Youth Pastor Life Archives - Page 8 of 13 - Blog

19 Apr 2017

When You Need To Downshift In Ministry

By Justin Knowles|2017-04-19T09:59:43-07:00April 19th, 2017|Leadership, Youth Pastor Life|2 Comments

It has been a great season but a tiring one.

For the last 2 years I feel our ministry was running on all cylinders. We had a full team, amazing volunteers and student leadership was killing it. We had two years of taking new ground and trying new things. I love those seasons.

Since the beginning of the year I have not been in that season. One staff member went to another campus (which is awesome) and another went back to her home church (also awesome) and I have been in a season of covering a lot of areas in which I have not had to do in two years. Maybe you have been in seasons like this where you have had some amazing volunteers who take the load off of a program night, or leading a small group and you didn’t have to worry about “that thing” because they got it and then all of a sudden, work came up and they could not do it anymore. They were once able to do a task or take over an area and it was extremely helpful for you but now they cannot and you are the one ultimately responsible for the ministry, needs to pick up “that thing” now.

I’m tired man.

I was texting my good buddy Josh Griffin just venting a little bit and he said I needed to downshift in this season. Meaning I need to pace myself a little bit in order to last for the long haul. Meaning I could not do all the things I was doing plus the things I now needed to pick up from others moving on. I know I could do it for a bit but it would not be sustainable.

Now to be clear because I know some “super” youth workers will get all up in arms about not hanging out with students, I’m not saying I am not hanging out with students and being lazy. I’m saying for a season, it is okay to pull back on ALL the things you do so you can last through the season.

So here are some things I have been doing in order to downshift a little in ministry and try to do what needs to be done and not skip a beat in ministry.

Communicate with your supervisor: This one is big. You don’t want to downshift without communicating because then your supervisor will think you are just lazy. I had a conversation and just let him know how I am feeling in this season and here are some things I am going to be doing so I can last until we have a full team again. He is a great leader so he understood and now he knows why I am not doing certain things.

Pull back on lunches: Campus ministry is a huge part of what we do. We are on campuses at least twice a week… minimum. It’s a lot but it’s good. In this season, I pulled back to one and I have been going home for lunch a lot more to hang with my wife and my boy. It’s something that fills me up and in a season where I feel like I am doing a lot of pouring out, getting filled up is KEY.

Cleared my Wednesday schedule: When things were all in place, Wednesdays were pretty easy days for me. I would have meetings on Wednesdays and still have a good time to go over my message for that night. Now, I tried to keep the same schedule and I feel like I almost died (I didn’t but it sure felt like it). I have to do a lot more hands on set up for the time being so I now spend the mornings going over my message for the night one last time and then after lunch, it’s set up mode. Our band, tech people, students and volunteers start showing up and getting ready for the night and I can be in the right head space to be there and be present.

Force go to the gym/home: In this season I have been doing a HARD STOP at 4pm. In crazy busy seasons I feel like I need to work all the time to keep up. Truth is…. I don’t need to. So no matter what is happening in the day, I stop at 4pm and I go to the gym. For me, getting my blood pumping and listening to some good hard core music is a great stress relief and good decompression before going home…. so when I am home, I can BE HOME.

Put leaders in place to pick up some areas: It is amazing how much I realized how controlling I can be. I try to hold onto everything when things are busy because I think I am the only one who can do things right. How arrogant is that? I hate that about myself. Your leaders are more than capable to take some things off your plate. And they want it. They want to own sections of your night. We have a great set up crew, I do nothing. We have a great pastoral care team to help meet with students and leaders who need it. We have a tech team in which I just need to send them all my notes and announcements and they make everything. It’s amazing and I am so thankful for them.

Pull back on games/plays: I know, this one hurts a bit. But in this season, I am not going to games or plays (let’s be honest, who wants to go to plays anyways?). But it’s just time and when you’re in a busy season, time is limited. Usually in busy seasons, your family feels it the most. I would rather disappoint a student for not going to their game than disappointment my family for not being home for dinner. Sorry, not sorry. Like I said, it’s just for a season until we are running on all cylinders again.

So those are things that I am doing to downshift in this season to make sure I last. I am sure there are many more ways to do so in ministry, and I would love to hear about some of the things you all do. Comment below!

