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Do I Really Have To Plan Beyond Next
Week? Planning For Impact People don't plan to fail, they fail to plan! As I was previewing Jim
Burns new edition of THE YOUTH BUILDER, I underlined this statement, "Vision
usually isn't the thing that hinders most youth ministries: it's a lack of
administration that sinks many of them ... in reality, a well administered
ministry will provide more valuable time to spend with your students." Planning ahead is
important. So how do you do it? JUST TWO HOURS A YEAR Every year take just an
hour or two- no joke- just an hour or two- and lay out your year's
schedule. Start with a blank piece of
paper or a blank computer screen and start planning. I. START
WITH PURPOSE The first thing we have
to do is remember our purpose. Let's
not fall into the category of ministries that plan events, activities, camps
and retreats simply because, "we've always done that." What is your purpose for
your ministry? Is it Biblical? If your purpose is "to have the biggest
youth group in the town of Plano, Texas," then, chances are, your purpose isn't
Biblical. How about Reaching youth with
the Gospel, Making Disciples of Jesus, and Teaching them how to serve others. You'll notice that statement has three
purposes: reach, disciple and serve.
Most good purpose statements will have different purposes in them. Now there are some
excellent training programs that focus on just that- developing your
purpose. We could spend this whole
chapter on vision statements, mission statements, etc. As valuable as that is- I'm going to assume
that we've already done that and you can simply plug your mission, your vision,
or your purpose right on the top of the page. In Doug Field's book
"Purpose Driven Youth Ministry" he gives us an example of a purpose statement
from a church in Mesa, Arizona (page 63). "The
goal of our student ministry is to expose teenagers to God's love, to equip
them to exalt God, enjoy other believers, and experience the work of the
ministry." This statement from a
church we will call "First Church of Mesa" values five different purposes:
evangelism, discipleship, worship, fellowship and service or ministry- great
basics for any youth group. (If you haven't ever put a purpose statement
together, I encourage you to do so. As
we dig deeper into the planning process you'll see the importance of developing
your purpose. II. LIST
ALL THE EVENTS, ACTIVITIES AND PROGRAMS YOU CAN THINK OF Now that your purpose is
clear, take the time to brainstorm every event you'd like to do this next year,
every event you did last year, every event the church next door did last year
and the events you always wanted to do, but haven't done for some reason or
another. No joke- just start
listing stuff: trips, camps, weekly programs, mission trips and fun
activities. If you start out with the
previous year's list of events, it's not hard. III.
MATCH EVENTS/ACTIVITIES/ PROGRAMS
TO YOUR PURPOSES Now that you
have your purpose statement written down and your list of possible stuff to do,
it's time to match activities and events to your purposes. We can't do that unless we really understand
how activities can accomplish a given purpose.
A Common Misconception I don't want
to get on my soapbox, but this is the most neglected step I see in youth
ministry planning today. Youth
ministries often plan activities, events, EVEN WEEKLY PROGRAMS without any idea
what the purpose is for that particular activity. Whenever I'm
booked to speak at an event or camp, I always ask "What is the purpose of the
event?" Numerous times I will get a
blank expression or a silence on the other end of the phone. One time this
happened and I clarified. "Is this an
outreach event, a growth event or a leadership event?" "All three!" That answer
always kills me. Let me just say this: $ There are unbelieving students out
there who never ever want to set foot in a church. $ There are unbelieving students who
would go to church if there was a good enough reason (like an attractive member
of the opposite sex inviting them). $ There are unbelieving students who are
curious about spiritual things, might truly be seeking for an answer to the
emptiness in their life and realize that the answer might be at church. $ There are luke-warm students who have
grown up in the church, heard a thousand messages, but don't make God a
priority in their lives. $ There are believing students who have
just made a commitment and are ready to grow.
$ There are believing students who are
ready to serve and minister to others. Different events target different
kids. Let's face it- if you want to
target the kid who never wants to set foot in a church, 99% of the time you are
NOT going to start by inviting him to a Wednesday night prayer meeting. However, you might invite him to the
skateboard event, the ski retreat or the concert.
