by David Hanson | Nov 1, 2013 | The Youth Ministry Blog
Our team has been challenged to think about the rhythms of our work week in order to work together more effectively. As I was looking over a “typical” week in ministry (if there is such a thing) I noticed some recurring themes. There are a few weekly habits that I do every week and I keep doing them in order to have a vibrant life in ministry.
In the Christian life we have daily/weekly/monthly/yearly habits that help us remain connected to our Creator. In student ministry I have habits, or disciplines, that keep me going in the right direction. I’m not saying that my list is the best list, but it’s worked for me and might spur on thoughts for your own life. Some of these disciplines didn’t come naturally early on in my ministry but through constant practice they have become a natural part of my life. That’s what a discipline does, it trains us to become natural at what doesn’t come naturally.
Discipline # 1 – Planned Inefficiency. I realize that inefficiency can have a negative connotation in the American church. We strive for effective time management and productivity. The problem is that when I get to the end of the week and have not slowed down to read/think/pray I end up losing my creative edge and my passion. At the surface, slowing down for reflection seems like the worst use of time, but in the long run it fills my well with great ideas and new ministry direction. So my discipline is to spend at least two hours a week in prayer/reading/reflecting to create the mindset I need.
Discipline # 2 – Time With Teens. This is an obvious one so I’ll make it short. It’s amazing how many youth pastors I know of who don’t spend time with teens of any sort. I don’t get it. It’s like the restaurant owner who never stops to taste a meal. I NEED regular time with teens or else I will go crazy. That’s how I know I still love student ministry. Middle schoolers keep me sane. So my discipline is that I get together for breakfast once a week with a small group of guys. It’s the highlight of my week.
Discipline # 3 – Parent Communication. Each Tuesday I send out a parent email. The content is information, training and encouragement. I’ve found that having this weekly discipline keeps ministry to parents on the forefront of my mind. It reminds me weekly that an effective ministry engages, equips, and partners with parents.
Discipline # 4 – Leader Development. My leaders need constant care and empowerment. If I let even one week go by without engaging them then I am draining the lifeblood out of our ministry. I need a discipline of leader development so I don’t try to do ministry on my own. So my discipline is to send a leader email each week and have at least one face to face meeting each week.
Discipline # 5 – Church Connection. Our team leader remarked this morning that some of us come into the office to get stuff done, others come into the office to connect with others. I am definitely a connector. I find that if I spend too much time working from a coffee shop I lose touch with the pulse of the rest of the church. I know that I need to make a habit of being in the office so I can bump into people, share stories and hear what’s going on. When I neglect this discipline I become solo artist instead of a true team player.
What are your weekly disciplines? What habits do you practice to make sure you are heading in the right direction? Are there any that you need to start doing this week?
Kevin Libick is a Middle School Pastor living in Fort Worth, TX with his wife Kara and her two cats. He is a novice banjo picker and expert Hawaiian food eater. Kevin loves to connect with other youth workers and equip them to live out their calling in God’s Kingdom. Connect with Kevin on Twitter: @kevinlibick
by David Hanson | Oct 25, 2013 | The Youth Ministry Blog
I can see it coming already. Sometimes you realize that events are a bust when the doors open. This time I know it’s going to be poorly attended already a few days out. This Friday is the perfect storm of school dances, homecoming games and birthday parties that compete with a small group fellowship game night. Even the guys from my own small group students aren’t coming because of a school dance. These scheduling conflicts are things I didn’t know about when we put the calendar together months ago. I was really excited about this event. We really felt like it was creative and risky and would be a great way to give our small groups ownership and community.
In the midst of the discouragement. I am finding joy and contentment because I know that this just one event…one of hundreds I’ve put on over the years. Most of which I can’t really remember. Some of them were amazing and some were busts. When facing the reality of a flop event remember these things.
I’m glad we took a risk. Once a year I like to try an event we’ve never done before. It’s easy to do the old standard events year after year, but innovation and imagination aren’t sparked that way. The moment you stop trying new ideas is the moment you stop growing as a leader. Sometimes the risk will pay off big time, other times they will flop. You’ll never discover the great ideas unless you are willing to risk the flop. This week I was blindsided by something I didn’t even think about (school dances). Next time, I will remember to ask when they are. It’s a lesson I can learn for our next calendar.