@justinknowles3

13 Apr 2017

Wednesday In Review: 07

By Justin Knowles|2017-04-13T09:18:39-07:00April 13th, 2017|Leadership, Youth Pastor Life|0 Comments

Wednesday Teaching Series: Friday, Saturday, Sunday. We are going through the Easter story and highlighting different days of the weekend. Each week we will talk about a different day and things we can learn from this amazing story.

Sermon in a Sentence: Jesus defied the odds. Jesus conquered the grave and that is worth celebrating!
Service Length: 69 minutes

Understandable Message: Jesus beat the odds. Because of the resurrection we know we are loved, it’s the backbone to my faith, and nothing is impossible for God, that message is worth celebrating and it changes everything.

Element of Fun/Positive Environment: We had a party to celebrate the awesome news of the resurrection. We changed up our service a bit. We had the message up at the top of the service and then had extended worship time with party hats, party noise makers and 45 beach balls flying around. It was so fun. We also made a donut wall to continue the festivities. It was so great and students LOVED it.

Music Playlist: Never Going To Stop Singing, In The River, The Way, In This Moment (our church song), Wake

Favorite Moment: We had 3 baptisms last night. That is always one of my favorite things.

Up next: You Own The Night (Bonita High School)

11 Apr 2017

Wednesday In Review : 05

By Justin Knowles|2017-04-11T23:28:26-07:00April 11th, 2017|Leadership, Teaching/Programming, Youth Pastor Life|0 Comments

Man…

I have been so off with this Wednesday in Review thing. I apologize. New baby, short staffed… I blame that because it makes me feel better. I will work on making this better and more consistent.

Wednesday Teaching Series: Friday, Saturday, Sunday. We are going through the Easter story and highlighting different days of the weekend. Each week we will talk about a different day and things we can learn from this amazing story.

Sermon in a Sentence: Bring your mess to the cross, it changes things.
Service Length: 70 minutes

Understandable Message: We talked through the crucifixion and how Jesus was brutally beaten, broken and killed on the cross. He had to go through Friday to get to Sunday. We to will have Fridays in our lives, but it’s usually our darkest times in which comes the greatest victories through Jesus.

Element of Fun/Positive Environment: We played Dead Cat. If you have not tried this game, it was a very different but loved game.

Music Playlist: Alive, Forever Risen King

Favorite Moment: We did a response to the message and teaching students how to come to the cross. Every student got some post it notes. they would write down things they have been holding onto and as a symbol of giving up control to Jesus, they would take the note and stick it to the cross we have in our room. Super powerful and practical.

Up next: Friday Saturday Sunday Week 2

@justinknowles3

22 Mar 2017

Nothing Beats A Personal Invite

By Justin Knowles|2017-03-22T08:42:49-07:00March 22nd, 2017|Leadership, Small Groups, Youth Pastor Life|0 Comments

Two of the most commonly asked questions when it comes to recruiting leaders:

What do you feel your biggest need is?
How do you recruit small group leaders?

I feel the first one is easy. Biggest need? Probably like many churches, volunteers. We need people to lead groups. The second question however is a lot tougher. If you happen to know, please let me know. How do you make sure you don’t get just anybody but make sure to get quality, teachable, adults who have a heart for teenagers? Great question.

I feel like we have done an announcement in the bulletin. We have made announcement videos for the main weekend services. We have sent out emails to the church. We have talked to our college ministry. All of which we would maybe get a few good candidates out of all of those. Surprisingly the best way I have seen and have done is pretty simple.

Nothing beats a personal invite.

No one told me at the beginning of my youth ministry career that I would have to have the same qualifications as a college football recruiter. When you meet people around the church, look for people who you feel would be great to volunteer and simply just ask them if they ever considered leading a group. If they have, then you got them. If not, you at least got them thinking about it and then follow-up.

Also, send your leaders out into the world and have them each talk to two friends they think would be a great group leader. You will be surprised a how many more quality hits you get from a bulletin announcement.

When someone is asked personally, it means you see something good in them. They feel valued. They feel like they can make a difference and you think they can as well. That’s powerful. Some of the greatest leaders are the ones you would never expect. The ones you would never have known about unless you or another leader saw something in them and planted a personal invite to get them thinking about it.

Get asking.

@justinknowles3

20 Mar 2017

The Fall, Sacred Cows & Change

By Justin Knowles|2017-03-20T11:38:17-07:00March 20th, 2017|Leadership, Teaching/Programming, Youth Pastor Life|0 Comments

Fall is coming.

