Monthly youth leaders column

I wonder if you made it to the end of the year. Maybe it was a bit of a struggle and you were mightily relieved when you knew you had a month off in August. Perhaps you have slight anxieties about what the young people will get up to over the summer and whether they will come back motivated to serve God or their faith will have diminished.

These are pressures we all face in youth ministry but I wonder if they occur because of our failure to finish a year well. Maybe a celebration like a dinner in the post-exam period would have been a good way to finish and give some words of encouragement to maintain their walk with God through the summer. But one of the most crucial activities at this time of year is. . .

Evaluation

One of my pet aversions is when evaluation is done by someone who knows little of the work. But I remain convinced that some reflection on the year that is past can be of great value. It is best done with someone who will ask the hard questions about what has been achieved, but a period of reflection (without over introspection) will be good for you. What kind of questions do you need to ask yourself?

You need to go a bit further than ‘Has it been a good year?’, and any question, when answered, should lead you towards plans for the future. For example, a question like ‘Have we seen significant growth in the lives of the young people?’ needs a detailed answer.

Go through your list and look at each individual and ask yourself whether that person has grown. Have they been involved in service? Are they keen to learn from the Bible? Are they asking the right questions about their futures?

If you end up with a lot of negatives, you really need to look at how you are discipling the members of the group and that may lead you on to discuss the time you spend on your group meetings and could that time be better used.

A question like ‘How effective has our teaching been?’ could lead you to the answer that the young people have paid good attention, have asked penetrating questions and have an appetite to study God’s Word. On the other hand, a negative evaluation may lead you to look at different resources, consider sending some of the team on training courses (both Root 66 and the Big Issue offer training) or consider recruiting other leaders.

‘Have we cared for the young people?’ should lead you to look at your small group and pastoral structures. ‘Can the young people get an answer to their issues or do we stifle honest questioning?’ And so on. The questions lead to answers which form the basis of our future strategies and structures. It is so easy to do something because we did it last year. Is it time to ask the question ‘Is it right on Friday at 8 and on Sunday morning?’ Asking the question does not create change but it does open up the possibility for change. Many churches are unhappy to ask the questions because they are happy in their time warp and love to wallow in past glory.

Personal evaluation

Why not spend some time this summer, reading God’s Word and opening your mind and heart to the possibility of what the ministry at your church could be like? By September your vision should be clear to the whole of your team and, while not cast in stone, it does give you a blueprint to work at for the rest of the year. The old adage which says ‘If you aim at nothing you’ll probably hit it’ is horribly true, so don’t let it happen to you. Ask questions about your teaching, your pastoral care, the state of the students, the commitment of the young people and so on. The first time you do it can be quite painful, but a yearly review with a list of questions about all aspects of your work may help you formulate the way you do things in the following year.

Ends and beginnings

Evaluation

Personal evaluation

Dave Fenton

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