Keep it Simple

Youth leaders often hear the phrase, “Hey, we should ___________ at our church!” It’s really nice to have students and parents offer all these great ideas of what they want to see their youth group do, but the problem is that they see things through a very specific lens. The lens of:  “My kid needs friends…church, please fix it.”

Too many churches allow their youth group to play into the unrealistic expectation of, “it’s the youth groups job to give the students a social life”. Creating an atmosphere where students can build friendships is very important, but not at the expense of the life and family of the youth pastor or the vision of the youth ministry.

The reality is that when someone says, “Hey, we should….”, what they’re really saying is, “Hey youth pastor, plan this event for me so I can show up and have fun.”  Ultimately, the work will land on your plate if you say “yes”.  Youth pastors need to learn how to say a very important word…

NO.

If you continue to let the everyone else run your calendar, you might as well give up on the vision God has given you to accomplish in your ministry.  Nothing kills the vision of a youth ministry better than a full and busy calendar driven by what everyone wants.  And say “goodbye” to your family and friends because what everyone wants from you is more important.

So, how do you keep it simple?  What do you say “no” to?

1. Hurt people’s feelings – yes, it is mean but you gotta do it.  If you say “yes” to everyone just because you don’t want to hurt their feelings, then you’re being driven by guilt.  And that’s not good for anyone.

You’re a leader, so go ahead and lead.

2. Stick to your strategy and vision – if you don’t have these yet, go ahead and figure it out.  Decision making is way easier when you know where you’re headed.

Our strategy is this:

Connect - Large Group (typically known as “youth service”)
Grow - Small Groups
Go – Student Leadership & Missions

We stick to that like white on rice.  Everything we do falls under one of those umbrellas and each is designed to accomplish a specific purpose (worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry or evangelism).

WRAPPING IT UP:  saying “yes” to what everyone wants creates a busy calendar.  And a busy calendar is like paralyzing your students.  Too many options makes it too hard for them to decide what is important in your ministry.

So, make it easy on your students and know what you want them to experience…and then just offer stuff that accomplishes that.