Shore Youth Ministry

Higher Education for Youth Workers

Brandon — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 20:29:53 +0000

Most professions offer continuing education and training. Teachers work towards a Masters in Education, entrepeuneurs can earn a MBA, and medical doctors can follow up Med School with additional years of specialized training. These programs are designed to sharpen skills and prepare students for a highly specific job.

Luckily, youth workers have several different options for higher education. Personally, I am working towards a M.Div. degree. This will help with my ordination as well as a future pastoral role. But, aside from a seminary degree, there are many other Masters-level programs that can help you better serve in your current or future role:

Counseling
Philosophy
Psychology (focus on adolescent/child development)
Art (Graphic Design)
Organizational Leadership
MBA (for business principles/administration)
Social Work (for at-risk students)
Education
Technology (web development & programming)
Languages (for missionaries)
Music

Meeting with Students on Your Day Off

Brandon — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:33:54 +0000

Imagine this scene: you just got back from a weekend retreat with your Junior High students. On Monday, you decide to take some time off and recuperate from the trip. After school, some Senior High students send you a text, asking if you want to hang out and play Halo. What do you do?

Hanging out with students is a great part of youth ministry; it gives you a chance to build relationships with them as well as see and impact them in their own environment. However, you need to honor your time off, whether it is a day, a week’s vacation, or a sabbatical. While it might be hard to turn down (I mean, c’mon, it’s Halo!!), you need to say No to the students.

Here are 5 reasons to not meet with students while you are off:

Family Time. You need to set aside your time off to connect with your family.
Spiritual Refreshment. After a long weekend of teaching students, you need to refresh yourself on the Word of God.
Friend Time. Youth Pastors must have a set of friends that are not teenagers. Part of your time off should be set for social interactions with people and friends your own age.
Create Margin. You cannot work all the time. For some excellent advice on creating margin in ministry, check out Mark Batterson’s post.
Reduce Risk of Burnout. Ministry is not a sprint but a lifelong calling. Don’t risk your long-term usefulness just because of a short-term goal or relationship.

(image by slworking2)

Building Altars to God

Brandon — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:40:24 +0000

This morning I was rocked by Mark Batterson’s post called Altars to God or Monuments to Self. Here is a quote from the post:

In I Samuel 14:35 it says: “Saul built an altar to the Lord, the first one he had ever built.” But just one chapter later, I Samuel 15:12, says: “Saul went to Carmel to set up a monument to himself.”

Are you building altars to God or monuments to yourself?

In all types of ministry, it is very easy to fall into a “Monument to Self” mentality. Senior Pastors are the visible head and most public figure in a church, with larger churches making his visibility much more widespread. In youth ministry, the Youth Pastor is the public face, leading the events, preaching and teaching in large settings, and dealing with the congregation.

When you are the public face of a ministry, it can become easy to turn the ministry into a monument of your own. Only when you humble yourself, allow for a team ministry mentality, and give ALL the glory to God will your ministry truly be an altar to God.

(image by Alex Cheek)

iPhone Apps for Youth Workers

Brandon — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:47:36 +0000

Two weeks ago I took the plunge and got an iPhone 3GS. Frustrated with my previous smartphone, I had high hopes for the iPhone. The iPhone, with it’s plethora of free and paid apps, is a great productivity tool for youth pastors. It can help you stay connected to students, keep track of finances, instantly write down sermon or game ideas, and even keep you from getting lost on your retreat.

Here is a list of my top 5 apps for the iPhone:

Evernote (see my review)
Mint (keep track of finances)
Things (Project tracker and to-do list)
Bible (from LifeChurch.tv)
TwitterFon (best free Twitter app)

For more must-have apps, check out Adam’s screenshots of his apps. Also take a look at 14 Must-Have iPhone Apps and Gizmodo’s 20 Essential iPhone Apps.

Summer Youth Ministry

Brandon — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:27:34 +0000

School is over, graduation is done, and Fourth of July is next weekend. This is officially the start of summer. For many youth groups, summer is a time to relax, enjoy the weather, and take students to fun outdoor activities. For other groups, summer is a time for missions trips, adventures, and a new crop of Freshman. Here are some tips from other bloggers on how to maximize your summer ministry:

Tim recently wrote some excellent tips for surviving youth ministry in the summer. He lists Seven Benefits for Shutting Down Your Ministry, as well as providing us an insider’s glimpse at his Summer Ministry schedule. Dealing with more practical advice for your summer ministry, Tim lists the 5 Essential Tools for Summer Ministry.
Kurt posted 5 Super Cheap Summer Ideas along with 5 Reasons he Loves Summer.
Mike has a great post giving Tips on Taking your Group to an Amusement Park.
From my own archives, I have given advice on how Pool Noodles and Water Balloons are helpful in ministry. I have also explained how to prepare for and cope with the Busy Season.

(image by JustABigGeek)

Evernote for iPhone

Brandon — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:28:59 +0000

As I have said before, Evernote is a must-have program for youth workers. This free note taking program provides instant access to all your notes from any Internet-capable computer in the world. Even before the iPhone, I thought that Evernote was an amazing program. And then I got an iPhone.

The Evernote iPhone app was the first one I downloaded for my phone. This free app allows you to access your notes from anywhere on your phone, allowing you to rely less and less on paper reminders. You can also create new notes, which allows for instant capture of your ideas.

Just yesterday I saw an outdoor game that I thought would be excellent for Junior High students. Within 2 minutes, I had the game saved on Evernote, including a description of the game, potential usage, and a picture of the game.

The crew over at Evernote is doing a fantastic job with their desktop client and iPhone app. And with both products being free, how can you possibly go wrong? This software is a must-have for any youth worker looking to get orvanized and have control of their information.

