Continuing our conversation about the challenges and opportunities in youth ministry across the Diocese let’s talk about leadership. Across the Diocese and across the country, we need more gifted, well-trained and well-resourced leaders in youth ministry.
I often get calls from ministers asking if there are students from College who could come and run the youth group at their church. The reality is that most students come to College with ministry placements already organised and many of those who are graduating and heading for vocational ministry already have positions lined up.
But rather than lament the lack, there are two groups of available leaders that we must not neglect: the hard-working lay leaders, and the young people themselves.
Scott Petty, youth minister at Christ Church St. Ives says this about the importance of long-term relationships with young people and therefore the value of supporting long-term volunteer leaders:
Relational gains can occur more quickly with teenagers, but longevity of volunteer leaders is key. People seem to think that there are levers you can pull that will guarantee growth. But the New Testament tells me that like the mustard seed growth will be incremental rather than explosive, and based on disciple-making disciples rather than a fix-all strategy. Garner a team (small teams are fine) who make a pact to stick around for two years instead of just one, or three years instead of just two.
The key to the longevity of leaders is to give them vision and investment. Not many youth ministries can articulate why they do what they do in addition to just what they do week by week. Without a thorough philosophy of ministry it’s harder for leaders to see the overall picture. They need to know that what they are doing is building disciples out of the young people they meet with. If they feel like they are just babysitting them until they can find better options for a Friday night that will quickly lead to burn out.
I don't know heaps about the history but from what I can gather, youth ministry has been strong in Sydney where it has because there’s been a commitment to teaching the word of God in order to create disciples, rather than settling for entertainment, where we can never compete with the world. So the job of youth ministers is to help volunteer leaders channel their energy towards growing disciples and then helping them to see how that is actually taking place, week by week. Help them see how what you do on a Friday or Sunday leads to eternal gains so they feel like it’s worth it. Let the leaders in on your youth strategy (if you don’t have one, feel free to ask me!). Give them some vision man!
I also think that most youth leaders aren’t invested in very much, which makes them feel like they are not valued. How regularly the youth minister meets them, or whether he knows them at all, actually has a bearing on their ability to keep showing up. Giving leaders the occasional treat wouldn’t hurt either. Ways of showing genuine appreciation can keep a leader going for months. Why not buy them a good Christian book to read as a team, or take them out to dinner or ice cream?
What Scott says about how an employed youth minister should look after their volunteers applies equally to how a senior minister can work with a team of youth leaders. It may even be more important for strong leadership and recognition for a group of people who are likely to feel ill-equipped and easily discouraged. Invest in your volunteers now – who knows, they might grow into your full time youth minister in the future!
The other group of people we often neglect when it comes to youth leadership are the young people themselves.
Cameron Hyslop, youth minister at Jannali, has written on the principle of equipping Christian youth to share the gospel in the forthcoming book, Youth Leadership on the Front Foot.
Cameron shares the story of how he was given the opportunity to share the gospel with a younger student when he was in year 11 at school – rather than the leader doing the job himself, he arranged for someone to be led to Christ and another person to lead someone to Christ at the same time! Cameron’s line is a helpful one to remember: “Every Christian youth in my church is a youth minister!”
Pointing then to Paul’s instruction in Ephesians 4:11-13 for church leaders to equip the saints for works of ministry, Cameron helpful reminds us that our job in youth ministry must include equipping young people for service. Cameron emphasises the opportunities for evangelism that young people have – they have far greater ‘access’ to non-church youth than even the most gifted adult youth minister.
“We grossly underestimate the ability of youth to be used by God in ministry when we fail to equip them for ministry. We should be thinking of each Christian youth in church as a youth minister.
Statistics reveal time and again that the majority of people come to saving faith because of the influence of a friend or family member who was already a Christian. Friendships are the most significant relationships that exist in evangelism. Comparatively few people come to faith simply through hearing the gospel message from a stranger. Yet, that’s effectively what we depend upon if we don’t equip and encourage our youth to share the gospel with others.”
We need to equip our Christian young people for evangelism, for leadership in the local community and service within the church family. Young people will be affirmed as valuable members of the church and they will be discipled in the importance of service in the Christian life. If they can serve alongside adult members of the congregation we’ll get the added bonus of developing genuine relationships between young people and adults. That must help to overcome the gulf of fear and distrust that stands between adults and teenagers, both in the church and society.
CMS has it right: Under God, everything depends on the people we send out. All our churches could do with more leaders. So while we wait for God to answer our prayers to raise up workers for the harvest (we are praying that aren’t we?!), lets not neglect the faithful workers that we already have.
Today’s a good day to encourage your volunteer leaders. And today’s a good day to equip a young person for ministry.
