Inner City Experience for Students

How are you teaching or modelling a lifestyle of mission for your youth? There are a lot of

programs and opportunities for youth to be involved in 'service' type projects. Are these valuable?- Yes! 

So what sets REMIX apart?,

REMIX is a week-long mission experience that is uniquely designed to provide an in-depth theological foundation for living on mission. The afternoon experiences in Toronto and the evening gatherings complement the training and equipping that takes place by qualified and experienced trainers every morning.  REMIX is a proven missionary experience that has equipped and trained thousands of young people and youth groups over the last 20+ years! We provide a healthy balance of teaching and training with hands-on serving and sharing experiences. REMIX has always been deeply committed to the priorities of Jesus by inspiring young people to 'centre their lives within the mission and message of Jesus'. 

We would love for you to be a part of REMIX 2013. Check out all the details at www.torontoremix.com

Any questions?  Drop me an email calvin@youthunlimitedgta.com

Calvin Russell is the DOXA Director: With over  25 years of youth ministry experience (as a Pastor, YU worker and director of a youth program), Calvin brings experience and passion to his role as Doxa Director. He continues to give leadership to the overall ministry of DOXA and to growing team.  He is deeply committed to seeing youth attain their full life potential and equipping youth leaders with the necessary tools to create healthy and vibrant youth ministries. 

Relational Ministry 101

Here are a few important things to remember when it comes to doing good relational ministry with young people:

• Youth cannot be evangelized without a relationship
• Focus on people, not programs
• Be interested in souls, not attendance
• There isn't one correct relational style: God wants you to use the personality that he has given you to reach out to young people
• The heart of relational ministry doesn't change, but opportunity and location do

And most importantly: young people won't care how much we know until they know how much we care.

Clayton Imoo is husband to Gail and father to sons Sean Isaiah and Jacob Isaac and daughter Kayla Marie.  He has served as the Director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver for the past ten years, helping parishes develop their own youth and young adult ministries.  When not doing ministry, Clay enjoys spending time with his family, playing music, playing sports, playing naptime, and writing blogs on topics such as family, faith, and the Vancouver Canucks.  Learn more about him at http://www.claytonimoo.com or follow him @claytonimoo  

Volunteers 2.0

The Art of the Volunteers Process

As a I mentioned in my blog about Developing Volunteers I have struggled in the past of being a lone ranger even when I have a great volunteer team. I've come to figure that they probably tolerated me because they loved doing youth ministry so much.

The volunteer process is an art form and it is up to you to make this a beautiful piece of art or a an ugly one. Once your volunteers have committed to the youth ministry and you have done your do-diligence  with the paperwork, checking references, vulnerable sector police check has been collected and your interviews have been finalized. You volunteers are now placed in the right roles but then what do you do with them? How many times should you meet together during the year? What should you talk about when you get together. Should your volunteer gatherings be formal or informal?

Training is an important part of building a confident, competent, and committed team. But don't make the mistake of assuming that a well trained team is automatically a good team. Our advice? Focus on building chemistry more than on training skills. The 9 Best Practices for Youth Ministry by Kurt Johnston & Tim Levert

A youth ministry cohort I lead, we have been going through the above book and the following points about volunteers really stuck out to our cohort from the chapter entitled Developing Volunteer Leaders.

Youth Ministry Overview: you need to clearly and regularly communicate with your volunteers the ministry programs, goals, vision, values and direction. This will keep your youth workers invested in the youth ministry by knowing these details. Your volunteers  have expectations for you and you must balance that when you are communicating an over view of the ministry you are also showing them your expectations for them.

Youth Culture Understanding: Regularly send out links to great websites to your volunteer team to some great sites. Some websites and speakers I would recommend are; Center for Parent/Youth Understanding by Walt Mueller, Digital Kids Initiative by cpyu.org, PluggedIn by Focus on the Family, (our cohort adapted this).

Counseling Students: Help your adults filter through what is and is not appropriate to counsel.

Putting Yourself in Their Shoes: Work your leaders through an exercise that takes them back in time to their own teenage years. As teenagers, what were their struggles, fears, hopes, parental issues, and other big issues?

Preparing a Bible study: Often the things we take for granted are the things most needed by our volunteer team. I (Jeff) have struggles with this for years. I would have conversations with volunteers and when they explained a struggle they were having I would think in my head, "REALLY!?! That is basic youth ministry knowledge and practice." I found this thought occurring in my head many times before I started to help my volunteers. They were telling me some important things, I just wasn't listening.

