On a previous episode of the More Than Dodgeball Show a while back (the Pilot Episode, by the way) we played a silly game called Put It On a Cracker where you have to guess what 3 things are on a cracker while being blindfolded. It’s a VERY hilarious intimidating game, and way more difficult than you may think, too! You can see us painfully playing it on this episode:
Well this week in our Junior High ministry we brought back the game and made it a bit more accessible. Each cracker is divided into really 3 rounds, where you identify 1 topping, then that 1 + another, then those 2 + another. So your tastebuds aren’t SO overwhelmed in one bite. It makes the game a bit longer but also makes it more fun and not just super gross. The students LOVED it, I was amazed at how they liked the reactions and laughed. It was a total hit …
There’s something powerful and fun about youth group tradition! You have to be careful, of course, that your routines aren’t ruts you’re simply stuck in. But there’s something super fun about inside jokes, events, activities and traditions that you do again and again. People look forward to them and get excited – even at some of the biggest events I’ve gone to (like an LA Lakers game or a college football fight song or cheer) traditions play an important part of the experience.
So … we started what is a new tradition this weekend in our junior high ministry. Whenever someone wins a game or gets a question right, we’re going to play a clip of the video above. It’s just a silly Pokemon video that is upbeat and silly and made everyone laugh. And now … it’s a tradition. You win the game, this is your theme song. Ha!
Sermon Synopsis: This weekend was a special one because it is the first weekend of the New Year and featured a special guest speaker: Doug Fields! Fun and games then one song and right into the talk. Fields taught through the passage in Luke 8, helping students understand that Jesus is available and His touch brings healing. He played the clip of the Pope from this week, which was a perfect cultural moment to illustrate the point of a healing touch, and helped students understand that Jesus can bring healing in their lives emotionally, physically and spiritually as well. He invited them into a “reset” moment as part of the closing. It was a great start to a series in a New Year reminding them that Jesus is all about giving people a fresh start.
Service Length: 66 minutes
Element of Fun/Positive Environment: We are going all out for this series to capitalize on the momentum of the New Year. We had a fun promotion where if you bring someone who has never “checked in” … both of you get a free T-shirt! Huge win – had lots of visitors. We also played the incredible and hilarious Screaming or Fainting Goats game from DYM and had lots of donuts for winners. We also tried out a fun skit idea that totally worked (you can download the skit here for free). Good times, lots of laughs and energy all around.
Music Playlist: Just one song this weekend: Endless Praise
Takeaway: This week if a student made a decision to “reset” something with Jesus’ help, they could take a round Reset sticker with them when they left and were challenged to place it somewhere to remind them of this moment.
Home/parent emphasis: This series we’re working to connect students’ experience at the weekend to their parents/home. So at the bottom of the program there was a little “have any conversation with your parents about the service and have them text in” and students would be entered to win a prize. So far the response has been quite minimal honestly, but we think it’s a good idea and something to build on!
Favorite Moment: Seeing my son jump right into a 7th grade boys group was really awesome, and since we had more students than we expected, we were short of leaders, so he just jumped right in and asked the discussion questions on the leader sheet like a boss. Proud youth ministry dad moment right there!
The novelty of the “New Year” is not far away, and every youth worker who is going to be preaching at the beginning of the year is putting together their best “Here’s how you set good goals” talk. Okay, maybe not everybody—but the New Year is a natural spot for us to consider what it looks like to achieve something new this coming year. The catch is that we often get our personal and professional goals intermixed and confused, OR we prioritize professional goals as a matter of survival rather than holistically developing them through our personal goals.
A few years ago, I made a simple switch to scoping out personal goals at the beginning of the calendar year while reserving professional goals for the end of the school year. This made sense for my rhythm, and maybe it makes sense for you, too. But more important than the timing of setting these goals is the process through which we arrive at them.
I’m not a three on the Enneagram, so I don’t eat goals for breakfast, lunch, dinner, late-night snack, and brunch on the weekends. In fact, creating goals has always been a challenge for me, but I know they help move me forward on the path the Lord has laid before me.
It comes down to this simple truth: When you have an accurate scorecard, you have a better gauge to know if you are getting where you want to go. In anticipation of the New Year, here are three realities to help you set effective, attainable, and helpful personal and professional goals in 2020.
