by Chase | Ministry
Great ministries operate well because of their incredible volunteers.
While there are some incredible ministry leaders out there, none of them could lead a church or non-profit without the support of volunteers.
Volunteers give their time, money, and resources to further a mission, not receive a paycheck. And because of their selfless hearts, we want to communicate that we not only appreciate what they do, but who they are.
17 Reasons We Are Thankful For Volunteers
Volunteers are the unsung heroes who support the weight of weekly programming.
Volunteers believe that there is power in the name of Jesus.
Volunteers desire to extend the grace of God they have received.
Volunteers see people as those created in the image of God.
Volunteers lay down their own comfort to invest in the lives of others.
Volunteers don’t have to attend events or serve, but they are willing to give their time.
Volunteers know that the “harvest is plentiful and the workers are few” and still decide to step up and step out on faith.
Volunteers are the 20% who are doing 80% of the work.
Volunteers serve behind the scenes in areas others take for granted.
Volunteers lean on the Gospel to lead others.
Volunteers pray for God’s guidance and strength.
Volunteers put up with people who are hard to love.
Volunteers serve for the long haul.
Volunteers give above and beyond their full-time responsibilities.
Volunteers give their vacation days to attend events.
Volunteers apply their God-given gifts for Kingdom impact.
Volunteers understand that each person is expected to live out their faith in Jesus.
How else are you thankful for volunteers?
by Chase | Discipleship, Ministry
There is no greater mission field than the local school campus.
That statement didn’t surprise you, did it?
How about this statement:
Most student pastors have a hidden agenda when serving in local schools.
If I were a betting man I would venture to say that the school already knows your hidden agenda!
(BTW: Southern Baptists only gamble during college football games and on cruises. International waters make allowances for many activities deacons find unacceptable.)
Here is the hidden agenda:
Student pastors are guilty of viewing schools as a feeder program.
Our “partnership” tends to look like a one-way street. The church is rarely a true advocate to local schools because churches are selfishly trying to increase their numbers instead of impact the community.
Advocacy goes far beyond awareness. We are all aware of the needs surrounding our schools and teens, but how many of us have locked arms in an effort to impact our students both spiritually and socially?
Being an advocate to the local schools involves more than a student pastor being a chaplain for the football team – it requires volunteers, teachers, and parents investing time and energy in the school campus.
Being an advocate communicates that your church is invested for the long-haul instead of visiting lunches a few weeks before your large church event.
If you are a student worker who is trying to cast the vision to be an advocate in the schools, here are three reasons why youth ministries must be advocates in their local schools.
Why Youth Ministries Must Be Advocates In Local Schools
Schools are the hub of culture
Do you wish to see the ups, downs, needs, and values of your community? Heading to a high school will give you a thumb on the pulse of your community’s culture. Communities are centered around the activities and life of their schools. This is the natural hub of your neighborhood. The local school campuses directly represent the demographics of your area.
Schools are in need
From physical needs of specifics families to the spiritual needs of the community — local schools represent the needs that exist in your area. Teachers are continually looking for individuals and organizations to meet their students’ needs. To be an advocate of your school is to quickly identify and meet needs in the community.
Faculty desire to enrich the community
The teachers and admin have the similar calling as you do! They want to invest into the community. Teachers gave up money and fame to spend more time with students and parents. Why? They want to make an impact. Sure, some of the teachers in your school are not Christians, but you can be a flame of encouragement and an advocate as you partner together to transform your community.
Now What?
Which church members and parents are involved in the schools surrounding your church?
How can you cast vision and activate them to become advocates for the school and for the expansion of the Kingdom of God?
by Chase | Ministry
Hosting a group of teenagers at church or in your home can be challenging, especially if you want to really connect.
These days, when people get together, everyone has a cell phone nearby (or in hand). Everyone is having more than one conversation – several with those around them and several via social media and texting. That’s all well and good … up until the moment everyone leaves the gathering and you, the host, realize that people didn’t connect the way you wanted them to.
There are many possible solutions! For me, I enjoy planning ahead to give the group time just enough structure so that those attending are forced to focus on what’s happening in the room with them, but not so much structure that the event feels forced or is no longer fun.
An easy solution to this is to introduce an easy, fun, and low-risk game. One of the best and easiest group games around is Celebrity.
How To Play The Best Party Game Ever: Celebrity
To play Celebrity, you need very few supplies.