Social Networking with Students: The single most powerful thing an adult can give students is their presence - at sporting events, recitals, concerts, family gatherings, and so on - but social networking allows them unprecedented connection points with students that should be utilized. Jeff: But be careful is you are a jr, high volunteer because social networking could be uncomfortable for parents and organizations.

Jeff Smyth is a youth worker who has been involved in both the local church and non-profit areas of Canada for more than 15 years. Jeff lives in Toronto with his wife Heather and son Nathan.

Jeff online: ThinkYouthMinistry.com, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+

Leading Up - Self-Differentiation

The best book on leadership I've read in the past five years is Edwin Friedman's A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix. The biggest concept I learned from Friedman is the concept of self-differentiation. Friedman describes differentiation as "the capacity to be one's own integrated aggregate-of-cells person while still belonging to, or being able to relate to, a larger colony."

Check out this 6-minute video about self-differentiation before reading further.

So why does self-differentiation matter in youth ministry and church leadership?

Because we're part of the Body of Christ. 

We're cells in the body, using our unique gifts and strengths in order to grow and thrive as we realize our innate identity in Christ. There are also plenty of "viruses" and "emotional triangles" in the local church. Self-differentiated leaders can withstand the anxiety and dysfunction of these viruses and emotional triangles, choosing to love and offer patience and grace. By simply being a patient and gracious person, this begins the slow process of moving from a culture of fear and anxiety to truth and love. 

It's learning to love our neighbour as we love ourselves. If we don't view and love ourselves just as Christ views and loves us, we are incapable of leading and loving others in His name.

It's leadership from who you are, not by what you do. Embrace your identity as Christ's beloved.

Joel Mayward is a pastor, writer, husband, and father living in Langley, British Columbia. He is the author of Leading Up: Finding Influence in the Church Beyond Role and Experience. Joel loves youth ministry, movies, the church, and theology, and he writes about all of it at his blog.

Going Slow with Dr. Low

Slow Down and Adjust Your Vehicle

Every time I get into the car my wife drives more often than I do the first thing I have to do is adjust the seat.  It's a small Honda Civic so I usually bump my head and knees if I'm not thinking about it and don't adjust the seat before getting in.  Once I sit down I then adjust the mirrors and then comes one of the most important adjustments - changing the radio from country music to my favorite news station.

As I was making these adjustments this morning I thought back to my driver's education (almost 30 years ago!) and how the instructor told us to never drive away until we have made all these proper adjustments including the steering wheel and other things.  In fact, before even stepping into the car we're all supposed to walk around the car checking for tires, lights and obstacles - how many of us actually do that every time we drive away?  This involves slowing down and taking time to walk around our cars before just speeding off - most of us are not that patient or conscientious - we're too busy and in a hurry.

It's not only uncomfortable driving in a car that's not set up properly for your size and style but it can be dangerous too.  And who wants to drive around with the steering wheel practically touching your chin, your knees scrunched into your belly and listening to music you can't stand while you can hardly touch the break pedal or see the mirrors?

While most of us would not settle for a driving situation like this, many people settle for a faith like this.  Sometimes well-meaning churches and Christian programs present Christianity in a one-size-fits-all approach.  We're told to think, act, pray, sing, serve, tithe and even dress in a certain way in many churches, traditions and families.  While many of these things presented to us are good and right, some things don't quite fit us.  Like me getting into my wife's car, we find ourselves squeezing ourselves into an expression of Christianity that doesn't quite fit.  We try and try and try some more but it just doesn't work.  How can we flourish in our Christian walk when we're in an uncomfortable seat listening to uncomfortable music and can't even see God through the windshield or the rear view mirror?

This is one thing I do in this ministry; help people modify the Christian faith they've been presented with (sometimes for years or decades) so that it suits them better and lines up with their particular way of being.  Spiritual temperament, personality, learning style, spiritual gifts and so on affect how a person experiences God and how a person worships God and serves God - we don't all do this the same.

I never present this to people in a selfish, individualistic way.  I am not a fan of selfishness at all; being a part of Christ's body involves humility, compromise and servanthood; it's not one-size-fits all but it's not about selfishly creating our own individual kingdoms either.  But to come alive in the Body and live abundantly and free in the Kingdom we need to embrace a real and personal faith rather than just going along with the crowd - group-think sucks life out of people - we need God to breathe life into us so people see the passion flowing out of us rather than just the status-quo.

