by Chase | Kid Min, Student Min
 Is there anything better than going to camp?Â
Camps and retreats are a vital part of every family ministry’s discipleship strategy.Â
Before stepping into my role as a family pastor at a local church, I lived on the grounds of a Christian camp (Camp Ba Yo Ca) in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Â I know, I know, someone has to suffer for Jesus!Â
During my 10 year involvement in camping ministry I saw more than 60,000 people come through our facilities. Most of these people were student and kids ministry groups who were taking a spiritual retreat over a weekend.Â
There are definitely some stellar examples of pastors hitting the ball out of the park, but there were also some nightmare groups that we were praying would simply make it to the end of their two-day retreat!Â
As you prepare for your upcoming retreat or camp here are a few things camp directors and their staff wish ministry leaders knew before coming to camp.Â
7 Things You Should Know Before Your Next Retreat
1. Ultimately, the camp staff is in charge
Camps have insurance policies just like your church does. The camp director gets the final say as to what activities or games you get to participate in and the safety guidelines. The more conversations you have on the front end with the camp about the specifies you are planning, the better experience you will have.
2. The camp staffers are not your maids
Be courteous and clean up. If the senior adults left your student center upside down after a luncheon in your room, you would be irate. While your retreat is meant to be fun, please ensure your people clean up their messes in their bunks and around the grounds. Almost all camps are understaffed so any additional cleaning that your group of 50 highly caffeinated middle schoolers can do helps.Â
3. Submit your schedule a week before
Typically, you will not be the only church renting the facilities that week or weekend. One of the biggest helps to the camp staff is when a pastor submits the retreat schedule. Also, special requests may not be possible if told last minute — so make sure you schedule the late-night campfire.Â
4. We think about your retreat as much as you do
The staffers spend weeks preparing for your retreat and at least a coupe days cleaning and following up with your church. We pray for transformation to happen. Our desire is to enable you to connect your students and kids with Jesus.Â
 5. Don’t complain about the small things
You know that one person in your church who complains about the air conditioning being too cold one week and then too hot the next Sunday? Yeah, don’t be that person during your retreat. There is a difference between notifying a staffer of a need or problem and complaining about the small things.Â
6. We are ministry partners, not a hotel
Camps and retreat facilities are para-church organizations — meaning we want to work alongside the church to help her fulfill the Great Commission. If you wanted a bed and breakfast, you should stay at a hotel. Camp staffs are focused on helping you share the Gospel.Â
7. We want be a catalyst for discipleship
Since camps are para-church organizations, we understand that discipleship will happen during the other 51 weeks in the year. We hope your group experiences God in a real way and we are praying that you will continue to stoke that fire once you return home.
Now What?Â
How can you cultivate the partnership between your church and your camp?
by Chase | Kid Min, Student Min
Your best leader could be on his way out of your ministry.Â
How do I know? Because they are susceptible to burn out like the rest of us.
Everyone’s schedules are too packed and stretched too thin. If you are not overwhelmed you might be a toddler — even middle school students are overwhelmed with sports and homework.
And if you are not careful, your leaders and staff might walk out on your ministry because of burnout.
Growing up, my dad worked in retail overseeing many employees and hiring.
I remember a nugget of wisdom he told me when I was in high school:
Your best employees are the ones who quit. Your uninvested employees are the ones who are fired.Â
He went on to explain that your best employees are the ones you give the most important tasks and responsibilities because you know that they will get them done. They will work longer hours, take on more stress, and endure hardships to ensure the job gets done.
As a supervisor, you NEED these people. Sure you are concerned with your employee’s well being, but after all you have deadlines and quotas to hit like everyone else.
So you pile the responsibility on your best workers.
– Your less invested leaders are happy because they have less work.
– Your key contributors are slowly dying because of the unrealistic demands.
– Your great workers will continue with a large portion of the responsibility for a while, but they eventually move on to a better opportunity.
This has always stuck with me.
The principle isn’t a universal truth, but a problem we must analyze as church leaders:Â
Your best leaders have the greatest potential to leave your ministry.Â
And it could partially be your fault.
While we do not sell a product, a church’s mission is of eternal importance.
Church leaders feel the pressure of school and family schedules, innovative events, and managing volunteers. Eternity is on the line!
As we attempt to do more ministry with less resources (finances, time, and leaders) we put a large load of ministry on the few we know will get it done.
