A Little TLC: How to Keep Your Youth Ministry Volunteers

Last weekend I presented at Open Vancouver on "Surviving Youth Ministry", namely how to maintain and sustain youth ministry volunteers.

Here's a video I put together a couple of years ago that touches on my key points.  I also touch on the reasons why volunteers leave youth ministry, and I introduce the TLC theory.

Hopefully you’ll be able to use this video to strengthen your ministry to volunteers and your youth ministry overall!

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     

5 Wrong Motivations for Serving in Youth Ministry

Here are 5 wrong motivations for serving in youth ministry:

1. To make new friends.  You are bound to make new friends and forge new relationships with those who serve with you.  But these should be a by-product of your ministry and not a main motivation.  If you focus too much on friendship with your co-leaders, then you're not focusing enough on the young people.

2. To feel affirmed or appreciated.  Teens can be high-maintenance people.  They are often needy and they don't often thank you or pray for you.  You need to be confident that what you are doing is having an impact and making a difference, whether you're told or not.
 
3. Because the ministry "needs" you.  It might be tough for you to hear, but you're not irreplaceable.  Serving because we think the ministry needs you is only inflating your ego.  And speaking of which, is your EGO one of Edging God Out or do you Exalt God Only?
 
4. To beef up your résumé.  Yes, serving as a youth ministry leader looks good on a resume...especially for those wanting to work with young people as a career.  But if you're heart's not in youth ministry for the right reasons, it will be very evident.
 
5. To be more popular or more cool.  This one should be obvious.  I mean, come on...does anyone think that youth ministry leaders are cool?  :p

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

Gimme a Break!

When it comes to our youth ministry leaders, it’s a common tendency to fall into the mindset of “keeping them at all costs”.  We fear losing them forever and we sometimes fail to see that it might be worth suffering some short-term pain for some long-term gain.

There are many reasons why leaders leave ministry, including (but not limited to) burnout, lack of support/guidance, lack of training, lack of opportunities for growth, conflicts within the team/ministry, change of heart/desire, feelings of inadequacy or insignificance, changes in life/family/job, moral failures and not feeling appreciated/affirmed.

When one of our leaders comes to us and desires a break because of one or more of the above reasons, we must have the foresight and humility to grant the request.  I would much rather have someone take some time off from youth ministry leadership to get his business in order and come back stronger than keep someone for too long and then have him quit forever.    

Like many things in ministry, it sounds simple in theory but it’s not easy in practice.  Often, it’s hard to find good youth ministry volunteers so we’d rather cut off one of our limbs than lose one.  We worry about how someone stepping down looks to the teens, parents and other church members.  We try to convince them that things will eventually work themselves out and they should just keep on keeping on.

But if the leader is not in the right frame of mind, then keeping him on the team is doing him, the teens, and the ministry overall a disservice.

Youth ministry is not just about leading young people to an encounter with Jesus Christ.  It’s also about mentoring and leadership development.

When one of our leaders tells us he needs a break, let’s have the wisdom to grant his wish.

It’s simply the right thing to do.

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 

Stop Developing Leaders????

For the last 15 years, North American Christianity has been fixated on developing leadership. Don't get me wrong... this has been a fantastic thing! The resources and training available is brilliant! 
But, think for a second. As great and as important as leadership development is, I have problems with this crazy level of emphasis we are putting on it.

(pic is from google images)

I want my people to be followers. 

What has happened that we put more emphasis on training leaders than we do on training people to be great followers of Christ? This is called discipleship. Did Jesus train his 12 to be leaders? Yes, but I think primarily, He was training them to be followers. Am I wrong? We sure use that discipleship word a lot, but I see a heck of a lot more intentionality in leadership development than I do in followership development. I want my people first and foremost to become examples of Christ in character, attitude, purity, thoughtfulness, depth, boldness, prayer, listening to God, service, humility, etc, etc.  

I want my people to understand and step into who they are in Christ. 

We constantly look for up and coming leaders, we call for leaders, and we encourage people into leadership. Leadership, as I see it, is ONE of the many gifts of the Spirit. Isn't it true that as people become good followers, as they understand themselves and the way God has wired them, gifted them, and placed them, then we will begin see who the real leaders are? What if we gave 'giftedness' that the crazy level emphasis that we give to 'leadership' development?  As people live out their own followership; the God-gifted leaders will be discovered because they will naturally rise. THEN, once we determine who the Holy Spirit has gifted that way, let's focus on training them to be great leaders AS WE train the hospitality people to be great hosts, the shepherds to be great shepherds, the evangelists to be great evangelists....  Should we treat leadership as equal to the other gifts? In the church tradition I grew up in, we criticized others for putting too much emphasis on some specific gifts; now, I think we are doing the same.