If you are thinking, “It’s way too early” then I think you are already behind. When summer hits, events, services and camps will already be here and you will fall behind (speaking from experience here). We are talking through our fall this next year and I have been processing a bit.

Here are some random thoughts:

The best idea wins. Every ministry has those events (sacred cows) in which it’s something you have always done. I love annual events and I think some continue to work. We have a Fall Flannel Festival every fall wear students wear flannel, carve pumpkins and have inflatables and they love it. It kills every year. But we need to be careful that events do not become so untouchable. That’s why I love our team operates on the “best idea wins” mentality. If there is a better idea on the table then what we have been doing, that idea will win. Having this idea right up front will help protect you from having a sacred cow because everyone knows the best idea wins and if it better than what we do now, it’s gone.

Effective over longevity. Kind of sounds like the first but it’s just taking it a little further. Far too many youth pastors are putting on events or programs just to fill their calendar. Putting on things just to do things is not effective. Be strategic. Know what will work with your students. If there is an event that is supposed to be an outreach type event but no new students are showing up. Kill it. Regroup. Come up with an event that will actually reach students who come to church. If there is a discipleship thing you do but no students sign up, get rid of it. Think through what will get your students to actually want to take their next steps in their faith. If the event or program has been going for a long time, you need to ask yourself the question, “Is this effective for what I want out of my ministry?”

Play to your strengths and know your culture. Like most ministries, fall is a natural momentum time. Students are back in school and are looking for something midweek. It’s great time for students to bring friends. We also know it takes a few weeks for our students to get into the swing of things with school. So we wait until students are in school for a few weeks before we launch our fall kick off and the big events so there is enough time to promote them and for students to get in the new swing of things. Knowing our culture and our timing only helps us plan for better events.

Don’t just change to change. What worked last year could work this year. It just takes you being intentional with your review process after an event or new program. Our team personally goes through: RIGHT, WRONG, MISSING, CONFUSED after events or looking back at the year to try and get a good read on what was successful or not. But careful, repeating could turn into ruts. Trying new things just to try new things could put in you in a hole. Be sure to be seeking god on where He is calling you to go, to try, to keep and be intentional with the change you want to see.

@justinkknowles3

6 Mar 2017

6 Tips For Putting On Events

By Justin Knowles|2017-03-04T12:05:55-08:00March 6th, 2017|Leadership, Volunteers, Youth Pastor Life|6 Comments

We have all put on an event for our student ministry that was a total flop.

We have all put on an event in which was a total hit and students loved it.

Have you ever thought of what the difference was between them? Why one worked and one didn’t? All last year we started to be really intentional about the events we put on for our students and here are some of the things we noticed in which made a big difference:

1. Don’t just do it to do it – One of the biggest mistakes we can do it to put on an event just to put it on. We need have a destination for the event. What is the end goal for your students when the event was over? When we throw an event together it falls in the category of one of our church values of evangelism. We want to put on events in which the goal would be for our students to invite their friends who normally do not go to church and have them come, have fun, interact with us and come back. It’s a great first step. Have an end goal for the event.

2. Make sure it’s not in vain – You might like the event, but your students might not. Sometimes we plan events because we like them not because our students like them. We don’t do it intentionally. I know I like to have some passion behind the things I plan but we defeat the purpose if our students are not all about it. I sat down with our student leadership team and we reviewed last year and they gave me the run down of the events that they loved and the ones I loved but they did not. You bet we won’t be doing some of them next year.

3. Get your leaders involved – Believe it or not, your leaders want to help. You might feel like you need to do everything because everything needs to be just right but when your leaders get involved they can take ownership and take it to the next level. One, you won’t have to do everything. Two, when you give away authority you create more buy-in from your leaders. Three, it gives your leaders opportunities to interact with students in different ways.

4. Promote, promote, promote – This might seem like a no brainer but even though you could talk blue in the face about an event, students don’t always see it, pay attention to it, or info does not get home to parents etc. For any event we do, we have a plan for a month out, the weeks leading up, the week of, the day of.