“Where is everyone?” NEVER, EVER ASK THIS QUESTION to students at an event. This will give the impressions to the kids who DID show up that it’s OTHER kids who are important. A wise person reminded me long ago that God always brings students into our ministry who need to be there. The students at who show up at a low turnout event are the ones that God wants you to be minister to. Don’t think about who didn’t show up. Think about the ones who did!
Bring the energy anyway. It’s tempting to phone in the energy level when there is a low turnout for an event. Less kids = less effort. As a leader this is death. It’s not fair to the students who did come the event and a bad example for your leaders. I’ve found that you can turn a flop into a success simply by bringing my best energy and excitement along with me.
So when the doors open Friday night I’m going to bring my best energy, be thankful for who shows up and be glad we took a risk. It’s a choice all of us can make when faced with a flop event.
Kevin Libick is a Middle School Pastor living in Fort Worth, TX with his wife Kara and her two cats. He is a novice banjo picker and expert Hawaiian food eater. Kevin loves to connect with other youth workers and equip them to live out their calling in God’s Kingdom. Connect with Kevin on Twitter: @kevinlibick
by David Hanson | Oct 18, 2013 | The Youth Ministry Blog
How to not go insane in youth ministry:
Follow these three easy instructions and repeat.
Last weekend I got to spend time with a bunch of other middle school pastor’s at the Youth Cartel’s Campference (theyouthcartel.com). If you work with middle schoolers and haven’t been I highly suggest that you check it out next fall. Several times during the weekend I thought to myself, “It feels so good to know that I’m not crazy for loving middle school ministry.” Youth ministry can make us feel crazy sometimes. The Campference had three things that are universal antidotes to going crazy in youth ministry.
Community – This weekend I was surrounded by people who understood my calling. I couldn’t do youth ministry if I didn’t have other people who affirmed my passion for teens. We need to be reminded regularly that our ministry matters to others and to God. Community reminds of this. Your community doesn’t have to be other youth pastors. It can come from ministry parents and your leadership team. Wherever it comes from you need it! You shouldn’t be doing ministry alone.
Rest – Sometimes the most sanity forming thing we can do is to get away and rest. At the campference all the programming is optional so I didn’t feel guilty when I got away for a nap. When you rest you are reminding yourself that God is in control and it isn’t all up to you. This truth brings sanity to our crazy lives.
Learning – One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. I do that so often in ministry. I think I have it all figured out. When I become a learner I open myself to the possibility that there are other ways to think about and practice ministry to teens. I got the chance to learn from some pretty brilliant people this weekend and I am already trying to figure out what changes we need to make.
Community, Rest, and Learning…Three things that will keep us from going crazy in youth ministry. Which of those three do you need most right now? How are you going to get them into your life?
Kevin Libick is a Middle School Pastor living in Fort Worth, TX with his wife Kara and her two cats. He is a novice banjo picker and expert Hawaiian food eater. Kevin loves to connect with other youth workers and equip them to live out their calling in God’s Kingdom. Connect with Kevin on Twitter: @kevinlibick
by David Hanson | Oct 11, 2013 | The Youth Ministry Blog
Last weekend I was fortunate to go to something very unique, my youth group’s reunion. That’s right, some 15 years after many of us graduated 50 of us gathered together for a night of reconnecting, dinner and worship. Some of us traveled great distances to be there, including my own youth pastor. We even had our old worship band play some of their old tunes. Singing those songs in our old youth room with my old friends really brought me back to those formative years in my faith.
As I was interacting with my friends I was reminded that one day my current students will graduate, get married and become adults just like we did. Through the conversations I was hit with some themes that made me reflect on how I do youth ministry.
Theme # 1 – Special Ingredients.
Throughout the night people kept talking about what made our youth ministry so great. They talked about how everyone was welcome, no matter who they were and what school they went too. They talked about how everyone experienced God’s grace at a deep level. This is what drew people to our youth group. I hope I never take for granted how powerful a warm, accepting ministry can be for a growing ministry.
Theme # 2 – Life after youth group.
Many of my friends had found it hard to connect with the church and it wasn’t because they didn’t try. The community they found so compelling in high school was lacking as an adult in the church. Some had even experienced deep wounds by church leadership. I was reminded that the faith formation of teenagers requires that we help them connect in the larger church body. It also requires that we prepare them for the inevitable reality that they will be disappointed by the church because it is filled with broken people just like you and me.
Theme # 3 – Life will get hard.
