Student Leadership Principles

Every Next GEN ministry must consider the discipleship and development of young people.

We know how important adult leaders are. But too often we have failed to build a peer leadership team. A peer leadership team is a great way to do discipleship and to share the load of the ministry.

Here are some practical principles to help you begin to build and effectively lead a student ministry team:

  • Pray - Before implementing a student leadership team, spend 3 months praying prior to sharing it with the adult leadership team

  • Share - Once you begin to share it, let it sit for 3 months before an organizational meeting. Share it every few weeks. You can even share it with key students that you envision being on the team. That will increase excitement and momentum.

  • Schedule - Plan an informational meeting and after the initial meeting start the process of electing 2-3 mature and involved students in each grade.

  • Meet - Once a team is chosen, have monthly leadership meetings with the students. In these meetings you should EAT and build relationship, TALK about wins, PLAN calendar and events, TEACH on topics, WORSHIP, and PRAY.

Aside from these general startup principles, here are several other helpful competencies for the student leadership team:

PERSONAL CHARACTER

  • A student’s commitment to Christ will be evidenced in his/her personal life, family relationships, and their relationship with peers

  • The spiritual disciplines must become an emphasis in everyone who aspires to be a leader - prayer, worship, reading, fasting, giving, simplicity, apologetics, solitude, etc.

  • This is probably the key commitment of youth leaders as they build a student leadership team - Discipleship

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE

  • Always seek to be a learner. Ask questions. When you are in a room with adults, always listen and look to ask the right question. Even if the question is, “What do you mean by that?”

  • Take up new roles and opportunities and tasks. Every young person will have a sweet spot early on in their leadership development. But, you can always seek to explore other ways to serve.

  • It may seem trivial, but, youth leaders must help students focus on their school and valuing and completing their education

CULTURAL AND SOCIAL ARENA

  • The student leader should be one of the leading sociologists on the planet, able to discern and articulate the developing trends and futurist movements in culture

  • Help student leaders to commit to awareness of current events, and, the application of wisdom to that knowledge

LANGUAGE SKILLS

  • Interpersonal skill can be learned. It is the ability to effectively present vision and information, as well as to respond to questions from youth, parents, staff or congregation.

  • Be careful of slang and fantastic grammar and seek to be slow to anger and speech. Every leader should be relevant in understanding, but also relative in wisdom.

  • For example, gossip can be a normal response in adolescence, but, it cannot be tolerated in the church

SKILLS AND ABILITIES

  • The Student leader must possess solid time management skills, interpersonal confidence, and take care of their stuff (belongings, car, bedroom, etc)

  • Be able to define problems, collect data, establish facts, solve problems, and draw valid conclusions.

  • Developing core competencies and finding the right place on the team is central to a student leader’s success

  • Every teenager is professional at something - as youth leaders, we must help young people find their special talent that nobody else has

TEAM-ORIENTED COLLABORATION

  • A beginning understanding of what it takes to work efficiently and effectively in individual or team situations

  • Teach young people to see the value of team because they will be working as a team the rest of their life

  • Collaboration abilities include the ability to coordinate several activities at once and to quickly analyze and resolve problems with other departments on the team.

TOTAL WELLNESS

  • Reasonable accommodations and expectations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions - and none of us are the ideal specimen or elite athlete

  • But there is no excuse for settling and not striving for excellence

  • Personal wellness (sleep, nutrition, and fitness) must be a central commitment and total health must be a focus of discipleship

A MENTOR

  • Young leaders, actually all of us, need someone in our life that we are spiritually afraid of. Somebody who could challenge us spiritually in areas that we do not challenge ourselves. The hardest person to lead is yourself.

  • So it really helps your natural and spiritual growth to have others who can lead us strongly. For example, MAYBE A PARA-CHURCH LEADER, A LOCAL EDUCATOR, A REGIONAL YOUTH MINISTRY LEADER OR PROFESSIONAL, OR EVEN A RETIRED MINISTER.

SELF-MOTIVATED LEADERSHIP

  • The ideal student volunteer should be self-motivated, have a passion and heartfelt concern for their peers, be a producer, and able to inspire themselves first and then others.

  • Learning to say no as a young person is very difficult. But it can keep you focused and task oriented. Set your sleep patterns and be mindful of time and sabbath so you can be fresh and healthy

Finally

YOU’VE HEARD THE PHRASE, “THE BUCK STOPS HERE.” I LIKE TO SAY THAT, “THE BUCK STARTS HERE.“

Every youth pastor should seek to give the authority to as many people as possible. Next GEN ministry is not about Superman, Wonder Woman, or the individual superpower. It is about Superfriends and Avengers.

Remember, Ironman has a weakness. The Avengers have no weakness.

Ownership is very important in any organization. When it comes to youth ministry, we secure the sustainability of the church by developing leaders. Especially young leaders.

Jeff Grenell