Shift #4- from Centralized to Decentralized

It was my first year as a youth pastor at my church. I was fresh out of college and I looked very young. (I still have a baby face some would say)

I remember being at a conference/retreat with my youth group and a handful of my middle school guys…well let’s just say they got into some trouble for misbehaving.  One of the organizers got our group together and angrily asked “Whose in charge here?”.

I came forward and said that I was in charge, to which he responded, “What adult is in charge here?”.  He didn’t believe I was the youth pastor even after I showed him my credentials!  Still to this day, he probably believes that some high school student pulled a prank on him and he got punk’d!

I remember vividly cringing when I heard those words, “Who’s in charge here”, because clearly it implied that no one was in charge and things chaotically got out of hand. Those words implied a lack of leadership, vision, responsibility, and ownership, and that very question haunted me for some time.

I will refer back to that question later on, so hang in there!

I used to love being “the man”.  Hey, I was one with the youth ministry degree from a Christian college. I was trained to lead students, do bible studies, organize retreats, and counsel.  I thrived on being needed and wanted, so much so that I quickly found my identity no longer in the person I was, but from the youth pastor I was trying to be. It some ways, I created and structure our youth ministry to revolve around  me.

Organizations that function from a top down approach (much like denominational or church hierarchy) tend to suceed or fail based on the drive and talent of a single person.  If that person fails, so to does the company.

Eron anyone?

Churches and youth ministries that operate in similar ways or mode of operation,  can easily fall prey to the same problems.

I read once that one particular church (whose teaching pastor is very well known) drops on average 3-4,000 people each Sunday that this one particular guy isn’t preaching.  Now, what would happen if he left the church?

Just as our programs should not be attractional (based on attractions), as youth leaders, we must be careful not to build our ministry around our own character, charisma, personality, giftedness, and even ideas.

There is a great book that I will refer to (and pretty much borrowed this entire concept from), so I want to give the authors credit and highly recommend you pick up this book.

The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations by Ori Braffman and Rod Beckstrom

I have included an excellent excerpt/summery of the book’s premise.  Well worth the read (especially if you want to understand the type of shift I am proposing!)

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“One thing that business, institutions, governments and key individuals will have to realize is spiders and starfish may look alike, but starfish have a miraculous quality to them. Cut off the leg of a spider, and you have a seven-legged creature on your hands; cut off its head and you have a dead spider. But cut off the arm of a starfish and it will grow a new one. Not only that, but the severed arm can grow an entirely new body. Starfish can achieve this feat because, unlike spiders, they are decentralized; every major organ is replicated across each arm.

But starfish don’t just exist in the animal kingdom. Starfish organizations are taking society and the business world by storm, and are changing the rules of strategy and competition. Like starfish in the sea, starfish organizations are organized on very different principles than we are used to seeing in traditional organizations. Spider organizations are centralized and have clear organs and structure. You know who is in charge. You see them coming.

Starfish organizations, on the other hand, are based on completely different principles. They tend to organize around a shared ideology or a simple platform for communication- around ideologies like al Qaeda or Alcoholics Anonymous. They arise rapidly around the simplest ideas or platforms. Ideas or platforms that can be easily duplicated. Once they arrive they can be massively disruptive and are here to stay, for good or bad. And the Internet can help them flourish.”

So in today’s world starfish are starting to gain the upper hand.

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I believe there is beauty and power in shared vision, shared teaching, shared leadership, and shared ownership in youth ministry.

Having one unifying platform of ideas, principles, and plans can unite and strengthen our youth program.

I sort of learned this the hard way (well at least it was hard for me when it happened!)

When I first came to my church, we had a handful of students and about 4 volunteer leaders.  I decided to aggressively pursue more adults leaders and recruit some capable college students from a nearby Christian college. (After all, I myself was a product of internships as a college student).

The first year we had about 3 and then added about 3 each year, to the point that I had about 10-12 college students helping run the program.  But then something terrible and wonderful happened.  ”My” students (notice the quotations) started to gravitate towards these leaders.  They were spending more time with them than me, confiding in them, and eventually our ministry started to take on a much different feel.