Spend the same intentional time and energy in training all people in their giftedness.

So, I actually don't want all my people to become leaders. I want them all to be great followers of Christ.

Will this era go down in history as the one that spent so much time and energy on leaders that we left the rest in the dust? Will people leave our churches in droves because they feel that there is no place for them if they are not leaders? If there is no place for thier gits to be used? Jesus took rabbi school rejects (young men not culturally designated for leadership) and made them into great followers. These followers became.

I know that this is overstated. I simply want to make us think. 


In youth ministry, I have only seen a few situations where students are really trained in the areas of their gifts (in a real breadth of gifts). I do see lots of places where kids are challenged towards leadership - and in most of those places, leadership means "be my slave, finish these tasks, run this game..."    

Let's not be known for developing great leaders. Let's be know for calling out God's uniqueness in each kid, recognizing the gifts of the Spirit, and pouring into them in "the way they should go"... they won't depart from it. 

Stop training leaders??? No. But let's put it back into its proper balance.


Dave Brotherton was a youth pastor from 1984-2006 and now teaches youth ministry at Ambrose University College in Calgary. Dave is also the National Youth Guy for the Alliance churches in Canada, the director of Legacy Youth Conference, and a junior high volunteer in his church. Dave is married to Lisa and they share 2 of the greatest kids in the world. Fishing, camping, and cheering on the Leafs are some of his favorite things. 
This summer, Dave is transitioning to lead the ministry of Sauble Christian Fellowship, Sauble Beach, ON. 
twitter: @oldbrotherdave 

Taking Ownership: Lessons from a 9 Year-Old and Club Penguin

 

Last month, we had our good friend Karen over just a couple of weeks before she moved to Kelowna to begin employment with Disney Interactive.  When Karen told me that she would be working on the popular game Club Penguin, I told her that Jacob plays that game all the time.  Within a matter of minutes, we had set up a date for Karen to come over to our place to eat and then play.

Needless to say, Jacob was very excited for the opportunity to teach someone – and an adult at that – everything he knew about Club Penguin.  He counted down the days to Karen’s visit and he could barely contain his excitement when the day finally arrived.  After a delicious dinner (prepared by Gail of course), Jacob showed Karen the ins and outs of the game for the better part of two hours.  It was a great visual: Jake the eager 9 year-old as teacher and Karen the willing grown-up as obedient student.

Jake took complete ownership of his task: he prepared for Karen’s visit very diligently and even strategized a systematic order of how to show her aspects of the game.  The end result was a win-win:  Karen left more confident about the game, and Jacob was affirmed in his knowledge and enthusiasm.

Naturally, it got me thinking about youth ministry (surprise, surprise).  In particular, I thought of three ways that youth ministry leaders can give ownership away (or in essence, let others take ownership) in order to strengthen their youth ministries.

1.  Letting Your Volunteers Take Ownership
Being a Lone Ranger youth worker will only get you so far. Despite how charismatic or capable you are (or think you are), eventually you and your ministry will plateau.  It’s amazing what can happen when you let your volunteers take ownership; when you provide a variety of responsibilities to your volunteers and when you encourage risk-taking.  They will feel affirmed and supported.  They will feel more invested in the ministry and will want to see it succeed.  They’ll likely go the “extra mile” so to speak.  And they’ll want to tackle new challenges with newfound confidence.

Our volunteers are ordinary people in the hands of an extraordinary God.  They want to know that what they are doing is indeed making a difference.  Letting them take ownership will go a long way towards that.

2.  Letting the Parents Take Ownership
Asking parents to help does not mean you are relinquishing control of your youth ministry.  Rather, it’s a sign you are reaching out to them to be actual partners in the ministry.  There’s nothing wrong with asking for a little help from them especially given the time and energy you devote to their kids; parents are often very willing to assist but they just need to be asked.  For example, I’m aware of many churches that have parents (as opposed to the youth leaders) prepare the snacks for the youth ministry gatherings.  Not only will parents feel more invested, the snacks will likely be of better quality.  That’s how our parent ministry got started at my home church – I think the parents were sick of me feeding their kids Tang and potato chips.  Sad but true.

Parents need to be able to communicate with us, rely on us, and trust us.  When parents entrust their children into our hands, opportunities arise to serve together and further strengthen the community.

 3.  Letting the Teens Take Ownership

Remember, good youth ministry is not just ministry to youth and for youth – it’s ministry with youth and by youth as well.  Thus, it’s imperative to give young people an opportunity to take ownership in the ministry.  For instance, there are many ways that a young person can get involved at Mass:  lectoring, alter serving, greeting, ushering, and singing in the music ministry.  All of these roles are vital to the celebration and their involvement is a wonderful witness to the entire parish community.

