Posted By Kurt Johnston

I once heard an respected Christian leader joke, “I’d love being a Pastor, if it wasn’t for all the people!” Pretty funny joke, actually.

Yet in the often fast-paced, performance-driven, growth-oriented, program-dominated ministries many youth workers find themselves in it can be very difficult to find the time to, or even the value of, keeping people as the primary focus of our energy. I feel like I could write an entire book on the importance of keeping people the priority in youth ministry…but I actually couldn’t because it hasn’t been one of my strengths. While I’m not qualified to write an entire book on the subject, I can share a few things I’ve managed to get right over the years; things that have helped me stick around.

PEOPLE ARE MESSY: It’s tempting to avoid building true community with people in the congregation because people are messy! Ministry is stressful enough without purposely diving into any messes our jobs don’t already require. But here’s something I’ve learned: Nothing builds trust and loyalty in people like their leader’s willingness to share life….the good, the bad and the ugly.

PEOPLE TAKE TIME: It really is easier to do something yourself than to empower and equip somebody else to do it. It’s easier, but it isn’t better! I’ve met youth workers who are genuinely afraid to equip the body for kingdom work because they fear the old “working yourself out of a job” cliche will come true. And it [...]

Continue Reading “Keys To Longevity #4: MAKE PEOPLE THE PRIORITY”

Posted by Kurt Johnston

If you are a youth worker whose sole responsibility at your church is youth ministry, you are a rare breed! But today, I’m speaking to you. My entire youth ministry career has been spent serving at churches large enough to afford the luxury of a full-time junior high pastor. And because hiring a full-time junior high pastor is usually the last thing on a church’s mind, this means they have also had paid staff for just about every other ministry imaginable. And while this type of atmosphere has the potential for wonderful teamwork to emerge, the reality is that it almost always has the opposite effect…silos exist, individual “kingdoms” get built, and competition, rather than a spirit of unity, typically becomes the norm.

So I’ve learned that when a youth worker is willing to be a team player, he or she becomes a rare, highly valuable commodity on a church staff. And, it really isn’t all that hard. Here are three very simple things you can do to be perceived as a team player:

1) GIVE A RIP. It starts here. If you don’t really care about what God is up to in other departments of your church, why would you desire to partner/team up with them? Selfish, silo-driven, protective youth workers don’t have passion for any area of the church that doesn’t include, enhance or politically position the youth department in some fashion. Ask God to give you a heart for the entire church, and [...]

Continue Reading “Keys To Longevity #3: BE A TEAM PLAYER”

Posted by Kurt Johnston

Over the years, whenever I find myself feeling unsettled, uneasy, unfulfilled or unsatisfied I check my internal “contentment meter”. And when I do, more often than not, I find that personal discontentment is the disease and the stuff I’m feeling in the moment are the symptoms.

Another key to lasting for the long haul in youth ministry (especially junior high ministry) is to practice the art of contentment. I say “practice the art” very intentionally because contentment doesn’t come naturally for most; it takes practice and because it is truly more of an art than a science; I don’t think there are formulas one can follow that guarantees contentment. When feeling discontent, there are typically layers and layers of possible causes, and trying to simplify something that can oftentimes be quite complex isn’t an easy thing to do. However, practicing the art of contentment does seem to start at a fairly easy-to-identify place: Our attitude. Simply put, contentment is a state of mind that one chooses to live in. We see this in Paul’s classic statement in Philippians 4:13 written from a prison cell!

In my pursuit of contentment, I have found three roadblocks that seem to get in my path…three areas that, when I give them too much attention, chip away at my ability to be content; they drain my personal “contentment meter”

1) FINANCES: Very few things cause youth workers more stress than their personal finances! None of us got into this gig hoping [...]

Continue Reading “Keys To Longevity #2: PRACTICE THE ART OF CONTENTMENT”

Posted By Kurt Johnston

A couple of weeks ago I was speaking to a group of college students at Grace College. My final hour was spent talking about some of the lessons I’ve learned, and strategies I’ve implemented over the course of my youth ministry career that I believe have helped me hang around for almost 25 years. I thought I’d share them with you in a series of posts. I’ve asked my buddy, and co-contributor to this blog, Scott Rubin to write his thoughts about my tips as well as add a few of his own. So he’ll chime in from time to time as well. No silver bullets, here…just some stuff that has worked for me.

1. TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE
I once heard this saying: “God loves you, and people have a wonderful plan for your life!”
I’ve learned that just about everybody has an opinion about what’s best for me. I should “move up” to a more legitimate ministry position, I should travel and speak more, I should travel and speak less, I should leave the comfort of big church ministry to start something new and daring, I should NEVER leave big church ministry. You name it, and somebody has suggested it to me.

Most of these suggestions come from people who like me, believe in me, and want to see me succeed in ministry. But here’s the problem: I sincerely doubt any of them have spent as much time praying about my [...]

Continue Reading “Keys To Longevity #1: TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE”

GROUPs first 2012 magazine came out and I really enjoyed the read. In fact, I read it a couple of times before I put together this little review:

Something I liked: I really liked the interview with Jake Kircher called “We love our youth worker.” The idea that there our churches out there committing to seven promises in their relationship with their youth workers is totally awesome.

???: Rick Lawrence article “Depression is an Inside/Outside thing” has a quote by Stephen Ilardi who said, “the more ‘modern’ a society’s way of life, the higher its rate of depression.” Wished there was more clarity to what “modern” meant.

Key Statement: Darren Sutton had this great thought “The spiritual gift of most junior highers is knowing which buttons to push, and when.” Love it!

