Posted by Kurt Johnston

1. Say Yes When They Ask For Your Help. We have all been taught that a key to time management is learning how to say NO. However, I think that when it comes to serving our volunteers we need to say YES whenever we can. Recently, one of our junior high small group leaders was taking his group of 7th grade guys on a little field trip to In N Out Burger and needed an extra driver. He probably could have called a parent to help, but he called me. I took the opportunity to say YES to his request. It was an easy thing to do, and I was actually fairly surprised at how meaningful it was to the leader.

2. Give Them Permission To Take A Break. Thank God for faithful volunteers! But sometimes your most faithful teammates are on the brink of burn out because they feel like the ministry can’t afford for them to take a week or two off, to skip an activity etc. Have a personal conversation with some of your most dedicated volunteers and ask them….no, TELL them….that you want them to take a week off every now and then.

3. Don’t Just Give Them A Break, Pay For It! In addition to giving them freedom to take a week off, give them a couple movie passes or a Starbucks card. Encourage them to actually use the gift during the time they would normally be serving. There is something really rewarding about sitting in a movie theater, or sipping a hot drink at the very same time you would normally be shushing students during bible study.

4. Ask Your Sr. Pastor To Brag On Them. Every now and then, give your Pastor the names of one or two of your leaders and ask him/her to pull them aside at some point and brag on them. Ask him\her to say something like, “Joe, I was talking to (insert your name here) the other day, and he couldn’t quit talking about how thankful he is for your role in our junior high ministry. I just wanted to thank you for serving our teenagers.”

5. Remember The Little Things. Send an anniversary card. Call to wish them a happy birthday. Send their child a get well card when sick. Shoot an email congratulating them on their promotion. Remembering the little things makes a big impact.

Posted by Kurt Johnston

- This past weekend, we wrapped up our annual “School Wars” series. For two weekends, we divide students into 8 teams based on school, turn our gymnasium into an arena of sorts, ask volunteers to come dressed as gladiators and have the mother of all competitions. I’m TOTALLY NOT into competitive, team based youth ministry stuff but once a year…for two weekends only…School Wars has proven to be a winner. Our attendance goes up, and it proves to be a momentum booster as we head into spring. Each year, I pre-record short, 10-12 minute lessons, with a very strong evangelistic/gospel presentation. Good stuff!

- Tonight I am heading to the Angels vs. Dodgers game (annual “freeway series” right before opening of the season) with two volunteers who have both served in our JH ministry for over 15 years. People often ask me how to build a strong volunteer team and how to keep volunteers around long term. My simplistic answer is: share life together. We all know relational youth ministry is the best kind….so it just makes sense to me that a relational approach to ministry to volunteers would be, too.

- I am currently reading a book that I don’t want to wait to recommend. I am only about halfway through it, but man….I really like it. It is Influencer; the power to change anything, by Kerry Patterson.

Speaking of books, I recently read the three-book Hunger Games series….read all three books in less than a week. It is a series that has slowly gained momentum and is being read by junior highers and senior citizens alike.

- I don’t love college basketball, but you gotta love seeing a tournament with NONE of the #1 seeds in the final four. To me, this year’s tournament makes a wonderful argument for a playoff system in college football.

Posted by Kurt Johnston

I am in a season of my life and ministry that seems to be reminding me of a ton of important leadership basics, as well as teaching me some valuable new lessons. A few things I’ve learned\been reminded of recently include:

- It’s Okay to wait to talk…and sometimes not to talk at all. This is ESPECIALLY true when in a room of other leaders who know much more about the topic on hand, and have more at stake in the direction the conversation turns. I am learning to say very little in discussions concerning stuff I don’t know much about. Too often, leaders feel like they need to have an opinion about everything. I’ve learned the hard way that having an opinion about everything usually only serves to water down your influence.

- Don’t be a “One Trick Pony”. In other words, care about stuff even if it isn’t YOUR stuff. Don’t confuse what I said in the above paragraph with being uninterested in other issues on the table. Be VERY interested, ask clarifying questions, ask for ways you can help out, etc. One of the best ways to gain trust and influence among a group of peers is to show a genuine concern about things other than only what you are responsible for.

- Make fewer definitive proclamations. Instead of saying “It’s obvious that the decision to make is…….”, say something like, “It seems that a good path to consider might be…..”. Instead of “without a doubt, our students need….”, say something like, “my hunch is, our students could use…” Those subtle differences allow for two things: 1) they allow you to sound a little less authoritative, and 2) they allow for the possibility that you could be wrong! Strong, over-confined proclamations often leave leaders scrambling to “spin” things when their proclamation doesn’t pan out.

Okay, your turn….anybody want to share a recentl leadership learning? Or a classic leadership tip you have seen work time and time again?