Most things needed for regular car health & maintenance are small, simple adjustments but sometimes cars need serious repairs which cost us time and money and involve asking someone for help.  This can be true for our spiritual growth too.  Sometimes people are in need of a more radical change and need to switch cars altogether.  Different cars suit different people for various reasons and we should be open to the diversity in God's children - it's quite beautiful.  It's more important what direction the car is going that what type of car it is.  It's more important that the car is in good working order than it looks a certain way and painted a certain color.


So slow down and take some time to adjust your seat and mirrors and drive towards God's Kingdom.  The Way might be narrow but we still need to walk (or drive) down that path with authenticity and intentionality.  Christianity is a personal faith with a personal God therefor doesn't it make sense to personalize it?

Volunteers 1.0

How to develop committed, competent volunteers.

I need to confess something to you that I'm not proud of but unfortunately it's a fact in my youth ministry experience. I struggle with being a "Lone Ranger".

I went through years of youth ministry doing it on my own, with the help of many volunteers around me, yet still doing it by myself.

I've come to realize that developing leaders is an art form. I had no idea that it requires a lot of work and commitment from me as the lead youth worker.

Here are a couple of steps I've learned about volunteerism  and building my volunteer teams with wisdom:

1. You are not desperate for the wrong volunteers.
2. It's easier to say "no" to a potential volunteer than it is to remove them later.
3. Don't answer for them. (ask them and let them say "no" before you answer for them).
4. ASK. If you don't have volunteers, you are not asking or making needs known.

Next Week: Volunteer Process

Jeff Smyth is a youth worker who has been involved in both the local church and non-profit areas of Canada for more than 15 years. Jeff lives in Toronto with his wife Heather and son Nathan.Connect with Jeff online: ThinkYouthMinistry.com, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+

Public Speaking Tips - Prop It Up

Jill Bolte-Taylor uses a brain as her prop for her talk.

Prop’s are a powerful tool to use in your talks and in your presentations. They really come in handy when you do not have access to a projector to show your powerpoint presentation on your travels. There are some huge advantages of using props in your speech. It is time to add something new to your message...Let's Prop it up.  

Why use a prop?  

A prop attaches your lesson to an object serving as a visual association that connects a picture/object with an idea or thought. It helps the listener remember what you spoke about.  The even cooler fact about using a prop is that it can serve as a memory trigger years later!

I developed a talk about remaining distinct. I use an apple to illustrate sin to drive home my main message/power phrase… "Don’t Eat that.” My prayer is that anytime or at key times when the student see's an apple at the store or in their fridge, they will be reminded to remain distinctly different, not caving in to youth culture that is contrary to God’s Word.

Finding A Prop.

Let’s say you want to do a talk about changing the world. Your main message or power phrase is “You have the Power to Create Change.“ (Click here to find your power phrase and main message) 

Choose a word you want to emphasize. Let’s choose the word Change. Begin to list all the things that you can think of that change.

Example: Leaves change colours, chameleon’s, a baby’s diaper, remote control etc. (Call a friend to help you if you’re stuck.)

The remote control fits best with this talk as there are a number of angles and analogies that can be made with the remote control that you use to change the channel. Ie. Whoever has the remote, has the power. The signal must be aligned with the sensor in order for change to happen. Below is an example of how I would use it in a talk.

Example: Like the remote in my hand you too have the Power to change the channel. You have the power to change what you don’t like to see, like starving children, or online bullying. You have the Power to Change What You See.   

You can then use that remote for different sub points. ie. You have the power to Change what you Hear. Create different analogies with it, ie. Time with God enables you to pick up his signal.                                            

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Prop's work so implement today and years later your students will come up to you saying, “I still remember the lesson you shared when you pulled out that wrench and you told us, We are never too screwed up for Jesus.” That is the Power of Props.

Tip’s and Hints

Tip: Using too many props in one talk can take away the effectiveness of the memory visual. I recommend not using more than 3 props as one great prop can go along way.

Hint: If you are struggling with nerves, use a prop in the beginning of your speech. It takes the eyes of your audience off of you and the attention is all on the prop. It will give you some time to warm up to your audience. 

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A member of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers (CAPS) Alison has dedicated her time to developing her gift of Public Speaking so that her listeners would believe the truth that she shares and to raise up other strong youth communicator’s in Canada. She has been speaking full time for four years and is currently enrolled in Youth Speakers University.
Speaking Tips are from Alison’s Public Speaking Enhancement Workshop for any inquires message her today. http://www.ywop.ca

The Science of Productivity