Things I wished I would have done earlier... pt. 1

Recently, I have been thinking about my last 10 years in youth ministry. During those years there have been many highs – like mission trips, spending time with teenagers talking about life, talking with great adults who give their time to invest in teenagers lives, and watching teenagers trust Jesus with their lives. However, there has also been some difficult times – frustration with teenagers (yes I do get angry once in a while), people who don’t follow through on their commitment, the death of two youth leaders, death of teenagers, and teens/people who turn their back on Jesus. Yes, youth ministry has it’s highs and lows, but I love it, and I can’t believe I’ve been doing it for TEN years.

As I look back on the last ten years I realize there are some things that I would do differently if I could do it all over again. One of those things would be spending more time investing in talented youth leaders, and then giving them the responsibility of leading. Too often I have done things myself when a very capable youth leader could have done the job, and probably done it better. But, instead of turning things over to a capable adult leader I just did things myself. Why? Because in the short-term it was probably easier (fewer meetings, less time spent teaching someone to do the job, don’t have to worry about someone screwing up, etc.), but in the long-term it hindered the youth ministry (leaders didn’t grow, things stayed the same, people weren’t given the freedom to be creative, everything was always done the same way, etc.).

Now going forward my plan is to spend more time investing in youth leaders, encouraging them, giving them the resources they need, and unleashing them to lead in an area they feel passionate about. Currently, I’ve started this with a young man named Trevor. (Young Man? I don’t think Trevor is too young!) As I’ve spent time with him I have realized how talented he is, and how much creative energy and enthusiasm he brings. It’s been fun watching him grow, and I can’t wait to see how he is going to help lead the small group ministry within the teen ministry.

So that’s one thing I’ve learned. Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks!