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Serving Parents

Doug Franklin — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:59:33 +0000

The parent youth ministry relationship seems to have tension. Sometimes parents think youth workers are pushing boundaries and they are not sure whose side they are on. Youth workers want to serve parents but they have a much larger focus on students. Youth workers often think they need to take the students’ side in order to have a relationship with them. To break down these walls of suspicion youth workers need to find ways to serve parents. Here is one idea:

College prep
Parents don’t know all the ways to preparing for college, especially when it comes to paying for it. Ask a Christian college near you to come and make a presentation to parents on how to prepare for college. Most colleges have this kind of presentation and they would love to talk directly to parents of Christian students. It’s a win, win, win. The parents get help, the college gets to talk to parents and you get to serve parents and break down walls.

Free eBook on Student Missions

andy — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:38:22 +0000

Ever notice when students return from a mission trip they always talk about how they were impacted more than the people they went to help? We need to pay attention. Students are telling us that mission trips are more about their growth than their service. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying service is not important. I am saying we need to spend more time focused on their growth through the mission trip than the logistics of service. If you’re focused on logistics, you need to read this book so you can maximize your student’s mission trip experience.

Leading by Example

Doug Franklin — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:24:58 +0000

Leading by Example: Words and Actions

God gives each one of us things in our lives about which we are passionate. Help your students realize and
understand what it means to passions. Help them realize what they are passionate about.

Check out this great new Freebie

Resist the Impulse

Doug Franklin — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 14:28:16 +0000

A great leadership experience allows students to face the consequences of their decisions. This produces a struggle in their mind; one that requires them to count the cost of their actions. Don’t let students off the hook of decision making by rescuing them. The impulse is strong…resist it.

A Great Resource for Parents

Doug Franklin — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 21:40:39 +0000

My friend Rob Rienow runs this great organization that helps parents. Check out their online training event!

The Visionary Family Conference – ONLINE

A unique online experience where you can experience all three of our Visionary Family Conferences right from your own home! January 23-26, 2011

Parents - get equipped to take the lead in passing faith to your kids.
Couples – discover a compelling, Bible-driven mission for your life together.
Empty-nest parents – be encouraged that it is never too late to lead your adult children to Christ.

Visionary Parenting – 3 video sessions
Visionary Marriage – 3 video sessions
Never Too Late – 4 video sessions

During the four day event, you can watch as many video sessions as you want. Download free participant guides. Live chat with Dr. Rienow about your questions.

Cost – only $15. Great for small group nights. Church subscription discounts available.

What Makes a Veteran

Doug Franklin — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 18:21:10 +0000

I have noticed a lot is being made about being a youth ministry rookie or veteran these days . Often we think time determines whether you are a veteran or rookie. I don’t think time is a good measuring stick for giving people more wisdom than others. I know lots of 10 year youth ministry folks who don’t have lots of wisdom. I think to be a vet you need to understand one principle: purpose. Youth ministry is about leading students to a personal relationship with God. This purpose or principle must be at the center of everything we are doing. If this purpose is not front and center most likely it’s because we are focusing on ourselves. It’s really hard not to make the ministry about us; I know I was seldom able to do it when I was a youth worker. Having a team or accountability partner to keep you centered is very important. Taking the step of having an accountability partner and making sure you’re focused on purpose will make you a veteran no matter how long you have been a youth worker.

Leading the Mission

Doug Franklin — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 14:44:20 +0000

Day 2 at Refuel in the Rockies and we focused on leading the mission. God has called all of us in youth ministry to a mission and to lead people through that mission. The discussion here has been about how to move that mission deep into the lives of our students, parents and adult volunteers. We move past bumper sticker statements and take the mission deep into the hearts and behaviors of our people. We talked about practical ways to make that happen. This discussion took us into a discussion about how we relate with parents; which is leading me to believe many youth workers want to support parents but don’t know how and are not sure if parents want their help. We than spent the rest of our time talking about how to lead your adult volunteers. Leading the mission requires us to be strong leaders and communicate what God has called us to do. It’s also fun stuff to spend a day talking about.

After our sessions we all spent time doing what we need to Refuel: some climbed mountains, others shopped Breckenridge, and some laid in hot tubs. It was a great day.

Leading Yourself

Doug Franklin — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 16:18:58 +0000

I am here at Refuel in the Rockies with a great group of youth pastors talking about strengthening their leadership. Here are a few of the highlights of what we are discussing:

▪ Your ministry’s capacity is capped by your leadership

▪ By growing your leadership you can grow your ministry

▪ Mimicking someone else’s leadership style will NEVER work

▪ God has placed you in your ministry and given you everything you need to lead the ministry.

▪ Core Value discovery assessment

▪ How do you lead your ministries through your core values?

These discussion have been deep and personal. Many of the youth pastors here have lots of experience so they have been jumping in and adding to the discussion and sharing their experiences. The encouragement has been fun to watch as youth workers care for one another.

I will write more tomorrow about the topics we are focusing on.