Reality #1: Personal goals are framed by your history, personality, and trajectory. If you want to know what to do next, it’s important to consider where you have come from, evaluate how you are equipped and impassioned, and establish where you want to go in the future.
This can take some time, but if you have never established a framing statement for your life, start with that. Create a statement that gives some direction to the values you want to embody, the characteristics that are important to you, and the vital thing you bring to the world. When you know where you want to go, you have a better idea of what is needed to get there.
Reality #2: Professional goals should build off of your personal goals. Even in youth ministry, your personal discipleship and the things that God has built you for and placed before you are more important than your vocation. Who you are and who you are becoming is foundational to what you are doing. I am convinced that when we have these things backwards, we are at grave risk of losing our identity in our doing rather than our being.
Jesus didn’t redeem job descriptions or positions; he redeemed people and gave them the purpose of reconciling the world to Him.
You will endure more trials intended to refine you (not define you), discover clearer direction that is based in truth (not your emotions), and find more fulfillment in your position (not your actions) when you build your professional goals off of your personal goals.
Reality #3: Accomplish all your goals by scheduling margin for your personal goals. If I’ve seen it once, I’ve seen it fifty times: You don’t have to leave youth ministry and plant a church to pursue the “greater” ministry goals that the Lord is laying before you. But you can’t be irresponsible about it either.
A few years ago, I was introduced to a couple new tools that have helped me keep margin in my life. One of them was the schedule blocking method used by Doug Fields. It is a great way to navigate the different “roles” you have in your world and keep their priority in the place it is intended to be while helping you get things done. You can actually get it here for free. And if you don’t have a tool you use, I don’t know why you wouldn’t download this and give it a shot. Either way, get yourself a tool or a process that helps you keep the margin you need in your life.
Get your vision for 2020 in better focus by getting a clearer view of your personal and professional goals.
Geoff Cocanower is a husband, a son, and the Associate Pastor of Student Ministries at Hope Missionary Church in Bluffton, IN where he leads the team of adults who minister to high school students as well as young adults. In addition to contributing to the DYM blog, Geoff co-hosts a podcast focused on the issues, questions, and blessings of leaders who aren’t in the driver seat of the organization called “The Backseat Leadership Podcast.” (Coming February 2020!) Interesting fact about Geoff is that he is a high school football and volleyball referee in his spare time and is a legacy member and loves all things DYM. You can find Geoff online here!
Have you been wanting to show off your DYM love by wearing a high-quality swag shirt? Well you’ll be pleased to know that DYM has just announced it’s fall collection of official youth ministry gear! Check it out today on dymshirts.com and grab one for yourself (and a second as a gift for your favorite youth pastor as well). Enjoy looking super cool in this super soft shirt!
As a DYM Member, I wanted to give you a quick heads’ up about a significant change in my life.
I’ve been on a pretty wild wrestling match with Jesus about returning to youth ministry in the local church. I’ll share more later, but this last weekend I officially became the Pastor of Youth Ministry at Mariners Church. I’m very excited about it!
Primarily, I want you to know that I am still fully devoted to helping you win in your youth ministry. My role at DYM is NOT going to change… actually, I’m hoping that diving back into the trenches will help me learn even more about how DYM can help you in today’s current youth ministry landscape.
I have Josh’s and the DYM teams’ full-support and encouragement (actually, they may actually be more excited than I am… as I’m kinda nervous to be honest). As always, I’ll be sharing what I’m learning on the DYM podcast and while we’re not quite sure what it will all look like yet, I plan to become more active in the DYM youth worker community to share ideas and ask you what I’m sure will be a ton of questions.
If you want to hear more about this decision and see for yourself that Josh is more giddy than I am… he’s running around the office like Paul Revere shouting “Doug Fields is back in youth ministry, Doug Fields is back in youth ministry” … we do talk about everything on our most recent podcast that dropped into iTunes today.
As always, thank you for trusting us to help you win in your ministry—and now I need DYM for my ministry more than ever! As with every significant change I take on, my prayer is that God will use this opportunity to help us get better at doing what we do: following Jesus and loving teenagers and families.
Blessings… and, pray for me (HELP!),
Doug Fields
PS: If you could help me understand TikTok and give me a primer on VSCO girls, it’d be a huge help to me!
