Our youth ministry forefathers formed something that we’ve had a hard time re-inventing (and to be honest, may not be the primary area in need of an overhaul). I believe the real change in youth ministry doesn’t have anything to do with re-envisioning our mid-week programming, but an examination of some key things I believe youth pastors/leaders have gotten away from in the greater landscape of student ministry.

1. We’ve Gotten Away From The Campus. Most youth pastors haven’t even attempted to get on the public (or private) school campus. I hear them say “the campus is closed” yet they haven’t once made an effort with the administration of the said “closed” campus. I am telling you, I have NEVER been turned down by the admin to be a volunteer on campus. Be smart, don’t look at your time on campus as a time to proselytize, rather as a time to serve the school, the teachers, the administration and to build relationship with anyone God brings you in contact with. Just being present (even just an hour a week) will pay large dividends and build major trust! It will bring a whole new ownership when attending games, musicals, concerts and award banquets.
2. We’ve Gotten Away From Evangelism. A “discipleship-first” model is honestly the safe choice. Parents are quite happy that you’re providing a “safe” place for their child(ren) to participate in ministry. Service-based trips where we work with our hands building, cleaning, painting and serving meals are now called “mission trips.” I am a big proponent of service, it often creates an entry point into spiritual conversation, but I believe we’ve gotten away from sharing the gospel with our WORDS! I think youth missions can/should include evangelism opportunities because it is an extension of what we’re doing at home as well (what we call “Mission51″ at Youthmark). I believe youth leaders (and parents) have allowed youth ministry to turn away from evangelism because we’re typically not involved with it in our own peer-community. It’s hard to teach what we’re not doing. What if evangelism and discipleship were not mutually exclusive? What if youth leaders, pastors and parents began to model discipleship that included evangelism first?
3. We’ve Gotten Away From The Gospel! This may sound a lot like the last, but I believe student ministry as a whole has gotten away from sharing the gospel and settled for a “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life”-message. The gospel is good news, in order to have good news, there must be bad news as well. This “bad news” is HORRIBLE news. Without Jesus there is no hope. No hope is hell (bad news)! Many of our programs talk about the bible, Jesus, prayer and accountability without talking about the “why” we need these things. A failure to share about the wonderful grace of God actually leads our followers down the path of works-righteousness. Students begin to “work” on the practices of faith without actually having grace-based faith.

I’ve read some amazing stories on blogs and Facebook of the things God has done at camps, retreats and on mission trips this summer! I believe youth ministry is alive and kicking and God is at work, but was it just there (on the trip) that the Lord moved? Of course not, but for some reason growth and change there seems more obvious, practical and tangible. I’d love to see these things here (at home) become just as evident.

Imagine with me some of the first century Tweets we might have read had the technology existed then …

From Luke: As @saulpaul was preaching I saw a snoozing teen @eutychusrocks fall from 2nd floor 2 his death! PTL the dude was healed and now lives! #paulkeptpreaching

A ReTweet: RT @weddingcrasher Just saw the strangest thing, Mary’s son Jesus changes water into the best wine I ever tasted! #whoisthisguy

Of course a status update didn’t happen in real time back then, but rest assured, news did travel quickly. Praise God for people like Luke and John who recorded these amazing acts.

The wonderful reports of what took place on your mission trip have landed on the hearts and ears of parents and friends back home. Students have Tweeted about how great the camp was and they have become fast-Facebook friends with those they met at the retreat.  But is that it?

How are you handling the transition off of the trip and into the next 51 weeks? This is a question I grappled with as a youth pastor. I got tired of students living for the “camp high” or the “mission trip great feeling.” But the bottom line is that those feelings produced are the things that often bring kudos from parents, other pastors and/or the board.

I believe a plan is needed to merge your students onto the freeway of life that has been flowing back home. We can help students navigate from commitment there to commitment here.