Month out: post on social media and mention in service
Weeks out: two posts a week on social media and mention in service
Week of: mention in service with some sort of bit or video to promote it, post every day from Sunday to Wednesday, and an email to parents letting them know details and when it will end
Day of: post right after school gets out, post an hour before students get to campus

5. Keep it short – There is nothing worse than an event that should have ended 30 minutes ago. We all have been to an event or wedding or some thing that the momentum just died or ran out. I always love ended events on a high note and leave them wanting more. I think it’s okay to keep it short and have them think, “Man, that was so much fun, I didn’t want it to end” rather than thinking, “Okay that was great but when is it over?” You want to let them go home on the high note.

Typically when we do an event after our service, we end service at 8:30-45 and the event will stop at 9:30 sharp. Seems like that is a sweet spot for us and always ends on that high note.

6. Capture it – If it is a reoccurring event, make sure you grab video or pictures. One of the best ways to promote events is show them what it was like last time so they can get excited. Plus, they love to see themselves on the screen. If you cold give them an idea of what they will experience in the video they will be able to share it with friends.

What else would you add for successful events?

@justinknowles3

2 Mar 2017

Saying Good-Bye Well

By Jen Bradbury|2017-03-02T05:22:21-08:00March 2nd, 2017|Leadership, Youth Pastor Life|2 Comments

Three years ago, our associate pastor left to take another call. Our church immediately scheduled a farewell dinner. I assumed the students who she’d worked closely with during her tenure at our congregation would attend. While some did, most didn’t. But by then it was too late to help them say good-bye, something that was difficult for them.

As soon as our senior pastor announced he, too, had taken another call I flashed back to that experience. This time, I realized that part of my role as a staff member was to help our pastor and students say good-bye to one another.

Our senior pastor has served our congregation for 15 years. For all but our oldest high school students, he’s been their pastor their entire lives. He baptized most of them. He confirmed many of them. He’s walked with their families through difficult times. As a result, I knew teens needed to say good-bye to him, outside our congregation’s formal farewell, in a way that was developmentally appropriate.

So we scheduled a farewell party for our senior pastor, confirmands (our junior high youth ministry), and our high school ministry. Our student leaders planned it, ensuring it was age-appropriate – not too sad, but not too silly either.

We played games – a classic, semi-messy youth group game but also some games specific to our senior pastor. We blew up pictures of him wearing his clerical collar and played “Pin the clerical collar on the Pastor”. Both our junior high and high school students played a version of the Newlywed game designed to help them reflect on their time together, while staying light-hearted and fun. Indeed, throughout the first part of the night, there was much laughter.

Then our student leaders each spoke. They shared a memory of our pastor along with something they’d learned from him. Then they presented him with gifts they’d chosen based on things they knew about him: Custom guitar picks featuring a picture of him playing the guitar on one of our winter retreats; A wooden fountain pen (He’s a little nuts about them); and a handmade leather journal (He’s a writer).

One of the things our teens associate most with our senior pastor is his love of music. So our student leaders also requested our pastor lead us in song during our celebration. That is, after all, what we do in the Christian faith: We sing to worship God in times of celebration and in times of sorrow.

We finished the night by laying hands on our pastor and praying for him. Immediately, some of our junior high kids burst into laughter. Being in such close proximity to one another was just too much for them.

And yet, we prayed anyway – grateful for laughter in the midst of tears. We prayed prayers of thanksgiving for what our pastor has brought to our congregation and prayers of blessing for his ministry at his new church.

Then we hugged it out.

The night was simple, fun, and meaningful for our pastor and teens. It gave everyone the chance to actually say good-bye.

A few weeks ago, our senior pastor remarked at a staff meeting that the best gift a departing pastor can give his congregation is to say good-bye well.

I couldn’t agree more.

Saying good-bye well gives people the space to grieve and lament. It gives them finality and allows them to have closure, which, in turn, makes it possible for them to embrace whoever comes next without feeling like they’re betraying the person who’s left.

That’s what we did at our party.

We celebrated, yes. We laughed. We played. We remembered.

And in the process, we said good-bye well.

1 Mar 2017

We Cannot Change Students

By Justin Knowles|2017-02-28T20:21:32-08:00March 1st, 2017|Leadership, Youth Pastor Life|4 Comments

I think one of the hardest things about a job as a youth worker/pastor is watching a student who used to be so involved not be anymore. A student who you have seen God made a complete 180 degree turn in go back to the ways they struggled with before and become more and more distant. It is heart breaking. It is even more heart-breaking when you need to console the mother of that student because she doesn’t know what to do anymore. What does one do with this? What can we possibly say in times like this? What can we actively do with this to move forward?

