If you are the leader of your ministry, one of your primary roles is to equip other godly men and women to share the ministry load. But what does it mean to “equip” somebody? Here are some thoughts:

Empower: Give them the freedom to minister and lead.
Quietly correct: When correction is needed, do so privately.
Unlimited support: Become their biggest cheerleader.
Invest time: Follow Christ’s example…he invested time with those carrying out his ministry.
Provide tools: Make sure training, seminars and resources are available.

Ever wonder whether something is worth the time and effort it takes? Is it really worth it to spend a full day making a 5 minute video that your students don’t seem to care about? Is it worth it to spend two days making a 3 minute video that they absolutely love? How much time should be spent creating cool graphics? How much money should you spend on your summer calendar?

A few of us on our team recently made a commitment to try to run the vast majority of these types of decisions through this little grid. Basically, I want our team to avoid doing things that are high in investment and low on impact. However, I would love for us to focus on things that are low in investment and high on impact.

A few examples of things that might be high investment/low impact:
- A game that takes an hour ahead of time to set up, 10 minutes to explain but only TWO minutes to play!
- A 5 minute story/illustration that is funny but doesn’t tie into lesson well.
- Running every aspect of your own camp instead of letting the camp do the programming (maybe the same impact but much different investment….)

A few examples of things that might be low investment/high impact:
- Borrowing ideas from our ministry friends.
- Repeating really good lessons and series from time to time.
- Buying pre-produced videos instead of creating our own.
- Less time spent creating promo and fliers and more time “talking it up” with students.

A pretty good weekend, especially considering the fact that things felt a little “cut N paste” together due to so much attention on our Believe retreat.

ATTENDANCE: Attendance was a little low. Again, I think this may have been due to lots of kids who went to the retreat may have skipped church upon their return.

FUN FACTOR: Pretty high. Our lesson was around the idea of learning to grow on your own and we did a good job of tying much of our program into the theme.

LESSON: David Hughes, one of our college-aged volunteers taught the bulk of the lesson after a short video set-up by me. He did an AMAZING job; one of the best JH lessons I’ve heard in a really long time.

MUSIC: Music was great! Probably a little mellower than usual, but the band was tight, the kids singing blended well together.

VOLUNTEER INVOLVEMENT: Very low. Because so many leaders went to Believe, most of them didn’t show back up for the weekend program which made things a bit rough around the tables.

The truth is, I’m a pretty laid-back guy and really don’t get too worked up over much. But there are a few things recently that have bothered me a little bit. For instance:

SHAVING: the whole process is such a bother which is why I choose to only shave once a week or for an important meeting. Electric razors don’t work well and traditional blades are a hassle.

MY COMPUTER SCREEN: I have a brand new lap-top that seems to be pretty nice (I know nothing about computers so maybe it’s really a turd), but whenever I am in battery mode, the screen flickers ever so slightly….not enough to be a major problem, just enough to bother me a bit.

850 BILLION DOLLARS: I’m no economist, and I really don’t understand how we got into this mess or what the best way to get out of it is, but 850 BILLION Bucks maybe fix it? That bothers me.

FEET: Mine are gross, and I imagine most people feel the same way about theirs. The fact that I have to try to “un-gross” my feet bothers me.

MEETINGS: They usually don’t accomplish much but everybody seems to think we need them which is why I have to stop this post short….I’m late for one. Meetings bother me and me being late for meetings bothers other people.

About once a month or so (and by “or so” I mean once a month…once every-other month…once a quarter….whenever I get around to it!) I shoot a short, 10-15 minute, video podcast dealing with various topics related to junior high ministry. If you’ve never seen one, you can find the archive here. The goal for each podcast is to give a quick little bit of insight and share some of my learnings on any given topic.

Here’s where I could use your help: What are some topics you think other JH youth workers are wrestling through? What do the paid “Point People” struggle with? How about their volunteers? What might a part-time youth worker in a mid-size church want some insight into? How about the “point person” who is also a volunteer in a small church?

Got up early to go riding on Monday and didn’t have time to post, and yesterday was a full day and I simply forgot! So, some basic catching up here:

THE WEEKEND:
I twittered that last weekend was like the titanic….big, elaborate etc. that somehow hit an iceberg. It really wasn’t any one single thing that went wrong, but more like several little ice bergs that slowly sank us!
- We forgot several things for the program and had to scramble to get them in place.
- The crowd was bigger than normal combined with fewer than normal adult leaders.
- The crowd was rowdier than normal.
- We had a ‘guest’ speaker who was GREAT, but was new to our stage.
- The fire alarm went off in the middle of the lesson causing a ton of confusion (false alarm).
- All in all, one of the tougher weekends….specifically our Saturday night service.

JR. HIGH BELIEVE:
I am super excited about this weekend’s Believe event! For the first time, we are taking a group of students to this incredible conference. If you haven’t heard of Believe, you really do need to consider taking your students when it comes to your area, which it will because they have something like 14 different tour stops. Believe is a 24-hour event designed specifically for junior highers.

SCOTT RUBIN:
On a selfish note, I may be most excited about Believe because my buddy, Scott Rubin is the speaker (I typically speak at a few Believe events each year and it would make sense for me to speak at the So. Cal event but since I’m bringing my own youth group the good folks at Believe agreed that it would be a drag for me to charge my students to hear me speak when they have to suffer through me for free every weekend!). Scott is the junior high Pastor at Willow Creek and what started out as a professional “iron sharpening iron” relationship has, over the past several years, developed into a great friendship. We even wrote a book together, which apparently nobody has purchased (want to be one of the few and the proud?). Scott is flying in a day early and we’re going to do some “California” stuff which won’t involve snow, ear muffs, or ice.

