Your First 3 Months in a New Youth Ministry Role

Don't skip over this one, even if you've been in your role for a while! In this video, Ben jumps into some of the most crucial ways you can set yourself up for success in your ministry role. There's always more learning that can be done. It's easy to feel overwhelmed in a new role or even when there are just a lot of areas that seem to need improvement-focus in on these specific areas that Ben mentions: culture, community, people, and programming. The key is being a student of your environment, and a good listener.
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Student Ministry That Matters: amzn.to/2oJFiL9
Within Reach Book: amzn.to/2Ng3huW
A Different College Experience: amzn.to/36xMxac
MORE RESOURCES
LifeWay Students Podcast: apple.co/2POm0zp
LifeWay Students Blog: studentministry.lifeway.com
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LifeWay Students publishes Bible study material for teenagers and facilitates summer camps and summer missions projects for teenagers all across the country.

[@user-yf8xb4hc2n]

It is very helpful

[@user-yf8xb4hc2n]

Have you ever come to India for ministry?

[@jonathanmora6928]

Can you make sweeping changes when there isn't really a well established youth group at your new church?

[@StudentMinistryThatMatters]

Great question Jonathan. I would say yes, but with a couple of extra things. 1) I'd move forward with sweeping changes only with the knowledge and permission of the senior pastor. Support there is crucial. 2) Take time to connect with people in the student ministry (leaders, parents, students) and cast vision about the changes you want to make. I can't express this one enough. As you meet with people you might learn of some things that are very important to people that you didn't know and could impact your plan. You'll also be able to help people understand the "why" behind the changes. 3) Make sure some key leaders can articulate the vision you are hoping to accomplish. The reality is people will always talk to each other about things that are changing, and you will need to have some others speaking supportively about what's going on. Hope that helps! Thanks for watching the channel!

[@brittlamaria]

😂 What if you’re not the most people person?!, ...Social Anxiety, but you’re in leadership and have been doing it a bit for 4,to 5 years 😮😢

[@StudentMinistryThatMatters]

That's a great question, and you are not the only person to experience this. I have known other great leaders who have voiced exactly what you are here. What I've seen them do very well is make sure that they have time to themselves at specific points throughout the week. They focus on protecting time that will help recharge when they've spent a lot of time with people. You can also recruit (or hire), depending on your context, people who are "more social." This won't relieve you entirely from those people-facing tasks, but it will mean that you won't be carrying the entire load yourself. One last recommendation I would give is prayer and therapy. I believe that anxiety is a real thing that people deal with, and progress can be made on it through our relationship with Jesus and through a biblically based therapist. These two things can work together to help all of us make progress in the areas in which we struggle. I hope that helps, and I appreciate your courage to ask the question. - ben