Three Tips for Merging Back Home

1. Give them a Practical Way to Remain In The Word! I believe God’s Word and God’s Spirit were key in the things that took place there. Hopefully your group was consistent in God’s Word on your mission trips; the Bible was teaching and challenging students, life was lived together in fellowship, service and witness; and students were responding to the Spirit in obedience: crucial components for life-change were merging together in amazing ways. And it doesn’t have to stop when your kids come home! Give them a practical way to remain the Word. I’ve seen it work, through our MERGE resources for returning home from the mission, retreat or camp (or other experiences). Of course I’d love to see you use our resource, but at minimum, give them a one or two week outline of passages to study, journaling questions and some practical questions to go through as they merge back home.
2. Throw a Better Than A Reunion Party! There’s nothing that can kill a youth group faster than a holy huddle. Because your students who were at camp together came home with great inside jokes and other shared memories they usually think that these stories are funny to all, but we all know THEY AREN’T! As the leader, you should throw a “Summer End Celebration” to celebrate all that God did in and through the ministry as a whole, not just one specific event. Give ample opportunity for stories from those who went to sports camp (rather than the youth group camp), or those who shared Jesus at their summer jobs, for instance.  Invite them to share their stories of what God did in and through them, in their varied settings. This can be organized with specific testimonies chosen so that all participants can see and hear the collective work of God through the summer!
3. Invite them to the next Mission! A body of water like a lake or pond becomes toxic when it becomes stagnant. So it is with a body of believers. The camp, retreat and mission were exciting and active because there was movement! The mission-high ceases to exist if the mission is complete. Help students to know that there is a new mission ahead as they return to their campus, engage in their clubs and reinvest in the community! This is something we at Youthmark coined Mission51–the 51 weeks beyond the mission or camp!

As summer comes to a close, perhaps you already sense that the momentum has been lost, but I urge you to jump back in now, it’s not too late! Your students are cause-oriented, give them a cause greater than reliving memories. Challenge them to get back (and stay) in the Word through something like MERGE, reunite them so they can testify and remember His faithfulness, and above all, invite them to fully invest in their new mission field at home!

Grace,

Brian

In a few short weeks, teens will be heading back to their “mission” on their campus, at their clubs, building into their community and probably participating in the new programs at their church… I am praying RIGHT NOW for this mission.

However, I am not just praying, I am doing my part to actively train them (and I hope even more importantly, participating with them by pursuing any opportunity I have to share the good news too)!

If you are in the Northwest, I’d love to have you participate with me in a training event we have at Youthmark. It’s not just a training event, it’s a concert  and also will have a time of wonderful worship through song! My friends, Everfound, will be there as well as soon-to-be-friends, Kye-Kye! I can’t wait. LIFT takes place in just one week (Wednesday, August 17, 7:00 PM) at Faith Church in Kent. It’s only $5!

Here’s the promo materials.

Whether you’re young or old, this event will entertain and equip! Mission51 exists, let’s reach our community now!

Grace,
Brian

We have these really cool blogs going on over at youthmark.com.  Just yesterday I shot an email to all the participating youth groups for the 2011 YMV’s. In that email I stated that the biggest mistake that Youth Pastors admit to after a YMV experience is not soliciting prayer early enough or often enough! Even now, only about 1/3 of the teams are blogging, let’s pray them onto here!

I don’t want to make that same mistake of not soliciting prayer!

This blog post is a unique one, it is a call for prayer (right now) but beyond that a call for prayer-partnership for those who would like to carry us through any of the areas listed below. If you want to “partner” please comment on this post. I will then be able to email you anything specifically because email addresses can be seen by me for anyone who comments.

Here are the things I am looking for prayer partners:

1. San Diego area Spring Retreat (April 15/16)
2. Denver area Spring Retreat (April 29/30)
3. Seattle area Spring Retreat #1 (May 6/7)
4. Seattle area Spring Retreat #2 (May 13/14)
5. Portland area Spring Retreat (May 20/21)
6. Prayer partners for Joe Poppino (worship leader)
7. Prayer partners for The Admission (the band launching out of these retreats and co-leading with Joe)
8. Prayer partners for the 40 or so Youth Groups training through the spring for Mission51 (and a mission trip this summer)
9. Prayer partners for me specifically and the teaching done at these retreats
10. Prayer partner for my family specifically and the great times I have with them before and between each of the training times!

Would love to see all 10 of these areas “partnered” and perhaps even more than one parter on each!  Any takers?

Grace,
Brian

A couple weekends ago I took part in a pretty sweet conference in Chicago. It was my first experience at the Simply Youth Ministry Conference hosted by Simply Youth Ministry and Group Publishing. In addition to the SYMC, I’ve attended many-a-conference in the past. For this edition of FF I would like to highlight a conference for all of you in the the Pacific Northwest.  The NW Ministry Conference has been around for years, a few years ago they made a great move by changing their name from the NW Christian Education Conference to the NW Ministry Conference.

For an area that is as “unchurched” as the experts say we are, I will tell you that the NW Ministry Conference is proving otherwise. With over 3000 people in attendance each year and literally hundreds of workshops and hundreds of vendors the NWMC has the “feel” of a very legit conference. It takes place April 7-9 at Overlake church in Redmond.

I have been honored to be a speaker at this event for many years and am once again given the opportunity (get to teach “Mission51” this year!!).