If you want to provide a place of growth for the students who just made
commitments to Christ, you probably are NOT going to just take them to outreach
events that just present the Gospel and give and invitation each week. However, you WOULD want to bring him to the
new-believers' Bible study or the weekly CROSS-TRAINING growth program. Don't try to
do it all with one event. If you try to
target all the above students with all your events- your impact will be
weak. That's why different programs,
events and activities achieve different strategies of your purpose. How to Match To illustrate
how to do this step, we'll look at the above "First Church of Mesa" and see how
we would match events and activities to each of their purposes. The Arizona church above might come up
with the following type of events/activities/programs for each area of their
purpose statement: EVANGELISM "First Church
of Mesa" would need to have events and activities that reach out to unbelievers
inside and outside the church.
Remember, these might be events that are just plain FUN and students in
your group would feel comfortable inviting their friends. They might even be events where the Gospel
will be presented. It's not bad
to have an event with the simple goal of "Bringing in lots of kids and showing
them a good time!" "Fun events" open the door to evangelism opportunities. Don't underestimate the power of
well-trained relational staff spending time with students in order to gain
opportunities to share the Gospel. This
can be as rewarding as an outreach event where the Gospel is preached. DISCIPLESHIP What better
purpose to follow EVANGELISM than DISCIPLESHIP. "First Church of Mesa." does NOT want to just bring students to
Christ and then abandon them. They want
to disciple them and help them grow in their faith. Matthew
28:19-20 Therefore, go and make disciples of all
the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy
Spirit. [20] Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given
you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the
age." So "First
Church of Mesa" needs activities, events and programs where Christian students
can grow in their faith. Many youth
ministries have this as their weekly program.
But realize, retreats, camps and activities can do this just as well. A
friend/youth worker in my area always takes his students on a "Relationships
Retreat." The purpose of this retreat
is to talk to Christian students about their relationships with the opposite
sex. This is an excellent part of their
growth as young men and women. At this
retreat, many of the students pledge "to wait" for sex until marriage. Many camps
have the purpose of DISCIPLESHIP or growth.
It's great for churches to provide a time of FELLOWSHIP and spiritual
growth for Christian students in this atmosphere. Don't forget
about Bible studies or small groups.
These are excellent ways for students to grow in their relationship with
God and other Christian students. WORSHIP "First Church
of Mesa" also needs to provide a time of worship, as worship is one of it's
purposes. We've seen a lot of
ministries start to incorporate this more in the last decade as they've
realized the power of the Holy Spirit through worship. Worship bands like Sonic Flood and Delirious
were some of the first bands that made worship songs "mainstream." WOW Worship CD's are growing more popular
each year.. Many students
are responding well to worship events- a program that's centered around praise
and worship. Worship can also be a part
of many of the activities and events we've already planned. FELLOWSHIP Fellowship is
also a purpose of the above church.
This church should include events that provide fellowship among
believers. Acts 2:42
They joined with the other believers and devoted themselves to the
apostles' teaching and fellowship, sharing in the Lord's Supper and in prayer. I have
received some emails from people who complain that I shouldn't have all the
"fun and games" on my web site. Several
have even argued that every game MUST have a biblical application. I understand
that some youth ministries have sacrificed any depth for JUST fun and
games. HOWEVER, I'm concerned when
people feel that we can't provide students a time of JUST fun. We must
realize that our students are bombarded by hundreds of opportunities to make
bad decisions each day. Many of these
are VERY attractive decisions ... that result in a lot of pain. One of the best defenses our students have
against these tough choices is FELLOWSHIP.
Christian students should build relationships with other Christians to
encourage each other during these tough times. Hebrews
10:25 And let us not
neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each
other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near. Eccles. 4:9-12 Two people can
accomplish more than twice as much as one; they get a better return for their labor.
