Category: youth ministry

  • November 2014: Youth Pastors in the News

    November 2014: Youth Pastors in the News

    Here’s a list of headlines from the month of November for the Google News search term, “Youth Pastor.” I’ve deleted multiple links to the same instance.

    Archives: July 2014, August 2014, October 2014

    Moral of the story: Don’t like the news? Make Good News in Your Neighborhood.

  • It’s About Measurables

    It’s About Measurables

    “Ministry isn’t about numbers.”

    There’s some truth to this. But it’s also a cliche. It’s a mischaracterization of reality that is absolutely killing youth ministry. You can’t read the book of Acts and say… “Yeah, it’s not about numbers.” You can’t check your belief about hell and conclude, “It’s not about numbers.” You can’t check your ecclesiology and decide, “It’s not about numbers.”

    And, you can’t look at current movements in non-profit funding and conclude it’s not about numbers.

    The Lie That It’s Not About Numbers

    Ministry isn’t about numbers like Thanksgiving isn’t about turkey and stuffing. Yeah, sure… without it it’ll happen. But it won’t be any good.

    At it’s heart, ministry isn’t about numbers but it is about effectiveness. And you’ll never be effective until you measure stuff.

    Whether it’s articulated to you or not you are held accountable, not just for the quality of your ministry, but by your ability to create an effective ministry that reaches an appropriate amount of students for the amount of money invested.

    Here’s what I experience: Youth workers who are frustrated, burnt out, feeling misunderstood, and sold out to the idea of “ministry isn’t measurable, it’s about relationships.” But when I press them, when I say… “If you were a board member and you spent $50,000 last year and the only measurable outcome is a few testimonials shared, a wishy-washy leader who can’t cast a vision for what they are trying to do, and a mission trip video… what would you do?”

    Literally, what would you do? If you were in their shoes and you weren’t getting the data you needed… You’d take measurements for that leader. You’d count butts in seats, it’s a default when nothing else is defined as measurable. You’d give them the benefit of the doubt for that season. And you’d ask them, “Hey, in the next year we’d really like to see a stronger plan for what you are doing.” (See the previous paragraph for what happens next)

    Here’s what I know: Youth workers avoid defining measurables because their biggest fear is being held accountable for their ministries failures and their second biggest fear is that someone else in youth ministry is going to say, “Your ministry is all about numbers.”

    This isn’t kindergarten. Failure is an option.

    And you know what? Those who say it isn’t about numbers usually aren’t trying to earn your paycheck from your church. You feel me? 

    A lot of youth workers have got a very mid-1990s, cavalier attitude, about youth ministry. We think it should be funded because it’s important. (well, whipty-doh!) We want it to be funded but we don’t want to have a fundable plan.

    Drop the cliche and get comfortable with this: People fund things that are effective. You don’t do ministry because of numbers. But you do get a paycheck because of numbers. (A paycheck is a number, am I right?)

    Measure Effectiveness

    Want to get funded? (cough, or even a raise of COLA?) Want to keep your job? The plan is simple: Lead your ministry towards measurable effectiveness. (Here’s a starter list of what to measure)

    Bottom line: Ministries that thrive– measure stuff to get more and more effective.

    Effectiveness isn’t about avoiding failure but it is about dealing with failures.

    You won’t know you’re doing something ineffective until you begin measuring stuff. That’s what professionals do.

    Not measuring effectiveness?

    You’ve got 5 weeks until January 1st.

    Get on it.

    A Path Appears by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunnWant to learn about what people are giving to, funding, and excited about? I recommend reading Nicholas Kristof & Sheryl WuDunn’s book, A Path Appears. It isn’t about people giving to church. But it is about celebrating and funding NGOs and NPOs that are embracing evidence-based programs that improve the lives of people all around the world. It’s a book I think every church leader in America should read to better understand modern, responsible giving. 

     

  • October 2014: Youth Pastors in the News

    October 2014: Youth Pastors in the News

    Here’s a list of headlines from the month of October for the Google News search term, “Youth Pastor.” I’ve deleted multiple links to the same instance.

    Archives: July 2014, August 2014

    Moral of the story: Don’t like the news? Make Good News in Your Neighborhood.

