Based on an extensive study by Luther Seminary, THE 9 unwraps nine “best practices” of youth ministries that seem to be finding success in their efforts to develop spiritual maturity in their students.

This is the first book I have written (co-authored with my friend, Tim Levert) that isn’t solely focused on junior high ministry. That, combined with the fact that much of the content was dictated by the results of the study, made it an interesting project for me.

If Youth ministry 2.0 is where we used to be, and youth ministry 3.0 is where we may be heading someday, then I think this book is an excellent resource for the current state of youth ministry in the local church.

Check it out here.

Posted by Heather Flies

When I think of all the things I do throughout an “average” day of ministry, there are things that energize me and things that suck energy right out of me. When I first started in ministry, I did a fantastic job of avoiding those energy-sucking things. Budgets, van reservations, calendar descriptions, and vision-planning meetings got pushed off so I could hang out with students and until my boss had sent me the second email reminder. I ended up creating more stress and more work for myself– and became even more bitter toward all those elements of my job.

I don’t want you to think I have been healed of my administrative/non-gifting avoidance disease, but I have figured out some practical steps to keep me sane… and employed.

* Get rid of the monster: If I have something non-fun or conflict oriented that I must do, I do it within the first hour of being in my office. I get rid of that big, looming monster so I can move on to more life-giving things.

* Administer the positive pep-talk: As I am going over the mission trip contributions or editing my summer camp manual, I say to myself (usually out loud) “This is all for the kids! Because you’re doing this, it’s going to be a better experience for the kids!” It may sound cheesy, but it works for me– I remind myself that it all blesses the kids in the end.

* Get out of the office: Many of us could be busy in our offices for days at a time– it takes being intentional to break out of that administrative grind and be with kids. As I look at my weeks, I make sure there are multiple one-on-ones with students, football games, musicals or lunches in school cafeterias. Even if it’s just a couple hours away, it refreshes my spirit and enables me to do the stuff that doesn’t.

* Surround yourself with people who ARE energized by the things you’re not: I don’t know what I would do without Amy’s efficiency with Excel spreadsheets! I love to see how Rick is energized by correcting essays for our 9th grade doctrinal class! It’s the Body Of Christ 101– God created us to be energized by our gifts– let people use their gifts and learn from them!

If I lived in a perfect ministry world, I would spend all my days floating on the Lazy River with kids at the water park, cheering at hockey games, and enjoying Coldstone with a struggling kid… but ministry is more than just those things and I want to be a well-rounded minister!

Posted By Jared Moine

MAN, I NEED VOLUNTEERS!

For the past couple weeks, I have noticed more and more that my service seems like “The Jared Show.” I preach, I run games, I give the announcements. I would probably also lead the music, if I wasn’t afraid my singing would turn students away from Jesus! I have always known that volunteers were important, I was one for years, but now the importance of adult volunteers is really hitting home for me. I have come into this new position of middle school pastor, and as I’m learning a new church, two things have really hit me about volunteers.

One, you can never have enough. Finding more volunteers and learning more about the ones I already have is going to determine the effectiveness of my youth ministry in the first year. I’ll be the first one to admit that this is hard. I love students; that’s why I’m doing youth ministry, but I need adult volunteers if I hope to have a youth ministry larger than ten. I need caring adults to help make my weekend service run; I need small group leaders to help grow a healthy ministry where students are known. I just need a team that I can rely on and empower to do more than I could ever do on my own. The plan is already in place to recruit more and work is being done to get to know better the adults who have already been serving at my new church. If you’re not in the season of recruiting more leaders I urge you to do it. Its hard and sometimes painful but well worth it because the second thing I have been learning about volunteers is that amazing, Godly adult volunteers are the backbone, hands, feet and really every other body part of a healthy youth ministry. I’m reminded of this point whenever I get to observe one of my volunteers being used by God. Whatever it might be, as volunteers are being used in the areas of their giftedness, God is given the glory. I’m trying to think of ways to better use, encourage, and grow the few volunteers I have and trusting God to multiply my workforce. I need more but I also need to use what I have to the best ability right now. Last week I had my first “design team meeting” where I had some adults and high school students come to the office to help me come up with ideas for our next series. I think it went well and I think they enjoyed being able to speak into to vision for the services. Plus, we had a great time laughing at some of the more ridiculous ideas…like having Alex Ovechkin (hockey player and hometown hero in the DC area) show up to a service just for shock value. I also took a risk and allowed one of my college age volunteers run a game this weekend. He did a great job, and it was nice to NOT be on stage for a few minutes.