[10] If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But people who are
alone when they fall are in real trouble. [11] And on a cold night, two under
the same blanket can gain warmth from each other. But how can one be warm
alone? [12] A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can
stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided
cord is not easily broken. Don't feel
guilty providing a time of just plain FELLOWSHIP. Realize that relationships are very important to God. So important- that he made his two "greatest
commandments" about relationships. In
short, "Love God" and "Love Others" Fellowship is
a great purpose and many of our events can provide that. SERVICE/MINISTRY Ministry is
the fifth purpose of "First Church of Mesa."
This church should provide opportunities for students to minister, serve
and maybe even lead. As students
grow in their faith, serving others becomes an incredible part of Christian
growth. We can provide many opportunities
for students to do this. Leadership
teams, where a core group of students help run your ministry, are a great way
to achieve this. Leadership retreats,
conferences and trainings are also very effective. Sometimes the best chance for a student to minister is in the
opportunity to share their faith with a friend or bring them to church. As you can
see- there are a lot of things we can do with students that do more than just
"keep them busy." All our activities,
programs and events should have a purpose.
Take time to match our activities, programs and events to your purposes
in this way. This will keep you not
only focused on the purpose at hand, but the big picture of why you are doing
what you do. Not to mention- this will
help you answer questions from angry parents demanding to know why their child
threw up after eating SPAM out a bowl, drinking a gallon of milk, and spinning
around a bat 10 times! IV.
CHECK YOUR BALANCE At this point
you have laid out your purpose, you have listed all possible programs,
activities and events, and you have matched them with your purposes. Now you have to check your balance before
filling out your calendar. What do I
mean by "check your balance?" I mean
this: Are your
purposes BALANCED? Do you have the
right amount of programs, activities and events in each purpose area? If the above Mesa, Arizona church has
purposes of EVANGELISM, DISCIPLESHIP, WORSHIP, FELLOWSHIP, and MINISTRY, does
the church's annual calendar congruently have a balanced number of programs,
activities and events in each purpose area? For example:
what if FIRST CHURCH OF GEHENNA has a "Celebration" service on Sunday (WORSHIP,
DISCIPLESHIP) a weekly Tuesday night program called "Growing Deep"
(DISCIPLESHIP, WORSHIP), small groups (FELLOWSHIP, DISCIPLESHIP), a Bible Camp
(DISCIPLESHIP, WORSHIP, FELLOWSHIP), and a leadership team that helps run all
of these (MINISTRY) ... and that's about it?
Is this church missing anything?
EVANGELISM is missing from this ministry. This ministry
should add monthly fun events that students could invite their friends to or
specific outreaches where they bring in a speaker to share a Gospel message? Your annual
calendar should reflect your purpose.
This should include different types of programs, meeting the needs of
different students. If your calendar is
filled predominately with a bunch of fun and games and nothing with
DISCIPLESHIP value, chances are that students aren't going to be challenged to
grow in their faith in that ministry.
Furthermore, your students that are eager to grow are going to either go
somewhere else where they can grow, or they'll stay and become stagnant. On the other
hand, if your calendar is filled with only deep Bible studies, prayer meetings
and intense Biblical teaching, chances are your ministry won't be doing a lot
of EVANGELISM. Students won't feel like
they can bring their friends and IF they do, their friends will probably not
feel comfortable and they won't come back. A balanced
ministry with a balanced calendar will have programs, activities and events in
each purpose area, reaching out to students, providing a place of growth, and
building mature Christians who will minister to others. Make sure your ministry's schedule is
BALANCED to reflect your purpose. V.
START DECORATING YOUR CALENDAR WITH YOUR MATCHED EVENTS Now that we
have in mind what events fulfill what purpose, we can plan out our
calendar. Unfortunately, many youth
workers often start at this step- just filling in events on the calendar. However, the way we have done it, we are
going to make sure our year reflects our Biblical purpose for our ministry. This is the
fun step. Lay out your calendar for the
school year, grab activities, programs and events from our lists and plop them
on our calendar. I wish this step was
as easy as simply "grabbing and plopping," but, obviously there are things to
consider when choosing dates like facilities, equipment, the church calendar,
and the school calendar. VI.