For those in the “know” of Youth Ministry, the line-up this year is very strong! In fact, I’d say its the strongest lineup of offerings the conference has ever had. A great mix of local leaders (people many would know and great leaders we’ve never heard of), with a fantastic bunch of national “names” in Youth Ministry as well.

The GREATEST element of the NWMC to me is the commonality I sense in ministry. Because it is not just a youth leader conference you can go to whatever workshop you want.

• Want some training for preaching? -It’s there!
• How about counseling? -There!
• Want to better understand those elementary minds you’re about to inherit in your middle school program? -Go to one of the workshops for kids ministry!

I’m excited to have a number of my friends offering workshops this year! My best bud (and author), Jeramy Clark is teaching a few workshops. He and his wife, Jerusha are flying up from SoCal; Jerusha, has authored many books and is really an expert in her field (dealing with identity issues, self injury, women’s ministry, etc.). She will be facilitating a few workshops too! Over the last few years I’ve gotten to know Greg Stier pretty well and am excited that he’ll be here to train for THE Cause! Though Dare2Share isn’t coming to Seattle right now, I know Greg would love to stay in touch with the NW leaders for their return!

I’ve always been impressed with Doug Fields and Duffy Robbins, both older “names” in Youth Ministry but having spent some time at national conferences with these guys, I can tell you, they don’t think of themselves at “names.” They are very approachable and desire to see Youth Leaders trained to be more effective in ministry! A great opportunity to join them for their extended track (“Speaking to Teenagers”)!

Hope you’ll check out the Conference, you’ll be blown away by how affordable it is ($29-$120 p/p)! On top of the great tracks, great people and great opportunities, the main sessions are entertaining, worship-filled and inspiring!

Grace,
Brian

A couple things stood out to me about the game itself:

• 5000+ were screaming to our hearts delight for high schoolers. The average age of the players is probably 17.
• These same fans cheered even louder when these same 17 years olds stopped skating and started fighting.

Yep, there we were, rising up to cheer on a fist fight between two not-even young adults. Only in hockey!

What if we cheered on high school students who were fighting for a different cause?  What if we were celebrating the fight it is to be a young man or woman of God in todays society? Well, we have that opportunity.

My “Feeling Friendly” this weekend is for the IGNITION conference taking place March 25-16 at Faith Church in Kent, WA. Described as “Serious Fun” this conference is really unlike others. The subject matter for this conference is “The Bible.” The purpose of the conference is to equip students who already know and love Jesus with the tools and information they can use to dig even deeper in the Scriptures and Application. The “fun” will show up in the events they have planned, the times with friends, meals and the exciting worship (think concert-like setting). The “serious” will show up in the content; creating an atmosphere where real questions are not just asked but honestly addressed (elective classes, main session speaker, etc.). I think it is going to be quite exciting to see a couple hundred teens praising God in song and digging deep in His Word!

I’m excited to be a part of it, speaking in the electives, but also representing Youthmark.

If you are a Youth Pastor, Youth Leader, Parent of a teen or a Student, IGNITION is something you ought to “seriously” look into! Check out the Facebook page here or the website here.

I’ll stand up and cheer for this fight!

Grace,

Brian

The earth shook violently as I curled into the fetal position and covered my head with my arms. As I was shaken awake, I looked up and was able to read the illuminated 4:31 on my alarm clock that sat about a foot from my head in my college-dorm room.  The January 17, 6.8 Northridge quake rocked my world. The freshly purchased Snapple bottles rattled. Books and Picture frames were being tossed around the room.  Within minutes the entire student body would be gathered out in grassy areas outside of our dorms we were forced to evacuate. With the power out, reports were only received through a few radio stations broadcasting in the wake of the disaster.

“The 5 and the 14 collapsed” I heard someone talking about the freeways that were only a five minute drive away.

“A cop literally responding to a 911 called drove off the freeway and fell to his death.” A college classmate relayed what he heard.

The next few hours were filled with confusion, disorder and questions.

My small Christian school began to pray.

The next few days were filled with confusion, disorder and questions.

I began to pray.

I was 21 years old, a junior, a leader (RA) on campus and the Youth Pastor at my church. Caught up in who I was in me, rather than who I was for Him.

When it was all said and done communication was restored, roadways rebuilt and life returned to “normal.” I, unfortunately, slowly allowed myself to become calloused. I don’t know even know if calloused is the right word to describe it; maybe intentionally ignorant or self-absorbed?

