Anatomy of Effectively Planning Ahead

Planing ahead at the end of June is always hard. Who wants to start thinking or even planning strategically about September through June for next school year when the summer this year has only just begun?

Effectively Planning Ahead can be broken down by using a simple template. I've used this template for years and each year I tweak it a little bit more or a little bit less based on the upcoming year. Get you calendar out for 2014-15 and lets get going.

My planning template consists of six components.

1. Non-negotiable: weekly programs and seasonal events that always happen every year go right into your calendar without any hesitation (e.g. winter retreat, mission trip car wash fundraiser in May, fall kick off event, Friday night you or Sunday school). Make sure you have the church calendar for the next year so you don't double book stuff on missions weekend etc...
2. Curriculum: you need to be praying about this and writing notes down about where God what you to go with curriculum and then evaluate the curriculums to get the right one. This can be done by yourself or in a group setting with your leadership team.
3. Journalling: through out your past year, you must be taking notes about everything. Key questions parents have asked, how can we prevent someone from breaking their arm in our pillow fight night, what worked well at your Christmas banquet, what failed when kids got on the roof and the a neighbour called the cops. These are then applied or thoughtfully consider for the next year. 
4. Next Steps: what are those next steps that you need to provide for your students or volunteer leaders to challenge them to go to that next level? Do you need to start a student leadership team or recruit more volunteers? Do you need to focus on Spiritual gifts this year or plan an overseas mission trip?
5. Share the Plan: after you have everything planned out you need to go through several beta tests (3-4) with three groups of people; 2-3 key volunteers and students from your leadership team, church staff, 2-3 key parents.
6. Publish: send out a basic 2014-15 calendar that only marks out key dates ad has no details. You don't need to list your Friday night theme from September through June but you should have you Friday nights in the calendar.

Two key things you should have on every basic calendar is this: 1) youth ministry schedule subject to change without notice. 2) Friday night youth will not be on these four dates: ____, ____, ____, _____.

@jeffsmyth

What I Learned about Youth Ministry while in Film School

Here's the "Readers Digest' version of a long story. I've been in youth ministry for almost 30 years. After the first 4, I went to film school and thought God had finally showed me what he had for me in his kingdom! Nope, I was wrong... so back as a youth pastor in a church.... why did God take me off to have that experience and training?  Watch this and you'll see.....

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. 
twitter: @oldbrotherdave

Anticipation of God's Work -vs- My Stress About Things Going Right

 At my age, it's not very often anymore, that I sleep on the floor at a weekend with kids.

It's Legacy Youth Conference at Ambrose University College (where I teach). As director of this weekend, I've got 700 kids, pastors, sponsors and and 280 Ambrose student volunteers on campus
and I'm sitting in my office at 7am on a Saturday morning thinking through the day.

The anticipation of God doing something significant is in the air. The excitement and energy last evening was fantastic.... everybody is cranked about today, and what God is going to do in the lives of kids. BUT, somehow, my anticipation is tempered with the stress and worry that things will actually work and plans will not fall flat. We are counting on almost 300 volunteers to show up and step up. We are counting on the weeks of organizing to pay off resulting in the day's schedule unfolding flawlessly. We are ready; but desperate for God to carry it.

As leaders, we've all been in that place to some degree or another. We create and lead big events all the time. We have lots of stories of success and just as many stories of disaster.

Here are some of the things that I have learned after living through this kind of ministry for 30 years:

• exhaustive advanced planning is crucial
• communicate, communicate, communicate... every volunteer and every chaperone needs to have the same picture in their head as I do
• bathe in prayer from start to finish
• stick to the plan  - have confidence in your plans
• be prepared for anything - expect the enemy to show up 
• rely on your team - if they are prepared, trained and understand well, LET THEM DO IT
• support, encourage and gush on your team of leaders the whole way through
• troubleshoot and creatively correct quickly
• slow down and enjoy it - like a bride at her wedding, stressed and anxious, she needs to step back, slow down and really enjoy her big day
• remain in a position of absolute dependance on God
• like a surfer, watch for the perfect waves from the Holy Spirit and be prepared to "catch the right waves" (not every wave that comes in), allowing God to usurp my plan.
• don't manipulate people towards responding to God
• debrief with volunteers to troubleshoot, but more importantly, to celebrate what God IS doing

Today is a big day for me and the 1000 people here. I go into it with a ton of anticipation and asking God to be aggressive in doing his work in hearts.
We are ready.
I am desperate for God to do His thing... but I'm still afraid of relying on so many volunteering people.....  and I'm tired and sore from sleeping on the floor....

