Monthly youth leaders column

Most of us do ministry in teams even if there are just two of us running a youth group together.

Teams need to know how to work together if they are to be effective. But how do you keep your team focussed on their ministry task. Many volunteers are too busy to get to meetings and I guess we’ve all had a moan about people who don’t seem committed to the youth group. What can we do to make our teams more effective.

Know who’s on the team

This may sound a bit basic but I have met people who are unsure whether they’ve joined the team or not. They have just sort of drifted into things and nobody has made clear their position. It may help to have an induction period where a new leader comes (under supervision) to the group meetings. Once they’ve been along for a bit sit them down and ask them how they feel. If they sense God’s call to the work (and the church does too) appoint them. Send them a letter making it official and put their name on every list that they should be on. If you can arrange someone to mentor them in their early months that can be of great value.

Good news-flow

There’s nothing worse than a team in which some people get to know what’s going on and others don’t. It can be to do with late planning of meetings (like late the night before) and forgetting to let someone know. A good email address book can help here but keep it up to date. Tell people about meetings well in advance. Busy people find it difficult to come to a meeting with late warning. If you can schedule your meetings in a regular slot (e.g. first Wednesday of each month), then people will be more likely to remember it. Many people diary well ahead.

Try to create a culture of ‘apology’. When you appoint leaders make it clear what your expectations are — you would like to see them at most youth group meetings on a Friday and at the regular monthly meeting for leaders. If they can’t make it ask them to send their apology so they don’t just fail to appear but everybody knows that ‘John is on business in Paris so can’t be there’.

Meetings worth coming for

Have you ever endured a minute-less, agenda-less meeting where nobody has thought about any issues before they come? The leader has been thinking for months about changing all the youth group meetings and drops it on his team. They sit there in stunned silence because they don’t know how to respond. It really doesn’t take long to send an agenda out with brief notes on what is to be discussed. Don’t surprise people in meetings — they will resist change all the more. It’s good to vary the content of meetings. You can have a good go at business in one month but next month take a long hard look at the big picture. People must be warned about this — you will not have a good ‘big picture’ meeting if people haven’t thought and prayed. In the next month you could focus on the young people. What are their current needs? — what are the issues in the group? Pray for each of them by name. Spend some time just enjoying each other’s company — celebrate at least once a year. Go out together and, if you have one half of a couple in the team, make sure the other half gets an invitation.

A weekend away

Weekends are precious, but so is God’s work among young people. A weekend away (maybe with someone from outside the group acting as a facilitator), where you really spend time getting to know one another and talking about the work you are all involved with, can achieve so much more than the monthly meeting. But it must be acted upon. The suggestions made must be worked through and worked into policy decisions.

Above all…

Clarify your vision. Many youth groups do something because they did it last year and seem reluctant to ask the familiar question — what on earth are we doing, for heaven’s sake? A ministry which aims at nothing will probably hit the mark. A motivated team with purpose and values clearly defined will serve with greater energy and save a lot of time doing things that don’t matter

We’ll talk about values and purpose next month.

The team...

Know who’s on the team

Good news-flow

Meetings worth coming for

A weekend away

Above all…

Dave Fenton

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