Saturday, January 29, 2011

You don't have to be full time

Yesterday i said that, given enough time, the majority of youth ministry leaders drop out. They may not want to cease leading, but life gets in the way.

One reason leaders drop out, in my opinion, is the unspoken expectation that comes with youth ministry leadership.

The expectation? You must be there every week. You must be fully committed. You must be totally plugged in. You must be full time.

Trouble is, this isn't for everyone. For some, life makes this near impossible (despite how much they may want to be involved, care about the ministry and love the kids involved).

Perhaps youth ministry leadership should fall into four categories...

1 - Those who can commit to be highly involved. They are there every week and actively plan, lead and reflect on what happens each week.

2 - Those who are more than happy and capable to be there each week, but don't have the resources or time to be involved in the behind-the-scenes planning.

3 - Those who you call on when you need extra. Extra transport. Extra cooks. An extra set of eyes at a big event.

4 - Brain-pickers and resource-rs. Those who have a good grasp of the experiences and culture of the church. These people will be an honest sounding board and are willing to dip into their wallet to make sure that it moves forward.

These last two spots can be perfectly filled by ex-leaders who had to stop due to the business of life, but still care deeply for the kids.

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