Over time I learned to give not only these college students, but the rest of my adult volunteers more freedom to dream, more responsibilities and roles, more ownership of our ministry, and much more credit!

I started to really focus on training and discipling them and then allowing them to run the ministry.  Listen, it was (and still is) very hard for me to back away from things I used to do and still like to do.  But I have watched our leaders and our students grow much more by this approach. No longer am I the one doing everything, making all the decisions, teaching all the lessons, counseling all the students, and taking all the credit.  I have intentionally taken a step back and allowed others to flourish.

My youth ministry professor at Gordon College, Bob Whittet, stressed this approach:

“Work hard to work yourself out of a job”

What we meant was that as youth pastors, all of our hard work and effort should work toward promoting and equipping others (and not our own reputation or legacy).  We should work diligently to reproduce others (but better versions) and to produce new emerging leaders who could own day take over when we leave.  This approach should not change even if we feel called to say for a decade or longer.

I can honestly say that if I left my church or my position this month, the ministry would continue to roll with a smooth transition. I am happy for that. I also think that I have some really gifted leaders who could completely run their own youth ministries and probably do a better job than me.

Back to the analogy of the book.  If our youth ministries are Spider-based, then if the head (youth pastor) gets cut off, the ministry may be in danger of dying. I have seen this happen far too often. A good youth pastor leaves and then the program is in shambles until another “good” full time person comes.

In a Starfish youth ministry, all parts are equal, and if an arm is cut off, another grows back to takes its place.  Also interesting, is that apparently the arm that is cut off has the unique ability to grow into its own starfish.  Our youth ministries should be a place of intentionally and lovingly “cutting” off student leaders and adult leaders to allow them the freedom to expand and start their own ministries.  It will end up with more starfish (ministries) and ultimately a bigger and hopefully healthier species (kingdom of God)

So now, if and when I hear someone ask…..

“Whose is charge here?”, it takes on different meaning and signficance.

That question no longer brings a sense of embarrassment, but rather pride and accomplishment.

When people come to visit our youth ministry, I sincerely hope they wonder that very question.

I hope I am in the back blending in and hanging out, and that my adult leaders, volunteers, and students have so much ownership of the ministry, that it is hard to figure out who is in charge.  I realize that it is one thing to structure our weekly meetings that way and quite another to implement this way of thinking and approach to our entire ministry. After all, we are the ones spending the most amount of time thinking,dreaming, planning, (and writing) about these things.  But I suppose we can begin to do these same things (think, dream, plan, write, talk, etc..) with our leaders instead of in isolation.

I believe that when we shift away from centralized (youth pastor as the head) to decentralized (leaderless or shared leadership), our ministries will grow healthier, expand quicker, and survive any departures or transitions.

Shift #3- From Exclusive to Inclusive

Let me start off by asserting I believe in the exclusive claims of Christ.   

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”      John 14:6

 

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”      Acts 4:12

 

I do not believe that all roads and religions lead to the same God.  

However, I do want to argue and propose a more inclusive approach to our youth ministries. 

In his own ministry, Jesus found an interesting balance between exclusivity and inclusiveness.

His teachings were often hard and blunt.  

In fact, he turned off many of his early followers with seemingly difficult commands and impossible requirements. 

 ”On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you?  What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!  The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him.  He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.”

 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.        (taken from John chapter 6)

Jesus certainly did not make it easy to follow him…in a sense.

Those who were stubborn of heart, proud, arrogant, or wise and “religious” in their own eyes found Jesus a rather troublesome character.

He taught about denying oneself, carrying your cross, and then following him (even to the point of death).

He taught that it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of needle (pretty difficult and rather bloody), then for the rich to inherit God’s kingdom.

In fact, in many ways much of Jesus’ teachings were contrary to what had been traditionally taught and accepted.  In many ways they were more difficult.

Lusting was put on equal footing with adultery. Anger = Murder.  You judge someone, God will judge you.  His followers were expected not to hate their enemies and seek revenge, but rather to pray for them and love them.  Not very easy to buy into and follow I would imagine!