This fun, community-building contest has the potential to change your life.
Bold statement!
We know! But, because of last year’s contest, we know that many actually point to the Youth Pastor Diet as being the motivation they needed to get their life back on track.
You don’t have to be a youth pastor to join us… that’s just our target audience (the ones we know the best and love the most). Anyone (spouse, friend, sibling, neighbor, etc. …) can participate. It’s just a lot more fun doing this with people you see on a regular basis! The more the merrier… and you’ll never be alone because there’s 1000 others who are part of this current contest.
INSTRUCTIONS
The major skinny … what you need to know to get started
Sign-up NOW by paying $30 (it’s your “skin-in-the-game” fee).
Invite others to join you… the more “in your world” the easier this will be and the more fun you’ll have.
Once registered, login to the Youth Pastor Diet official website (it goes live 1/1/19) and record your beginning weight. Then, record a new weight every week—it’s so simple.
Once you’ve registered:
Join one of the private Facebook Groups (one for males & one for females) for motivation, tips, workout ideas, recipes, etc… For many, this private group is their highlight—it’s an amazing group of help, confession, struggle, empathy, and fun. (Details of how to join this group will be in your confirmation email after you register.)
Download some sample recipes put together by some of last years’ biggest losers (on the Downloads page of the YPD website)
There is no official “diet plan” so you’re free to use whatever method you so choose to be healthy/lose weight. The best way, and most effective long-term, is to try to eat healthy, exercise regularly, and stay motivated through the entire 100 days. There are many great ideas and options presented within the private Facebook group.
Gain access to a 6-month online calisthenics program (normally $60). See more details under “prizes” (below).
You’ll have a chance at winning weekly prizes (i.e. cash, gift cards, prizes, etc…) just for being registered (even if you gain weight). EVERYONE gets a chance at the weekly prizes.
You’ll also have a chance to win two amazing, all-expense paid trips—one to the Caribbean and one to Hawaii.
You’ll also get 50% of your money back in DYM Store Credit (at the end of the contest IF you provide a weekly weight—basically if you participate till the end).
Do your best… engage with community… have fun… and celebrate the top 3 winners in each male/female category and watch them win $1500, $1000, and $750 (see prizes below for more details)
THE RULES
How to participate if you are competing to win the Grand Cash Prizes
Record your beginning weight on whatever day you begin the youth pastor diet and log it into your dashboard. For the most accurate results, it’s best to do it the same time (usually best right after waking-up), on the same day (i.e. Monday), and on the same scale. You can join at any time, but the contest ends April 11, 2019.
To be eligible for the cash prizes (at the end of the contest) you must be able to show proof of your dramatic weight-loss–beyond just the weight numbers you enter into the website. You’ll also need to validate with:
(a) before and after photos. Take a picture of yourself in your bathing suit on Day 1, Day 30ish, Day 60ish, and your final day (April 11). The photo may be used in case of a tie (or suspicion :)). We won’t make your photos public without permission.
(b) record your measurements. PLEASE record some measurements so you can see progress even if the scale isn’t showing it. Measurements may come into play based on a tie-breaker. Find the widest part of your stomach and hips and take both measurements. Pull the tape measure snug (not tight) and record your exact inches (up to 1/16). Keep those numbers in your exercise and/or food journal. For more specific measuring instructions go to: https://www.wikihow.com/Calculate-Body-Fat-With-a-Tape-Measure
No surgery/medical procedures of any kind (to lose weight) are allowed during the 100-day contest. We’re fine with you fixing an ingrown toenail, mole removal or finally dealing with that small goiter, but nothing weight-related. If you are pregnant, record your weight afterbirth and start the competition on that day! Unfortunately, you can’t count the 9lb 4oz baby as part of your weight loss. But still… congratulations from the both of us.
The overall weight-loss winners are based on total percentage lost over the 100 days, not total pounds lost. In the event of a tie/close finish we may ask for verification with before/after photos and pictures of the scale. As always, any photos submitted will never be made public without your permission. Your actual weight will always remain private. You can choose to disclose as much or a little as you would like about your journey in the Facebook groups, but the leaderboard will simply show the percentage lost.