 
 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. 
twitter: @oldbrotherdave

Vision & Strategy

How do vision and strategy intersect with one another? Can they coexist and inspire creativity?

Do you take time to make plans & develop strategy? What are some of the planning wins and/or frustrations that you've experienced?





Jason has lived in Calgary, Alberta Canada since 1995, and been a youth pastor since 2001. He is married to the love of his life, Bonny, and together they have three incredible children: Saydie, Cannon and Deklon. Jason possesses a desire to see youth, parents and families become who God created them to be through loving and living like Jesus. He currently serves on staff at Centre Street Church in Calgary. He loves hockey, playing guitar, writing and creating environments and opportunities where others can realize their potential in Jesus while experiencing the full life He promised to those who follow Him!

Building The Temple (1 Chronicles 22)

Have a quick look at 1 Chronicles 22 through 2 Chronicles 5.

David had a dream. He was crazy passionate about building a temple for God. To say that he was 'driven by this dream' is an understatement. 

If you thumb through 1 Chronicles 22, you'll see that David not only stockpiled his own resources, but he collected from his leaders and then went to the people. In the end, the pile of materials was mind bending. About 8,100,000 lbs of gold; 76,750,000 lbs of silver; 1,350,000 lbs of bronze; 8,000,000 lbs of iron. Putting this into today's economy, 8 million lbs of gold (at 16oz per pound) x 16 ounces x $1000/ounce = over $129 billion in gold alone.

               

      HOW PASSIONATE WAS DAVID ABOUT THIS CAUSE?

Flip over to chapter 28:9,10,11,12,14,15,19.  David knows he's not the one God is using to build the temple. We have a brilliant description of his hand-off to Solomon. What is involved in this??

• David clearly (painstakingly) communicates his vision
• David puts the expectations way high
• David preps by stockpiling resources
• David communicates his vision again
• Detailed instructions so Solomon could carry it out meticulously - has the plans for the cups and candle holders.... And it is all written out!
• 2Chronicles5:13b,14.   Cloud filled the temple - so thick that the priests couldn't do their work.

So, here's my challenge for you...

 

What if we approached our youth ministry with the zeal, vigor, intentionality, resources, people, communication, vision, and passion that David approached the building of the temple? We sing about dancing like David (naked... cool) but David exhibited 130 billion times more passion for the building of the temple!!!  What if we sang: "build the temple like David built the temple"....   

Here's my point...

 

Zip over to 1 Corinthians 6:19. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you.

David stopped at nothing to build a dwelling place for God on earth. He insanely prepared ahead of time, he collected the best of the best resources, he poured out his highest passion, he drove this with clear intentionality, crazy attention to detail,  months, maybe years of dreaming and communicating with great detail to those that would be overseeing and doing the work... he focused on setting them up for success. This would be the BEST. This was going to be the most spectacular thing ever built.

 

How is my passion for building the New Testament temple? The New testament dwelling place for God on earth ? How is your passion for the cause? This cause makes the popular causes in our world look bland and colourless. David's intentionality in planning and preparation, his attention to detail and his crazy passion to this puts us into perspective.

Build the temple. The most spectacular thing ever built.

  dave

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. 
twitter: @oldbrotherdave

The Importance of Planning and Execution

This past Tuesday night, I was the blessed to be an "accomplice" in my buddy Mike's marriage proposal to his girlfriend Jennifer.  It was an amazing and unforgettable night, in large part because Jenn had no idea that the proposal was coming and she was caught completely off-guard.

Thankfully, she said yes...haha.

Mike had been planning the proposal for the past two months, and in the last week in particular we exchanged a flurry of emails, texts, and phone calls as we finalized the details.  Our plan was quite elaborate and quite brilliant if I may say so myself...as was the execution.  The acting on the other hand....

It got me to thinking about the importance of planning and execution in youth ministry.  Now I admit that I'm the first one to say that youth ministry should be about people and not programs.  And that we shouldn't spend more time preparing skits and talks than hanging out with young people or praying for them.

But it's amazing how much a difference a well-planned night or event makes in the eyes of teens.  When a night flows well, when the transitions are smooth, and when the leaders seem to know what's coming up next, it adds to the overall positive experience for the participants.  In general, it will keep them more engaged and hopefully wanting to come back.