I’ve had other rude-awakenings; the orphans in India. The sex-trafficking in Costa Rica. Stories from  my own students about drug, alcohol and sexual abuse in their own homes. Perhaps the “feeling” is best described as a wake-up call. These are earthquakes and aftershocks that help me to see the immediacy to wake-up, get-up, gear-up and get-out to proclaim the best news I have to share.

The death toll will rise in Japan. Hundreds, if not thousands, if not tens of thousands will perish.

Death is imminent. Death is immediate. But Death is not permanent.

Created by God to be in relationship with Him. We have eternal souls; life is eternal and in the end we will either spend that eternity with God, glorifying Him or spend eternity (forever) separated from Him. Because of our sin we would-be eternally separated from Him; but the ultimate rescue mission was performed some 2000 years ago. Long before this quake and tsunami, Jesus, took the current of our sin upon his back. He came to restore life eternal with God for those who put their trust in Him. His life, death and resurrection all proving that He is who He said He is. The tsunami of our sin which leads to death is blocked by the blood of Christ.

But not everyone knows this news. I imagine the majority of those who died as a result of this earthquake and tsunami did not. The news is immediate and the messengers (Christians) must wake-up. I must get-up, we must gear-up and the Church must get-out and share the loving story of grace through faith alone!

If you know Christ, share Christ. For His glory and as part of the ultimate rescue mission with Him.

If you don’t know Jesus, understand that we don’t know when the next natural disaster, cancer or car crash will come. Know that eternal peace is possible in Jesus. He has come so that we may have life. Life eternal with Him.

I am praying for those suffering in Japan right now. Loss of life is devastating. Recovery will be hard for those living. As a human I want to help. As a believer I want my help to be both practical (physical and emotional restoration) and eternal (so that they may know Jesus, forever). Likewise, for my neighborhood (because we don’t know when death will appear), I want to help, eternal life is at hand!

Anyone else waking up?

Grace,

Brian

Chopper Dave to the rescue!

“Chopper Dave” is a faceless guy we’ve all come to trust.  Sure, his name may not be “Dave” but you know who I am talking about, the traffic voice on the radio with the thumping sounds of a helicopter in the background. It seems the position description is changing as I see more “TV-traffic-gals” showing up on the morning news giving us the high-tech traffic maps showing the highways to take and the roads to avoid during the morning or afternoon traffic rush.

Sometimes it just pays to listen to the person who has a different view than we do from the road.

I enjoy the role of “Chopper Dave” in ministry.  Over the last few years I’ve had the opportunity to do this for a number of churches. This is something I would love to do more! I’m able to do so at a very affordable rate where everyone feels like it is a “win.”

Who Would Benefit? My most common consulting has come in the form of Student Ministry, however, I have worked with Senior, Lead and Executive Pastors as well.  Here are the most common forms of consulting I am doing:

• Transitional Consulting: Churches that are in transition between Youth Pastors have hired me to consult them through the transitional process including the assessment of needs, training of lay staff to carry the load and developing a philosophy of ministry.  In addition, I have developed the search process, team and the position description.
• Ministry Remodel: Some ministries just need fresh eyes and an assessment that can lead to some new strategies.  Quite often this starts with a new philosophy of ministry.  This is most-often done with an existing pastor/director in place; but can be done with key volunteers implementing the changes as well.
• Specialized Consulting/Training: Sometimes there are smaller aspects of a ministry that need tweaking, retooling or specialized training of staff.  Administration is often an area of weakness for Youth Ministries, I have been able to train Youth Pastors with key admin systems for communication, calendaring and training of volunteers.
• Staff Training: Weekend retreats, one-night training seminars or a couple sessions with a volunteer team have proven to be ideal settings to bond a team, create momentum and infuse groups with practical “how to” knowledge.
• Interim Role: I haven’t done this… yet, but I would consider a well defined interim role with a church to help establish the things needed for long-term success in a ministry area.

Perspective and Ownership!

Why? I believe that long-term ministry needs to have sustainable strategies that are rooted in Scripture and carried out by the Spirit through willing vessels.  I love working with individuals and teams to create the ownership needed to carry out long-term ministry.  Specifically in student ministry I believe that ownership in the program comes from Students, Parents and Leadership!  In essence, I eat, sleep and breath “Mission51″ so in this context, it means helping a group understand that we are on mission all the time, let’s train and live in such a way that we understand our own Jerusalem is our mission!

Does your church/ministry need a fresh perspective? I’d love to talk to you.  Again, there are creative ways to make this work financially (in other words, we’re creative and affordable).

Do you know of a church in transition? Feel free to pass on my information to them and we’ll see if it could be a fit to help the church or organization the time of transition.