However, at the same time, his radical message of love, grace, and forgiveness was open to all who would believe and receive.

He showed no favoritism nor excluded anyone based on their past or religion.  In fact, it appears the only group of people Jesus had little patience for were the so-called religious elite.  If Jesus purposely excluded anyone, it was these guys (although many of them chose to follow his way).  Jesus was not a stumbling block (I know that Paul says he was to the Jews), but this was not done intentionally since his heart was for them to believe and receive. 

They (the religious folk) made Jesus a stumbling block because of their stubborn hearts, narrow theological views, and obsession with their religion.

Where along this spectrum is today’s church and youth ministry?

Are we making the gospel message difficult to accept to those not in the fold?

Are we intentionally, or even unintentionally, putting up obstacles and stumbling blocks to those not yet knowing Christ?

Are we making following the Way of Jesus seemingly impossible?

Are we making our youth groups an exclusive, hard to get into, club for the religious elite?

 

I personally believe that God’s heart is for all.  He loves all of his creation and children equally and fully.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.    -John 3:16-17

 

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”           -2 Peter 3:9 

 

“This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”        - 1 Tim 2:3-4

 

I will now lay my cards on the table. I am not a Calvinist. I suppose if you are and reading this, you may not agree with the premise of my argument.  However, I also don’t want to spend time debating and defending particular theological viewpoints or doctrines. (I know you can just as easily pull out specific Bible verses as well)

What I simply want to say is that Jesus was for the people, not against them, but sadly it appears that his church acts in direct contrast.

We do a bang up job of telling others they are not welcomed or wanted in our particular community and sometimes in our faith!

If they don’t line up with our particular views on atonement, the Bible, abortion, drinking, politics, war, Sunday dress code, etc..they are either told they are an outsider or certainly made to feel like one.

How do you think prostitutes felt in the presence of Jesus?

How to the sexually impure or sex addicts feel in today’s churches?

No wonder why the majority of people are not flocking into our doors every week!  We have an incredibly attractive message to offer; a message of hope, new life, freedom, forgiveness, yet our exclusive and country club like attitudes often get in the way of people both hearing and receiving the message.

How big is your welcome mat at youth group?

I want my church and youth group to be a place for all students.  I want everyone to feel safe, comfortable, accepted, and wanted regardless of their political, religious, or sexual views.

 Now, don’t hear me wrong. (or i suppose don’t read me wrong)   I am not advocating for a “whatever one believes is fine” approach, nor do I want to condone beliefs and practices contrary to God ’s will for our lives.  But in my experience, transformation is more often  a process of discovery and spiritual maturity. We need to get these students in our doors first and keep them as a part of our family.                                                                            

Back to the prostitute question.

Certainly there is an aspect of being unworthy while in the presence of God.  And clearly, being in the presence of Jesus changed the prostitutes and “sinners” from the inside out. I doubt they remained entrenched in that lifestyle after they met Jesus.  But even if they did, I do not believe Jesus would have loved them less.

And besides, the point here is that while they were still “sinners”, they were obviously made to feel welcomed and wanted in the presence of Jesus.  He ate with them, taught them, and befriended them. (one of the many reasons why the Pharisees despised him and wanted to kill him)

How are we doing with that?  How is our approach compared with Jesus?

I love communion, because at the foot of the cross there is equality. We all remember and realize that in the end we are sinners, saved by grace and daily in need of grace.  No one is better than the next at the Lord’s table.  It should remind and challenge us to view our youth ministries the same way.

All are welcome. All are wanted.  

We should not put stumbling blocks in the way of students approaching Jesus just as they are.  He will then work in and through them over time to conform them more into his image and likeness.

Now, if a student completely disagrees with my view (and the Bible) that Jesus is the only way the heaven, etc.. then that is where he or she is at.  There is not much I can do except to pray and love. 

Our youth ministry must still exist for them.  If they continue to feel loved and want and show up and displayed respect for our beliefs, it probably means that God is doing something (maybe very slowly) in their life.  I believe God to be constantly at work in his children.