Supplies:
- A bowl or basket (about the size of a medium mixing bowl)
- Slips of paper – 3 per person
- A few pens
- Watch or phone with a timer
Divide the group into two teams. Explain the rules and start playing!
1. Each player must think of three celebrity names. These can be famous people (Tom Cruise), famous characters (James Bond), famous animals (Mickey Mouse), and so on … any name that is famous!
2. Each player puts one name on each of their slips of paper. Each person should end up with three slips of paper with one celebrity name on each. (Don’t tell anyone the names you wrote down! It’s fine for there to be repeats, but try to think of names that wouldn’t be used by everyone.)
3. All players should fold their slips of paper in half and place them into the bowl/basket.
4. Next, the players will go through three rounds. (Explained below.)
5. At the start of a round, one player from the first team goes up to the bowl. They have one minute to get their teammates to guess as many celebrity names as possible. Once a slip has been used, just drop it on the floor, but do not throw them away. Give 1 point per correct guess. You can subtract points for passing on one (if you don’t know who it is), or you can limit the number of passes per person/round.
6. When the minute is over, a team member from the second team comes up and repeats this. They have one minute to get their teammates to guess as many names as possible.
7. Teams alternate until the bowl is empty.
8. Once the bowl is empty, you put all the slips of paper back into the bowl and start the next round. (This is why you didn’t throw any of them away.)
9. Once all the rounds are done, total up all the points and declare a winner!
Here are the rules for each round:
- Round One: Catchphrase. You can describe the celebrity whose name is on the paper, you can talk like them, you can tell the movies they have acted in, and so on. You cannot say any part of the celebrity’s name, you cannot use “rhymes with,” you cannot spell it out.
- Round Two: Charades. Now that you’ve heard all the celebrity names once, you use Charades rules. Act out the character using no speech. You cannot use sign language, but you can use standard Charades motions (movie if the celebrity is an actor, singing if the celebrity is a musician, and so on).
- Round Three: One Word. For the final round, all players have heard the names twice. Players are only allowed to use one word to get their teammates to guess the celebrity on the slip of paper.
Celebrity is a great game for keeping teenagers (and adults) fully engaged in the people and activities going on in the room with them without making anyone feel like they can’t participate or still chat with those around them. Prepare yourself for tons of laughter and silliness, along with solid bonding experiences all around.
What other games are on your go-to list for group gatherings?
by Chase | Ministry
What is the secret to growing student ministries?
Is it their facilities?
What about their budgets?
Perhaps their events?
We put a ton of stock on various programming aspects in student ministries, but we all know that we can get sucked into the sin of coveting someone else’s model of ministry.
While we all know this temptation we need to be reminded of this truth:
Pastors aren’t called to emulate ministry models, but to imitate Jesus Christ.
Often we want to experience numerical growth without emphasizing spiritual growth.
As I have been connecting with student pastors who lead various size ministries I have seen these two concepts as the foundations to their spiritual growth.
Here are two quick observations.
2 Values Of Growing Student Ministries
They Are Focused On Growing Relational With God And Others
Growing student ministries place an emphasis on building a relationship with Jesus and others. This isn’t an slogan or an add-on to what they are doing. Each event, group, camp, and worship service points students to know God and others through spiritual disciplines.
They Are Prayerfully Obedient
Growing student ministries don’t just act they prayerfully obedient. Each decision is bathed in prayer. Each small group actively prays. Many ministries move for movements sake, but student ministries that are spiritually growing prayerfully walk in obedience to Jesus.
Now What?
Obviously these are not exhaustive lists to lead student ministries in spiritual growth.
Growing spiritually is not rocket science. It doesn’t take complex methods, but intentionality.
by Chase | Discipleship, Ministry
Ahh, the labyrinth of teenage dating.
Is there anything weirder, more complex, and more dangerous than teenagers dating? Aren’t there laws about this? No. Well, there should be!
Dating is the number one reason parents and students want to stop by my office and talk. Seriously, dating is the number one heartbreak and concern on the hearts of teenagers and parents. Don’t you remember your teenage years? It seems as if every song, every conversation, and every thought centered around the subject of dating.
As your parents and students try to navigate these treacherous paths of dating, they are asking tons of questions. I know that your parents may not be sending you three emails a day on the subject, but they are wrestling with these questions.
Don’t mistake a lack of emails for a lack of questions.
Below is a list of questions many parents are trying to answer in the realm of teenage dating.
Why would I give you a list of questions that didn’t have an answer?