  • The American Teenager: A Sexting Machine?

    The American Teenager: A Sexting Machine?


    (if the clip doesn’t show up in your browser, here’s the link)

    In her latest movie, “Men, Women and Children,” Jennifer Garner plays an overprotective mom who obsessively monitors her daughter’s every keystroke, reading all her texts and even deleting objectionable ones.

    Source

    I’m over it.

    The media invented the term sexting out of thin air. They linked unrelated stories together to create a term. And their scary “warnings” for this term were, essentially, the promotion of sexting until it actually became a real-life problem. Way to go! 

    And it all feeds the thing Americans are best at: hysteria.

    Mainstream media built a myth about the American teenager and their cell phone: Leave a high schooler alone for more than 15 seconds and they’ll pull down their pants and send a photo of their junk to their girlfriend. 

    So of course there will be a movie about it. And now we need to try to normalize over-protective parenting. Because if your kid does that thing that you fantasize that they might do… it’s not about the damage to your child, it’s about your failure as a parent.

    Conversely, there’s no doubt that sexting does indeed happen. There really are teenagers who sext. There really are teenagers who engage in sexual behavior.

    But we need to be reminded of some basic facts:

    1. There have always been teenagers who have had sex. Chances are very high that you are alive and breathing today because two teenagers back in the day did the humpty hump. (married or unmarried)
    2. Fewer teenagers are engaging in sexual activity than when you and I were teenagers. Just like violent crime is way down, so is teenage sexual activity. Embrace it as a reality. Fewer kids today have sex than did when you or I walked high school hallways.
    3. Adults have always been obsessed with and hysterical about teenage sexuality. I would describe teenage sexuality as a primary worry of parents of teenagers. But it’s not just parents… generally speaking, adults in our country are obsessed with teenage sexuality. Anything that has to do with teenage sexuality is going to draw attention.
    4. There are larger societal forces at play, which get pinned on teenagers, but aren’t exclusive to teenage sexuality. (Extension of adolescence, delaying marriage until the late 20s, normalization of cohabitation, the internets impact on the popularization of non-normative sexual behavior, the impact of mobile devices on relationships, on and on)

    Correcting the Headlines

    Clickbait is the name of the game on the internet. News agencies are desperate to grab readers attention. And so, the American teenager is just a victim of this.

    For instance…

    An update to a longitudinal study was just published by The American Academy of Pediatric that is studying a possible connection between teenage sexting and teenage risky sexual behavior. This is as salacious of a study as there is… it hits on every parents fear and activates our societal obsession.

    The update on the study shows that within their sample [in Texas, not nationally], not the final findings, that 72.4% of teenagers studied have never sent a sext. (Defined as a nude image)

    And what did the Chicago Tribune run as a headline?

    “Sexting is the new normal for high schoolers, study finds”

    Source

    How is it that 72.4% of those studied DO NOT engage in sexting but the headline reads that “sexting is the new normal for high schoolers?”

    I’ll tell you how. Even in the study itself, though researchers point out a clear, definitely link between sexting and risky teenage sexual behavior has not been proven among their findings, the researchers write in their conclusion:

    Although additional research is needed, current data indicate that sexting may precede sexual intercourse in some in- stances and cement the notion that sexting behavior is a viable indicator of adolescent sexual activity. That we did not find a link between sexting and risky sexual behavior over time may suggest that sexting is a new “normal” part of adolescent sexual development and not strictly limited to at-risk adolescents.

    Source, emphasis mine

    See, the data didn’t say that, but the researchers still assumed it to be the case.

    And where does that assumption lie? Not in science, but a culture obsessed with and hysterical about teenage sexual activity.

    Correcting the Narrative

    I’ve spent my adult life investing in middle and high school students. It bothers me, to the core, that there is a powerful cultural narrative that assumes that teenagers are amoral, sub-human, incapable masses of hormones just waiting for an adult to leave them alone long enough so they can drop their pants, commit a violent crime, or otherwise act as a deviant.

    That narrative is false. We all know it. And yet we are silent when our teenagers are stereotyped as such.

