ministries

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 00:19:00 +0000

A new report from LifeWay Research reveals some scary facts...

Seven in 10 Protestants ages 18 to 30 — both evangelical and mainline — who went to church regularly in high school said they quit attending by age 23.

That's why we have to build student ministries that are lasting!

Not just that live on when we're gone, but ones whose effect on students lives continues on beyond their time in our group!

Click here to read the USA Today article to see all the gory details!

Rewind

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 06:10:00 +0000

"At the end of each day, you should play back the tapes of your performance. The results should either applaud you or prod you." - Jim Rohn

Great Advice For Your Daily "To Do" List

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 19:26:00 +0000

“Do the hard things first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves”
- Dale Carnegie

I Just Created A Squidoo Lense...

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 00:48:00 +0000

What's squidoo? Is it sinful or contagious? No.

You can check my new lense here to get an idea:
"How To Build A Lasting Student Ministry" Lense

If you like it, then pass the link on to your friends!

The link is:

http://www.squidoo.com/lastingstudentministry/

Month Of Sex - You Won't Believe This

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 00:50:00 +0000

I haven't posted in awhile. I got caught up with too many things: ministry, writing, etc. Anyway, sorry!

In my last post I told you I would tell you the boldest thing we did when I was a youth pastor and taught students abstinence every July.

For the first gathering of the month we taught them WHY they should wait until they're married to have sex.

We wanted to encourage them to wait, but be realistic that not all people do, so here's what we did...

We interviewed people in our church on video and asked them this question:

***Did you wait until you were married to have sex?

If they answered, "Yes," we asked them why they were glad they did.
If they answered, "No," we asked them why they wished they would've waited.

Their answers were so real and sooo powerful! I would encourage you to take a month a teach on abstinence. Let parents know you'll be teaching on this subject, so they can choose whether they want their kid their.

Then go for it!

Teach them why to wait and how to wait. Have an open discussion night (See previous post for details.)

I'll post the steps we taught them on HOW to wait next time. Stay tuned!

My Article In Rick Warren's Ezine...

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Sat, 19 May 2007 00:14:00 +0000

This was written to apply to a broader audience, then just youth pastors, but you might like to read it anyway...

"Building A Ministry That Lasts"

The Month On Sex....

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Wed, 16 May 2007 17:55:00 +0000

To continue my last post from below...

We would take every July and focus on the topic of Sex on each of our Wednesday night gatherings.

We would focus on things like:

"Lies Of The Media"
"Why To Wait"
"How To Wait"

We'd end the month with an open discussion night.

We'd break the students into two groups - one with guys and the other with girls. These groups were led by adults of the same gender. The students were allowed to write down any question they had and we'd answer any ones that we thought were appropriate. (Some of the questions were crazy!!)

NOTE: We always sent a letter the month before to all the parents letting them know the topic we'd be talking on and that we'd be encouraging abstinance. That way the parents could decide whether they wanted their kids their or not!

I'll tell you one of the boldest things we did during the month of July for my next post. Stay tuned.

Sex & Drugs Every Summer...

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Sat, 12 May 2007 00:40:00 +0000

Don't worry this post isn't encouraging either of these things!

I wanted to share with you something that I did with my youth group almost every summer.

I took a whole month on each of these topics: Sex and Drugs & Alcohol.

We took the month of July and talked about sex.
We took the month of August and talked about sex.

Why a month?

These are some of the major temptations that students face and think about DAILY - if not more! :)

We wanted to show them why to wait, how to wait and more.

We did some things that I think were pretty bold and unique.

I'll share them with you in the next couple of posts.

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