- Discipleship can't be reduced to programs and people
- An "On Your Own" philosophy is top down philosophy
- Expectations without Experimentation = frustration
- Discipleship never ends
Doug also talked about how most ministry have Discipleship with 100% lecture/class time or 50% lecture/class time and 50% experience but he recommended 33% Demonstration/Modeling, 33% Education and 33% Preparation. This changes the dynamic of how we should think about Discipleship. He also talked about his HABITS series and how that is a great tool to get students started and heading in the right direction. HABITS stands for...
- Hang time with God
- Accountability with another believer
- Bible memorization
- Involvement with the church body
- Tithing commitment
- Study Scripture
Josh and Kurt came up to give us the Key Learnings from Saddleback. They also talked a lot about Discipleship not being about programs. Their key learnings were:
- Expect resistance
- Being connected to an adult leader makes all the difference
- Requires continuous vision casting, meaning you can't say it once and leave it, you need to beat the drum
We have to become better at preparing our students to survive once they leave our ministries. During this session, one of the speaker made a comment that I know would spark some debate in my own ministry. They talked about how parents are responsible for discipling their students, not the youth ministry. We are to come along side the parents and help them. Too often we are held responsible for the spiritual development of the students and that is incredibly hard when we only touch their lives 3 or 5 hours a week, if we are lucky.
During Session 7, we talked about the last purpose, Ministry. Ministry is the final piece to the puzzle because it is designed for the Core students. Those who are fully committed to Christ. This doesn't mean that others don't do Ministry, but that our Core kids should be leading the charge. Our own ministry is currently developing a student leadership process, so I was very interested in this session. Again, Doug brought us some of his big pictures ideas. They are...
- Teenagers are not the future of the church (but are the church)
- Student Leadership is bigger than teenage advisor
- Ministry needs are Ministry opportunities
- Youth Ministry can and should be a ministry launching pad
Too often students are looked down upon. Many people think of them as lazy and not wanting to do anything. Most people can't get past the struggles teenagers are facing to see that they do need a place to serve, just as much as any adult does but normally will do a better job. Doug gave us a tip in empowering students. When they go on mission trips, every student on the trip has some responsibility. Some are small, some are big but all students have one. And that once we kids students involved in ministry in our groups, they will eventually move outside the group and start finding holes to fill and ways to use their talents that we might never have thought about.
Katie and Matt gave us some practical tips from Saddleback with 3 Key Learnings. 1) There are pastors/leaders/servant in every crowd. 2) Students are flaky. 3)As students grow, all them to experiment. Student Leadership and ministry isn't always about structure. We also need to remember that student leaders are still students. Sometimes we put more pressure on student leaders than we do on our regular students and that isn't always fair. I did get a lot out of this session and really understand more about how I should develop our own student leadership team.
After this session, I got to have lunch with Josh Griffin (HSM) and about 15 other youth pastors at Chipotle and then Cold Stone Creamery. I am still full. Once again, I got to meet and talk with other YP's I have never met. It was a great time. Josh and I cruised back in my rental car, he loved it also. (I think we broke the speed limit in the Saddleback parking lot). Once we got back, Saddleback had invited us to attend a worship service, just for us youth pastors. The students and Taffy did a great job in worship, speaking, and creativity. Jana spoke from her heart about where she was in her life. We were able to share in communion. I was amazed, excited, sorrowful, forgiven, and full of Grace. I feel I connected with God once again during this service.
Actually, this whole day for me has been about renewing my own soul and resting in God's grace. When I laid in the sun during lunch and just felt the cold grass on my back and the sun on my face, I worshiped God. I can't really describe it.
I hate that I am leaving tomorrow but I really miss my kids. It will take me two weeks to process this conference and start to put plans into place to change myself and my ministry to be more purpose driven...
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