We are not to compromise the gospel, but at the same time, we are not to intentionally make others feel like outsiders.  

If our youth ministry can begin to shift towards the inclusiveness of the gospel and Christianity, I believe more and more students will experience the love of Jesus and transformation of communities will take place.

Let’s say “Welcome Home” to “sinners” and “strangers” alike, and warmly welcome them into the family and kingdom of God.

Shift#2- from the sacred to the secular/spiritual in youth ministry

Do you remember when hats were not allowed in the Sanctuary?

For some, you only have to remember back a few days to that angry call you received from one of the elders or trustees.

At one point in my ministry, I actually had an elder comment one of the videos we made for youth Sunday exclaiming, “maybe that video is appropriate for what you guys do downstairs or on a youth retreat, but not up here in the Lord’s sanctuary.”

So, is our youth room not the Lord’s sanctuary as well?

Do we somehow walk away from the transcendent ant holy power of God’s spirit when we leave the doors of the sanctuary and descend down the dark stairs towards the fellowship hall and youth rooms?

I mean, is one room or place more special or holy then another?

Is one moment more special than the next?

Sometimes on retreats the “sacred” would happen and God’s spirit would descend and fall upon us in powerful ways.

Now, these moments are crucial to the faith development of students, but if we emphasis the sacredness of certain things, times, places, and events, what are we saying about the rest?

Is the sanctuary more holy or sacred than the youth room?

Is the church building more sacred then the classroom?

Is Sunday morning between 9am and noon mores special than the rest of the day….or Monday?

You see where I am going with this?

While it is vital to provide opportunities and spaces for students to connect with God on a deep level, we have to teach them that all of life is spiritual.  The secular is spiritual because God’s presence is there.  Or at least, the secular can be spiritual if we recognize and acknowledge God in those moments and places.  

Is there a place where God is not present?  Now, some may say that since God is holy he cannot be anywhere where sin is present.  Therefore, there are clearly evil places where the Lord’s spirit does not make an appearance. For some, God is apparently absent in rated R movies, popular radio music, the Internet, and New York Yankee baseball (which I happen to agree with).

Paul seems to indicate that nothing (including the demonic) can separate us from the love of God.  (Romans 8: 38-39)

Additionally, the psalmist writes in Psalm 139

 ⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit? 
       Where can I flee from your presence?

 ⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there; 
       if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

 ⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn, 
       if I settle on the far side of the sea,

 ¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me, 
       your right hand will hold me fast.

 ¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me 
       and the light become night around me,”

 ¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you; 
       the night will shine like the day, 
       for darkness is as light to you.

Even when we are trying to hide and flee from God, his presence still surrounds us.  Even when we intentionally let darkness engulf us, the Spirit of God permeates and prevails. 

Now, that does not mean that we should necessarily spend the majority of our time in those places.  I do believe in the power of corporate worship and fellowship.

Jesus told his followers, “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:20)

But I just don’t believe that also means, “If you are by yourself and not in church, I am not there.”

Every place we are standing is holy ground, because the Holy Spirit is present.

Especially for us who believe that the curtain of the temple was torn upon Christ’s crucifixion, thus allowing access to Gods’ Spirit unconditionally (no more special or sacred times or places)

We are now the temple of God’s Spirit and that should have significant implications in our lives and ministries. (1 Corinthians 3:16)

Through what was accomplished on the cross at Calvary, no longer is the Spirit of God confined to a certain section in the temple.

That curtain was torn ladies and gentlemen, and that same powerful, mysterious, and awe-inspiring Spirit now dwells within his people.

In some ways, we take the presence of God wherever we go..we no longer have to enter into his presence.  He is already there!

What we need to do, is prepare ourselves for the indwelling of his presence wherever we go and whatever we do.

Now, rather then take away from the holiness of God, this way of thinking should serve to increase our awareness of His presence and the sacredness of everything.

Remember that movie Austin Powers: Gold member?   Everything he touched became solid gold, including people’s….I suppose I should not go there.