There are certain people who will naturally be more productive than others. Not to say your other leaders are evil, but during different seasons people’s schedules shift.
My leaders who are teachers have more time in the summer to help out and almost none during the school year. I have to realize this and ensure that they are not overwhelmed by the expectations I place on them.
Here are 4 steps to retain your top leaders:
1. Recruit more leaders
If your ministry is growing, make sure you are adding new leaders throughout the school year. Few people love volunteer management, but it is a necessary part of church ministry. If you fail to recruit new volunteers, your seasoned leaders will burnout from the growing demands of ministry.Â
Pray for them.
Engage them.
Screen them.
Train them.
Send them out to serve.Â
2. Remove some leaders
Do you have a few leaders who are under-committed, uninvested, or disengaged? — Let them go.
This does not have to be negative. Everyone needs a vacation and break from time to time.
An offer for someone to take a break is normally received as a welcomed gift. Why would you want to keep them on a team that they are not invested in?Â
3. Refuel your leaders
Your leaders need fuel throughout the year. This goes beyond encouraging cards and recognition during worship services, you must invest spiritually in your leader’s hearts and souls. Jesus will comfort and energize them more than you could ever imagine. Prayer, encouragement, and communication are the three tanks that fuel your leaders.Â
4. Restructure your ministry
Is your communication strategy flawed? Do you have a ton of pointless meetings that could have happened via email? Are your events pointing to your church’s mission/vision or are you simply doing what you have always done? Have the leader responsibilities effectively been communicated?
Planning ahead will help eliminate last minute problems that are often put on your leader’s shoulders.
Side note:Â When you do forget and something is last minute, you take the hit and complete that task. Â As my mom has always said-Â Your lack of planning is not another person’s emergency.Â
Your best leaders are the ones with the greatest potential of leaving your ministry.
What are you doing to protect your leaders and ensure that they are not running out of fuel?
by Chase | Leadership, Student Min
Student leadership teams are awesome!
Tons of student ministries have student leadership teams, but few are utilizing the students’ gifts, talents, and abilities fully. Many ministries don’t encourage students to serve outside of the greeting time at midweek services. As a result, students don’t take ownership, get excited, or invite their friends like the student pastor wants them to.Â
Our student ministry has a student leadership team of seven students who are upperclassmen in high school.
I believe your student leadership team is one of the keys to building an effective student ministry. When you get students invested in serving, your student ministry will see incredible spiritual growth.Â
Here are 10 ideas that actually give students ownership in your ministry:
Plan Services
You aren’t 16 anymore. Your idea of awesome is different from the average middle and high school student. This is one area your student leadership team can help keep your student ministry engaged in youth culture. Give them the sermon outline and let them help the worship team create (with their guidance) engaging and creative midweek experiences.
Follow Up With Guests
Most student ministries gather contact information on visitors (if not, you need to start) and have adults send a card to visiting students. While students love getting mail, imagine the impact if an upperclassman sent a card! You can have the student write the card and you address them so there are no confidentiality breaches (students will be students).
Lead Games
I try to get our leadership team upfront as much as possible. Students need to see their peers on stage reading scripture, praying, and acting like fools. Give them some game resources, let them learn the rules, and schedule them in the worship set. For great game ideas check out FunNinja.org and DownloadYouthMinistry.com.Â
Lead Kids Worship
The high school leadership team is perfect to help with Kids Worship on Sunday mornings. We have two services, so I expect our student leaders to worship one and then help serve in Kids Worship. They lead songs, participate in skits, give devotions, and facilitate games. The kids love having high school students lead them (and our adults love that the high school students have as much energy as the kids)!
Plan Trips and Events
There have been times that I thought an event would be a sure-fire hit and found out that it was a flop. Pass event ideas by your leadership team (I use group texting for this) so you can get their honest feedback. They have awesome ideas! Remind them that you still have the final say on budget, safety, and logistics.
Create Theme Nights For Student Worship
Once a month we have theme nights for our student ministry. On that Wednesday our middle school and high school students are combined for one large group worship session. We use this to bring in new students and focus heavily on sharing the Gospel. (Blog post to come on how to utilize theme nights in your student and kid ministry.) Our least involved theme night is Flannel Night. The high school students came up with the idea and it amazes me how excited they get about flannel shirts.
