When Routine is a Good Thing

At my recent stay with my family at the Great Wolf Lodge indoor waterpark in Grand Mound, WA, I was quite fascinated by the lifeguards.  They were extremely disciplined in their approach, almost robotic.  They would scan the giant wave pool width-wise then length-wise, shooting their eyes across the pool and then down alongside the near wall.  Often, they would use their hand to point at what they were looking at and their necks were always moving from side to side. 

Admittedly, I was slightly amused at the first lifeguard I observed.  Her movement seemed unnatural and forced.  In chatting with a few of the lifeguards throughout my three days there (and watching the Great Wolf Lodge episode of Undercover Boss...haha) I gained a greater appreciation for their disciplined routine and of course, their important role overall.

Much like lifeguards, we youth ministers are in the business of saving lives as well. While we may not have to jump into a pool or ocean (although it’s very possible), we’ll certainly be called on to help a young person who is drowning spiritually.

Here are 3 ways to build routine into our youth ministry:

1.  Have regularly scheduled gatherings.  Whether it’s weekly, bi-weekly, monthly or whatever; it’s important that there is some sort of rhyme and reason to your youth ministry schedule.  It will be easier for the youth to build your youth gatherings into their already hyper-busy and over-scheduled lives.  Parents will also appreciate the regularity so they can plan ahead with their children.  Of course, a good youth ministry will also add one-off and non-regular events for variety; this combo is the best approach.  But without a regular routine of gathering, it will be more difficult to get young people to commit to coming regardless of how good the event is.

2.  Be consistent with your availability.  When it comes to relational ministry, be routine in the times you are available to young people.  While we might say to a teen that he can “call us anytime”, it’s also important that we set parameters (whether we announce them or not).  With my primary vocation being husband and father, I’m always trying to separate family time from ministry time although I recognize that they sometimes inevitably overlap.  I work hard to schedule relational ministry time in to my own busy schedule, yet not cheat my family of my time with them.  It’s hard, but I’m slowly learning that I don’t have to pick up every single phone call or return every text message within seconds of receiving it.

3.  Set-up and clean-up.   Back to our gatherings for this one. Routines can be extremely helpful when it comes to the before and after portions of our gatherings.  When members of the leadership team know what has to be done and by whom and by when, it makes things go much faster.  That doesn’t mean that we make a certain person do a certain job week after week after week; after all we want avoid the rut of repetition.  But it does mean being strategic in deciding who does what so things go smoothly.  After the regular weekly youth gathering at my home parish, the youth workers always do their best to spend a few minutes with teens as they are waiting for their rides... before they start to clean up. This is prime relational ministry time!  Once the teens are gone, the leaders then go into their clean-up routine.  After all, many hands make light work.

Going forward, consider how much “routine” you are using in your youth ministry.  This consistency and discipline will certainly make a splash in the lives of young people...and might even save a life or two.

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

Our Deepest Fear

 “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?…Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do…And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

–Marianne Williamson

Many people in life have life verses or quotes. This one by Marianne Williamson (which often gets attributed to Nelson Mandela for some reason) is one I try to live by.  I constantly refer to it when I'm speaking or having deep conversations with people.  Over the next couple weeks I'll be writing a series of posts breaking down a this quote and writing a bit about each.  For now though I want you to do the following:

1) Re-read this sentence:

 "There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you."

2) Then watch this video. 

3) Answer this question: What are you now thinking about?

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Ryan Filsinger is a husband, father, hockey lover, video game producer and aspiring social architect.  He has been in part time youth ministry for the last 6 years in Charlottetown, PEI.  You can find him on twitter @rfilsinger or read his rarely updated blog at www.filsinger.org

If You Cast Your Net Be Prepared

I am still somewhat new at this whole being a Youth Pastor thing and because of that I am still learning as I go about some of the ‘nuts and bolts’ of what its all about. One thing that has been on my heart is providing places and spaces for students to invite their friends to. But I found on at least a few occasions, I was ill prepared to reap the harvest and likely missed a great opportunity. A great example would be our Flashmob event that we a few years back, the students hyped it, we planned for everything, they brought tons of their friends, in fact we saw a nearly 50% increase in students at the event, but I was not prepared to handle that. In light of this, here are a few things I am wrestling with.