THE PRIZES
GRAND PRIZES: male AND female winners will receive:
1st place $1,500 cash
2nd place $1,000 cash
3rd place $750 cash
That’s a LOT of dough up for grabs! It’s worth playing for because of the cash and huge bragging rights. FYI: last years’ top prize was $500.
TRAVEL PRIZES: (this will be based on participation and in-game contests… not on most weight lost)
A Caribbean trip for two ($2,500 value)
A Hawaii trip for two ($2,500 value)
WEEKLY RANDOM PRIZES: Thanks to DYM’s very generous volunteer CFO (Fadi) we will randomly choose winners on a weekly basis. Tune in on Facebook as Doug & Josh use DYM’s Sidekick App (www.sidekick.tv) to pick-out names on a weekly basis (no weight-loss required—you can win just by being registered). We’ll have Amazon Prime send you fun stuff to help you stay encouraged and motivated (i.e. bluetooth bathroom scale, a 10-pack of Slim Fast™ shakes, exercise equipment, or gift cards). The prizes will range from silly to motivating to downright incredible. Be sure to watch the video in the Facebook groups each week for the winners!
PARTICIPATION TROPHIES: OK, no actual trophies will be engraved or delivered, but in true millennial spirit, EVERYONE wins if you complete the challenge just by recording your weight every week! If you participate until the end, you’ll receive $15 in DYM store credit.
FOR THE WIN FITNESS FREEMEMBERSHIP (6 months):Congratulations! You now also have access to a fitness course you can use (totally optional, but you may need direction for exercise). This FREE 6-month all-access membership to FTW Fitness – a digital calisthenics training program designed to help people build strength, shred fat, and get fit. Calisthenics is bodyweight-based training that requires little to no equipment and no expensive gym memberships. The program is available on both desktop and mobile devices – accessible anytime, anywhere. FTW Fitness was developed by Jon Stem, who is a full-time youth pastor (and American Ninja Warrior competitor) himself with first-hand knowledge of how difficult fitness can be when you’re surrounded by seemingly endless supplies of pizza, energy drinks, and fast food! Many of us in youth ministry are extremely busy. Whether you’re full-time, volunteer, or bi-vocational, it can be difficult to make it to the gym. The beauty of bodyweight training with calisthenics is that it can be done at home, in the office, or even backstage before your youth service kicks off! With programs from foundations through advanced, FTW Fitness works for all fitness levels. The heart behind this resource is to provide you with the tools and techniques needed to help you as you take your fitness journey to the next level!”
The link for this program will be located in “Downloads” after you’re able to login to YouthPastorDiet.com on 1/1/19.
OK … that’s it for now. And that’s a lot! Let’s get healthier in 2019!
Doug Fields & Josh Griffin Co-founders of DYM as well as participants in YouthPastorDiet.com [email protected]
1/1/19 UPDATE: Please watch the video to see how amazing the website is going to be. We tried to go BIG! We wanted to give users a better experience than last year so we built our own website. It works… for us! (See videocast). It will work for you, too! Thanks for your grace as we fix this bug. Please don’t worry. It will capture your weight. Just make sure that you write down your weight somewhere. Both of us have already weighed-in, taken measurements, taken photos (gross), and exercised. Stay positive … we’ll have the bug fixed soon and you’ll be able to record your beginning weight in no time. Again, thanks for your grace and patience. We’ll throw in some extra prizes as a way of saying thanks!
JG&DF
Ever walked out of a meeting or interaction with someone and you have the look of the “stank face”? You know that look. It’s that look of you just smelt something foul or just tasted something nasty. I’m sure we have all been around people who have the non-humble stench. It’s very noticeable. Same is true when you get to experience the opposite. When you get to experience someone who is humble and genuinely interested in what you are doing and cares about how they can help you… it’s refreshing.
My executive pastor is the latter. Every time you walk out of a meeting with him, you believe he cares and you feel that way because he does. How do I know? Because he asks the same questions everytime we meet. It’s something I have been learning great, humble leaders ask.
The definition he wrote out for a humble leader for our staff is:
“I will be fully engaged with all who come across my path, not thinking more highly of myself than I ought to. I will be open to constructive feedback, listen fully and seek out better ideas. I will ask how can I help? How can I hope? How can I honor?”
The 3 questions:
How can I help?
How can I hope?
How can I honor?
