Triple Your Youth Ministry In One Year Part 3

“If I have seen further than others,
it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.”
Isaac Newton

One of the greatest players who ever played basketball was Michael Jordan. One of the things that made him good was when he needed to rise to the occasion and win a basketball game, he could take his team on his shoulders and do it. What I think made him great though is that he understood the value of a team and that he couldn't do it without them.

If you spend anytime taking the advice I laid down in Part 2 of this series you will soon come to understand that youth ministry and ministry of any kind takes....TEAMWORK. You can't do it alone. Well, let me take that back. You could technically do a lot by yourself but you would never get the growth you desire unless you are willing to take people along with you on the journey.

Let me give you a few reasons why people don't implement more teamwork:

• They love the lime-light. They get in a position that most have never been in. All the sudden people are looking up to them and they are the center of attention. Don't fall into this trap. It is a sure-fire reason for failure.
• It is hard. Teamwork takes work. It takes working with others, bringing out the best in them. It takes communicating to people more concisely and consistently.
• Lack of knowledge. Sometimes people can't do it cause they don't know how or where to start.
• Afraid to give up something. Sometimes that something is control.
  

No matter what the reasons are, if you don't implement a team oriented system you cannot grow your ministry. The growth of your ministry will be in direct proportion to the number of volunteers you get involved.

Three types of team members in your church to get involved:

1. Parents - I know some students bar their parents from going. That's ok. There are many ways you can get parents involved from internet to mailers...graphics...prayer teams...etc. Parents can have a lot of buy-in since they have a teen involved.
2. Church Members - There are many people that may not have teens but have a passion for reaching out to them.
3. Teens - It is your responsibility to be training teens to do the work of the ministry. Getting them involved creates a greater level of buy-in for them. They can probably do a lot more than you think.

As you launch out into this next year let me give you a little practical advice to start building your team.

Make A List
List out every position that you could possibly have for your youth ministry. Create a flow chart for it all. This will be a target to help you get started. Here is an excel file of my last one to help you get started - Youth Ministry Flowchart

Pray
Sounds simple but it is effective. Take your list and begin praying specifically for God to bring you someone. You have to realize that you must pray like it totally depends on God to make it happen...cause it does.

Recruit
Truth is if you don't have a team its because you haven't asked. Remember it is one step at a time. Don't look at the flowchart and think you have to fill it all. Get as many on board as you possibly can. You need to recruit like it depends on you to make it happen.

Develop The Ones You Have
This is something you must be very intentional about. One reason we retained so many volunteers over the years is that we poured into them. Create job descriptions so they know what they are responsible for. Set up training events to help them be successful. Develop them to lead others. You must create a leadership development system. If you don't take care of the team that you have you won't have one for long.

How do you put value into your team?