    We believe teenagers are incapable until they aren’t. We celebrate them when they sail around the world or climb Mount Everest or win gold medals. But we don’t celebrate our teenagers when they are normal, when 72.4% of them aren’t sexting, when fewer and fewer of them are engaging in risky sexual behavior.

    And, ultimately, that’s a narrative about the perversion of our society (church culture included) more than it is a narrative about the American teenager.

    Stand up, friends. Defend and advocate for the teenagers you love.

    And let’s write a story together of the new normal. 

  • New video from Praying Pelican Missions

    New video from Praying Pelican Missions

    People ask me what makes Praying Pelican Missions different and why I’m a bit of a fanboy? This brand spanking new video helps explain it.

    Disclosure: Sometimes I do blog for PPM and they are a partner of ours. But, in this case, I’m posting the video because it’s new and does a great job of explaining who they are, putting stuff into words/images that I’ve tried to explain here many times.

  • Immigration and Youth Ministry

    Immigration and Youth Ministry

    The Problem

    U.S. Customs and Border Protection estimates that since October 2013, 66,000 children and teenagers have crossed the U.S. border without their parents, most of them from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. They’re escaping gangs, street violence, and extreme poverty in their countries and usually coming to meet family members who live here.

    source

    A Reasonable Response

    Mark Lane told KGTV that he was moved to help a family fleeing violence in Guatemala after his 5-year-old son asked why residents in Murrieta were blocking buses of refugees from entering their town.

    “He asked me why the people were mad at the buses and I was like, it’s 2014 … why do I have to explain to my 5-year-old why people are mad at the buses when really they’re mad at the people inside of the buses ’cause they’re brown,” Lane explained.

    Through Border Angels, Lane found a mother, teenage sons, and a 23-year-old daughter who fled violence in Guatemala when gangs threatened to kill one of the sons for not joining.

    source

    The Question

    How is it that youth ministry is not engaged with what’s going on around issues of immigration impacting teenagers in their community?

    An owner of a fish market is engaged… but youth pastors aren’t.

    Let that sink in.

    It’s not a San Diego thing.

    It’s not a big city thing.

    It’s a people thing.

    It’s an everywhere thing. 

    The greatest growth opportunity for youth ministry right now is for youth workers to become advocates for teenagers in their community– regardless of social status, legal status, church affiliation, gender preference, political affiliation.

    Want to impact your community? Want the Gospel to flow through your church body and into the veins of your neighborhood?

    In a post-Christian society people need to experience good news before they can hear the Good News of Jesus.

    I long for the day when it’s normative for youth ministries to meet the relevant needs of teenagers in their community. I long to see youth ministry truly become Good News in the Neighborhood.

    I don’t think youth ministries struggle to engage teenagers because Jesus is irrelevant or some other cultural excuse. I think youth ministries struggle when they aren’t good news to teenagers in their midst.

    Good news is electric. It’s magnetic. It’s viral.

    Good news is unstoppable.

  • Why are we investing in Open?

    Why are we investing in Open?

    This weekend was our first Open event of the season, Open Denver. In two weeks I’ll go up to Vancouver. Then in late October we’re hosting two Open events on the same weekend, one in Seattle and the other in Paris. (Both cities have towers as their landmark, I’ll let you guess which one Kristen and I are headed to.) We’ve got 3 more Open’s coming this winter in San Francisco, Grand Rapids, and Boston.

    We operate these events in the spirit of the open source movement. The organization of the events is very flat, I’m not in charge of any of them, the local team is. We don’t control how any of the events are structured. And, they are structured so that each of them basically breaks even for us. (We pay the local organizing team 33% of the profits and they designate a benefiting organization that receives 34%.) As a group they generate a couple thousand bucks.

    So why are we investing in Open?

    The Youth Cartel is not a charity. We are a fee-for-service company. If (and when) we lose money… we don’t have the ability to go out and raise funds to balance our budget. In fact, we don’t want to do that. We want to create stuff that the community wants and is willing to pay for. And being a fee-for-service company one way we know if we’re scratching an itch that needs to be scratched is if it pays for itself. No offense to non-profits but we think that being a for-profit is a great way to serve the church. 

    So, why invest in Open… something built to break even? 