If we all begin to ask these questions in every meeting we have with staff, volunteers, students, we can make sure no one walks away with a “stank face” from meeting with us and have us work on being a more humble leader.
A couple of weeks back, 50ish of us gathered for the DYM Michiana Meet Up. It was the brainchild of Derry Prenkert, John Keim, and Jeff Selph. Those guys did an incredible job organizing, advertising, and structuring the day. Any good event needs people at the helm and we had some of the best running this one.
We started the day out with coffee, bagels, and introductions. There were people there with their team, others that drove in with pieces of their network, and some that came solo. Regardless of your situation, every minister needs friends outside of their context that understand the pressures and joys of church work. As we were going around the room introducing ourselves, you could almost feel everyone breathe deeper — it was obvious early on that we were surrounded by our tribe.
There were six DYM Ambassadors present for this gathering. That might not feel like a lot, but I think there are only 15ish nationally, so it was a pretty large representation. Peppered through our time together, the ambassadors all spoke briefly to the group about the piece of DYM that we love the most: Membership, resources, DYMU, the Student Leadership Conference, Podcast Network, and Facebook community group. The underlying current of those mini commercials was trying to convey how DYM wants to be behind us, prompting and encouraging the kingdom work in our context.
We also spent time in open-source sharing. If you’ve never experienced that before, those are facilitated conversations that hopefully everyone in the group contributes to. We had two timeslots with six conversations going at tables around the room covering a gambit of topics. Seriously, there was something for everyone. I wish I could have pulled up a chair to all 12 conversations throughout our time together. There were practical ministry ideas, new strategies, and an emphasis on rest, balance, and self-care. Our time together was both personally restorative, fostered new networking connections, and gave us some ideas to roll around in our brains.
We ended the meeting portion of the event with Doug Fields. If you’ve never had the opportunity to spend time with Doug, just know that his heartbeat in ministry is encouraging and edifying youth workers. That’s what he did as he spoke for a few minutes to close out our time together and continued to do at the lunch we headed to after. I actually had to send the waitress after his order because he was wandering around the restaurant making sure every youth worker felt known and valued. He’s a class act (blogmaster, don’t let DF delete this paragraph).
I can’t speak for the room because we were at random tables, but lunch was my favorite part of the day. I got to sit with old and newer friends and talk about life and ministry. We even dreamed up a few ideas for ministry and future DYM resources. On a personal note, I got some very wise counsel from people that know youth ministry and understand how I think. Moments like that can be rare, so when they come around, we should pay close attention.
It was such a valuable day. Whether it’s a DYM Meet Up or another kind of network gathering, prioritize getting connected to the larger youth worker community. You are not alone (and this is coming from a female youth pastor with a church next to cornfields)! Meet our tribe. Jump into our Facebook community. Grab coffee with the person at the next church over. Organize an event. People that stay in our profession for the long haul prioritize a youth worker family mentality. Your future tribe might just be waiting on you to invite them to a conversation.
[Just as a note, Doug didn’t fly in for our morning network meeting. We timed it around an event that he was already in town for that evening. If you are looking to host a DYM Meet Up, the DYM team will happily try to help you where they can, but will not be able to be present unless the schedule lines up perfectly.]
Congratulations! You now also have access to a fitness course you can use (totally optional, but you may need direction for exercise). This FREE 6-month all-access membership to FTW Fitness – a digital calisthenics training program designed to help people build strength, shred fat, and get fit. Calisthenics is bodyweight-based training that requires little to no equipment and no expensive gym memberships. The program is available on both desktop and mobile devices – accessible anytime, anywhere. FTW Fitness was developed by Jon Stem, who is a full-time youth pastor (and American Ninja Warrior competitor) himself with first-hand knowledge of how difficult fitness can be when you’re surrounded by seemingly endless supplies of pizza, energy drinks, and fast food! Many of us in youth ministry are extremely busy. Whether you’re full-time, volunteer, or bi-vocational, it can be difficult to make it to the gym. The beauty of bodyweight training with calisthenics is that it can be done at home, in the office, or even backstage before your youth service kicks off! With programs from foundations through advanced, FTW Fitness works for all fitness levels. The heart behind this resource is to provide you with the tools and techniques needed to help you as you take your fitness journey to the next level!”
