5 Healthy Next GEN Practices
We’re going to look at 10 best practices to build a healthy youth ministry. Here are five this week and we will look at five next week.
Building a healthy Next Gen Ministry culture is actually really easy. It just takes vision, mission, time, and repetition. Sometimes it takes an education. Sometimes it just takes experience.
Some of the most successful Next Gen leaders I know have a degree at a university.
Some of the most successful Next Gen leaders I know have a certificate from a ministry school.
And some of the most successful Next Gen leaders I know simply have the experience of stepping into a position without any training.
But the most successful Next GEN leaders emphasize best practices and foundational principles for their work. Call it a missiology. A philosophy. A way of operation. A model.
And you can learn how to do Next Gen Ministry in many different settings. Just remember, you are a lifelong learner.
As we talk about these kind of things that need to become a regular emphasis in youth ministry, don’t minimize the university setting, the ministry school setting, or your LIFE experience as a volunteer leader in a local church.
There is a reality in the Youth Ministry setting that cannot be learned in a book or a classroom. That is what ends up being the culture of a Next Gen setting.
I've seen this play out many times as young leaders step into positions of leadership.
And right now, with many transitions in Youth Ministry across the country, I want to address some practical foundational strategies for first steps in building a Next Gen Ministry.
With that in mind, here are the first five foundational principles to help with building a healthy Ministry:
1. Dedicate at least 18-22 hours weekly to the study of God's word.
This would be for the full-time Leaders. Volunteer Leaders should dedicate 7-10 hours weekly. This is one practice of mine that has driven my ministry from the beginning.
There is a tendency for young leaders to think that preaching is not important. And I know that theology is not just about preaching. It could be teaching, small group, worship, and even our council.
But generally, the main avenue of the theology is our study and preaching and teaching as a Next GEN leader.
If you do not schedule significant time in theology and the scriptures, the ideology of the culture will shape your ministry. That is a dangerous place to be.
We cannot raise young people in the Church who are ignorant of the Bible. Only 30% of teens in the Church can name 5 of the 10 Commandments.
And the widely published 4% biblical worldview of Gen Z is the lowest of any generational set. You can blame the home all you want, but, the Next Gen Ministry does play a part in this.
If we are going to speak into a post-modern and humanistic society, we must raise a generation with a deep faith.
#scriptureOVERculture
2. What you get them with you keep them with. Be yourself.
Don't try and create a roller coaster for thrills and the bump in attendance. Because the students may expect a bigger roller coaster next time.
Remember this, what you get them with you keep them with, and it can be very expensive to try outdo yourself from month-to-month and year to year. Value genuineness over ingenuity and character over creativity.
The Law of Diminishing Returns is a reality.
What gets my attention one time, may not get my attention the next. You are the one returning factor in the ministry mix. Fads & Memes come and go. Fathers & Mothers do not.
Build the Ministry with your strengths and not your weaknesses. Do not desire another person's gift. Develop your own.
#characterOVERcreativity
3. Annually attend a conference on Ministry.
Some of the greatest moments in my 39 years of Ministry have been at conferences. It could be a Youth Ministry Conference or a General Leadership event, or even a Next Gen Strategy session or Summit.
The tools gained from veterans can make the road a little easier. Levels are reached and lids are removed in these settings and dreams are inspired.
If you want to do something you've never done, speak with someone who has been there and done that.
#levelsOVERlids
4. Build relationships with another Next Gen Pastor or Leader outside your Church.
This could be a Christian principal, teacher, or coach in the local school, or, another Youth Leader or District (denominational) official in the region. A monthly mentoring meeting will yield great results from one great mind to another.
It should be a peer or another leader who is more experienced. All of us need someone in our life who we are afraid of spiritually.
Another opportunity similar to this would be to involve yourself in the area ministerial association.
You will experience great conversation from all kinds of theological world views and philosophies of ministry around breakfast or lunch with paid and volunteer Youth Leaders.
If you want to do something that you have never done, you must find someone who has been there and done it. You cannot do this alone.
#mentorOVERme
5. Develop Leadership regularly.
Beyond simple recruiting of leaders, the retention and leadership development component is a necessary element of leadership continually over time. Be watchful of the leadership leak.
Do regular mid-course correction. Pull the team back to center where there is drift from the mission. REGULAR MONTHLY OR BI-WEEKLY MEETINGS ARE A MUST.
To be honest, leadership meetings are a matter of commitment. I hear people say often that they don't have the time. I don't agree with that. You will make time for the things that add value.
One thing that could aide in this - create a weekly small group and use the socials to train your leadership team. This will bring better communication and development.
#superfriendsOVERsuperman
Finally
We will look at five more first year commitments next week - I mean, actually, all of these would be great to repeat and emphasize throughout your long next GEN career
These really are more than first year emphasis. They should be part of your mid course correction and commitment on a regular basis as a next GEN leader.
We’ll look at five more practices next week…