    1. Getting the money out of the way invites everyone to the table. Yes, it costs money to make Open happen. And thanks to the partnership of awesome sponsors, we’ve been able to keep Open at (basically) $25 per person. But creating a space where presenters present for free and the venue hosts because they want to host and not because they are getting paid? Well, that creates an environment you just can’t find anywhere else.
    2. organic-stuff copyYouth ministry is desperate for new ideas, we [as a tribe] need a space for them to emerge. There’s very little variation in what happens in church-based youth ministry. There’s a program and there is community. The last big idea that shaped youth ministry was small groups… and that was in the 90s. And while there’s tons of soft innovation we need to keep looking for stuff that’s brand new. My hunch is that this new idea will not emerge out of a youth ministry company (like us) and my second hunch is that it will start in a way that’s not commercially viable enough for mainstream youth ministry training events. So having a place where these ideas to develop without commercial pressure will… and is… helping.
    3. There is a desperate need for new voices, we [as a tribe] need a space for them to emerge. Every organization that I know of says that one of their continued challenges is cultivating new voices and specifically finding voices that reflect the full tribe of youth ministry. (gender, race, ethnicity, socio-economic background) Open is becoming that space. We’re investing our time and energy because we see Open as being a great testing grounds for new voices to emerge. Some are ready right now, just needing an opportunity. Jen Bradbury was the perfect example of that for us. She spoke at Open GR in February, her presentation was fantastic, her content was great, and she was saying something a broader audience was ready for right away. So we invited her to speak at The Summit as well as worked with her to release her book next month. And Morgan Schmidt is an example of someone who had great ideas and content but needed some opportunities so she could refine her content for a broader audience. So we invited her to speak at a couple more Open events… and the response exploded. Her book, Woo, has done really well. And her presentation on that content fills rooms.
    4. When it comes to youth ministry training, context is critical. You can’t assume that something that works in Michigan or Southern California will work in Boston or Seattle. Why? Because these contexts are completely different. We’re cultivating Open in a way that keeps it local. It’s awesome to watch as each organizing group owns that. Each event gets proposals from all over the place… and it’s great to see them filter through these proposals from a “what does a youth worker in _____ need?” posture. That doesn’t mean all of the speakers are local. But it does mean that all of the speakers chosen are there because the proposal they’ve submitted fits a need in that region.
    5. It’s crazy fun. Look, I could come up with a gigantic list of “business justifications” for running Open at break even. But one reason we do Open is because it’s fun for us to do Open. Last Friday night at our speakers dinner I met a room full of speaker I had never met before. Of the presentations on Saturday I had heard exactly zero. When I show up to a normal event I expect to meet 1-2 people for the first time. To have 100%? That’s a blast. I know it’s fun for us to be a part of Open. And I know the event itself is fun because that’s what people who come say about it. So “it’s crazy fun” is a pretty good selling point for us.

    An Open Invitation

    So here’s my invitation. If this post connected with you I am inviting you to be part of the Open movement in a few specific ways.

    1. Bring yourself, bring your team, and bring your mom. OK, maybe not bring your mom. But in all seriousness, we need early adapters like you to come and be a part of Open then give us feedback for making it better.
    2. Invest your time and energy. Open is intentionally flat. If you want to be part of the process, jump in. Contact me and I’ll connect you to a local organizing team that could use your help. (Want Open in your region? Coming to an Open is the first step to hosting an Open.)
    3. Invest your organizations resources. Personally, I’m sick of the silos. We’ve never put our name all over this thing. I think The Youth Cartel champions it more than we “own” it. We’re actively interested in talking to other organizations who want to champion the values I’ve shared in this post. We’ve found that a posture of collaborating instead of competing is good for our tribe, I want to invite any/all youth ministry organizations to partner with us on this. (See getting money out of the way above.)

    Have you been to an Open? What do you like about it? 

    Not been to one but want to know something? Ask me a question. 

  • The Value of Academic Preparation in Professional Youth Ministry

    The Value of Academic Preparation in Professional Youth Ministry

    One of the challenges in youth ministry, as a profession, is that there are a lot of entry points but not a lot of agreed upon credentials.