Well, if we believe that we are the temple of God’s Spirit and the fullness of Christ dwells within, they we are truly the vessels (carriers) of God’s spirit to the world.

If I may continue this analogy….

As agents and ambassadors of Christ, what we touch should change as well.  We bring with us healing, restoration, and power unlike any other.  Of course, it is not a matter of only physically touching someone, but our words, actions, attitude, prayers, and love make a difference…because God is in us and with us. 

This perspective changes everything. 

Meals become more important, for as we break bread together we acknowledge and recognize the presence of our Lord

In everyday conversations we discover the holiness of God.

Even getting the mail and taking out trash become acts of service and obedience when done in the name of Jesus and for his glory.

“Corrupt” culture needs to be met, embraced, and transformed.  Don’t be afraid of “secular” society.  The difference is not in the actual object or activity, but rather in our perspective and mindset.  

(compliments of Biblegateway!)

1 Corinthians 10:31

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

Colossians 3:17
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Yes, there are still those transcendent moments when Christians are gathered together and the Holy Spirit moves in a powerful way (pretty much the entire books of Acts). 

But when Jesus left the mountain top, he did not cease being Jesus.  The same Spirit still spoke to him, strengthened and empowered him

He takes the ordinary and makes it extra-ordinary and he can help us and our students do the same. 

Let’s help our students see that what they do and say in school is just as important as while in church…maybe more so.

God is just as present in the hallways as in our youth rooms, if we allow him to be.

We simply can no longer preach and practice (maybe subconsciously)  the dis-connectivity and dissociation of God from the world he has made and loves.  

In our approach, let’s shift from creating “sacred” moments to experiencing God in the secular and therefore discovering His presence and the spiritual in more of our life and ministry.

Shift #1: Shifting from missions to missional approach in youth ministry

A few years ago, I brought my students on an international mission trip with a very well known mission organization.  The idea was to show the students all facets of missionary life and to allow God to use us in ways to reach people for Christ.  There was a heavy emphasis on prayer and evangelism for the week, as they were two pillars of these particular organization.

I will never forget one specific afternoon.  We were doing a “prayer walk” past abandoned buildings that needed fixing up (ironically praying that God would bring help and send others to fix them up!). Then “as the Spirit lead”, we would walk to certain homes and start conversations. Some houses we would walk past, while others we would stop at.  The objective was to somehow work Jesus and the gospel presentation into the conversation, and ideally the goal of each encounter would be that the individual make a personal profession of faith in Jesus.  We even had cards to record such occurrences.

So, there we were in a very poor country walking down dirt roads and talking with people who had no access to running water, little food, and shanty-type houses (if you could call them that).

We approached one lady whose roof was falling apart, clearly needed food and water, and I am sure that some money would have helped greatly (we were told not to give money though).

She shared with us her problems (a long and depressing story that I will spare you) and how she had no one to help.

Some students interrupted and talked about Jesus and that he could and would help her if she only accept him into her heart as Lord and Savior. They proceeded to talk about a heavenly mansion that would welcome her when she left earth and all her pain and suffering would be no more.  They did a good job doing what we were told to do.

The woman politely nodded her head at every question we asked about faith and salvation.  We prayed for her and wrote down her information.  Then we left.

One of my senior guys was trailing in the distance on our walk back.

I asked him what was wrong, believing he was overcome with emotions of joy.

He said this.

What did we actually do for that lady?   I feel like we took the cheap way out of getting our hands dirty.

I responded by saying something along the lines that we offered her hope and salvation, which ultimately is more important than her current physical needs.

He then said, “And you really believe that?”

I froze. Speechless as I was, it occurred to me that I deep inside, I felt that there was something wrong.

Here we had a great opportunity to do something to bless this lady, make a difference here and now, and to show her God’s love, compassion, care, and provision.   I am just not that convinced that our ministry and message must be so focused on the afterlife and making sure people are prepared for when they die.  Quite honestly though, I am torn because I also believe that merely addressing physical needs while ignoring spiritual realities is just as harmful in the end.  And besides those theological issues, what kind of relationship were we building with that lady?  It seemed to my student at the time, that missions needed and could be so much more!