DOCUMENT WHEN TASKS NEED TO BE DONE Planning a
year in advance not only keeps you on track in your ministry focus, is also
opens opportunities for excellence in your activities, programs and
events. If you plan ahead you have 10 TIMES the chance of getting that
facility you want, riding in the transportation you want, booking that speaker
you want. And all of us have been at
events where any of those weren't great- it affects the attitudes of kids, the
attitudes of staff and very often, the overall perception of the trip. Let's face
it- $$ is a big issue for many of us.
Lots of times we choose against certain trips or events because of
price. Planning ahead opens the doors
for parents to beginning saving for trips and students to begin fund-raising. DOCUMENTING: Look at your
events for the year, one day at a time.
Ask yourself, "Is there anything I need to do prior to this month to
make this event successful?" If the
answer is "yes," write it down. For
example, do you have an event that is going to need a guest speaker? Why not start looking for one now? http://www.thesource4ym.com/speakers/jonathan.asp Every year I
would plan a guest speaker within the first month or so to come in and share
the Gospel. At the school I worked
with, rap music was very popular, so I would usually book a Christian rap
artist. This had to be done months
ahead of time. I often had to book an
extra large sound system for this event.
Several years in a row I contacted a local church that sent several guys
to come out, set up and run the sound for the concert. These guys, excited about what went on that
night, would go back and give great reports to the church. Very often I made it a point to thank that
church, several times from the stage on Sunday morning, announcing how many
students received Christ and thanking them for their participation in the
event. Events like
this one demanded extra security. This
gave me the opportunity to call up men I knew from area churches and ask them
to be involved. Many of these men were
so impressed with the event, they became financial supporters. Every event
you plan has some planning, booking or recruiting involved. Document when you need to do this, transfer
those tasks to whatever calendar you use, even making some of the calls right
then if necessary. WHY PLAN AHEAD? Regardless of
whether we are full time youth ministers or whether we are the pastor's sister
who somehow got suckered into running jr. high Sunday School, we have the
opportunity to make an impact in the lives of young people. This privilege has been entrusted to us by
God. We might be the only glimpse of
God a student sees. What does your
program reflect? Excellence? Or whatever you throw together because you
are really busy. Here's the
ironic thing: if you plan the way we have discussed, if you take the time to
book things ahead of time, nail down necessary details and plan ahead ...
you'll have MORE TIME and you'll open the doors to opportunities for greater
impact. Remember Jim Burns' quote, "in
reality, a well administered ministry will provide more valuable time to spend
with your students."
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT THE BOOK: "For years Jonathan McKee has been providing a dynamite (FREE!) resource for youthworkers through his website. Now you can get the best of his thinking in a single volume. It is handy, easy to read, and very practical. But don't let any of that fool you - it is also sharp, poignant, and real. I have been teaching and leading youth ministry for decades, and this is the best single volume on pragmatic programming I have ever seen. This is a must on every youthworker's shelf!" Chap Clark, Ph.D., Director of Youth Ministry Programs, Fuller Theological Seminary "If you're just looking for another book on youth ministry philosophy, I suggest you look elsewhere. But if you want some practical ideas to help make your next youth meeting or activity really sizzle, I suggest you look no further than this book! My friend Jonathan McKee has been doing youth ministry long enough to know that even when you have a great philosophy, you still need to know what to do (and what not to do) when the kids show up. This book will not only give you the practical help you need, but it will renew your confidence and enthusiasm for youth ministry. I highly recommend this book!" Wayne Rice, Co-founder, Youth Specialties Executive Director, Understanding Your Teenager "To say this book is practical would be an understatement. From cover to cover you'll find tips, tricks, ideas and resources that will strengthen your ministry to students. This