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Dennis
VolunteerYouthMinistry.com has moved to a new location. To catch up on the latest tips, videos, free resources and conference information click here
VolunteerYouthMinistry.com has moved to a new location. To catch up on the latest tips, videos, free resources and conference information click here
Parker and Boyd are starting their first full year as volunteers in High School Ministry at Saddleback Church. We’re going to get to follow them through their first year as they figure out what they got themselves into. It’s going to be fun.
As they navigate working with a group of senior guys, they’re going write about their discoveries and lessons learned and post them here on VolunteerYouthMinistry.com.
This is part 1 of a 4-part interview with Tom and Marla. Before leaving after several years of service in our student ministry, we sat together to discuss what they’ve learned about youth ministry and what they would tell new volunteers. Look for the second segment to be posted next week.
Be sure to also check out the brief comments below the video.
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There are a few things I love about this video series:
– It was videotaped by a student volunteer. This was a great way for him to see some of the heart behind what we do as leaders.
– The video is not professional… much like our service as volunteers. The interview isn’t polished, the camera is shaky, and there are no makeup artists. It’s just regular folks talking about a mutual passion: reaching out to students through ministry
– It’s a good start for other topical interviews to be done in the future.
Josh Griffin, of MoreThanDodgeball.com is on vacation. While he’s gone, he’s putting up guest posts from youth workers from around the country. Tonight, my guest post got put up. Click here to read it.
Here’s an excerpt:
Listen and act – these are secrets to creating a dedicated team of volunteer servant leaders. Creating a family of leaders who last requires getting their input into the decisions you make – especially decisions which directly affect their areas of service. From my perspective as a youth ministry volunteer, I know firsthand that these two actions have helped me last in ministry.
In ministry, as in life, perspective makes or breaks an experience.
Tonight I taught a class on how to read the Bible. I put hours of time into the lesson, showed up early to make sure we had the right equipment and the room was set up in a way the students could learn best. However, nothing went right.
– We never got the video projector working
– Right after my introduction, more people walked in. The group doubled in size & we had to pause to accommodate everybody
– There wasn’t a sound barrier between us and the class next to us
– The noise drowned out one of the key elements of the class
– The audio on the video I showed wasn’t loud enough (even though it was when I listened to it a few days ago)
– I had to show the PowerPoint on my laptop computer which only part of the class could see depending on which way I pointed my screen
– My PowerPoint slides turned out to be in the wrong order (even after double-checking them)
Even with all of this,
– God still showed up
– The message got across
We all have that kind of night from time-to-time. We get our bruises in youth ministry, but chalk it up to experience, learn from it and keep moving. There’s no use getting bummed or angry, it won’t change anything. I was glad that, even though the atmosphere and technology weren’t optimal, the message wasn’t dependent on those.
The good news for me is that I get to teach the class again tomorrow night under much better circumstances. Tomorrow night’s crowd will be bigger and some of the students from my small group will be there. I’m glad to have tonight’s experience behind me so I’ll have a better idea of what to do tomorrow.
Like I said before, in ministry, as in life, perspective makes or breaks an experience.
Last night I invited my friend Alex who is an Atheist to the high school Bible study I teach. We videotaped the event to show other youth workers what we’re up to. I believe this illustrates a missing link to our outreach programs. If we can talk to non-Christians, we’ll have a better idea how to reach them.
The purpose of this interview was to help students understand how Christians are perceived by non-Christians and what we can do about it. The purpose was not to have an in-depth discussion about Atheism, although the topic was addressed by some of the questions from students. For some great videos about Christianity vs Atheism, click here. This link will take you to some lectures taped at Saddleback Church on September 5 & 6, 2009 by leading teachers on the subject.
Click here for a list of questions I asked Alex. The sections are numbered. Each video has a corresponding number next to the video number to indicate which section’s questions that video answers.
The night was a great eye-opening experience for our students. They were attentive the whole time and asked great questions. We could have easily gone another hour, but were under time constraints.
I highly recommend doing something like this in other ministries. The goal of the night was to help students understand how non-Christians view the Christian world. My hope was to help them become aware of how we can be more sensitive and effective. We do this by being intentional about the Christ-like image we project to our non-Christian friends.
Two things I will do differently for my next interview: 1. Write the questions on cue cards. It was too difficult to read them on my iPhone without glasses, 2. Use a video camera that can plug into a wall. We lost a few great minutes at the end of video 9. The good news is that we got 99% of the interview and wrap-up/challenge.
My friend Josh Pease wrote a blog tonight about this same topic of being sensitive about the approach we take when reaching out to non-Christians. Click here to read it. He has some great food for thought.