I have  been challenged and convicted in how we as youth pastors define  and do “missions”.  For years it has been a 1-2 week trip to some different context and culture (usually poor) where we go, feel really bad for the people, try to make some sort of difference, come back and be moved into action for about one week. Shortly after our return we inevitably forget the names and faces of those people and within a few months, realizing we will never return, the memories fade and our focus begins to shift towards the next mission trip  (because we need to further stretch and expand our students horizons)

Listen, I have been to 3 cities in Mexico, Haiti, Honduras, Peru, Dominican Republic, Detroit, Philadelphia, Appalachia, Cincinnati, and a few others places, never to return to a second time with the same students. 

It seems to me that what we have traditionally called short-term mission trips are, in actuality, more realistically short-term discipleship trips.  We always end up saying the same things:

 ”The people there touched me so much.”

 ”This trip changed my life.”"

“My perspective on faith and life is different because of my experience.”      

“My love for God and others has grown.”

“I grow so much closer with the other students in my youth group.”

“My worldview is much broader now.”

etc.. etc….etc….

Notice the emphasis on the word “my”!

Now this is not a bad thing. In fact, it is a great thing. I have seen the faith of my students grow more in one week on these types of trips than any retreat or conference.

But in the end, these trips usually impact us more than the people we are attempting to serve.

Who are missions trips supposed to be serving?

It is hard to develop meaningful relationships in a span of a week.  It is hard to meet needs when you bounce back and forth from activity to activity, spending no more than 1 day on one particular need.

It is a very hard to have a real passion for an area, people group, or culture when within one year you are preparing for some different place.

A good friend of mine is a missionary in Haiti.  He gave up a great career as a youth pastor for Youth for Christ to serve orphans in Haiti over ten years ago. He is deeply invested in this country. His entire life is in Haiti now.  It has become a part of his being.

Because he is there long term, he has long-term plans to bring healing, restoration, hope, and salvation to the people.

His ministry consists literally of feeding the hungry, finding homes for the orphans, building schools and educating the children, taking take of the widows, training young disciples, and teaching and preaching the word of God.

I will try to simplify what he does as a missionary:

Lives somewhere (Haiti). Feels called to stay and has a vision for that area. Loves God and serves the people in that community.  Is dedicated to staying there long enough to make a real difference and impact. 

Isn’t that what we are supposed to be doing as Christians?

Now for Tom, his mission field is Haiti.  And some of our students may in fact be lead to another place or country to serve.

 I honestly hope more and more students go out into the world as both as traditional missionaries and tent makers and bring the radical love of Jesus to places in need of hope. 

But for the majority of us, God is calling us exactly where we are to be missionaries ( I know it may sound cheesy, but think about it.)

What if we shifted our focus away from doing mission trips to being missionaries right where we?

I realize we have each preached lessons on that probably coming back from summer trips, but what if that idea and philosophy changed the structure of our youth ministry?

What about instead of going on your annual youth conference, you did a local service project were you lived?

Last year we spent the week on the Ohio/Kentucky border doing all sorts of hands on service projects.  Pretty cool stuff actually. But I doubt we will ever go back nor have a relationship with those organizations and individuals that we served that one week.

It got me thinking, why can’t we do the same thing right here in Westchester County, NY?

We returned from that summer trip and my students started looking for ways to serve and get involved in our community (being missional)

We began volunteering at 2 local food pantries, the Boys and Girls Club, a special needs Children’s hospital, and serving our own church more.

Just this past weekend, our entire church closed down for what we called C.S.I weekend (Consider Serving Instead).  No Saturday or Sunday services.  We all went out into our community to serve in anyway possible.

(I will post the link to the video slide show for it)

Food pantries, blood drives, parking meter watch, park clean ups, home repairs, giving lunch to immigrant workers, meals for home bound senior citizens, prison visitations, helping with a walk-a-thon for our local SPCA, free community car wash, etc..