The series Youth Pastor Toolbox discusses tools of the trade for youth ministry. A new “Youth Pastor Toolbox” will be posted every Tuesday.

Book Review: The Unlikely Disciple

Brandon — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:02:36 +0000

The Unlikely Disciple by Kevin Roose is the story of a liberal Brown University student’s semester at the conservative Liberty University. In order to fully understand evangelical students, Roose totally immersed himself in the experiment, taking part in Prayer meetings, Bible studies, and attending Liberty classes. This full immersion approach to writing a memoir is similar to AJ Jacobs’ books (including The Year of Living Biblically), and it should be; Roose served as an intern under Jacobs.

The Unlikely Disciple provides Evangelical Christians with some powerful insight, namely the opinion of an outsider. At the start of this project, Kevin admits that he had several preconceived opinions of Evangelicals, several of which were changed during the project. For example, Roose imagined that the Liberty students would be different: fundamental, Bible-bashing, and atypical of normal college students. While most Liberty students behave differently than your typical undergrad student at a secular college (no sex, drinking, or dancing), the author discovers that the Liberty population was friendly, kind, and intelligent.

This book also provides insight into Liberty University, the nation’s largest Evangelical Christian college. While I did not attend Liberty (I graduated from Philadelphia Biblical University), I found the experiences to be almost identical. Roose notes the differences between Liberty and Brown, including the social scene, student body, and courses. Roose attended Liberty the semester that Jerry Falwell passed away, thus providing an interesting insider’s (yet still outsider) view of Liberty’s reaction to his death.

Overall, the book is a delight to read. While not as entertaining as the two books written by AJ Jacobs, this book provided much more insight. It is a wonderful no holds barred look at Liberty University, as well as a snapshot of Evangelicalism. Rating: 4/5

Rain on Your Youth Event

Brandon — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:03:05 +0000

Weddings, bbq parties, graduations, youth events. All of these activities take a great deal of time to plan. All of them take money and energy to announce and spread the word. And all of these activities have the potential to be rained out.

Weather is unpredictable, especially here in the Northeast. Summer started several weeks ago with sunny days and highs in the 70s. Today marks almost 2 weeks of overcast skies and rain. With weather like this, it is very tough to hold outdoor activities. Living in a tourist community in which the beach is the main draw, any time it rains it puts a damper on the whole town.

Here are some options to consider if your outdoor event is going to be affected by the weather:

Hold the Event. A little rain never hurt anyone. If the rain is not going to be a big problem, still plan on holding the event. Sometimes a little rain can help the youth event be even better and more memorable.
Reschedule. Have an alternate date set aside in case of rain. Maybe it is the next day or the next weekend. Include this rain date in all your advertising so that people are aware of it. By having a rain date, you are able to make sure that the event is outside. However, by moving the event on such short notice, some people
Change Location. Have an indoor rain location, such as a a gym or community center. You may not be able to do all that you wished for the event, but at least it will be at the scheduled date and time.
Cancel. Probably the least favorite (and most expensive) option. Canceling an event is a last resort for an event because it wastes the planning, resources, and momentum of the event. However, in some cases it is the only option.

(image by zen)

Best Commentaries for Youth Workers

Brandon — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:51:52 +0000

Most youth workers give a Bible lesson or talk to students on a weekly basis. During those lessons, the youth worker is responsible for providing the spiritual nourishment for the students in the group. Given the importance of these lessons, it is vital that you take the time to study and prepare your lesson. Here are some Bible commentaries that are helpful during the prep time:

Books of the Bible by John Sailhamer. This small book contains a one page overview of each Biblical book, which serve as a great starting point for studying a passage. They provide the reader with a larger context in which to read the passage. Use this book to help you understand the big picture of Matthew’s Gospel, instead of just focusing your study on your selected passage.

Bible Knowledge Commentary by Walvoord and Zuck. These 2 volumes (OT and NT) provide quality comments on the text. Written from a conservative, literal perspective, the discussions are not necessarily pastoral in nature, but help raise some questions and ideas that will help you dive deeper in the text. This type of commentary helps you better understand what the passage is saying, so that you can then explain it to the students.

NIV Application Commentary. Focused more on application, this set is written with a more pastoral view of the text. Based on the New International Version of the Bible, this commentary series does provide some theological and technical advice, but is primarily focused on application. While not always applicable to students, these comments will aid you in bridging the gap between the original text and your 21st century students.

There are many more types of commentaries out there. Some are more technical and scholarly while others are fluffy, light, and topical. Find the one that helps you the most (based on denomination, tradition, or beliefs), and use it as a tool to help you prepare for your lessons.

The series Youth Pastor Toolbox discusses tools of the trade for youth ministry. A new “Youth Pastor Toolbox” will be posted every Tuesday.

Putting Youth Events on the Church Calendar

Brandon — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 21:29:03 +0000

Every church has a master calendar. Whether it is a whiteboard, Outlook global calendar, or a small calendar on the secretary’s desk, this calendar is the intersection of all ministry scheduling at the church. The master calendar gives your church’s leadership a broad overview of all the different events happening during a given season. It also helps ministries coordinate facility and vehicle usage. Here are some tips for placing youth events on your church’s calendar:

Use a Different Color. Label all youth ministry events with a distinct color. This can be as simple as having a green marker or a separate category in Outlook. By having a different color for all youth events, the youth ministry events can easily be identified by anyone.
Communicate Needs. On the calendar, you can make requests for that event. This would include any special setup, vehicle needs, or audio/visual requirements. This will help your facility team plan ahead to meet your needs.
Leave Contact Info. For each event, leave the necessary contact info for those in charge. For some events that will be you, while other events might have a volunteer or other youth worker as the point person. Include their cell phone number and other pertinent info (hotel information, retreat location, etc)

(image by Joe Lanman)