I’m going to be honest, I don’t know. It’s hard.

I have been working through this myself lately with some students and what I keep coming back to is this verse:

“How tremendous is the power available to us who believe in God. That power is the same divine power which was demonstrated in Christ when he raised him from the dead.” (Ephesians 1:19b-20)

Something I have learned more this year than in my previous years in youth ministry is that we have the power to change no one.

As much as we want to, we don’t have the power to do this. But we serve a God who can change the hearts and minds of those He created and loves. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power in which can cause someone to be open to listen to God, to others and take advice to turn their hearts around.

I don’t know if there are more steps to this, but this is what I have been doing this past year and I have seen God move in students who used to be far from Him to call them back and I am confident in prayer that He will do the same with those students right now that are far from Him as well.

Pray- Prayer is simple but it is not always easy. Patience is key to prayer. Pray God begins to soften their heart to be open to talking about what is happening.

Pursue- For students who are not coming like they used to because they know they are doing things that are not right, constantly pursue them. Let them know that you are thinking of them and praying for them and are there for them. Whether if they text back or not, they will know that you are still thinking about them.

Persist- We don’t know how long it will take, but we need to persist. I have seen in my own ministry, I have gotten a random text from a student months after them not being around but because they knew I was thinking about them weekly, when things got hard I would get a text to meet up with them because they knew I was wanting to meet with them for months.

Prepare – If they do reach out to you, be prepared for what is coming. Be prepared to listen. Listen well. Most of the time when I have these meetings I don’t say anything because I just want to hear what’s going on. I’m not quick to give advice unless asked. Usually this is the first of many meetings to follow.

God has the power to bring people back to Him. We do not. So pray, pursue, persist and prepare for those students who walk away. God can still move in huge ways and we get to be a vessel in bringing students back to Jesus. What an awesome job we have.

@justinknowles3

23 Feb 2017

Students Mess Up My Work Day

By Justin Knowles|2017-02-22T09:04:19-08:00February 23rd, 2017|Leadership, Youth Pastor Life|0 Comments

Today was a non-stop kind of day for me. Ever have one of those. I had a meeting with a volunteer, then a long, tough phone conversation with a parent, edit a sermon that a high school student is giving this week and meet with a friend who needed some encouraging words.

Non-stop.

If I am being honest, I would have not felt as rushed if we did not have a bunch of students coming in and out of our offices all day long and if I didn’t have students come sit on my office couch and interrupt me while I was working. When asked, “Why are you here, in our offices, right now?”

They say, “Because you guys (SM staff) are here.”

I love it.

Jesus was available. When he was asked to come to a guys house to heal his child a woman touched his cloak and he stopped to engage her. He had stuff to do, but he chose the relationship with the women over the task that was on His “desk”. Look what happened when he did that.

Obviously my tone above is one of a joking manner. Hopefully you got it. Was my day stressful? Yes, it really was. Was it interrupted at least 5 times today by students coming in and sitting on my couch? Yes, it actually was.

Would I trade that for getting my work done quicker? Absolutely not.

As youth workers, I think when we get interrupted from our office hours because students want to hang out with you, it means we are doing something right. It means we are not only locked to our desk (which sometimes we clearly need to get stuff done) but we are making lasting, meaningful relationships with students who are choosing to come to a lousy office to hang out with you instead of being somewhere else.

That is amazing.

So stop. Pay attention. Turn to that student on your couch and engage them in a great conversation. A fun conversation. Take them to Starbuck’s really quick. Take them on the errand you have to run. Yes, your work will be pushed back a bit but that relational time with them is priceless. Know you are doing something right outside your office when students are willing to come chill with you while you need to be in your office.

Be available. Be present. Enjoy it. We have the best jobs on the planet. Students mess up my work day, but I love it.

@justinknowles3

14 Feb 2017

How To Fight Through The Interruptions And Distractions

By Christopher Wesley|2017-02-13T06:39:19-08:00February 14th, 2017|Youth Pastor Life|1 Comment

Speaking to a room of middle school students can often feel like speaking into a wind tunnel filled with cats and dogs. It’s distracting and can sometimes leave you wondering, “Are they ever going to listen?”

Youth ministry is filled with interruptions and no matter what you do some of them are unavoidable. To get through the craziness that ministry sometimes brings you need to: (more…)