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youth ministry

Fun in the Son – Day 1 recap

Posted on July 20, 2009 by jon in retreats and trips, theology, youth ministry | Leave a comment

So as a lot of you know, yesterday I embarked on a 4.5 hour trip to Jekyll Island, GA, with a group of 7 teenagers and 2 other chaperones, for the annual Fun in the Son conference. I’ve been on this trip many times, and have really had a blast each year.

The ride was very smooth (aside from the normal “bumpiness” that comes with riding on a church bus), and we made good time. After paying our entrance fee to get on the island, we were immediately presented with a sign that said “Welcome F.I.T.S.” Once we went into the Convention Center and got registered, we headed off for the hotel.

The island isn’t very big. It’s about a 2-minute drive from the Convention Center to our hotel, so it’s not a big deal that we have to make that drive several times per day. Upon getting to the hotel, we discovered that we had been given two male rooms and one female room. The air conditioning unit had to be replaced in my room after we discovered that it didn’t work, but aside from that the hotel situation has been wonderful.

After our first night’s dinner of spaghetti, we headed back to the Convention Center for our opening program, which included music by a band from Port City Community Church in Wilmington, our general opening announcements and counselor meetings, an icredibly funny “How Well Do You Know Your Youth Pastor” game, and a dynamic talk given by Treb Praytor.

Afterwards, we learned that James and Katie Benson (our two other leaders) as well as myself are going to be leading small groups. These are groups of 20 or so students from different churches, none from our own. We’ll lead these students through the week in small group time, which starts on Monday night. There are 35 small groups in total. We will be challenging students to go deeper with what they’ve heard throughout the week.

Once we got back to the hotel, we finished the night with family time, where we get together with just our group and reflect on the day’s activities, as well as just chat with one another. We also finished our recreation signup. We will be competing in Men’s Tennis (Doubles), Co-Ed Volleyball, and Co-Ed Ultimate Frisbee. We (meaning I) really want to bring back a trophy this year.

Last night, Treb began to introduce the theme of the conference, which is “EPIC.” In a nutshell, Praytor used the story of Peter allowing Jesus to climb into his boat and preach, as well as the other account of him dropping his net to follow him, in order to challenge us to ask the question, “What would it look like in my life to drop my nets and follow Jesus?” God is inviting us into this EPIC story of His. It began to make us think. And as we asked that question, I thought, OK, once we know what that would look like, what is stopping us from actually doing it?

I’ll try to give another update tonight after the evening’s activities, but just to get you excited about what’s to come, check out our morning speaker, Illusionist Brock Gill.

Barbershop Banter Blog

Posted on June 11, 2009 by jon in random thoughts, youth ministry | Leave a comment

I’m a strong believer in the power and effectiveness of casual conversation, so much so that I dedicated an entire chapter to it in my book, “Where’s the ‘Why’ in Youth Ministry?” called “Youth Ministry and Dental Assisting.” Casual conversation can be one of the greatest social tools as well as ministry aspects you have. Id like to share three situations that I’ve witnessed over the past two days that have really made this more evident to me.

Right now, I sit in a chair in the waiting area of my barbershop. As I sit here, I hear the most fascinating (I use that word loosely) conversations. It’s not necessarily that the subject matter is that enthralling, but the fact that an incredible amount of friendly rapport is being built just by telling jokes, or talking about what happened over the weekend. This barber maintains a lot if his customers, I’d imagine, by simply setting an expectation that when people come for a haircut, they get a friendly, inviting atmosphere as a bit of an “escape” from the everyday norm.

Yesterday, I made a trip with my pastor to see a friend who was about to undergo surgery. When we were there, it was interesting to see the amount of casual, non-surgery-related conversation going on. This was especially fascinating in that it seemed to improve the overall state-of-mind of the patients. I concluded from this that a lot of times, people facing uncertain circumstances often just need someone with whom to have a simple conversation.

I already mentioned that I made this trip with my pastor. Now, the stereotypical person would think that once we get in the car, the conversation is related to nothing but ministry. However, with a combined 4 hours in the car, this isn’t an easy feat. But there was a lot of casual conversation on this trip. And I found it very valuable. It’s comforting for anyone to know that pastors are people, too. I wonder if people have thought this way about me with my ministry. I wonder if my students have ever thought I was “unapproachable,” but that barrier was actually broken down by simple conversation.

So never underestimate the effectiveness of just talking to someone. You could possibly change a life by simply talking about the weather.

Right now, it’s hot. And it’s my turn in the barber’s chair.

-j

The Value of Student Leadership

Posted on April 20, 2009 by jon in theology, youth ministry | Leave a comment

In my mind, there are very few things more valuable in youth ministry than student leaders. When you get a group of students together, kids who say, “I’m not going to be conformed to what goes on at my high school; I’m not going to be just a follower, a person who fits in with the crowd,” that’s an awesome thing. And what’s more amazing is that God entrusts ministry to you. While your parents might think twice about letting you use their car, God has always treated young people as significant people, even leaders, who can change the world.

 

The prophet Jeremiah was probably around 17 years old when God called him. But Jeremiah naturally resisted this leadership. He must have been thinking, “God, there are other people for this. There are adults, people who’ve been around the block. There are people who have gone to school for this, and who have been taught by the most brilliant people! I’m just a teenager – I’ve got my own life to live, and even if I was to go along with you, I’d have no idea what I’m doing!”

 

If you are a student leader, you may have felt like this at times. But what God said to Jeremiah is the same thing He says to you: “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you…” “…Now I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and plant.” (Jeremiah 1:4-9)

 

If you are involved in student leadership in a youth ministry, God has given you a job. But this isn’t a job you can just quit with two-weeks notice. You have been called by God to step out of the normality of “falling in with the group.” You are your own version of Jeremiah. And God is going to do great things with you, if you’ll accept his calling on your life to be a leader.

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