Make it manageable: We only get one chance to make a first impression, and if someone is an invited guest in the Church, I would like to make that experience the best I can. If we host an outreach event with many new students, there is a chance they could not be personally welcomed, they might feel awkward and this could be the last time they set foot in the door. Our Flashmob event taught me a great lesson that I need to take an active role in greeting those new students so that they do feel welcomed. If you plan and event so that students can bring 10 friends each to, and they do, you might be doing more harm than good.

Unleash your leaders: If you don’t have a welcome and greeting team, you need one! This is the best way to meet students when you cannot do it themselves. This is one of the most important front line ministries; they are the friendly face of the Youth Group. Our greeting team has a ’20 questions’ form they hand out with questions ranging from contact info, to Bieber or Timberlake to Pancakes or Waffles. These questions are quite strategic in quickly finding if they are from a Christian home, if they are skater kid or a “Lightsaber kid” with apologies to Josh, these are the pseudo dorky 8-10^th grade boys that grab the coat rack and pretend it’s a Lightsaber. The purpose is to find a small group that they will thrive and make meaningful connections with students with similar interests. On the first night they are there, they will meet at least 3 core students, their new small group leader and myself.

Learn their name: There is nothing more valuable that learning a student’s name, it says to them that they belong and that they are memorable. All that contact information we get from outreach events is entered into our database; they are added on Facebook that night, invited into our student ministry FB group and added to our SMS blasts each week. Once they accept a friend request, we print a copy of their Facebook profile pic, put in on the wall in my office and the next time I see that student, at their school or at Youth, you better believe I will do everything I can to remember their name.

Planning an event is easy, engaging, welcoming and retaining the student influx of students is the difficult part, it takes teamwork, intentionality, hard work and diligence. Otherwise, these events will be attendance spikes that will have little long-term value. If your objective is for big numbers at one off events that is one thing, but if your goal is creating more disciples, be prepared that when you cast your net, it might come back full.

Spiritual Practice of the Week:  Busy?

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/30/the-busy-trap/

I read this post this week, I heard the author on CBC radio, i resonated.
I asked myself these questions:

1.  How often do I say that I am 'busy'?
2.  How have I chosen to fill my life and my days?  What kind of balance do I have when it comes to work and to leisure.
3.  If someone looked at my life would they see that building relationships is the top of the list on how I want to use my time?
4.  When I say 'i'm so busy' how does it serve me, what affirmation do I get when I cast those words out into the world?
5.  What's the call for me in all of this to live my life differently?

I invite you to read this article, and ask yourself these same questions.
Thanks Tim Kreider for the words you wrote. 

© This prayer practice and all of those on the Sunday Morning Blog Post can be found in:  "Go Deep: Spiritual Practices for Youth Ministry" Wood Lake Publishing
Doris is the Youth Director for the United Church of Canada in BC and the Director of World Pilgrim Awareness Travel.

Going Slow with Dr. Low

Yesterday I took my 4 and 6 year old boys to Calaway Park.  If you've ever been to an amusement park like Calaway Park, Canada's Wonderland or Disneyland you know you don't always have time to go on every ride.  If you choose to go on every ride you see, especially if the lines are long, you will end up not having time for the best rides at the end of the day.

Many people struggle with trying to squeeze too much into their day to day lives and I find Christian Leaders are amongst those who struggle most.  Many Christian leaders have a personality type that likes to be included in a variety of things and not miss out on anything.  And most Christian leaders have well-meaning hearts where they desire to be involved with many things and help many people.  But the reality is, just like my kids at Calaway Park, there is on so many hours in the day and you can't get to everything.

Thankfully I didn't have to fight with my kids too much - they were willing to skip past a few of the lamer rides knowing there were rides more important to them closer to the end.  How about you, do you choose your relationships and activities wisely or do you struggle with the tyranny of the urgent, taking on whatever opportunities present themselves first.  And do you save some of your valuable time and energy for those people and activities you're truly called to or have you already squandered much of your time and energy by the time you get to the people and things God wanted you to do in the first place?

Like so many things, choosing to live this way involves slowing down and taking some quiet time to discern who and what God wants you to pour most of your time and energy towards rather than just going with the flow.  Going with the flow is easier but it's also very time and energy consuming.  Stop, slow down and ask God what He wants your calendar to look like.

And don't forget to enjoy your summer :)


Rob Low is a Spiritual Life Coach with From Beginning To End Ministries.

