Monthly youth leaders column

Keeping a balance

Most churches have a bulletin which tells us all what is happening and when.

If you take time to analyse what you do, how much of it is involved in maintenance, and how much in other things?

Of course, we need our committees to keep people informed and involved, but do we need quite so many and do we use the time well? I have been involved with many and some have been great experiences as we have seen God at work as plans and prayers have borne fruit.

But there have been others for which it has been hard to raise enthusiasm. One I remember well was when we used sketchy minutes from the last meting for our agenda and largely re-iterated the points we made at the last meeting: ‘Did we say that?’ was a common phrase. Another concerned with outreach lapsed for some months in which more people became Christians than when we were meeting to discuss how people might become Christians

Too many meetings?

I have noticed a trend in youth ministry towards ‘meetings’ for almost any reason under the sun. Some are vital. We need meetings to plan our teaching programme as teams (leadership is always plural in the New Testament) — we need to organise how we do things — we need to meet to pray for our young people. But do we need six meetings to plan the activities for a 24-hour retreat for young people (real case)? Could that time be better spent in ministry directed at the discipleship of young people or in one-to-ones with those asking questions or in teaching the Bible? In other words, we plan, prepare and pray because our primary role is to engage with the lives of young people. Some people love committees, but it is very easy to lose sight of the battle. Soldiers do not make their name in the barracks — they do it on the field of battle. Our battle is for the hearts and minds of young people as we try to share the truth of God’s word with them. All other aims are subsidiary.

A need to reflect

It is sometimes a good thing to draw back and ask the question: ‘What on earth are we doing, for heaven’s sake?’ I think some people call it ‘blue sky thinking’. Is there a better way to use the time that our teams have — indeed, would it motivate them more if we were doing things which were more obviously ‘gospel’ in intent? Many of our leaders are busy people and have limited time to give — are we making the best use of them? Could we use our committee times better and release them to other things? There is some evidence that this can happen to full-time youth pastors. It’s a bit like the headmaster who rises to those dizzy heights because he is probably a good teacher, only to find he has less contact with children, if any.

Serving tables?

Our ‘full-timers’ are presumably those gifted in youth ministry, yet we expect them to do endless hours of work in maintenance and administration. Could some other church person do this and release the gifted youth minister to minister? I am increasingly finding that these people are spending more time buying food and typing minutes when their role is investing in the lives of young people.

Using our spiritual gifts

Perhaps you need to review how you use the time you’ve got. Ask the question — could someone else do this and think beyond the youth team? One day we’ll get to the day where we actually see those with spiritual gifts using them. Who knows — that may build up the church.

Dave Fenton

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