You should have seen the response of our people and especially the community!    Organizations and individuals were astonished and overwhelmed that we would close our doors on a weekend and desire to help them out without asking for anything in return.

Now I know this is not a new idea.  In some ways, our church has been well behind in this  and possibly your church has been doing something similar for years. 

But my point is that this shift in approach is much needed and I think aligns to the ways of Jesus wonderfully. 

We hope to continue to partner with these organizations for months and years and over time develop real genuine relationships within our community.

In order to shift from missions to a more missional approach in youth ministry, I think the following are needed:

1) A more holistic approach.  We need to understand that meeting needs includes both the physical and spiritual.  Remember that Jesus healed people and feed the masses often before he preached to them and offered them the other good news.  Yes, we need to be the voices of God, but we equally need to be the hands and feet of Jesus, and serve those around us in practical and tangible ways.  You may be God’s answers to their prayers.

2)  Localized impact-  find ways to bless and serve your own community.  We live in a very affluent area, yet there are plenty of needs surrounding us, besides the fact that we are only 30 miles away from NYC.  Love and serve where God as already placed you and your youth group. We must remember that missions is not something we do somewhere else once a year…it is a way of life. 

3) Committed partnerships-  instead of going to 5 different places in 5 years, find one area or mission and invest in it. Many churches are doing this very well and working to build orphanages, schools, wells, churches, etc.. while building life-long relationships and partnerships with the people there.  We have great resources and should use them to heal the world (especially the parts of it that are desperate).  Find ways to really invest and give of yourselves for the benefit and blessing of others.  You will still be touched and though you may not get to experience multiple cultures, you heart will grow and expand for one and you will begin to see it and its people through the eyes of Jesus more and more.

“I was hungry and you gave me food,

I was thirsty and you gave me drink,

I was a stranger and you welcomed me.

I was naked and you clothed me.

I was sick and you visited me,

I was in prison and you came to me.” 
Matthew 25: 35-36

From my personal (and limited) experiences, I will end with a few ministries and organizations that I believe are doing a great job impacting their communities.  They are embodying this missional approach to service and ministry and I would recommend partnering with them (especially if you live in the area).  

Besides these particular ones, most communities have organizations with goals to benefit the community and make a long-term impact.  These include your neighborhood soup kitchens, food pantries, after school programs, recovery centers, Boys and Girls Club, among others.  Locate these in your communities and get involved.  I am sure that each one would appreciate the help and support. And if your particular area does not have organizations like this, start one up!  I am sure that within a short drive, you can find needs in your community. Perhaps God wants to use your church and/or youth ministry to reach beyond the four walls of your building and bring blessing outward.  Watch and see what God will do both in and through your group when you start to shift from missions to a missional approach. 

  Below are some organizations you can visit and work with.  Others such as Compassion International, World Vision, World Relief, Love 146, and International Justice Mission are also good for sponsorships, but the ones I listed below are good for youth trips.  Please comment and add some organizations that you have worked with and recommend.

I will post all comments.  Let’s build a list together and learn from the examples of others in order to do the same right where we live and minister.  Tell us about how your group or church partners with missionaries or organizations around the world or in your local community. 

*Disclaimer:  Clearly there is a Northeast focus (as there should be) because of where I live. But I encourage you to briefly look at each site and read the mission or purpose statement if they have one.  ____________________________________________________________________________________________

Group Work Camps                               www.groupworkcamps.com

The Pittsburgh Project                         www.pittsburghproject.org

Jesus in Haiti Ministries                    www.jesusinhaiti.org

The Boston Project Ministries           www.tbpm.org

The Bowery Mission (NYC)               www.bowery.org

The Boys and Girls Club                     www.bgca.org/

Adventures in Missions                     www.adventures.org/a/centers/philly/

Cast your Cares (Philly)                     http://castyourcares.org/

*CAMA services/relief projects         www.camaservices.org/

*C&MA Partnerships                            www.cmalliance.org/im/omm/partnerships/projects.jsp

 

*CAMA stands for Compassion and Mercy Associates

*C&MA is the Christian and Missionary Alliance denomination