Posted by Kurt Johnston

I am really excited to announce the Middle School Ministry Campference coming this fall (October 14-16).  The Middle School Ministry Campference is being hosted by The Youth Cartel (Mark Oestreicher’s ministry) and will be held at Spring Hill Camps in Evart Michigan.

For way too long, different people have talked about the idea of a conference designed specifically for junior high/middle school youth workers, and I think Marko has stumbled upon the PERFECT idea:  The “campference” is exactly what the name implies:  A conference…and camp! 

The Campference will include General sessions, worskshops, great music, free time activities like zip lines, paintball, ropes course etc. Hope to see you there!

posted by Kurt Johnston

As Spring rapidly approaches (well, maybe not for Chicago), It is always a good time to do a little “spring cleaning” in your ministry. Here are a few things I like to evaluate around this time each year:

- Our small groups: Curriculum, leader\student ratios, how equipped and empowered the leaders feel, etc. I think spring is a perfect time for this evaluation because there is still some time left in the school year to salvage things that are hurting, and because it gives plenty of lead time to really correct (not just band-aid) the big issues before the next small group season begins in the Fall.

- Our volunteer team: What is the morale of the team? who feels fulfilled, who feels frustrated?

- Our 8th grade class: They will be moving up into high school in a few short months. Have we helped them prepare? Have we covered the topics we said we wanted to cover when they entered 7th grade?

- Our Budget: We operate on a fiscal year budget, so spring is always a great time to take a close look to make sure we land the plane safely. In my experience, the ministries I lead typically make our biggest ministry blunders toward the end of the year because we often have a false sense of security…we somehow think we have more budget left than we really do.

- Our workspace: It wouldn’t be Spring without some good old fashioned spring cleaning! I like to set a day aside each spring to clean our offices, our meeting space, etc.

Posted by Kurt Johnston

-On Twitter?  Consider following @peaceplanman.  Mark leads the PEACE (think missions) team here at Saddleback and is one of the best leaders I know.  He and I have only run in the same circles for a few months, but he has quickly become an informal mentor.  The vast majority of his tweets consist of leadership nuggets…and not just the usual fare.

- This week I made a fairly bold announcement/goal to try to record a year’s worth of junior high messages on video.  It means going back into my archives, picking the best series and heading into some sort of studio. The hope is that our various regional campuses, most of which will be led by volunteer youth workers, would have a ton of junior high messages ready to go so they won’t have to spend their precious youth ministry time trying to create lessons.  Instead, they can hang out with students and leaders doing what matters most.

- Last night I took my 8th grade son to the midnight showing of Battle LA.  Our parenting philosophy has always been that, within reason, family time and creating memories should trump things like academics (and that philosophy was very evident on my son’s last report card!).  Not sure it is the best philosophy, but it’s the one we’re sticking with.  Anyway…if you liked Blackhawk Down and you like creatures from space then you will love this movie. 

-

Posted by Kurt Johnston

Like many (over 3,000) of my youth ministry cohorts, I spent last weekend at the SYMC conference in Chicago.  Because I flew in late on Monday night, and spent Tuesday and Wednesday in back-to-back full day meetings at church, I am just now taking a few minutes to reflect on my time at SYMC.  Here’s a partial, and random, list of things I love about getting away to conferences occassionaly.

I See Old Friends:  The youth ministry world truly is a fraternity (a trendy word right now is “tribe”…which I totally don’t get), and anual conferences like SYMC serve as a sort of annual reunion.  There are a whole lot of men and women whom I consider friends that I rarely get the joy of spending time with. Conferences ensure that I reconnect with my “Tribal Fraternity” at least once a year.

- I Meet Wonderful People:  Every year at SYMC, I meet a whole bunch of new people…from all sorts of ministry demographics.  An example from this year would be Scott, a middle-aged junior high youth pastor at a very small, rural(ish) church.  Scott sat on a panel I moderated and had some AMAZING input to share from his ministry context.  Scott pops out as just one of dozens upon dozens (maybe hundreds upon hundreds!) of new people I had the joy of interacting with this year.

- I Hear Stuff I Disagree With:  If everything at a conference was stuff I already know, or easily agree with….why would I want to go?  I love the diversity of thinking, theology, methodology etc. that is evident at conferences like SYMC.  It stretches my thinking, challenges my assumptions and forces me to “new places”.

- I Get Time Alone: Okay…it didn’t happen this year because I literally taught all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday as well as moderated a couple of panel discussions.  Add that to lunch, dinner and movie dates with youth workers and this year proved to be fairly chaotic.  But NORMALLY I enjoy the habit of ditching a session or two to escape all by myself to walk around the city, take in a movie, journal, etc.

