Life + Faith

Tag: Youth Ministry

  • Published: Youth Ministry Is Not Just A Stepping Stone

    Yeah, so I’m pretty excited and encouraged to have had a piece about why youth ministry isn’t just a stepping stone to becoming a lead pastor published on The Gospel Coalition. I have known for a little while it was going to happen, it has just been a matter of waiting patiently. It was published a few days ago and can now be found here.

    “A common misunderstanding about youth pastors is that they’re training for the higher ranking position of lead pastor. While it’s true many pastors once worked with youth, the two roles are distinct. Senior pastors who’ve previously served as youth pastors can provide encouragement and understanding. They can also channel their experience into unrealistic expectations, perhaps beginning with the refrain, “Back when I was a youth pastor . . .””

    As an aside I was encouraged even further to find my piece, Redeeming Love For Run-Down Parents, was also being promoted at TGC. Unbelievable.

    screen-shot-2019-01-12-at-8.11.32-pm.jpg

    You can read other articles I’ve had published elsewhere here.

  • Published: Redeeming Love For Run-Down Parents

    I have tried my hand at writing a post for parents. Thankfully it was published on the Rooted Ministry Parents blog this week.

    In the post itself I focus on how the Book of Ruth helps remind us parents that we are not the saviours of our children. It is not us parents who redeem them, it is the Lord. We can rest in the knowledge that God is working in our lives, in our parenting, and in our children. We can rest in his faithfulness, his sovereignty, and his redemption.

    “Thankfully, the story of Ruth reminds us that in among all the tasks, night terrors, and tiredness, it is God who faithfully rescues our minds and hearts. Behind the daily grind of parenting there sits a God who seeks our hearts and the hearts of our children. He has his providential hand upon us, calling us into his care and comfort, and rescuing us from our own ineptitudes, sinfulness, and character flaws.”

    You can read the whole thing here.

    If you would like to read other articles I’ve had published elsewhere you can find them here.

  • Reflections On The Rooted Ministry Leadership Summit

    In May just gone I had the privilege of attending a leadership summit organised by the US-based youth ministry organisation Rooted Ministry. I’ve written for their blog over the past couple of years and enjoyed many of the articles they produce. Unbelievably, I was invited to attend this small summit in Birmingham, Alabama with other 40 like-minded youth ministry practitioners.

    rootedbadgewriter

    This summit was three days of being fed in my faith, my love for God, my love for youth ministry, my love for writing, and for ministry in general. I made some great connections and friends, and was edified by everyone I met. I saw and heard more about American Christianity and life, and I also experienced some amazing Southern hospitality and food. Incredible.

    In the months since this summit I have often reflected back on what I learned and the different conversations I had. Below is an outline of some of those reflections under four distinct questions.

    Where Was God?

    This is always a hard question to answer, because of course, God is everywhere! But, it is always worth asking because it helps us observe and be intentional about where we believe God is impacting us. It’s the kind of question I constantly ask on short-term mission teams, and we as a youth ministry ask it at the end of each youth night. The question is worthwhile in this context too.

    I believe I saw God at work in:

    • The conversations I had with the people and those I connected with. I stayed with some friends before I arrived at the summit. It was great to reconnect with them and hear about how God has been shaping them and their lives in recent years. The conversations I had with my hosts and at the social gatherings of the summit were often powerful. And also, God was at work in the small group conversations we had as our writing and speaking was critiqued by others.
    • The terrific teaching we had from pastor and preacher Robbie Holt. Robbie was from a church in South Carolina (I think!). He spoke from Genesis 27-33, the story of Isaac, Esau and Jacob. It was certainly encouraging; and in some ways was preaching I hadn’t heard in a while. The applications to church, youth, and family ministry was particularly beneficial.
    • Having a greater understanding of the vision and passion of Rooted Ministry. To hear more about the beginnings and then the hopes for the ministry, the impact it is having, was really encouraging and felt like ‘home’ in some sense. An organisation that upholds the grace of God, theological depth, and relational youth ministry.

    How Was I Encouraged?

    I was encouraged in ministry through:

    • Understanding more about the breadth of contexts there are in the US, but also seeing how similar some of them are to Melbourne and to me.
    • Hearing the stories, the challenges, and encouraging growth of God at work with people, youth pastors, and the ministry itself. Often it is hard to find the encouraging stories in amongst the trees, but they are always there.
    • Realising that many of the issues to church-based youth ministry and youth pastors are issues everyone has to deal with in their own contexts. Issues like human sexuality and gender, social media, biblical illiteracy, evangelism and mission, loneliness and isolation, and mental health.

    What Was The Impact Of This Summit?

    I think this summit will impact my future ministry in the following ways:

    • I am encouraged to be even more conscious of shaping the ministry through the Bible.
    • Thinking deeply and theologically regarding ministry shape and philosophy, including pastoral responses and issues.
    • I’ll continue to mentor younger youth pastors and emphasise the use and effectiveness of the Bible in their youth ministries.
    • This summit has put a greater urgency in the mission and evangelism aspects to youth ministry. The summit highlighted for me the importance and urgent need to think and speak in evangelistic ways in youth ministry.
    • I was also reminded of the need to gain clarity on strategy for our youth ministry and family ministries. This includes communication of that strategy, particularly to new students and families. In a world where most parents believe youth group is going to be either, (1) a saviour for their child or (2) a place where they find wholesome values that are similar to their own experience, it’s important to outline why we do what we do.