Announcement Videos
This is an area I want to implement in our student ministry. Announcements can be boring and dry. Give your student leaders a list of announcements, a time limit (1 minute or so) and a GoPro camera and let them create something awesome!
T-Shirt Designs
Student pastors spend too much time trying to create T-shirt designs. You rarely know what is cool and are probably not a graphic designer. Let your team know the theme of your event and see what they can find or create. Send them links to CustomInk.com and FundTheNations.com, let them pick out a shirt, then order it. You will thank me later for saving you hours of design time.Â
Stage Designs
Each quarter we update our student ministry’s stage design. These updates are not expensive, but they are key to building ownership in the student center. Send a group text to your student leadership team with a link to ChurchStageDesignIdeas.com and let them help you create an awesome look for your space!
Ask Them Where They Want To Serve
Remember, your students are creative and intelligent. They will come up with ideas and ways to serve that you haven’t even thought about! Get their input. I can’t state that enough. Get their input. If you fail to get student’s input, they will not be invested.
Do you have any other ideas for getting your student leadership team mobilized for ministry?
by Chase | Student Min
A few weeks ago a student pastor asked me why it is important to bring in guest speakers for his students to hear.
It is a valid question.
Yes, guest speakers can be expensive.
Yes, you have been paid to lead midweek and/or weekend services.
But bringing in a guest speaker can serve as a catalyst for your group’s growth and spiritual depth.
Below are a few reasons I think every student ministry should bring in guest speakers.
Your team will have to decide how often you can utilize an outside source and what budgeted money you will be working with. I try to have a guest speaker at our retreats/camps and at least one during each big student ministry season: spring, summer, fall.
I utilize a guest speaker when I am out of town or on vacation, but I also schedule a few people to come in while I’m at service (especially when I ask a student to teach).
While I give you some of my thoughts, you can take these ideas and see how they fit for your ministry.
5 Reasons You Should Use Guest Speakers In Youth Ministry Â
New Voice
Does it drive you a little crazy when your students and leaders suddenly connect with the main point a guest speaker covers after you have been hitting on the same point for months? For most of us, we listen better when there is a new voice speaking. We can take advantage of this and strategically bring speakers in to help drive home truths, ideas, or concepts we have been covering. When your students see that you are not the only one who is teaching those concepts, they are more willing to grasp the vision.Â
New Perspective
Any guest speaker you invite in should have an unwavering commitment to Jesus and teach in accordance with your church’s statement of faith. They should also share their unique perspective based on their experiences and relationship with God. Some emphasize missions. Others have a heartbeat for discipleship groups. A new perspective awakens the passions already in people’s hearts.Â
New Style
It would be arrogant to think that you have the perfect preaching/teaching style to reach every student in your group. People have a variety of learning styles, so they naturally respond to a variety of styles and deliveries. You should be open to introducing new speakers and styles into your group so that you can reach those you may not yet have connected with on a personal level.Â
New Story
Some guests have a unique story to share about the redemptive power of Jesus. Aspects of their story may resonate with a student in your group. Inviting them to share their story with your people may connect on a deeper level with one of your students than you have been able to in the past.Â
New Opportunity
Do you have students who are interested in heading to a bible college or seminary? You should get them to teach! Your student may not be a “guest” in the traditional sense, but the main way you can develop leaders is to encourage them to explore how God has gifted them. This helps confirm a calling God may be placing on his/her life. Coach them before they teach and encourage them afterward.Â
Now What?
I would love to know how your student ministry incorporates guest speakers into the normal rotation and events. Comment below and let me know! How often do you bring in outside voices?
by Chase | How To, Student Min
I know…
If there was one thing you could do more each week it would be spend time with students. I’m not just talking to student pastors, but small group leaders and volunteers.
You serve in ministry because you want to impact lives.
But every week you end up feeling as if you have not spent enough time with students.
Things come up. Schedules are full. Goals of connecting with students turn into a distant hope.
The biggest challenge is to simply do something!
Students aren’t waiting on a grand gesture. They want continuous connection and communication.
Here are 7 ways you can connect with students this week:
- Brag on Them to Their Parents
Every student wants to know that he is on the right track. The next time you see his parent at a worship service or to pick the student up from bible study, spend a minute bragging on his behavior, leadership, or the way they are engaged during worship.