The Summer of Youth Ministry

One of the things that I don't get in youth ministry is when youth workers shut their youth ministry down for the summer. They have their last youth ministry gathering right before final exams an then they don't start back up until after Labour Day in September.

Am I the only one who thinks this is ridiculous?

Students time availability is increased in the summer. Sure they might be going to camp or the cottage for a few weeks but you have a great opportunity to spend time with your students on their turf. You may want to change your ministry schedule through the summer but not shut it down.

Summer Suggestions

Road Trip: gives you a chance to spend a concentrated amount of time traveling to a specific destination and then sharing an experience together. This gives you unlimited access into the lives of 3-5 students (more or less depending on the size of your vehicle).

Parks Canada App

Backyard Movie: all you need here is a white sheet hung up, a projector, speakers and a DVD play and you can have a late night carless drive-in. If you have access to a backyard with a pool it's really awesome to hang out in the pool while watching the movie. Don't forget to be really creative in your food selection.

Canoe/Camping: one or two nights is all you need for a trip like this. If your looking for packing tips and somewhere to go in Canada I would HIGHLY recommend the new app by Parks Canada.

What have you done during the summer to connect with students and/or parents?

Enjoy your summer

Stress Point: Thriving Through Your Twenties in a Decade of Drama

Every so often, we will welcome a ‘friend of Ellen’ to offer one of their own picks! Today my friend and colleague, Paola, offers up her thoughts on “Stress Point” by Sarah Martin!

Paola says...

Being a 20-something female, I’ve noticed a gap in the Canadian Christian marketplace surrounding available resources for young adults. There are so many great resources out there for teens and ladies, but there isn’t much out there for young adults. In response to this gap, Sarah Francis Martin has come out with Stress Point. In the Stress Point study, Sarah discusses ten “stress points” for the 20-something woman and encourages both an internal dialogue through journaling exercises and group discussion by providing thought-provoking questions.

Sarah’s blog also acts as a place for online dialogue and mentoring between her readers. Her online summer Bible study, run through her blog, is a unique opportunity for young women to work through Stress Point together while Sarah guides the discussion and answers their questions. I really feel that it is a great space for young women, like myself, to come together, learn and encourage each other.

Note: We are featuring an interactive blog series of Q & A’s with Sarah on our website, and you could win one of five copies of Stress Point. Be sure to check it out!

About the resource...

Stress Point

Sarah Francis Martin

Paperback • Thomas Nelson • 9781418550790

Want to ditch the drama and thrive through your twenties?

Body image. Friendships. Career. Money. Dating. All these issues and more serve as points of stress for the 20-something woman, and combined they can make for a decade of drama in a girl's life. Sarah Francis Martin is the slightly older girlfriend who’s been there, done that, and got the not-so-cute t-shirt. Through this interactive Bible study, Sarah helps young adult women address each stress point by encouraging them to wait on the Lord, worship Him, and make Him the focus of their lives.

In Stress Point you will:

• Find interactive chapters covering ten stress points for the 20-something woman
• Dig through Scripture to apply truth to each stress point
• Engage with real, raw, and relevant stories from girlfriends just like you
• Journal through each chapter to engage with God in a meaningful way
• Interact with Sarah through her video blogs for each chapter
• Connect with your girlfriends in a Stress Point Survival Group; leader guide included

Sarah Francis Martin has a passion to encourage and relate to women in their twenties, and is honored to do so through She Seeks, the 20-something ministry of Proverbs 31. Her relevant and conversational style will lead young adult readers to live out the Kingship of Christ in everyday life in order to find godly success, purpose, and well-being. Obsessed with pink lip gloss and all things artsy-crafty, Sarah lives with her husband and son in North Carolina. Her ministry, LIVE IT OUT!, is a space for 20-somethings to connect with one another and grow closer to Jesus.

An excerpt...

 See below for more resources:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCJa8NahTLI&feature=related

http://liveitoutblog.com/

http://liveitoutblog.com/stress-point-online-summer-bible-study/

http://liveitoutblog.com/ministry-information/

Born and raised on Vancouver Island, Ellen Graf-Martin now lives in the heart of Ontario’s Mennonite country with her husband Dan, where she continues to work in publishing and ministry.Learn more about her work at www.grafmartin.com