book is one that you will reach for over and over again as you strive to build an effective youth ministry." Kurt Johnston, Junior High Pastor; Saddleback Church Author; Controlled Chaos...Making Sense Of Junior High Ministry "Jonathan's heart for the volunteer youthworker shines through in this very helpful and very practical book. The ideas and concepts that Jonathan provides are the kind that you can use right away in your own youth ministry setting." Dave Ambrose, Oak Hills Church - Youth Specialties "Jonathan McKee knows youth ministry! As a youthworker and veteran Youth for Christ staff member, he's known for pulling together great ideas for games, planning, teaching, small groups, recruiting staff and especially for sharing these resources with others. Jonathan's book is an excellent compilation of many of these youth ministry classics - plus his own fresh and straightforward advice and expertise. It's a must have tool for all youthworkers to read and then keep within reach!" Mike Work National Director, DCLA Ministries Youth for Christ, USA "For the last few years I've been recommending Jonathon's Resources to youth workers around the country. This book will be a tremendous asset to anyone who has to lead a game, run a program, or come up with something meaningful and fun (in the next 5 minutes) for a roomful of teenagers. And what youth worker doesn't need that? " Laurie Polich, Author, Help! I'm a Small Group Leader Jonathan McKee is one of the most creative and innovative youth leaders that I know. His new book will do more than simply give you fun ideas to use with your group; it will provide the foundation for many discussions on the issues of life. I wish that I had this resource back when I worked with teens. Not only does he provide details for working with kids, but he also provides details for working with "big church" leadership. Al Menconi, President, Al Menconi Ministries "It's a WOW!! Nitty-Gritty-Day-In-and-Day-Out Practical. The Top 12 Resources Youth Workers Want will get you through dry spells, provide you with tons of easy-to-use tools and prepare you for more than a year of great ministry. The Top 12 reminded me of one of the reasons I love youth ministry: It's just plain fun!!" Jenny Morgan, National Training Director, Youth for Christ/USA "I'll be honest, most of the 'game' books I go thru I can't use, or have to spend half of the time re-writing stuff to fit my kids - but I like reading Jonathan. He talks to you on a level you understand and he gives you the stuff that you can use THAT WORKS. When you read this- you'll find yourself taking notes, marking pages, and planning out your entire year with stuff that youth ministers are starving for- GREAT IDEAS!" Fred Lynch, Director of Urban Ministries, Josh McDowell Ministry "The Top 12 Resources Youth Workers Want is an entirely different kind of youth ministry book. It's fresh, exciting, extremely useful and completely filled with great ideas you can use every week!" Bill Muir, Sr. Vice President, Youth for Christ USA "Here's a piece of Jim Burn's Foreword to the book: 
"A few years ago I was speaking in South Africa and a couple of key youth ministry leaders in
that country took me to lunch. Their agenda was to complain about the way we in the United
States were using, or rather not using, our web sites. Their need was leadership ideas and
resources ... the only person I knew of at the time who was doing an effective job of offering
great resources free of charge was Jonathan McKee.Almost every week I find myself looking forward to reading the latest e-mail newsletter from The Source for Youth Ministry. I love it. The material is always practical and usually a bit goofy, with articles such as "Another Successful Use of Duct Tape." As you read through this book you will definitely feel as though you've gained a new friend in Jonathan McKee. As a youth worker and communicator par excel lance, Jonathan is just like his book-practical, funny, helpful and he knows what he is talking about! ... Equipped with your Bible and The Top 12 Resources Youth Workers Want and a deep desire to spend time with kids, you can make an eternal difference. -Jim Burns President, YouthBuilders and YouthBuilders.com 
Jonathan McKee is president of TheSourceForYouthMinistry.com
and author of the new book "Do They Run When They See You Coming? Reaching Out to Unchurched
Teenagers."
(CLICK HERE FOR THE BOOK) Jonathan
speaks and trains across the country
and provides free online resources, training, & ideas for youth workers at
www.TheSource4YM.com
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