A monthly message from Fred Lynch. Fred is the founder of GodStyle Productions, a ministry committed to changing youth culture. For more information on Fred, visit his website or check out his latest project, The Epic (the gospel of John translated into rap).
October 2007
Who knows the hustle of a Youth Worker? From building relationships that with the hope will turn into lifelong friendships to constructing life-changing messages that might be forgotten by the next month to keeping your own family happy and healthy back to making sure the Pastor trusts the moves that you make. Just the daily operation of youth ministry in the city should require an extra dose of supplements to keep on a roll! As my new youth pastor Trammell Orr and I embark on our first conversation called 'Real Talk' we wanted to bring up an issue that Pastors and Youth Pastors must deal with if they expect any success in ministry partnership and that is the subject of maintaining trust. "If it ain't no trust...it ain't no us."
I'm going to mess up in ministry many times over just like you did, but it's good to have someone to cover you.
Fred: It's funny that the first subject we talk about is trust. As a Pastor I understand that you are going to do a much better job at reaching students than me, but my concern is if you are able to not only rally kids into a frenzy of fun, but take them deeper into a meaningful relationship with Christ and others. So I must trust that your style might be radical but the substance you bring will be able to get the job done in the end.
Trammell: Well I think trust is the first place that we have to go because so many youth workers feel like they're out there all alone trying to make something work for kids when we all know that the way decisions are usually made in 'church' are by adults who've for the most part forgot what adolescence was really like and they end up either totally forgetting the cause of youth or only giving the youth department such little room to function that they are set up to fail.
Fred: Well if trust is the issue then I'd say that it's important for the Pastor to take the first step and articulate his heart and vision for youth ministry.
Trammell: Alright then let's do some 'real talk'. Most of the time Pastors are doing so much that they don't have time to figure out how to explain their vision to just one person. Most Pastors use the 'come along with me and learn as we go' method, so I'd say that a way that trust can be built is through the Youth Pastor taking the initiative by becoming a 'vision interpreter'. Most churches have a vision statement, so it's going to be up to the youth pastor to flesh out that vision in a way that communicates the same values and ideas to students and those who are passionate about students.
Fred: Give me an example.
Trammell: Well our vision statement is 'helping people become fully devoted followers of Christ'. Well, how does that look in the life of a student? How can I as a youth pastor encourage full devotion in someone who's still underdeveloped?
Fred: Well it can happen cause if you think that the kids are underdeveloped, you should take a look at the parents!
Trammell: Now you right about that Pastor! But we knew that we were dealing not only with people under construction, but to use an old 90's rap group name to give a perfect picture: we are dealing with people who are victims of 'Arrested Development'. So our job is to 'free the bird so it can fly'; take the chains off of the soul of kids by giving them a place where it's safe to grow. So our vision statement for our youth group is: Helping students become fully devoted followers of Christ. Now I know you're thinking, you just cheated by changing one word! Well, my job isn't to reinvent the wheel here or come up with something that sounds cool; my job is to take the vision of the house and reinterpret it in a way that students can understand and roll with. This is what produces trust between us as Pastor and Youth Pastor. You're not threatened by me, and I'm in line with the vision of the house.
Fred: I feel you T. Let me bring up one more quick subject on the real talk format when it comes to trust. What happens when you mess up or when you go so far out there to connect with kids that you loose your connection with the parents?
Trammell: I just love your faith-filled prediction like I'm just destined to mess up man! The truth is I'm going to mess up in ministry many times over just like you did, but it's good to have someone to cover you. That's what makes trust so valuable in ministry. You have someone who can cover if (no, when) you miss the mark because they KNOW you and trust that even if you've made a mistake (whipped cream in the carpet, or jello wrestling in the baptistry) you can and will bounce back if you're only given a chance. So I guess my answer Pastor Fred is that when I mess up, I hope we have enough trust between us that you have my back and I have yours.
Fred: Cool. I got you man. Let's go hang out and 'do life' (not just ministry) together so we can build this trust.
Make it pain:
Youth Workers, take the initiative by building trust with your leaders through capturing their vision and interpreting it in a way that connects with youth but doesn't compromise the vision. Pastors: make sure that you KNOW your youth worker and be sure to 'have their backs' when they mess up.
Until next time...STAY REAL.
FREDDIE FREEBIE:
This month for the Freddie Freebie, I'd like to encourage you to go to my website and just have a shopping spree on me! All of my downloads are free and open to the public. The link is www.godstyle.com/downloads.html. Hope you enjoy!
Sharing the gospel from 'Street to Street',
Fred Lynch III
GodStyle Productions
Fred Lynch is the founder of GodStyle Productions, a ministry committed to changing youth culture. For more information on Fred, visit his website or check out his latest project, The Epic (the gospel of John translated into rap).