Also, you could task some youth with coming up with a skit, game, prayer, or testimony for one of your gatherings.  By giving young people roles in our ministry, they feel valued as part of the community and they are developing crucial leadership skills.  And in many cases, they might do a better job than you or your team would do!


I encourage you to consider these three simple ways of letting others take ownership in your youth ministry.  After all, if it works for a 9 year-old, it surely should work for us.

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   

Why We Do What We Do

I received a CD in the mail this week – the first release from a very talented young lady named Renee Geronimo.  I have known Renee for over 10 years now through youth ministry and while we never super-close friends, I have followed her (in a non-stalkerish way) over the past few years on Facebook as she furthered her music career.  Thus, I was absolutely thrilled when she messaged me in mid-April offering to send me a copy of her new CD called “lilies and sparrows”.

Upon receiving the CD, I immediately popped it into my computer and listened to it on repeat throughout my work day. It is a wonderful collection of songs, each one with its own unique style and feel.  There’s a bit for everyone: some pop, some folk, some soul and some worship.  And over-arching the entire CD is the theme of God’s love and power – you can really sense Renee’s love for God and devotion to her faith.  Have a listen to the entire CD here.

However, even more touching than the music was the simple hand-written note that Renee included in the package.  With her permission, I am posting it below:

Without getting into too much of the back story, the simple version is that Renee served with my good friend Andrea as part of the youth ministry at St. Matthew’s Parish in the early 2000s and Andrea and her team (including Renee) were involved in the planning of Youth Day 2001. 

Thus, I was moved to read that that simple invitation was a catalyst in a life-changing summer for Renee – one that reaffirmed her belief in God and her faithfulness to the Catholic Church.  Now, a dozen years later, Renee is not only involved in her parish but also following her dream to be a professional musician and music instructor all while giving glory to God through her music.

This is why we do what we do in youth ministry.   

This is why we lead.  Why we encourage.  Why we affirm.  Why we challenge.  Why we cheerlead.  Why we advocate. 

This is why we spend time praying for the young people we shepherd.  Why we put in hours into planning our parish youth ministry gatherings orarchdiocesan events.  Why we get so excited when we see a young person step outside of his comfort zone in the name of the Lord.  And why we get so hurt when we see a young person suffer or endure disappointment.

We do this to make a difference.

We do this to make an impact in the lives of young people.

We do this not to lead young people closer to ourselves.

We do this to point young people toward God and to lead them into an encounter with Him so that they may feel his awesome love.

So to everyone involved in youth ministry – whether you’re a parish youth ministry coordinator, core team member, volunteer, parent, teacher, campus minister, chaplain, priest, sister, religious, driver, or overall supporter:  thanks for who you are and for all you do.

YOU make a difference.

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   

4 WAYS TO INSPIRE YOUR LEADERSHIP TEAM

Part of my job as a pastor is to build ministry teams that are motivated, hopeful, and strategically pushing towards a clear and compelling picture of the future. These teams, made up of paid and unpaid staff, must be led by leaders who know how to encourage and lead their teams forward into an unknown and uncharted future. Any pursuit into the unknown will provide set-backs and discouragement that, depending on the key-leaders ability to rally the troops, could either stall all forward movement or inspire creative and compelling solutions.

Follows are four things I have learned about inspiring my teams to hope and purposeful action.

1. No BS.

People know when the ship is sinking, crap is in the fan, and when they’ve just swallowed a sugar coated razor-blade. There is no disguise that staff and volunteers will not see through eventually. Team leaders who try to divert their teams’ attention away from the cold hard realities are the leaders who end up losing credibility, build shallow solutions for deep problems, and who often end up discouraged and confused as to why the vision seems so unattainable.

Teams that operate in their prime are known for clarity of analysis and interpretation, courage to move forward against impossible odds, and who have a face like Clint Eastwood. Teams can only move forward if they know the reality of the situation they face; this means that part of the role of team leader is to strip away the peripheral and engage head-on with the task at hand. No flowers. No sugar. Cut the BS.

2. Never Waste a Crises.

There is nothing that will unite a group of people faster than a problem, crisis, emergency, or disaster. Some of the most powerful revolutions were born on the back of shared injustice, lack, or shortfall. People, bonded together through the memories of conflict and crises, innovate out of necessity – often from the ground up.

These are absolutely critical times that will determine the strength and creativity of our teams. While we do not manufacture crises, we shouldn’t be fearful of them either. For the healthy team it tests them, allows them to do necessary purges, and brings about a closeness that is not possible when times are quieter, softer, easier, and greener ($$$).