- Text Them
Students text constantly throughout the day. A simple text communicates that you are thinking and praying for them. Creating texting groups with the small group leader and students is a great way to start conversations without the awkwardness of texting a student one-on-one.
- Post a “Happy Birthday” Video or Picture On Social Media
Birthdays are essentially a personal national holiday for students! Show them that you are invested by posting a funny 15 second video or picture on their account.
- Prayer Before Service – Hangout after Service
Most students are dropped off early for midweek worship services. You can use that time to gather them for prayer before the service. Another key area is specifying a local restaurant of hangout that everyone is invited to after the service. I will say we are hanging out for 15-30 minutes and that parents are welcome to attend. This is low cost to the student ministry because kids pay for their own treat or just goof off with the rest of the group.
- Send a Prayer Card
Some small group leaders send cards to first time guests or when a student misses a bible study. Something that is just as effective is spending a few minutes praying for a specific student then sending him/her a card to let them know he/she has been prayed for.
- Maximize Your Time at Midweek
It is tempting to catch up with other adult leaders when you arrive for student worship services, but you must resist this temptation. How can you maximize your time and connect with students this week at your midweek service? Saying “Hey!” to every student is a great start, but think of some ways you can deeply connect with a few students.
- Personally Invite Them to the Next Student Event
Announcements do not work as well as personal invitations. Nothing communicates “We want you in our group” quite like personally inviting students to be involved in the group. This is not the sole responsibility of the student pastor – all leaders must spend time inviting students and informing parents when an event is coming up.
This list should give you some ideas to connect with your students this week.
How else are you connecting with students throughout the week?
by Chase | Leadership, Student Min
Let me guess …
You’re on a team of people trying to do something important, but sometimes it feels like progress has stalled.
You see the potential for your team to make a real impact in your church, your community, or maybe even in your state, the nation, or the world. But instead of seeing lives impacted for God, you see a team divided and/or consumed by petty issues.
If this is you, it’s possible your team doesn’t yet have the right core values.Â
Somewhere along the way, American churches have communicated that comfort trumps the Great Commission.
Churches have created cultures where we beg, coddle, and guilt people into doing what God commands them to do instead of cultivating people who love God and want others to love Him too.
If this is how we fill spots on our ministry teams, then all the members of those teams will be focused on themselves instead of the mission of sharing Jesus. Most of the problems ministry leaders (whether staff or volunteer leaders) face are about preference and comfort instead of the real priority: sharing the Gospel.
It’s time to evaluate your team’s core values. There are a few core values every team needs in order to succeed and keep the focus on sharing Jesus instead of the team members’ personal preferences.
5 Core Values Your Team Must Foster to Succeed
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Less JUDGMENT – More GRACE
It seems that most people love receiving grace but hate extending it. Thriving teams assume that no one is perfect and trust that everyone is working together for the greater good. There are no substitutes for humility and faith.
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Less COMPETITION – More COOPERATION
Are you all working toward the same goal? Great teams are comprised of people who excel in their specific roles. Every role is strategic. Every role is valued. Every role is essential. When all parts work together, the engine runs smoothly. When one person wants to be the loudest and get attention, the team starts to backfire. Those who want to show off often silence others’ great ideas.
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Less ISOLATION – More COMMUNITY
Thriving teams work well together. This is more than a work relationship; teams are invested in each other’s lives. Team members have developed a sense of community. Isolation leads to jealousy, frustration, worry, and loneliness.
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Less CRITICISM – More CONTRIBUTION
Never bring up a problem if you are unwilling to find a solution. When organizational or operational changes need to be made, great teams are willing to roll up their sleeves and contribute toward the solution – not just state the problem.
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Less GOSSIP – More GRATEFULNESS
Nothing divides a team faster than gossip. Confidential issues must remain confidential. Issues must be addressed directly and in person. Thriving teams make it a point to spread gratefulness instead of gossip. They support and value people’s contributions enough to treat them with respect, dignity, and kindness.
These are the values I have found helpful in taking an existing team and giving it the boost it needs to start making a bigger impact. If a team can stack hands on these five values and commit themselves to upholding them individually and as a group, the team dynamic will change and God will use that group of people in ways they never expected or imagined.
I’m always looking for more ways to motivate myself and my team members to go deeper in our pursuit of God and in our pursuit of His Great Commission. What are the ways you achieve this at your church?Â