If you aren’t recruiting volunteers I would encourage you to do so now, before the fall hits. As summer winds down and the school year starts, this is a great time to ask people to volunteer for your ministry. Promise to support them and do your best to train them, but don’t be afraid to ask them to help. If you have volunteers, spend this last month of summer getting to know them better and helping them to do even better ministry.

I know I need to do both!

Posted by Kurt Johnston

I am so excited to finally be able to announce that the first year of the LIVE small group curriculum for junior high students is all online and ready to roll! As you prepare for a new school year of small groups, I hope you will consider investing in the LIVE curriculum.

It has been a long time since I have been this excited about a new resource…and I can’t wait for our small groups to start using it. Check it out here, I think it may be a good fit for your ministry, too.

On Thursday afternoon of last week I got a phone call asking if I would be willing to speak in our adult services the upcoming weekend due to Pastor Rick having suffered an eye injury. The conversation went almost exactly like this:

voice on phone: Kurt, Pastor Rick is hoping you can teach this weekend…he is still in quite a bit of pain.

Kurt: Ummm….ummmm….sure. I would be happy to. Is there something specific for me to speak on?

Voice on phone: No….do you have something in your file you can use on short notice?

Kurt: Ummm….ummmm….I have only taught adults three times in my life so my file is pretty thin.

Voice on phone: Okay. Thanks a ton for being willing to help out…you will do a great job.

I love my Pastor, I love my church, I love that they felt comfortable making a last minute request, and I loved the opportunity to speak to the adult congregation at our church. Here are a few observations that struck me.

- Adults are a pretty easy audience. The pressure I felt was purely one of what I would call “content creation”….can’t give adults the same level of content you can give JH students….BUT adults are an easy audience! They all want to be there, they don’t send text messages or get up in large clumps to use the restroom. They don’t flick the ears of the kid in front of them and they don’t pass gas loud enough for the entire room to hear.

- Despite that….they really are just big teenagers. They have similar insecurities, similar struggles and similar hurts…..they are just packaged a little differently.

- Many of them have no clue about our youth ministry. I was shocked at how many parents introduced themselves to me saying things like, “we had no idea the youth ministry was in such capable hands” or, “we have never been down to the youth area…what else is going on for my teenager” etc. This was an eye opener for me and a reminder that no youth pastor can
assume parents are as informed, connected, in the loop etc as we often think.

- I am glad to be a junior high pastor! In 14 years at Saddleback, I have spoken in the adult services two times. I would certainly welcome the opportunity again, but last weekend reminded me that my giftedness and my calling (funny how those two things go together) revolves around ministry to young teens…and I couldn’t be happier!

Posted by Johnny Scott

I love the questions that jr highers ask. And by that I mean I usually hate the questions that jr highers ask in the middle of EVERY lesson that take us to a Sonny’s buffet of tangential abyss. Wow. That was therapeutic. I totally didn’t even know that was inside of me! ha!

I’m working on a project right now that is dealing with jr high students hearing and their calling from God. If you work with jr high kids you know they have a unique ability to dive into the deepest subjects that baffle man kind in one second and then wonder about how fart’s get their smell in the next. So as I am pounding through all the things a 6th grade jr high boy would ask about the subject, “hearing God’s calling”

(Some of you are laughing right now at the myriad of rabbit holes this daunting task alone has presented in theory)

You know that a question kind of like this is going to come up because you have most likely tried to answer it in the last week yourself, “Why doesn’t God do cool stuff like part the red sea anymore?”

Some of you answered this question like this: “The Lord enabled you to stop playing PSP long enough for me to get through an entire lesson! In my book that is a miracle in direct proportion to the Red Sea parting!”