    Why Was It Worthwhile?

    It was worth going to this leadership summit because:

    • It helped build relationships and hear encouraging stories of other people involved in youth ministry.
    • It provided exposure to different contexts. There were youth pastors from all over the States and provided a microcosm of experiences and issues people were dealing with in their own cities and towns. The US is the largest youth ministry market in the world and as ideas on youth ministry filters down through resources coming out of the States; no doubt Australian youth ministries will be impacted by them in the future. Having a first hand experience with a number of people from different parts of the US has helped me in understanding this more.
    • It strengthened my alignment to Rooted Ministry as a youth ministry organisation. I was grateful for the grassroots type approach to the ministry that they are seeking to undertake and encourage.
    • It has made me reflect on the state of youth ministry here in Melbourne and Australia. There are very few, if any, youth ministry organisations that are solely church-based, with the similar approach to that of Rooted Ministry.

    All in all this was a terrific time and a worthwhile week. It was a privilege to be invited and have the opportunity to go. I look forward to writing for them more and perhaps reflecting further in coming months. I’m very thankful for the opportunity given to me because of the generosity of Rooted Ministry, my church, and individuals too.

  • Published: The Public Progress of a (Youth) Pastor

    While listening to a podcast of one of Alistair Begg’s conference messages I was struck by his exposition of 1 Timothy 4:12-16. In it he refers to the public nature of the ministry, and the progress seen of that ministry by the congregation. This sparked an idea about what that might look like for those of us in youth ministry. In reality it took far longer to write than I’d hoped but I think it has come out with what I wanted to say!

    It was recently published at Rooted Ministry, and you can read the whole thing here.

    “Through our own maturity as a believer – our persistence in relying on Jesus – and the sharpening of our ministry skills and abilities, we will find ourselves making progress. As we use these God-given gifts, skills, abilities, and aptitudes we will grow in these things, develop these things, and our progress will bear fruit in those to whom we minister to (no matter the size of the group).”

  • The Benefits of Short-Term Teams

    Questions are raised about short-term teams all the time. As I defined in my previous post, short-term teams are:

    “A group of up to a dozen Christians, spending up to three weeks, specifically exploring the idea of mission in a context that is culturally and linguistically different to their home culture.”

    And even a definition like this will raise questions.

    Many of these questions consistently revolve around finances, impact, development, need, politics, and church relevance. Questions like:

    • Are they worth the cost? Couldn’t the money be used elsewhere?
    • Do Westerners arriving on the shores of a developing country for a couple of weeks actually help anyone? Are these teams a modern form of colonialisation?
    • Is anything really achieved for the participants and the people in the host country by a 2-3 week stay?
    • What is the image given to people who see wealthy Western Christians coming and going from their country while they are never helped themselves?

    These are good and valid questions.

    I know a number of people who have seen damage done spiritually, personally, financially, culturally, and socially because of these teams. And so rightfully, questions do need to be asked of this $2 billion industry. Depending on where you come from will mean different questions.

    The Benefits of The Short-Term Mission Team

    In recent years there have been helpful books written, like “When Helping Hurts“, that have promoted better practices for short-term mission teams. These practices have elevated the need to think through short-term teams, not only from a participant point-of-view but for those in the country where the team is going. They have also provided helpful frameworks, and questions to ask of teams, in the areas of finance, community development, spiritualisation, evangelism, discipleship, and more.

    This goes a long way in helping those of us who lead teams and involved in short-term missions to think through the issues. Sometimes there is the need for change because of this thinking and questioning. And sometimes, we may only need to shift our goals a little and see the benefits of these teams can occur from a better and more solid foundation.

    Benefits Of Short-Term Teams

    And while there are plenty of criticisms and plenty of questions to be asked, I believe there are also plenty of benefits. Many of these I have seen myself, for me personally and for others who have been on teams before. And I’m sure there are also plenty of others that come from short-term teams too. But in the mean time, here are 15 benefits of short-term teams.

    1. They increase mission awareness within your church.
    2. They give the church a tangible opportunity to be involved in global mission.
    3. They broaden the worldview of those who participate, and those in the congregation.
    4. They increase the participation of of church members in local mission.
    5. They help grow followers of Jesus.
    6. They open participants eyes to the needs and realities of other people in other cultures.
    7. They develop a sense of connection between church members, participants, and the missionaries visited.
    8. They encourage the ministry of the the missionaries who are visited.
    9. The provide opportunity for participants to receive training in cross-culture ministry and settings.
    10. They help people understand the nature of support-raising.
    11. They enable participants to see what the reality of missions is like on the ground.
    12. They give another person in the world the opportunity to interact with someone from another culture.
    13. They increase the passion for helping people and being a good neighbour.
    14. They provide action-reflection experiences for participants in emotional, physical, and spiritual ways.
    15. They change lives and career paths.

    Each of these points could be expanded. There are no doubt others to add too. But, as I’ve said here, and previously, these benefits give good impetus for short-term teams and their value to the church.