12,000 people at Rogers Arena praying for the health of Daniel Sedin…powerful stuff.Unbeknownst to me, my buddy Joseph posted the video up in the Canucks.com message boards and in 24 hours it had accumulated over 13,000 views and 300 replies. Everyone seemed to have an opinion as to its appropriateness, its effectiveness, or its relevance. It’s come to be expected when talking sports and faith.
chimp money is not a currency that is used by chimps. If you have been in students ministry for any amount of time, you know that relationships define the existence of teenagers. They live and die by the drama, by the BFFs and new worst enemies and it’s a constant wave of excitement and devastation as the seasons of their friendships come and go. We have all been teenagers before and know how vital those relationships are and how important friends are to having a great or miserable high school experience.
With the understanding of the value of relationships we need to be abundantly aware that students who come to our youth groups are less concerned with our deep v-neck worship team and sweet stage setup and more about finding meaningful friendships. The stats for adults and teens are similar in that a student will likely try your youth group 3 times and will leave if they d o not make a meaningful friendship in that time.
For us reaching out to community students, how will we ever help students enter into a relationship with Jesus if we can’t even help them develop a friendship with another student. Fellowship is very underrated and the more that we can help foster community, the more we can foster relationship and the more we can foster a culture where students are known. Where students know each other’s stories, know their past and pray for their future. Where students understand that they are acceptable because of Jesus.
Geoff Stewart is the Youth Pastor at Peace Portal Alliance Church in Surrey B.C. where he oversees Journey Student Ministries. He is married to Lavonne and they have two cats, Norman and Puff Daddy. Geoff Blogs all over the place and tweets often, but not TOO often. Follow him on twitter @geoffcstewart.
I found it hard to focus on the court wit
h this pulsating pain tormenting me from the eyes up. This wasn’t a normal headache, it was a DETOX headache. Yep, my body was revolting because it wasn’t getting its usual five cent candy feed. During a detox the toxins in your body are shown the way out, but during this process your muscles tighten causing headaches.
Week Two into this Egypt Detox: Releasing the Toxin’s of my mind, I am experiencing these mental headaches. My BlackBerry decided to take a dip in my glass of water. I thought I saved it! Made a couple calls and then later it died. I called on my miracle working God to save my Smartphone. I put my phone in a bed of rice for the day and then took the vacuum cleaner hose to it and sucked the water out (Youtube says this speeds up the process). The next morning, I powered it up and the green light lit up! I danced, but realized the charge wouldn’t hold. So I charged it over night and in the morning I discovered it short circuited and now it’s dead...Not mostly Dead... Really Dead.
I am currently using a friends old phone. OLD. With annoying rings, a multiple letter keypad. It can’t read my SIM Card because the memory is too small. It’ll cost me $339 to replace my phone which is money I do not have. My phone provider said, “We can order it for you today and just put it on your phone bill and you can pay it off later.” My head starts throbbing. Tempting. It’s so easy to take matters into my own hands. I could have a new phone right now through credit!
God’s been teaching me to expect from Him. I’ve been reading the story of Joseph and the main message is to Trust HIM! The principles I’ve been meditating on and what God has shown me and taught me the last couple of weeks are being challenged and It’s not just the phone, it is my friend and a family members health, it’s one of the teens who has been admitted to the mental health unit, its promoting and covering the costs for a girls conference I’m organizing.
We serve a God who wants us to walk into each day with specific expectations because He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us. (Eph.3:30) It’s a faith challenge and experiment. I will not cave in and go back to doing things on my own strength. He is the I Can God.
Youth Worker, Your Maker likes you and He wants to meet and supersede your expectations this year personally, within the youth ministry and out in your community. Trust the detox process, don’t reach for the coffee or the sugar representing our old habits. The headaches are a result of our old thinking and actions being challenged. God’s is using the circumstances of life to release the old ways of thinking, liberating your body from responding to life as the rest of society deals with life. You are set apart for His holy purpose, trust the God of the universe, that your mind may be renewed through new experiences.
Alison is a professional Youth Speaker, Co-Writer of the HEROES 2 Curriculum and Founder of the Young Woman of Power Conference. Based out of Calgary Alison is Inspiring Teen Greatness with a focus on youth in the community. With 15 years of experience her mission is to raise up a Generation of Confident Youth.