Getting The Most Out of a Youth Ministry Conference

Doug Franklin — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 19:42:04 +0000

Having been to lots of youth ministry conferences I started to think about what makes them worth our time and money. For the most part I don’t think youth workers get a lot out of conferences because they are too big and not focused on their real needs. I know they are fun and you do get to connect with others who have the same passion as you but many of these conferences are sold to us as training or coaching events and they are not; they’re often entertainment events. Here are a few tips on how to get the most out of a youth ministry conference:

1. Stay away from FREE

I have found that organizations that give free stuff do so because they don’t want you to focus on the quality of the materials or experiences. Sometimes they give free stuff because everyone else is selling the same thing. For example: mission trips to Mexico, there are tons of them available, be cautious of the ones offering free stuff. Look for organizations that believe first in their mission and put that belief to work in the quality of their product. You won’t get as many wacky hats but you will get better experiences and materials for your students.

2. Talk More

Too many conferences think speakers know it all; we don’t. In fact we don’t know the name of one student in your ministry. We don’t know your situation and we don’t know your volunteers. Ask us questions, speak up and get involved in the training process. Sure we might have good ideas but we can help you more if you speak up. Ask presenters to have coffee with you; seek them out and ask for time. Hey, it’s your money…. if you don’t ask you won’t have.

3. Exhibit Hall Strategy

Go through the exhibit hall once to see what’s there. During this first trip through make a list of the people you want to speak with. At slow times in the exhibit go through the hall engaging in long conversations with key people. There is a lot of wisdom in the exhibit hall and you can get lots of it for free. If exhibitors don’t have knowledgable people in their booths, they don’t care about you.

4. Demand More

When the conference asks for an evaluation, take your time and fill it out. It will help you and other youth workers. Be honest and demand more. You are worth it and what you’re doing requires it.

Sample Sabbatical Proposal

Dan Colwin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 20:04:53 +0000

My senior pastor friend who recently got back from his three month sabbatical allowed me to use his proposal letter to help others draft one of their own. Note that he wrote this proposal in August of 2007 and did not take his sabbatical until summer of 2010, so planning your sabbatical a ways out is key. Note also this letter preceded a formal meeting to discuss the sabbatical proposal. Anyways, here is his sample. Hope it helps:

August 28, 2007

Dear Executive Board,

My wife and I had visitors in this past weekend. As we toured them around the church we were all somewhat startled when we realized it has been five years since my departure from my last church. Many wonderful things have transpired here during those five years. Many challenges, however, still lie ahead.

My hope and prayer is that God will allow me the privilege of walking with this church family through those challenges and seeing Him do exciting things in and through us. My desire is to continue as Senior Pastor here until I step into retirement. With all my heart I want to finish strong.

There are, however, a couple of factors that will affect the accomplishment of that dream: skill and strength. Let me explain what I mean:

1) Skill

The world in which I work today is a very different place than the one into which I

graduated 30-plus years ago. I often find my mind perplexed and my spirit troubled by the new challenges faced by the Church today. In addition to that, a congregation of 500 (current church) is very different from a congregation of 250 (last church) requiring different skill sets of its leader. I am striving to develop those new skills and yet the demands of ministry, at times, make that a difficult task.

2) Strength

It is not that a pastor works harder or longer than church members in the marketplace. However, the separation of one’s professional and personal life when in the ministry can be difficult to maintain. Add to that the various stress factors I have been called to bear over the last 10 years and I am noticing a growing weariness in my spirit. Where once there was energy and creativity within, I am finding, instead, a deep fatigue.

I cherish a dream, however. In addition to my desire to finish strong as your pastor I dream of taking a sabbatical to renew my spirit and strengthen my skills. The purpose of this letter is to ask your permission to begin planning a Pastoral Renewal Sabbatical beginning some time in the summer/ fall of 2009. In over 30 years of ministry, working days, evenings and weekends and many holidays, I have never had a sabbatical. Here is my thinking to this point:

1) I would like to recruit a small team of people who would help me plan this experience… people who know me well and can help me think through what sabbatical elements would be most beneficial for me as your pastor. They would also assist me with presenting this proposal to the congregation before and after the actual sabbatical.

2) The team would help me prepare an application to the Lilly Foundation – Clergy Renewal Program. The Lilly Foundation makes 120 grants per year to pastors and their churches for the purpose of renewing pastors for ministry. If we are accepted, the foundation would provide up to $45,000 for use on this sabbatical ($30,000 for my expenses and $15,000 for church expenses.) The application deadline for the 2009 calendar year is May 15, 2008. I am currently in receipt of all the documents necessary to complete this application.

3) I would also work with the church leadership to develop a plan that would strengthen our church during my absence (hence, the monies allocated to the church). We would think through areas of training and development that would benefit the church the most…who might provide this training…what special programs might we want to take advantage of…who would best fill our pulpit…and so forth. While I’m learning and growing the church will be doing the same thing.

I believe God called me to this church. I believe God wants us to work together as we face future challenges and opportunities. I also believe we can do that most effectively if I, your pastor, am renewed and refocused for the ministry that lies ahead.

Please prayerfully consider this request so that we can discuss the matter at length during the September Executive Board meeting. Feel free to ask me questions between now and that meeting; I will be happy to discuss this proposal with you.

Blessings and love,

Mike

Mike did in fact get the Lily Foundation Grant, which was actually over the $45,000 amount. Pretty cool.