For years, one requirement of my leadership teams’ was to go on a roadtrip every six months with people they had just met in the last six months. Besides the community and relationships this built, it was fundamental in helping our team leaders use crises to look for creative solutions. Why? Every good road trip is bound to have a few wrong turns, a missed exit, a weirdo hitchhiker, a flat tire, or an empty tank of gas. Four people in a car, while learning to either love or hate each other, must put everything else aside to work towards crises resolution – most often resulting in strengthened relational bonds.

3. Ante Up.

As one pastor put it so eloquently, “Put your cup on, lower your head, and head back into the ring.” Volunteers and staff are more likely to face the challenges of adversary head-on when they go into battle side-by-side with their leader(s). Team leaders must respond to challenge by upping the ante themselves, calling people to action, and daring people to move with them. This often requires the blood, sweat, and tears of leaders in breaking ground and punching out new and exciting possibilities – even when all the odds are against them.

Staff and volunteers don’t mind taking a few shots and enduring a few hardships when they see that their leaders are out front bearing the assault as well. Leaders, ante up, and then challenge your people to put their money on the table as well.

4. See the Future.

Team leaders who inspire and motivate their team continually open windows into the future that are both compelling and achievable. Sometimes these windows are very small and are only open for a moment to help re-direct the team; other times the windows into the future are massive floor to ceiling portholes that provide a sweeping panoramic of a land far away and beautiful. Either way, these windows into the future will continue to drive staff and volunteers towards imaginative and strategic movement.

Seeing the future is about hope. It’s about the people and places we hope for and about clearly seeing what might be. Seeing the future is about community. It’s about where we expect to be and who we expect to be there with. It’s collaborative and felt by all, seen by all, and believed by all. There are times, however, where team leaders need to become the mouthpiece of “we” re-envisioning, re-imagining, and re-calibrating what exactly it is that the team sees. A clearly defined image of the future is often enough to ensure the continued hope, inspiration, and creativity of our teams.

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Finally, leading teams through set-back and failure is perhaps one of the more difficult leadership challenges that a team leader faces. In my own experience, these are the times I feel most vulnerable to feelings of inadequacy, thoughts of resentment towards team members, and thoughtless reactions to minor issues.

I am continually faced with the truth that not everything I do, the future that I see, and the current reality that I describe, are not always as I see them. Yet, I must continue. I must remember that God is at work and often in the most surprising of ways. I must remember that I am loved and cherished by the God whose image I am made. I must remember that my value as a person is not attached to my accomplishments, net-worth, or leadership skill set. Rather, my inherited worth is that I am undeservedly heir to the Kingdom of heaven, known as a child of God, and called and equipped to serve His community with humble faithfulness.

What have I missed? How do you inspire your teams?

-Jer

On Twitter @JeremyPostal, on the world wide web at www.jeremypostal.com, and in real life in big bad Whistler, BC. 

Spreading Their Wings

Today I blessed to spend time with two good friends who are leaving town within the next few days to continue on their respective life journeys.

For dinner we hosted the myth, the man, and the legend Jan Chan for dinner at our place.  The kids (along with Gail and I) had been looking forward to his visit all week and unsurprisingly there was no shortage of things to talk and laugh about.  Jan shared stories of his two years of teaching in different cities in England along with his excitement of going to Melbourne to work for the upcoming year.  We played a fun board game (in which Jan, Jacob, Sean and Gail all tied for first leaving me as the only one in last) and enjoyed yummy fudge bars for dessert before Sean and Jacob defeated Jan and me in a friendly game of soccer on the Xbox (see a pattern here?).  It was a great night of both reminiscing and looking ahead.

Earlier for lunch, the OYYAM staff was able to meet Jeremy Keong for some all-you-can-eat Japanese food downtown.  It was a great discussion as we learned about all of Jeremy’s experiences during his first term studying at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute (for Studies on Marriage and Family at the Catholic University of America) in Washington, DC.  We listened to stories of magnificent Sunday brunches, sharing chores, and racing to meet deadlines.  Despite Jeremy’s constant threats to take my job one day, it was wonderful to see that one of our former parish youth ministry coordinators (and archdiocesan stalwarts) was doing so well in an undoubtedly challenging yet fruitful program.

I’m super excited to see both Jan and Jeremy “spread their wings”.  I imagine that moving away to study and/or work can be extremely challenging and stressful.  I wouldn’t know as I admit I’m a bit of a mama’s boy (now wife’s boy I guess).  But here are both of these young men thriving at what they are doing.

I consider myself blessed to have had the opportunity to serve with both of them in youth ministry (Jan at both the parish and archdiocesan levels and Jeremy at the archdiocesan level) and I hope that I will get the chance to do so once again in the future.  I’m fortunate to call them my friends and I take great comfort in knowing that we will be praying for each other.

In the meantime, I will marvel as they spread their wings and make their leaps of faith.

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. Learn more about him at http://www.claytonimoo.com or follow him @claytonimoo