Last night at church, Nathan told me about a new ministry at church he’s been invited to participate in. He was invited by somebody who saw him doing a skit for the High School Ministry. The excitement in Nathan’s eyes showed how much this new venture meant to him. I asked him to write his story so I could post it here. The point is for this to be an example of the importance of an invitation to ministry.
Here’s a video of the skit Nathan mentions in his testimony. It was very well done and had a great impact on our service that week. Nathan’s testimony is below.
Hello my name is Nathan Ochoa. I am a senior at El Toro High school. Recently the church I attended (Saddleback Church) had a weekend in which the local high schools put on a weekend service, with almost every aspect of the service run by high school students. When El Toro’s weekend came up being one of the known student leaders at my school and our high school ministry (HSM). As a part of our student produced and run weekend, we wanted to put on the Lifehouse-Everything Skit and I took the lead role as Jesus. After hours and hours of practice we preformed at all four of our weekend services, and 4people gave their lives to Christ after seeing the skit and relating to the girl with all of her struggles. Little did I know after putting on this skit for HSM did the head director of the drama department saw the skit and contacted me about auditioning for a lead role in this ministry’s first every play. I have little to no experience with acting. I was really hesitant about this opportunity. I went to my family and friends asking them for advice on whether to go with the audition and possibly embarrass myself or not respond to the email and go about life like it never happened. After a couple of days and the audition date was fast approaching I decided to go ahead and run with this God given opportunity!
After the audition I was called back! Turns out I got not the lead role but a smaller role (a lot smaller) which has like 15lines or something, but that didn’t bother me at all. Just getting a part in this play that I thought I wasn’t good enough to even try-out just showed me that this could of been something I would of missed if I didn’t give it all to God and run with this. I guess to close this please if you are unsure about a opportunity that comes up, to pray about it and run with it. I would of missed this window that opened for me and I would not like for it to happen to someone else.
A student sent a note on Twitter a few minutes ago that reminded me of my early days in youth ministry. He wrote, “On a bus heading to a lacrosse game with 20 students and a 19 year old coach who has no control over us.”
There’s a lot to be said for lasting in ministry. I love being seasoned. To the newbies out there, enjoy your youth, but learn all you can so serving can get better and easier as you go.
Today we had our High School Ministry New Mexico mission trip reunion. We always have an open microphone time at these types of events. Students and leaders can take turns sharing God moments or encouragement to others for their contributions. It’s usually a little long, but always has nuggets that warm the heart.
The open microphone segment came with an unwelcome surprise when a student leader from my team got up to share. In front of 150 students, their parents and church staff she made some jokes about my driving; about how scary and dangerous it was. All of this was her genuinely trying to be funny, not damaging to my reputation.
However, with every word that came out of her mouth my heart sank. I could feel the crowd’s trust in me eroding with each syllable; trust built up during 10 years as a leader. I can’t do anything about this. I can’t defend it or dispute it even though her words aren’t true. Her good-natured jokes are in the minds of hundreds of others as facts that can’t be taken back.
I share this on my blog for two reasons:
1. It’s a great reminder that, “Appearances are fact in the eyes of the uninformed.” – Doug Fields
2. We can’t control what others do or say in a moment of spontaneity, but we can be more sensitive about how our own words can be perceived, misconstrued, or affect others. Thinking about the impact or effectiveness of our words before they’re out of our mouths can help prevent us from doing damage that sometimes can’t be undone.
I know I’ll be okay. My reputation as a long-time leader will supersede these comments in the eyes of the staff. The high school ministry staff can cover any backlash from concerned parents… if there is any. It was, however, an unfortunate use of a microphone that stung me badly in regards to what I see as the most important part of who I am – a youth ministry volunteer.
Actions I’ll take in response to this:
1. I’ll send an e-mail to the high school staff clarifying that the student was trying to be funny and that our students’ safety was one of my greatest concerns on the trip. Josh Griffin, high school pastor, blogged about this in response to my e-mail to him – click here to read his comments
2. Communicate to the student in a loving way the effect those words could have on her audience as well as their perception of me and the high school ministry. She doesn’t deserve to be scolded. Her heart was purely out to have light-hearted fun at my expense. She just needs to understand the importance of choosing her words more wisely.
3. Hope that’s where it ends
Every year I do something small for my graduating seniors. Very rarely is it a check. However, when it is a check, I write it for an obscure amount like $25.58. They’ll get a lot of money from several sources. However, they’ll remember how odd/funny it was to get a check for that amount. Whatever I do for my students, if I can create a memory by the way I do it, it’s even better.
Dennis Beckner
Former Location of VolunteerYouthMinistry.com 