I?m thinking about leaving my church.
I?m 22 years old. And I work with students at the church that I grew up in.
Now, when I say ?grew up in??I didn?t know Christ until I was a junior in high school, and this was where I met him. When I graduated high school, I didn?t go to college, and since I was staying at home, I decided to give back to the youth ministry that had given so much to me, and started working with 6th graders on Sunday mornings, and helping out with our mid-week youth worship service.
I?ve been doing this since for 3 years and I love it. Students are a fantastic bunch of people to work with, and Youth Workers might be the greatest group of people you?ll ever get to do ministry with. So. I love what I get to do at my church. But I don?t feel fed. I don?t feel the sense of community that my soul longs for. I am struggling and praying through whether or not I should leave this church, and start attending one here in town that I know offers those things. I am hurting over whether or not the students that I know and love at my current church are worth not getting what I feel like I need spiritually.
I know that I can work with students wherever I end up, but I?m talking about going from a 200 student ministry to a ministry of about 30-40 students. Which honestly has some cons for me, as well as pros. But a big part of it is that I love these kids that I work with now. I?ve invested in them for the past four years. They?ve been a big part of my life, and I hope I?ve made an impact on them.
I?ve wondered if it?s just me. If I need a spiritual attitude adjustment. But the more I think and pray about it, I see that the things that God has put on my heart, are not necessarily what He has put on the hearts of church leadership here. And that?s ok. We don?t have to be going after the same things, because as long as we agree that salvation is through Christ on the cross, and only that. The rest is neither here nor there, honestly.
So am I being selfish? I don?t know. I know that I am not growing spiritually like I have in the past, and I know this is part of the reason why. I don?t know if it?s reason enough to seek out a new community of believers.
Here?s the thing. I want your thoughts. And honestly, I?m sure I?m not the only guy (or girl) out there who is dealing with something like this. So, have you ever had to leave a church or ministry because you were giving a ton, but not getting much out of it for yourself? Is that a valid reason, or that that a line of selfishness to give yourself an out?
Anonymous would love to read your thoughts in the comments section of this post.
- After spending the better part of 3 days with middle school youth workers at SYMC, I am (once again) convinced that many of the sharpest minds in youth ministry are found in middle school ministry!
- At a conference like SYMC (or YS or any other large gathering of youth workers) you meet lots and lots of people. It’s always such a great reminder to me that God uses an amazingly vast array of people to pour into students. I’m so thankful that the stereotypical youth worker (young, cool, plays guitar, surfs, rides skateboards, has a tattoo….) is no longer the “norm”.
- We are starting a 3-week series this weekend called “STUFF”. We are using household stuff as object lessons to teach a biblical truth. It’s a series we have done once before with great success. This week’s lesson: Take Out The Trash!
- Quite a few people tracked me down at the conference to ask me about regional campuses (basically church plants that are still part of the mother ship). Questions about how we structure etc. My simple answer: “Treat them like a franchise with freedom” They are a franchise in that there are certainly some things that they have to do in line with the main campus because they are the same church. But there shouldn’t be an overly large amount of control…they need freedom to tweak the ministry to their context.
- Dear Denver Broncos, Please get rid of Brandon Marshall.
- Dear senate and house leadership, Please either sign [...]
We are always trying to think up new games to use in our ministry. NBC has done a great thing for youth pastors! The new game show Minute to Win It (premiering this Sunday March 14, 2010) has between 60 and 70 doable games that can be used as youth ministry crowd breakers.
Check out the site Minute to Win It and look at the ?Game Vault.? There are videos to show you how to play each game and written directions that you can copy and paste in a document, and a list of items required. This is a gold mine of game ideas! Here’s an example of one of their videos:
Every church and organization has a mission statement. And, for the most part, every ministry leader has a mission statement for their specific ministry – especially in the church. Mission statements are important because they articulate (hopefully) what we’re about, what we stand for and what we’re seeking to accomplish. These are good.
But there is something I want to point out that causes confusion. Or, at least, can. And that is church-based ministries that have a different mission statement than the church they are a part of. I see this all the time. The junior high ministry has a mission. The high school ministry will have a different one. And the church yet another one. Now, the truth is when you boil mission statements down, most churches are basically saying the same thing…just worded differently. But different mission statements in the same church?
Really?
Are we really seeking an entirely different mission? Or, are we simply seeking to move people in an age-stage toward embracing the same mission? If we’re a part of a church, I hope it’s the latter. Sure, the vision of implementing and applying that mission should be unique for age stage ministries, but it’s not a different mission! Well, at least it shouldn’t be.
Here are 3 encouragements:
We just opened a new section of our store. We partnered with our friends LeaderTreks to setup a brand new store of all their products. We are really excited about it, they produce awesome resources. They are all about student leadership development. If you haven’t seen their stuff, it’s worth checking out.
How would you like to loose a few pounds? Well we are having a “I Am a Loser” contest to help jump start some healthy living. Join the men of the podcast (Doug, Josh, and Matt) as they embark on 12 week challenge to loose a few pounds. Here are the rules:
You need to hurry because you need to weigh-in by Dec 7, and the prizes will be great.
If you’d like to watch the podcast episode about the rules, watch HERE.
Please join us!
Andy once again has found himself sliding across the ground at high speeds thanks to his love of riding his bike (we think he may need training wheels). We know this isn’t the first time, but maybe it should be the last. We need your help to come up with some new hobby ideas for him. Leave your ideas in the comments and you might win 10 copies of the Emergency Response Handbook for Youth Ministry for your staff (That’s a $150 value).
(All entries must be posted by Oct 5, 2009 to be considered.)
Help us, Help him.
During the YM Summit last week, we were able to do a photoshoot with some really great (and really funny, might I add) youth workers! Doug, Rick, and Kurt also hopped in front of the camera to sit on the red couch together.
I got a hold of the pics today, and have started the creative for next year’s SYMC marketing.
Here are some snapshots of the studio during the fun.
Highlight: Someone printed out Andy B’s summit photo and mocked it up on a Group Magazine cover, and taped it on the back of the couch right before the photoshoot started.
Be ready to see some sweet stuff coming…
~veronica (creative)
We thought we would give you a little glance behind the scenes of shoot our new video curriculum Plugged In. It’s a 5 lesson DVD small group curriculum about being connected with God. We had a great day shooting it and thought we would share a few glimpses with you.
Enjoy this short video and slide show.
LINK: Plugged In
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