So many of my friends shared about how they “needed” our reunion. There were those who had gone through divorce and others who lost parents. I heard about shattered dreams and broken hearts. For many, these wounds left them disillusioned about God’s presence in their lives. Our reunion was an opportunity for them to be reminded that the God who worked in their hearts as teens is still with us today. I think most youth ministries fail to adequately prepare teens for the reality of living in a broken world. We paint the picture that if we follow Jesus, life will be rosy and fun. When life gets rough, they question their God because we didn’t do a good job of helping them encounter Jesus in the midst of their pain.
I don’t know if I’ll ever get to have a reunion with any of my youth groups, but I hope that I lead mine knowing that I will leave a legacy. I hope that our ministry will be known for displaying Jesus’ amazing grace and helping teens embrace Jesus through the ups and downs of the rest of their lives.
Kevin Libick is a Middle School Pastor living in Fort Worth, TX with his wife Kara and her two cats. He is a novice banjo picker and expert Hawaiian food eater. Kevin loves to connect with other youth workers and equip them to live out their calling in God’s Kingdom. Connect with Kevin on Twitter: @kevinlibick
by David Hanson | Oct 2, 2013 | The Youth Ministry Blog
Moses had it. Elisha had it. Jesus had it. They all had moments in their ministry where the burden of leadership seemed too great. They saw what God called them to and saw the impossibility of it. We do it in ministry too. The family that’s barely holding it together and only you know how close they are to the brink. The student who wants to believe but just can’t seem to fully give Jesus everything. The leader who is struggling with an inner battle.
As a Christian it’s our calling to sit down and enter into the pain and brokenness of other people’s lives. We pour out our lives and sometimes we pour too much of ourselves. We are left empty, tired and burned out. In the midst of these times there are three truths that you should take in to protect you from emptying yourself too much.
Jesus is the Savior, not you.
I’m pretty sure that no one would argue this theologically, but practically we deny this all the time. In pastoral ministry we start to believe that spiritual growth is all up to us. We do this when we say “yes” to meeting with more people than you can handle. We deny this truth when we can’t let a phone call or text wait until the next day. Jesus was doing pretty fine without me before I got here and He’ll do fine when I’m gone. Think about this. God never tires, do you? God won’t give up, will you? God is immortal, are you?
It is a blow to our ego to know that we are not the center of our ministry, but it’s the truth and this truth will set you free. When you free yourself from being Savior, then you are less likely to have your heart rise and fall with your ministry successes and failures. We are protected from pride. When a student accepts Christ, it’s not because we presented the Gospel in the right way. We are freed from guilt. When a student you’ve been pouring into messes up, it’s not because we failed them.
You aren’t alone.
It’s easy in ministry to feel like you’re the only one keeping the ship afloat. We see our own hard work and feel that if it weren’t for you the whole church would fall a part. The truth is that God is working through more people than you. Elijah, after the victory on Mount Carmel, received a death threat from Jezebel. Elijah complained to God saying that if he died, no one would be left to stand up against Ahab and Jezebel. God responded by telling Elijah that he had reserved 7,000 other prophets who had not bowed to Baal. In other words, “Elijah, this isn’t all about you. I’m working all over the place through many other people.”
The question for us is, “How do you release your ministry to other people so that your burden is shared with other people?” If you are keeping it all to yourself. You are not doing ministry the right way.
It’s not selfish to care for yourself.
There is a horrible belief in the church that caring for yourself is selfish and therefore wrong. If we even think about doing something for the betterment of our souls then that means we are putting ourselves above other people. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Even Jesus took time to tend to his own soul. When pressed by the burdens of ministry, Jesus went away to spend time in communion with His Father. One could argue that Jesus would have spent His time better if He would have healed more people or taught more truth. That’s how we operate a lot of the time. But Jesus knew that His joy and strength came from time with the Father. Without that His ministry would have no power.
I’ve certainly struggled with this over the years and need constant reminder that caring for my own soul is not an act of selfishness, it’s an act of love. If I tend to my own soul I will have a longer ministry and be able to bless more people in the long run.
Kevin Libick is a Middle School Pastor living in Fort Worth, TX with his wife Kara and her two cats. He is a novice banjo picker and expert Hawaiian food eater. Kevin loves to connect with other youth workers and equip them to live out their calling in God’s Kingdom. Connect with Kevin on Twitter: @kevinlibick