    A short list of how people get into youth ministry as a vocation:

    • They earn an undergraduate or graduate degree in youth ministry.
    • Or a more general ministry degree like Christian ed, masters of divinity, masters in ministry, etc.
    • They have a degree in something else but answer a calling into vocational youth ministry.
    • They grow into the job or are mentored into it via their local church.
    • They intern their way into vocational youth ministry.
    • They fall into it. Literally, they didn’t intend for this to become a career but somewhere along the way someone asked them to consider it.
    • They are born into it. Their parents are vocational church workers and they grew up in and around it.
    • They have no formal education but applied to a church and leveraged their volunteer ministry as experience enough to land a job.
    • They just answered the call. Don’t know how to explain it, but here they are.

    Education Matters

    I love all of these entry points. I really do. This is one of the fun things about youth ministry. If you can do the job, if you are talented or gifted in some way, if you love teenagers, if you can teach, if you can mentor, if you can disciple– If you love Jesus and you love teenagers you can answer the call.

    The body of Christ needs all sorts of youth workers entering the field from all sorts of different entry points.

    But.

    BUT.

    BBBUUUUTTTTT. 

    No matter how you entered this vocation you need to understand the value of formal education. It is awesome that our tribe welcomes all kinds of people from all kinds of background. And, unlike many professional vocations, youth ministry isn’t a place that requires $80,000 in students loans as the minimum requirement to applying for a $32,000 per year job.

    But that doesn’t mean formal youth ministry training is somehow something you can sidestep.

    It might not be the entry point. But formal education must be a waypoint. 

    A Reality Check

    One of the things that scares me. Actually– terrifies me when you think of the long-term implications-– is that there are so many people in long-term youth ministry that have absolutely no formal training. Yes, there is value in self-study. And yes, you can get mentored. And yes, there’s a lot of fantastic curriculum out there.

    That’s scary to me from a youth ministry perspective. How can history not repeat itself if you don’t know the history of youth ministry? How can you avoid pitfalls if you have no idea what the pitfalls are? On and on.

    It’s downright terrifying to me from a theological perspective. Going to church is good. Reading books is good. Going to conferences is good. But that’s not academic rigor.

    It’s awful hard to tell the difference between great theological insight and horrible, crappy, made-up-on-the-spot-crap that flows out of some people’s mouths.

    The trained ear has a finely tuned B.S. meter.

    The untrained ear isn’t so finely tuned. 

    Sometimes I read an article by someone or have a conversation with someone who is wondering how a person has gotten so popular among pastors despite being absolutely full of crap. And I think: It’s because so many people are in full-time vocational ministry that have no formal training. 

    A Low Entry Point is Not a License to Skip Education

    Here’s the point.

    I love that youth ministry is one of the church vocations with a low entry point.

    But, if you came in through an entry point that didn’t include formal youth ministry education at the undergraduate or graduate level, and if you don’t have any theological training… I’m begging you: Get in school. Take a class a semester. Figure out how to get a ministry degree or a seminary degree.

    Invest the time. Invest the money. Go back to school or start school or take a class online or do whatever you have to do. Don’t buy the lie that you can fake it ’til you make it forever. You can’t. You will be better at your job, you will lead students better, you will last longer in vocational ministry, and you will invest better stuff into the lives of students if you take the time to invest in your education.

    Do it for your church.

    Do it for your students.

    But more importantly, do it for yourself.

    Get Coaching

    If you find yourself 5-6 years into vocational youth ministry and things are starting to get complicated. Like, you absolutely love it but in the past few years you’ve started to find it hard to balance life in ministry with having a life or you’re feeling in a rut or whatever– check out the Youth Ministry Coaching Program.

  • Announcing the Student Justice Conference

    Announcing the Student Justice Conference

    Things have been a little loco around The Youth Cartel. While our team has grown, a little, we’re continuing to roll out new stuff at a pretty incredible pace. (We launched 5 new products this week!)

    Not to be lost in that was our big… MONSTER…. MEGA announcement on Tuesday of our very first event for students, the Student Justice Conference.

    A Series of Fortunate Events

    This year, in both the course of doing some research as well as a series of conversations that followed we started to learn two facts, please forgive the simplified generalities:

    1. Social justice organizations, in general, have a hard time connecting with high school students who want to do stuff.
    2. Generally, high school students who were interested in stuff/getting training/doing something big had a hard time connecting with the right people.