With that in mind I took a stab at one of those types of questions. As always, please through in your two cents on the hot topic below with comments and real ministry moments. Here is the excerpt:

A specific word about Angels:
There would be no need for a book like this if God still used Angels as His main mode for telling us our calling. During Old testament times there were not copies of God’s word laying in the Tabernacle lost and found. But who are we to say God won’t fall back on the angel option instead of, say a text. So here is our official stance on hearing your calling from an angel: If an Angel told you to do something, it is God’s calling on your life. (They don’t carry angel identification cards from what we can see in the Bible. To identify an angel look for: music from out of nowhere, wings, glowing faces and robes that look the brightest white you’ve ever seen.) From our research we saw Angels had a two main jobs when appearing to mortals: telling people their calling from God or killing. So if you see an angel and they don’t say, “Do not be afraid”, then be afraid.

posted by Scott Rubin

(… just not a “literal” embrace.)

A couple of weeks ago I had a really awkward experience. We all know that in order to serve middle schoolers, we need to get comfortable with a certain degree of awkwardness — but this didn’t really help me out in this situation.

I play on a softball team of old guys; mostly dads like me. True enough, most of them can smack a softball much further than I can, which explains our winning record… but I digress. We had just gotten done with a little batting practice before a game, and walked over to the field where our game would be played. My wife Lynette comes to lots of our games — I think she enjoys the comedy more than anything. So as I approached the field, I saw her talking with someone I didn’t recognize. Lynette had her back to me, so as I walked up, I put my hand on her back. Not her shoulder, or her arm. Right in the middle of the lower part of her back. (hey, not that low — come on, I’m not creepy) Anyway, the “awkward” part came when she looked up from her conversation … and I realized that this person was actually not my wife after all!

You’ve never heard a guy apologize, and back-pedal, as fast as I did!
Maybe the worst part of it was that this girl probably couldn’t have been more than about 20 year old. And let’s just say I’m way older than that.

Thankfully, this particular girl laughed it off and forgave me. (And my own wife seemed complimented that I thought a 20 year old looked like her!)

But do you know that feeling of Awkwardness I’m talking about with Jr. Higher?

- Like when you call a Jr. High boy’s house, and he only speaks in one-word answers.

- Like when a Jr. Higher interrupts a conversation you’re having with a potential volunteer by doing something completely “unhelpful” … like smacking you in the head & running away.

- Like when a Jr. High girl gets her first period during your mission trip.

- Like when a Jr. High student introduces you to their parent… and then tells them you said something that you absolutely did not say!

It’s all part of the Awkward World of Middle School Ministry, and the best way through it is to simply embrace it. (Just not the kind of embracing that involves a hand on anyone’s lower back!)

Posted By Kurt Johnston

By now you have probably heard about the unfortunate firing of a Department of Agriculture employee over race-related comments that have since appeared to br taken out of context.

In the article linked below you can read more of the details as well as see an example of what I believe was a missed opportunity for President Obama (hopefully it works…I’m still not quite sure how to do some basic functions on the iPad). When mistakes are made and things begin to go a little haywire, it is tempting for leaders to pass the buck and affix the blame elsewhere.

In this case the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, may be very much to blame….but I think Obama missed a great opportunity when he publicly pointed the finger Vilsack’s direction.

Our culture has created a climate where leaders are afraid to admit any level of fault because their foes are lurking in the shadows ready to pounce on any mistake or sign of weakness (sadly our church cultures are not a whole lot different). So in an attempt to look strong and confident leaders often reveal weakness and insecurity by pointing fingers and hoping none of the crap that just hit the fan splatters on them.

Why am I passionate about the topic? Because I have made the mistake several times myself and have seen the lack of trust it causes in those I lead. I have also managed to get it right a few
times and have enjoyed the trust it builds.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/george/2010/07/obama-vilsack-jumped-the-gun-on-sherrods-ouster.html

Still learning,
Kurt

Posted By Kurt Johnston

10. “Don’t worry about it.”
9. “I may have misplaced the sign up sheet that had your credit card number on it.”
8. “I’m sure if we left your daughter at camp there was a good reason.”
7. “Um…about that minivan we borrowed.”
6. “Sheeesh lady, how many meds does one kid need?”
5. “I know you’re disappointed, but he’s only copying the behavior he sees modeled at home.”
4. “If I were you….”
3. “Calm down.”
2. “The average parent only spends about 15 minutes per day with their child, and I’ve noticed you seem to be falling WAY short of an already embarrasingly low bar.”
1. “I know older people like yourselves don’t usually understand teenagers, that’s why you have me!”