Granted, different youth leaders have different gifts.  Some youth leaders are more adept at "winging it" than others.  But "winging it" should really be the exception and not the norm.

Thus, I encourage you to spend a proper amount of time in reviewing details - big and small.  Skits need to be well-rehearsed (this isn't Whose Line is it Anyway?).  Same goes for teachings and testimonies.  Have youth leaders review the small group discussion questions before gathering into groups.  And don't forget about transitions between different facets - there is nothing worse than a bunch of "dead time" because you forgot to test the LCD projector or forgot to get into costume for the closing skit.

Sure, it's going to take more time and preparation.   But the young people are worth it.

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     

Keys to Effective Christian Leadership

Last week our Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry offered YouthLeader – a week-long program designed by the Center for Ministry Development. The purpose of YouthLeader is to empower young people for Christian leadership in Church and the wider community.

I have been blessed to serve as a trainer for YouthLeader for the past 4 years, and it’s always special when I get to train youth and adult leaders in my home archdiocese. I’m looking forward to helping many of the 57 youth and adult participants implement the skills they learned into their church and school communities.

Each of the 9 learning sessions were centered around a “key”. I will be expanding on a few of these keys throughout the next few weeks but I thought it would be valuable for all readers of this blog to see them as a whole.

Key 1: Effective Leaders and Principle-Centered

Key 2: Effective Leaders are Proactive

Key 3: Effective Leaders Listen and Communicate

Key 4: Christian Leaders are Called to Follow Jesus’ Example

Key 5:  Effective Leaders Help Groups to Work Together

Key 6: Youth are Called to Use Their Gifts

Key 7: Effective Leaders Think Win/Win

Key 8: Effective Leaders Plan to Meet the Needs of Others

Key 9: Effective Leaders Know and Live Their Mission in Life

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

How to Breathe Life Into a Stagnant Youth Ministry

This is a slightly-adapted version of an original blog written by Randy Raus, President and CEO of Life Teen.  Life Teen is an international Catholic youth ministry with headquarters in Mesa, Arizona and Atlanta, Georgia.

Some of my original youth ministry training was with Life Teen and I am a loyal supporter of their mission and ministry.

You can view the original post here.



The voice paused on the call, almost hearing her gulp, and then the words “I’ve been at this parish for four years now and it seems stale, I think something needs to change or I must move on.” Ever feel this way? Like youth ministry at your parish is in a rut and you don’t know how to get out of it? You are not alone. More times than not I have found that there are some definite steps you can take to breathe life into a stagnant youth ministry.

1. Call It Out: Be a leader and admit to yourself and others that things seem stagnant. Don’t try to fake it. Call it what it is and decide that you are going to make some changes to bring more life into the ministry.

2. Think in Terms of Movement: It’s much easier to steer a car that is moving than trying to turn the wheels while sitting still. Plan a Pilgrimage, Mission Trip, Summer Camp, Youth Conference, Retreat, Ski Trip, or anything that will get you, your leadership team and the teens moving on a journey somewhere. Community is built twice as fast when you and your core team spend away time with teens!

3. New People Bring New Energy: Recruit new youth leaders, musicians, parent helpers and especially new teens. When new people show up, it is a sign of a ministry living the new Evangelization. Just the thought of new people involved makes us smile!

4. What Looks the Same is Probably the Same: Been a while since you changed the environment of a youth night? Have the walls of your office become just a jog down memory lane or is it a reflection of the current group of teens? Have music playing, hang new banners, update photos and add some new paint to add new life to the spaces you hang out with teens at your parish. We serve in one of the most transformational ministries in our parishes – does the vibe of our space reflect that?

5. Add Depth: Spiritual depth never is stale! If you feel like you are in a rut, most likely you are just skimming the surface with your teens and youth ministry leaders. When is the last time you planned a talk or prayer experience that really challenged you and those you serve. Go into the deep and it will totally energize your ministry!

6. Add More Fun: Make them laugh! Fun is contagious. Has fun left youth ministry at your parish? Start by being more spontaneous. Spoof something, make up a song, lovingly prank someone, spend an afternoon playing video games with some teens weekly, plan a random fun only event or whatever it takes to get you and ministry fun again. When it becomes fun again, no way it is going to feel stagnant!


So what are the areas you need to work on the most? Remember the best way to keep your ministry from becoming stale, is to be doing most the above on an ongoing basis.


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