    This wasn’t a reflection of what organizations wanted. And there’s a lot of factors as to why this is the case. But it clearly isn’t intentional. The end result was two-way frustration. Students want to do stuff, social justice orgs want students to do stuff, they just need a little help connecting.

    What’s SJC All About?

    I’ll skip past all the boring details about our process of deciding to host SJC. Instead, let’s focus on what it’s about.

    It’s for teenagers interested in justice…

    SJC isn’t for every Christian teenager. It’s not a “bring your whole youth group” event. SJC is being intentionally and carefully planned to gather and activate teenagers who are passionate about issues of justice and global needs.

    In other words, we’re asking you to think about the 4-5 students in your ministry who are fired up about justice and global issues, bring them to San Diego, and spend a few days with them– helping them learn about what they are passionate about. You are going to see them catch fire in a way you might not have seen before and it’s going to be totally amazing!

    No teenager versions…

    Morning seminars are going to have options for your students to go and learn from people who live and breath the things they are passionate about. One thing that’s been very important to me is that we’re not asking for “teenager versions” of content in these seminars. We’re asking presenters to train SJC students just like they would adult.

    It’s about collaboration…

    We have an amazing group of partners on this. It’s important that I point out that these aren’t sponsors putting their name on this thing. They are collaborating with us to provide content, ideas, prayer, and all sorts of support. For instance, in about 2 weeks we’re spending two full days with our partners to do the nuts & bolts planning on the content, theme, speakers, and all that jazz.

    Inspiration and Education…

    We’ll start and end our days with by gathering together for prayer, worship, and teaching. We don’t know 100% what that’ll look like quite yet. But we’ve determined that mornings will be about education and evenings will be inspiring students. Our goal isn’t that your students come and have a good time. We’re praying their lives are changed and that they put this stuff into action.

    It’ll be practical…

    So, the mornings will be pretty heavy. In the afternoon we’re looking to turn it very practical by putting students into cohorts with peers of people who are passionate about what they are passionate about. And these cohorts will be lead by folks with a bunch of youth ministry experience. In other words, they are going to help your students translate what they are learning into their day-to-day life.

    It’ll have field trips…

    One of the great things about having SJC in San Diego is that it’s our backyard. We think it’ll be great to have some opportunities to not just learn about stuff, and not just make plans for when we get home, but to actually spend a little time with people doing justice work right here in San Diego.

    It’s on campus…

    We’re really excited to partner with Point Loma for a few specific reasons. First, they really care about social justice, including their Center for Justice & Reconciliation. Second, they are our partners in this effort… they are doing a whole lot more than hosting us as a rental group. Third, we think it’s valuable to get your students on a Christian college campus. They might not chose to go to a Christian college but I think we’d all agree that it’s awesome to explore it as an option. Fourth, PLNU is a beautiful location that’ll offer inspiration all it’s own. It’s located on one of the most beautiful spots in San Diego… right on the Pacific.

    It’ll be affordable…

    Last thing, because this is important. We’re keeping this thing affordable. We know that for some folks just getting to San Diego will be expensive. But our registration will include program, housing, and food at PLNU. (Thanks to our partners for this… they are truly making it accessible for all.)

    [button link=”http://studentjusticeconference.com” color=”red”]CHECK OUT THE STUDENT JUSTICE CONFERENCE WEBSITE[/button]

    Thoughts on this event? I’d love to hear what you are thinking. 

  • Responding to Angry Parents

    Responding to Angry Parents

    One of my goals this year has been to write for stuff beyond The Youth Cartel, my blog, and other things I’d labels as my comfort zone. So while I’m perfectly comfortable hanging out with Jeremy Lee of Parentministry.net. (A site I helped build a few years back, in the course of developing that site we became friends.) And I was totally comfortable talking about social media usage in the house. I was a little nervous when Jeremy’s line of questioning turned to helping respond to angry parents as a youth worker.

    Of course, I’ve never made a parent mad as a youth worker. No. Not ever. 

    If you want to know what I said about that, social media in the home, and a bunch of other stuff… check out this podcast.