Albert Huizing, IV

Gin: I know that it's been awhile since you posted this "cry for help", but I felt compelled to respond to it. After almost 30 years of youth ministry experience, changing cultures and changing churches, the one thing that is constant is that nothing stays constant :>).....I hope that you are not still dealing with the discouragement that you were experiencing in August but if you are here are a few suggestions. First, don't take it personally. It's more than likely not you or your techniques, but youth a that age are changing. Their bodies are changing, their emotions are changing, and their status in life is changing. With all this change comes testing traditional foundational truths in their lives. What does that mean practically?

Sometimes, all it takes is 1 or 2 in the group to ruin the evening, sometimes more.

(1) Try not to take things as a personal assault. Rather than seeing it as a defeat, see it as a challenge to overcome it. That means mixing things up until you find just the right mix that works. For some it's not a person speaking but carefully selected videos. For my group it's breaking into small groups in the middle of the devotion to discuss issues in smaller groups and they don't get antsy by moving them around and not sitting listening to a "blah, blah, blah" speech for an hour. We don't do devotions every week, that way they area looking forward to it when the week for devotions rolls around. Also, one week a month we have someone from the church or a Christian School/University come in and give a Testimony. This is actually the highlight of the youths month in yth grp.

(2) A huge part is having good leaders alongside and helping you out. I know you said that yth leaders were scarce in your church.ASk Council and parents for ideas in this area; maybe you'll find a person you wasn't even thinking about. Give assigned duties. If you're forte is devotions, then you do that every time. If you have a leader that is good and inspirational at choosing games; have them do that. Another person may like to choose and set-up snacks.....let them do it. If you delegate good - having people do what they are good at and enjoy - your yth grp will be good.

(3) Communication is also a Biggy.....Communicating with both the parents and the students. That may mean emailing parents but face booking youth; have a bi-yearly calendar by planning an entire half year at a time; see what activities work and what doesn't and you'll know what to eliminate for the next year. BUt remember the Yth Ldr Mantra, the only thing that is constant is that nothing is constant. Try some of those things that didn't work a few years later and they may work with a different set of bodies.

(4) Finally, we end EVERY yth grp evening with 10-15 minutes of circle prayer. Give the a topic to pra about: things to be thankful, the person to their left, family, school and watch how the spirit will move them. It may be awkward at first but by the end of the year, I promise you will have a majority of yth praying confidently in public.

So, that just a few ideas; sorry I didn't see this sooner; if you have any other questions or would like to contact me directly my email is [email protected]....Always Serving Him, Albert!

Lesli: GREAT Topic to post about.....some churches - those that tend to be smaller - transitioning is not as big an issue, I believe. And, yes, although "connecting to Jesus" is the underlying focus, there are other goals, as well; good transitioning is just a tool to not leave behind those who who have difficulty stepping out of their comfort zone.....What WE do in our church is after cadets/GEMs there is a group - TEEN Club - that meets for one year. Throughout that year and specifically during the Summer prior to Yth Grp entrance, we invite the TEEN Club yth to attend some of the yth group activities, so that they become more familar with the others in the group and more comfortable with taking that - for some - scary first step into Youth Group the following year. Many churches don't have the manpower for a Teen Club but it's just knowing which students will be moving up to YG and then intentionally inviting them to some events....maybe even bring a friend! Also, because our Teen Club is made up of community (non-CRC but attended cadets/GEMs) youth, we have a mixture/percentage of students in YG that don't necessarily attend our church. Great Outreach tool, as well.

Leslie: All of us immigrants have had similar moments, but no digital immigrant no longer has any excuse, because even the best excuses no longer connect us with the digital citizens....it only sets us further behind....which I realize is happening just in the feew minutes it takes me to respond positively to this blog : >)  have a great day!

Great Treasure chest full of valuable information......Thanks Again, Leslie!!!!

OK, well keep in touch....I'm finishing up a ministry directory, I've been working on first....so it will probbly be another few weeks yet....

OK....now give us some concrete examples (about a dozen or so) of how that would look like. Faith, Prayer, Educational, Worship, Educational Frameworks (especially interested in that one) LMK....sparked my creative interest....

Certainly, youth ministry takes a certain type of gifted individual;

The proof that it is an extremely difficult task is in the statistics..."the average life of a youth pastor in any given church is 3 years" I have been working with youth/young adults since 1984 and wonder where did all those years go and how much of an impact did I really have on the lives of youth. But that's not for me to ponder....God has that all figured out (thank goodness)!

Certainly, when a church supports you (rather than directs you), there is no question that the job becomes easier and has a life of it's own. What many youth pastors aren't told is that you need to love kids, love what they love (sports, music etc), be flexible (because everything always changes), be a great multi-tasker, not take things that kids/parents say too personally, have lots of ideas and understand like life, some will be huge successes and others will fail miserably. These are the things they don't usually tell youth pastors which is why so many get frustrated and leave either a church or the ministry altogether.

When you have a church community that is invested in the entire process (eg interested in actually how the kids are engaging in their faith journey) and not just another program (or worse a "christian babysitting service") then you have a viable program and a youth pastor that is challenged to take the playing field with his team of young adults and to seek the prize.....developing Christian leaders of tomorrow.....youth, parents, add'l leaders, church members, support (service, prayer, financial) and a youth pastor (the coach that calls the plays) is ALL needed to carry out a God-honoring program....

Here is my suggestion: the most "successful" youth development programs I have witnessed over almost 25 years have occurred when churches have made it part of their Church's Mission Statement. It may take a yr, 2 ys or more, but when it is put as a challenge for the entire church body, every member has a vested interest in directing their youth.

In my humble opinion,

Albert Huizing IV

Paul: I tried this many years ago; I was skeptical (oh me of little faith) that anyone would accept the offer; so I came up with this incentive; I told them that if they accomplished this task that I would give them a FREE spot at the next Blizzard rally. I only required that they show me the journal that they compiled. I told them I would not check up on them and that I was it with full confidence that they were being truthful. 3 out of 63 followed thru....and I honored the contract we made. My thought was, that even if only 1 followed through....even if 20 tried and didn't entirely finish, there were things that were going to be read that they would not have read if the "OPPORTUNITY" wasn't given to them. Maybe there are others who might try this in their youth groups....I'd love to hear those specific reactions/results if  they have [email protected]   a great challenge!