I worked hard all week last week, had an incredibly busy weekend at SYMC and then spent two grueling days in executive team meetings. Tomorrow I rest. 

Posted by Kurt Johnston

…The Rob Bell dust-up over the weekend really got me heated.  If you don’t know about it, and want to, google “Rob Bell universalism”.  A few thoughts floating around my head in light of all of this:

- What ever happened to “They will know you are my disciples if you love one another?”  Who was it that said that, anyway?

- Why do Christ-followers , who should display at least some of the fruits of the spirit (peace, patience, self control…) seem to be the best at making bold proclamations, accusations and criticisms about people and things before we could possibly know the full context, details, etc.?

- I cringe when I see words like “heresy” and “heretic” being used so easily. 

- If theology is man’s attempt to study, understand and apply the ways of God…then it makes COMPLETE sense that at least some of our theology is wrong.  I gotta admit, it would be nice if our (my) theology of hell was wrong….how wonderful would it be if Christ’s punishment, death and resurrection actually resulted in everybody going to Heaven!

Posted by Kurt Johnston

In Hollywood there is a concept among screen writers and directors known as “The Third Door”. Basically, this is how it works: The first door represents a direction a story might take that is very predictable…very traditional. The audience would know what is coming, anticipate it and usually be completely satisfied. An example might be the traditional formula of “Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy wins girl back”. That whole formula is very “first door” Especially the “boy wins girl back” part.

Second door is when the story opens a door that is less expected….one that the
audience probably didn’t see coming. A great example of this would be in the movie The Breakup starring Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston. At the end of the movie, right about the time you are expecting the classic, first door, ending….that they would get back together, the story opens a second, less expected door: The characters remain friendly, but DO NOT get back together! Not the expected ending to a movie that seemed to be following the traditional formula. The ending was a second door ending.

Third door is when the story goes someplace COMPLETELY different….it takes a twist that people would say they never saw coming; a twist they would have never even thought to anticipate. For example, a third door ending to The Breakup might be that in the last scene, as the two characters are running across the street to embrace, kiss and reunite, one of them gets run over by a bus. Fade to black and roll credits.

What does this have to do with junior high ministry? I think far too many junior high
ministries run our programs, our camps, our small groups and even spend our one-on-one time with students in a FIRST DOOR manner. Kids know what to expect, it fits the formula, and most people are satisfied. It is safe, predictable and easy.

But what if we started to think about SECOND and THIRD door ways to minister? What if we did things, asked questions, taught lessons, and interacted with students in ways that were a little less predictable?

My challenge to you this week: Find one or two areas in your ministry and try something THIRD DOOR!

Posted by Kurt Johnston

- Will we ever catch up? That is the question I found myself asking last night as I watched a screening of the soon-to-be-released movie, “Soul Surfer”. It is the story of surfer Bethany Hamilton who lost her arm in a shark attack a few years ago. It truly is an inspirational story. The movie stars Dennis Quad, Helen Hunt and Carrie Underwood, so it seems like it had a fair amount of production budget. However, as is the case with most faith-based films, the overall production quality was a couple steps below par. Now, if you saw “Facing the Giants” this film is about 5 steps forward, but it is still frustrating to see the body of Christ unable to deliver world class results. We are getting closer, but I wonder if we will ever catch up.

- Our church is in the middle of hosting a week-long conference. Today, in the parking lot of starbucks, I met a team of 18 paid staff from a church in the seattle area. Eastlake Community Church is 5 years old and has grown to about 5,000 people. A visit to their website seems to indicate that they are truly trying to do church a little differently, and it seems to be working!

- Do you have student leaders in your youth ministry? Consider taking them to Doug Fields’ Student Leadership Conference this July. I promise, it will be a highlight of their summer. check it out at www.dougfields.com

- I’m shockingly excited about a brand new resource at www.simplyjuniorhigh.com
It is the “Chat or Challenge” Ball, and I think it is an absolutely genius idea for junior high groups! It’s basically a clean, controlled game of “truth or dare” but the “truths” (chat) and the “dares” (challenge) have already been written. an inflatable beach ball has a mixture of Chats and Challenges printed all over it. The ball is tossed around a small group, and when the leader hollers “stop” whoever is stuck holding the ball looks to see what “chat” or “challenge” their left thumb is sitting on, and then proceeds to accomplish the challenge or discuss the chat. GENIUS, GENIUS, GENIUS.

- Concerning the above comment. Simply Junior High was named “simply” for two reasons: 1) it provides stuff that is soley created for junior high aged ministries. its, simple…you need junior high resources? Go to Simply Junior High. and 2) Because in a ministry culture that seems infactuated with over-thinking things, there is still a need for the simple; the practical stuff that you can grab off the shelf and put to use right away.