Don’t let distance detract, because of regularly schedule “other” stuff that Youthmark does, I am able to take on consulting roles virtually in any location; let’s chat we may be able to work it out where “travel” is not really an added expense!

Contact: info@youthmark.com

Grace,
Brian

Summer 2010, Speaking with former Laker Mike Penberthy and worship led by Everfound

I know it’s not a lot, but it’s fun to reflect upon the places the Lord has given me the opportunity to speak. In addition to these countries, I’ve been afforded the opportunity to preach and teach in some pretty scenic settings; I think of the chapel viewpoint in Port Alsworth, AK. How about the scenic camp on the top of the ridge in Maui? Colorado is pretty much beautiful everywhere and I’ve done numerous camps and retreats there.

When I think back to ANY of these camps, conferences or retreats it’s never the scenery that stands out to me.

I sat here for 10-15 minutes struggling to remember the places.  But in each place I remember the faces.

The stories these faces told:

• The boy in Oregon who by the age of 14 had been in and out of too many foster homes to remember. He trusted in Christ when he finally understood the pursuit and passion of a loving Father who doesn’t abuse.
• I remember the look on the Mother’s face two years ago while speaking at Exposed, I said, “I think that our teens addiction to texting may end up being a worse epidemic than driving under the influence of alcohol.”  She later came to me crying telling me her husband was killed two weeks prior by a teen-texting driver.
• The teary eyed girl on Vancouver Island who admitted to years of an eating disorder and knew Jesus wanted her to surrender all of herself.
• The vibrant young man just this last summer who said, “I’m all in!”- I’ve followed him on FB ever since; by all indications, he’s lived all in since! He’s leading others to Christ!
• 

  Live and Love Loudly tour

  I remember hundreds of the faces of students with arms outstretched toward God or one another singing “How He Loves Us” at the top of their lungs just this last spring at each of the “Live and Love Loudly” spring retreats.

There are scores of other stories I could post. And I hope many, more faces to know.

Over the next few months I have several speaking opportunities I am really excited about, but I am willing and ready to take on a few more. A few weeks ago I added a “speaking page” to this blog. I’ll keep an updated list for each month; if you’d like to add your group or organization to this please do contact me (Youthmark has a toll free line: 800.455.1450, or email info@youthmark.com). Whether it’s a one-evening event, a retreat, a church service, parent gathering or Youth Rally, I’m intrigued by all of these and more!  Let’s chat!

Elisabeth speaking at women's event

In addition; any ladies group, women’s ministries, MOP’s etc. I would HIGHLY recommend you contact us to get in touch with my wife; I’m biased, but I think she’s just about the best I’ve heard; but I know the groups that she’s spoken to are not nearly as biased but many would share that same view!  Elisabeth speaks with such grace, Biblical wisdom mixed in with great story-telling and appropriate humor!

Speaking of speaking, just checked out the website of an upcoming opportunity I have this summer; I love the video near the bottom of the homepage, Summit is going to put on a great camp; check out their site here.

Grace,

Brian

Just last night I received this instant message from a college Freshman in Oregon:

“Brian, are you doing a spring retreat again?  That training and all the prep for and the actual mission to Alaska completely changed the direction of my life, I want to help at this years retreat if I can so that others get it too!“

Many Youth Pastors have already chosen a mission trip, but the sad reality is that most groups don’t do much with training these teams.  To me, “sign-up and show-up” mission trips must stop, these are nothing more than “Christian Experiences.”  I believe the real blessing in mission is the “get it” moment when students (and adults) realize that mission is not just there and not just here–mission is anywhere!

Regardless of whether a team has a mission in mind; we want teams trained for Mission51.  Will you do Youthmark a big favor?  Help us get the word out about Mission51–training for the 51 weeks beyond the mission.  If you know of a youth group doing a mission ask the Youth Pastor what he or she is doing to get the team ready for after the trip.  Reaching our own Jerusalem is part of the mandate.  In fact, I’d argue that God did not release the Apostles to “anywhere” (read: uttermost) until they were effective at reaching Jerusalem.

We’ve released a quick three-minute video that explains Youthmark Mission Ventures and the Mission51 training.  It can be found at the Youthmark homepage here or on Youtube below.

Spread the word, we’re hoping to see a large increase in the number of teams using some training books, attending one of our Together, Spring Retreats or getting copies of Merge for after their mission experience.  Of course, we still want many Youthmark teams as well, the full benefit of all the training at the most affordable prices for a mission.

We’d love it if you would send emails with links to this blog or Youthmark.com, post on Facebook, do whatever you can; get the word out, let’s use this one-month window where Youth Pastors are making big decisions to spark Mission51!  Will you?

Grace,

Brian