Creative Idea: I picked up the T3 challenge kit from group at the last SYMC and have used it to challenge the kids to do something with $50 that we gave them. One of the “in the news” articles Stephanie Martin shared about was on Liquid Church and how it handed out money to its worshipers to use as they needed it or use it to make a difference – loved that idea and doing that with my kids.

by Mark Eades the middle school guy
I work with a great group of people who spend time and energy impacting middle school youth. I often teach them about the importance of creating “remember when” moments which, in turn, helps them with their interactions with the kids. It gives them the idea that as they journey with these “out of control” kids they can make a difference in their lives – to help them take spiritual steps forward.
As I read Joseph R. Myers’s book The Search to Belong I thought about those discussions about “remember when” moments – and it was very refreshing. Mr. Myers illustrates that to help people know where they belong, we (Environmentalists) need to help create environments for them to be in.
“When there is a favorable environment,” he writes, “we make spontaneous choices regarding to whom we want to belong. This is the type of connection that people are looking for in their lives…’Environmentalists’…are primarily concerned with creating a ‘healthy’ climate for spontaneity to occur.”
Mr. Myers highlights four different spaces in his book where people exist to create spontaneity – public space, social space, personal space, and intimate space. Each space has different “distance” dynamics to help define them but, in each, people can flourish. He explains that we have to try to create these spaces for people to flourish in, and then validate each person in those spaces.
“Were we to validate the space people inhabit [...]

Continue Reading “Book Report: the SEARCH to BELONG by Joseph R. Myers”

Posted by Kurt Johnston

* I am super excited about my newest book, 99 Thoughts About Junior High Ministry, that is set to release in March.  BUT you can pre-order your Kindle version and it will be delivered to your Kindle, iPad or other device on February 15.  What a great gift to get yourself the day after Valentine’s day! When released in physical form, it will be a fantastic and affordable book to purchase for everybody on your junior high ministry team!

* It’s not too late to join 3,000 other youth workers at the Simply Youth Ministry Conference coming up in March.  This year promises to be the best yet!  And…there is a ton of stuff specifically designed for those of you who work in junior high ministry.

* Do you subscribe to the (somewhat)daily youth ministry newsletter I write with Josh Griffin?  The Simply Youth Ministry Today newsletter includes weekly articles by the two of us as well as a response to each week’s content by somebody in the Youth Worker Nation.

* Almost 20,000 youth workers can’t be wrong.  Okay, I guess they could be but chances are they are onto something! Each week, almost 20,000 people watch The Simply Youth Ministry Show.  It’s a 30-minute youth ministry extravaganza hosted by me and my good friend, Jake Rutenbar.  Each episode revolves around a specific topic and typically includes a special guest who corrects our utterly ridiculous proclamations about [...]

Continue Reading “Some Shameless Plugs…but only because I think they’re helpful (Oh, and because I have a daughter about to enter college)”

Posted By Kurt Johnston

If I were asked to share three teaching tips, these would be my top three:

- Plan Ahead! Create a 6-month teaching calendar that has some sort of strategic thinking behind it! Our strategy is pretty simple, but it’s effective. We try to balance our teaching in three categories: 1) Bible education/doctrine 2) Junior High Life Skills and 3) Felt need.

- Pray It Up! Pray about what to teach, pray as you create your lesson, and pray while you are in the midst of it.

- Keep It Short And Simple! The only people who like long sermons are preachers. I have been teaching JH students for a long time, and I have NEVER heard a complaint that the lesson was too short. A short, easy-to-apply lesson is my goal every time I teach.

Obviously, some important aspects of teaching junior highers are missing in my list. How about you….what would make your “top 3 teaching tips”? Share them with the rest of us!

Posted By Kurt Johnston

Last night I shared a short message with our junior high and high school volunteers. Here is a brief look at those thoughts:

The big picture idea was that God often allows unexpected things to show up in our ministry path…and these things usually provide a couple of opportunities.

1. The story of the good Samaritan reminds us that people will show up in on our path and provide unexpected opportunities for MINISTRY.

2. The story of the Israelites and the Red Sea reminds us that obstacles will show up in our path and provide unexpected opportunities for the MIRACULOUS.

3. Both scenarios have this in common: THE OUTCOME IS DETERMINED BY MY WILLINGNESS TO TAKE ACTION.

As you journey along your ministry path this year, my hope and prayer for you is the same as it is for the men and women on my team: That when God puts an unexpected opportunity to minister or an unexpected obstacle in your path…you would be willing to take action and see what God does through you!

Posted by Kurt Johnston

Heading into the new year, and looking at the current condition of the youth ministry I lead at Saddleback Church, I gotta admit: I feel pretty good about things!

But, anytime you take an up-close look at things there are certain to be areas that could use a little extra attention…a little boost.  As I spent time looking at the various aspects of our ministry, I identified three key areas that could use a little nudge….just a boost to keep us heading in the right direction.  I thought I’d share them with you in hopes you would be encouraged to start 2012 by taking a look at your ministry too!

In 2012, we are going to give a little boost to:

1.    LARGE GROUP PROGRAMS

-       boost attendance

-       boost attention to “excellence”

-       boost attention to first and second time visitors

-       boost volunteer involvement

2.    STUDENT INTERACTION WITH ADULT CONGREGATION

-       boost number of students serving in church-wide ministries

-       boost number of students attending adult services

-       boost number of “things” we do with adults instead of on our own

 3.    SPIRITUAL MATURITY

-       boost our student’s biblical literacy, Christian worldview, etc.

-       boost our student’s level of true missional living (express)

-       boost the “experience” aspect of small groups.