SMALL GROUPS:
For the past three weeks, our small groups have mixed it up a bit. Instead of meeting in homes as usual, we are all combined in The Refinery for a large group teaching time followed by some small group discussion. The purpose was twofold: first, to give our leaders and host homes a little bit of a break and second, to allow us to teach a few deeper topics that we normally don’t cover in our small groups.
- Week One: Sex and Dating
- Week Two: Foundations of Faith (Christian doctrine 101, basically)
- Week Three: How to Grow On Your Own
Overall, things have gone fairly well but I REALLY miss being in the host home with my group of guys.

Not sure why, but this little video made me giggle like a 3rd grader.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65I0HNvTDH4

p.s. sorry, but I’m having trouble embedding a video…thus a link.

(S.O. to Rhonda. I don’t like the ‘hat tip’, so I use the shout out)

The playing of games in youth ministry has a long history, it also has a long history of being debated and questioned. Are they valid? What role do they really play? Should they always be tied into the lesson or bigger learning of some sort? Do they reinforce an already unhealthy atmosphere of competition in our culture? Those are great questions, and certainly worth considering. But for the sake of this post, I’m going to assume most junior high youth groups still engage in some sort of game playing in your ministry. And I’m going to assume that your game playing has resulted in frustration, confusion and chaos more than once. In Controlled Chaos, I wrote a little section on games. Here are some of my thoughts:

Be Energetic
If you’re excited about a game, students will be too. An excited leader can get a group of junior high students excited about virtually any game…even one as cheesy as the Life-Saver/Toothpick relay. It’s how a game’s played that makes it fun, not the game itself.
The bottom line: The energy of the staff will dictate the energy of the students.

Be Organized
Make sure you know how to play the game before you unleash it on your students. Be sure to gather the proper supplies ahead of time. If a student is going to get messy, bring a towel or change of clothes. If the rules of the game call for 50 balloons, make 75. If the game time is part of an on-going team competition be sure to correctly add points etc.
The bottom line: Know what you’re doing before you do it.

Be Clear
Simple, easy to understand games are the most effective. Games that take twenty minutes to explain, and five minutes to play aren’t much fun. When explaining rules of a game there are three good guidelines: Keep them short, keep them simple and keep students quiet until you’re finished.
The bottom line: Confusing games create chaos.

Be Fair
Don’t twist the scores so the 8th graders win. Don’t invent rules halfway through the game. Don’t give the 7th grade girls a few “secret” tips. Junior high students are notorious for yelling “That’s not fair!” When it comes to game time, they’re often right.
The bottom line: Keep it fun by keeping it fair.

Be Sensitive
Don’t use games to purposely embarrass students. Don’t ridicule their performance. Don’t humiliate one student to get a laugh from the others. Don’t force students to participate; they may actually have a good reason for not wanting to.
The bottom line: Use games to build up, not tear down.

Be Smart
Quit while you’re ahead. Always leave them wanting more. End each game on a high note. If a game is going poorly, quit before it turns disastrous! Tip: Don’t play a game that you would be uncomfortable playing in front of parents. If you think maybe you shouldn’t…you shouldn’t!
The bottom line: It’s always better to be safe than sorry!

Be Willing To Mix It Up
Not every student likes every type of game. In addition, not every student is adept at every type of game. Because of this, be sure to mix up the types of games you play. Keep a balance between physical games, mental games, group games, individual games etc. If you limit the variety, you limit the interest and enthusiasm. Also, avoid the temptation to play students’ favorite games too often. Their favorite game can quickly become their least favorite game if you play it every week. In our ministry we try not to play the same game more than three times a year…no matter how popular it is.
The bottom line: Don’t get into a rut; even a good one.

-Because I spent all day yesterday riding with buddies, I didn’t have chance to post a weekend wrap up. In a nutshell: A great weekend! Week 2 of our friendship series. Sitting around tables is going well.

- Inauguration was awesome. While I don’t agree with many of Obama’s policies (or at least what we think will be his policies), I really, really like the guy.

- I thought Rick Warren’s prayer was really powerful. Of course the criticism from far left and far right will continue. But Christian haters and petty Christians will always find a reason to have a beef with Warren.

- I also really liked the prayer at the end. Although the references to various colors of races at the closing was odd, I felt.

- If you haven’t seen Slum Dog Millionaire, you need to. It may be the best movie I’ve seen in years.

- Any local JH pastors going to “Believe” next weekend?

There are two GREAT conferences just around the corner, and they both have a distinct “flavor”. If you are able to attend a conference this year I think either PDYM or Group’s National Youth Ministry Conference would be well worth the investment.

National Youth Ministry Conference (February 27 – March 2)
This is a national youth ministry event with an intentionally intimate feel. You get a large crowd, well known speakers and trainers, and tons of super cool ‘extras’. But what Group manages to do better than anybody else is make a big conference feel intimate and conversational.

PDYM (March 24-27)
After a short break, the Purpose-driven Youth Ministry Conference is back! What sets PDYM apart is that it is a church-based conference Led entirely by Doug Fields and Saddleback’s youth team.Other than Fields, there aren’t any “heavy hitters”. Over three days, Saddleback’s team will give you an up-close look at their youth ministry as well as amazing training on how to implement the 5 purposes into your own ministry setting. Spaces are limited, so if this is the event for you, don’t wait to sign up.