Profound words spoken to me the other day, by our Pastor of Adult Education when were talking about laying out the Youth preaching schedule. He followed it up by saying “I don’t care if you were the Apostle Paul, you should not be preaching every week”. As youth pastors, it’s really easy to get into the ‘just do it myself mode’, we know your students, they know us, we are paid to work with them, why find someone else or pay someone else to do our job?. Here are a few things that I am considering.
Students learn differently: If you have been around students long enough you know that there are no two that are the same; the same goes for how they learn. Some might engage with your stories, some with the Word itself, some with your practical application of the Bible. Bringing in someone else to teach will give your students a new perspective. I have experienced first hand seeing that ‘Eureka!’ moment when a guest speaker explains something I have been trying to get across in a new way and it clicks! It is powerful to sit and watch your student engage, to see them hearing, see them processing and see them get it!
Preaching take a lot of time: If you write your own messages, it takes significant time to outline, research, and, in many cases, rewrite. It is time consuming when you give the process the time it is due. Prepping to speak to 15 students, or 1500, requires the same level of preparation, and to do that week in and week out takes a lot of time and can become exhausting. Take a week off, bring in someone, take that week to refocus, spend time with your students and enjoy the break, it’s a great time to evaluate things.
Students might like them more: This is the single biggest hesitation I have seen, the insecurity that your students will compare you to the person you bring in. Please hear my encouragement that being the guy people bring in is in many ways easier. Recently we had a guest preacher in our Sunday services, he was talented, hilarious, his stories were new, likely true (we didn’t know him) and he didn’t use any notes! It was a home run, but likely a sermon he shared 20+ times, refining the jokes like a stand up comedian. It’s easy to think that the congregation liked him better, but the reality is that he did a great job, but he doesn’t have to speak every week and come up with new ways to communicate to the same people. You love your students; you know their names, their story and that means a lot more to them than a one off great message.
I am working at preaching no more than 75% of the time, bringing in talented speakers, Youth Pastors, volunteer leaders, para-Church organizations who bring the Gospel in a way that I can’t. New voices bring a fresh outlook, a unique perspective and give the students and you a break. In High School you likely don’t have the same teacher for 6 years, then why should you in Youth? What does your preaching schedule look like?
Geoff Stewart is the Youth Pastor at Peace Portal Alliance Church in Surrey B.C. where he oversees Journey Student Ministries. He is married to Lavonne and they have two cats, Norman and Puff Daddy. Geoff Blogs all over the place and tweets often, but not TOO often. Follow him on twitter @geoffcstewart.
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There are few things that give me that uneasy feeling more than the flashing voicemail light the morning after a Youth Event. Things didn’t go well, you might have brought the students back an hour late from the amusement park, lost your temper with a kid, allowed a trout to be thrown across the gym and land in the church’s air intake vent (this happened to me). These things happen, and they can really put a bee in the bonnet of a parent or colleague. Here are 4 proven ways to diffuse a hostile and angry person or situation.
Get the Facts Straight: If you know in advance that you will be speaking with an upset parent take the time to speak to several parties involved, get a timeline, who was there and how it happened. If you are uncertain of the event, or worse did not know that it happened, things are not going to go well. Parents want to know that you are in control and aware.
Genuinely Listen: The person that has called you has likely rehearsed in their head what they plan to say, how they planned to say it and the three points that they wanted to make. If you interrupt them, this will take them off their script, and likely make them more upset. Listen intently, subtle verbal cues (if on the phone) or physical (no crossed arms) will tell them you care about what they have to say. Repeat back to them the facts that they have presented so you are clear on what they are concerned about.
Own it: If you screwed up, admit it. Nothing and I mean nothing will diffuse a situation like saying, “ you are right, it was totally my fault, and I am sorry.” You admitting fault will catch them off guard, passing the buck or blame shifting will only make them more irrate. Once you have taken the blame, tell them what you are going to do about it. Have a plan for making it right and be sure to see that it happens.
Affirm the Concern: In the midst of the anger and potentially yelling, find something to affirm the person who is upset. It could be that you appreciate that they cared enough to come down, or that they are involved in their students lives to a point that they would find out what happened and come talk to you about it.
Angry parents are inevitable in Youth Ministry, but knowing how to deal with them and getting them back on your side quickly will help. Show Grace always, and avoid getting upset yourself.
Geoff Stewart is the Youth Pastor at Peace Portal Alliance Church in Surrey B.C. where he oversees Journey Student Ministries. He is married to Lavonne and they have two cats, Norman and Puff Daddy. Geoff Blogs all over the place and tweets often, but not TOO often. Follow him on twitter @geoffcstewart.