Simple. I believe that your leadership team, student ministry, or small group needs to address these questions with your families. Each question should shape your sermon series, parent resources, event planning, and long-range planning. We need to ensure that we are answering questions that people are asking and resourcing our parents to lead their children for the glory of God.
The church has a responsibility to show families how the Gospel of Jesus answers their everyday questions.
11 Questions Parents Are Asking About Teenage Dating
“When do I need to talk to my student about sex and dating?”
“When will I know that my student is mature enough to start dating?”
“My student is already dating. How do I navigate this?”
“How can I talk about godly relationships when I’m divorced?”
“My student isn’t a virgin. Now what?”
“What characteristics of a girlfriend/boyfriend should my son/daughter be looking for?”
“Our student is in a negative dating relationship. How do we address this with our son?”
“How do I have conversations about sex and dating without making it weird and awkward?”
“My student has been looking at pornography. What should I do?”
“How much freedom do we give our teenager when it comes to dating?”
“What boundaries should we set in place for our high schooler who is dating?”
Now What?
Student ministries are not responsible for raising children, but they are called to equip parents for each phase of life.
What other questions have we left off of the list? How can your team start answering these questions and encourage parents to be proactive with conversations about teenage dating?
by Chase | Leadership, Ministry
Veteran ministry leaders understand this truth: There is nothing more terrifying than handing someone else a microphone.
This isn’t an arrogant statement! Most of us love bringing in guest speakers!
A statement like this is made because speakers have used inappropriate language, spoken 30 minutes longer than their allotted time, or made the service a commercial for their newest T-shirt line.
Even with the risks, I firmly believe that guest speakers can deeply impact your student ministry events.
I love bringing in guest speakers for our events, retreats, and midweek worship services so that students can see other adults who are passionate about Jesus, hear another voice on a particular subject, and connect with another person’s story.
Read: 5 Reasons You Should Use Guest Speakers In Youth Ministry
Before I bring a guest speaker to our student ministry I make sure that they line up to a specific list of characteristics that will maximize their impact and the Gospel.
I do this for two reasons:
- To protect our students from a negative situation.
- To protect my job at the church.
Below is the checklist I use to gauge a guest speaker’s effectiveness for our ministry.
7 Characteristics Of An Incredible Guest Speaker
Someone Who Will Bring Us To The Throne Of God Without Sitting On One
The event is not about the speaker. The event is not about the band. The retreat isn’t even about your students. Everything you lead should glorify King Jesus. I desire to bring in a speaker who is going to magnify Jesus, not their ministry or personality. There isn’t a fool-proof method of screening, but I diligently spend hours networking, screening, and researching a potential guest’s materials, social medias, spiritual growth, and reputation.
Someone With A Positive Social Media Following
After the event our students are going to follow the speaker on social medias. This means that the speaker will be influencing my students for months, maybe years, after the event. Obviously this can be a positive or negative situation. We want to bring in someone who uses social medias to minister. In contrast, we will not pick a speaker who inappropriately uses medias.
Someone Who Is Passionate About Students and Ministry
Joy and passion for Jesus are contagious! We want to surround our students with adults who are joyfully living out the Gospel of Jesus. Joy cannot be faked. This is a mark of a disciple of Jesus who is journeying with their Savior.
Someone Who Will Honor Our Retreat/Event Theme
When a speaker goes rogue on the teaching points our students are often unable to make the connection with the theme. We have been preparing every detail of this event for months. The speaker must realize his/her place in achieving the greater vision of developing disciples.
Read: 7 Things You Should Know Before Your Next Retreat
Someone Who Aligns With Our Theology
One of the primary roles of a pastor is to ensure that your congregation is protected from false doctrines and incorrect teachings. I have conversations with our guest speakers and find out what their views on baptism, Jesus, salvation, and sin are before we bring them in. Since we leverage our speakers to share the Gospel of Jesus, we want to ensure that the Gospel presentation lines up with our beliefs.
Someone Who Will Interact With Our People
Relating with students from the stage is one thing, but interacting with them between sessions is a necessity for us. I don’t expect a speaker to participate in every aspect of our programming, but I do expect them to build relationships with our people.
Someone Who Is Professional
Working with unprofessional people drives me crazy! There is nothing worse than a speaker who is slow to respond to emails, ignores phone calls, disregards our time limits, and isn’t prepared for the event. There is not a dichotomy between being relational and being organized.
Now What?
What characteristics do you look for when you bring in a guest speaker?
