Life continues at a fast pace. But with that pace I have seen a lot of really cool things this week.

Wednesday was exciting because Phil spoke about true humility. I had heard his message on it before and was super excited for the kids to be able to hear it. The message seemed to be received well, I have never seen the kids so attentive. Phil spoke directly to the heart of the issue in the same way I had heard him speak before. The message was powerful too because he had known about some of the talents that the kids possessed and challenged them directly to use those passions to bring glory to God. By having it be so personal I think it drove home the importance of the message and made it relate directly to each of the kids.

The one activity stood out as being really cool too. There were note cards passed around to each person and then you wrote your name on the card then the card was passed around the room for each person to write something on it that they appreciated about you. It was a great way to encourage the kids to be leaders and to learn the art of encouraging those around them. This seems to be one more tool for the development of leaders which to me is one of the main goals of youth ministry. Encouragement is such a huge tool in the development of anything, especially leadership.

Friday night we went to the Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, concert. Personally the concert was amazing, it was a powerful worship service. But not only was it personally powerful it was also amazing to see some of the kids come out of their own normal worship actions. Kids who normally didn't seem to care were at some points in the service passionately worshiping God. It was very cool to see.

My question lies from this service though, how do you as a leader take that excitement and the mountain high that you are on from worshiping God with so many people, and channel it to be used successfully? How do you take mountain top experiences and use them to continue to develop the leader in the youth?

Too many times in my own experience I have seen the mountain highs only being mountain highs were you are jazzed up on emotional energy. It is never channeled into something great like it could be. Its left just as it is. Thats a shame in my mind. And I cannot help but wonder how it can be handled better and how you actually channel that energy.

We have talked about starting small groups which I am excited about. I am going to lead the junior high girls, the topic is not certain yet. I am super excited about this possibility. I love the girls and the opportunity I had with them earlier in the winter with small groups.

I am continuing to love this stuff. I love the planning, the worshipping, the hanging out, the reflecting, and the praying that has to happen in this ministry.

Reading

I haven't posted a response to the reading that I have been doing in awhile. So I guess now would be a good time. I have been continuing to read through Mark Yaconelli's book "Contemplative Youth Ministry" and the last chapter was on the community surrounding the youth ministry.
Its interesting that I should be reading this chapter at this point in the week. I just had a meeting in which the importance of community and the importance of leadership was discussed and I think that it ties in with this chapter very well. There is a quote in the book that I really like (and not just because it has to do with Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
"Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote that there is no such thing as an individual Christian. If we seek to share the life of Jesus with young people, we can't do it alone. Christians believe its only as we gather together that we truly embody the Spirit of Jesus. Together we become his eyes, hands, mind, and heart" (141) This plays out to be so true. How many times do we (and I am speaking from a congregational sense) expect our leaders to do everything? We want the youth leader to do all of the youth things herself/himself because thats just their job. But then you read a quote like this and its completely the opposite. Completely. We are called to embody the Spirit of Christ as a body of believers and if thats how we embody the Spirit then we should to be able to share the love of Jesus in the same way.
Ministering to youth cannot happen it alone. It's impossible. I guess I see this as both a call for the youth minister and the congregation of a Church that together they should seek to serve their youth. The minister cannot do it alone. The congregation should see this and support and help in many ways. But in the same breath I think that there is a call on the minister as well. He or she must be able to see that they cannot do it alone. Its not just a "suck it up and deal with it" thing, they must be able to see the need for community. For sharing the responsibilities and allowing other people to help. Only in doing this can we truly call ourselves the body of Christ.

And he has called us to community. He has called us to be the body and to serve together.

Youth Retreat

What an amazing weekend.

We spent the last weekend at this retreat center near Pittsburgh. It was pretty cool, there was skiing (snow tubing as well for the ones not so brave which includes me), time for hanging out, and some pretty serious time to spend with God. It challenged me in many ways: as a leader, as a child of God, and as a person who cares deeply about the upcoming generation.

The weekend began on Friday night with the speaker's first session. He was an amazing speaker. He was from out West and a youth pastor himself. His whole message was a presentation of the Gospel because this whole retreat was geared for kids who have never been churched or heard the message of Jesus before. He presented the Gospel from the eyes of those who had experienced Jesus: two women and two men from the Bible. They were all powerful messages that spoke to the heart of who Jesus was and remains. It was interesting hearing the kids perspective on this. I was able to be the small group leader for the junior high girls which was awesome. We talked a lot about the messages given and discussed how they pertained to the lives of each of them.

The small group was really exciting. My group of girls were open to God and to the messages that were given. The most amazing thing was that at the end of each of the discussions the girls were all willing to pray together and each of them prayed. That was probably the highlight of my weekend. It made all of the nights with not much sleep worth every minute.

And I learned just how much planning goes into these weekends. Wow.

Worship

Wow. Time passes so fast. That's all I can say.

It was a good week. Very interesting in forming thoughts about the continuation of youth ministry and the goal setting. After the staff meeting on Tuesday there was able to be some time taken to really answer some questions that had been building in my mind. The questions were not all fully answered but I think I am pointed in the right direction to be able to somehow find a deeper answer to them. This is some of the stuff I am currently chewing on:

• What does worship look like in a youth setting? How important is it for youth to have a worship element in their meeting times? Should it be weekly?
• How does a leader encourage attendance at Sunday School and Worship services?
• How do you provide a worship service that meets the needs of all generations? Is that possible?

I am not sure how to be able to fully answer these questions. I think back on my own personal high school experience and the things that I did as a youth involved in a youth group/youth for Christ. I think that worship is an important element in any person's life and in any ministry form. Worship is an expression of praise and adoration for Jesus. Its when we are able to offer to him our praises as an honoring of who He is and an offering of who we are. It just seems to important to me. I know that worship is not just held in a box of singing but that seems to be such an important way to connect hearts with God.

I want to continue to pursue this subject and find ways in which worship can connect to the hearts of youth and allow them to see how real it can be. As a college student, worship is such a huge thing in my own daily walk with God. Its what has allowed me to know God more, experience his presence, and be able to offer more of myself to Him.

As I seriously do some thinking and try to tie in my own experiences especially from high school I feel like this keeps on resounding back again and again. Worship has to be real. It cannot be faked or given as a show. In order for youth to be able to see this connecting with their own lives they have to be able to see how real it is to the person leading it. Even in moments where I don't feel like I am connecting to God through my own singing there have been times where I have been able to watch the worship leader (depending on the leader) and see the reflection of God through them. That alone has been a encouragement because its so real to them, and that in itself is beautiful.

So that's my post on worship. There is more to come as I continue to read and pray and try to understand the beauty and complexity of worship.

Week Two

Its completely hard to believe that I am already two weeks into my semester and internship. This week was probably more stretching then the weeks before. I imagine it to be like this though as I continue to dive more into helping and leading.

Tuesday morning I did the normal office work. I finished getting together a postcard that is to be sent to the kids when they miss a function. It was a really cool idea, just letting the kids know that they were missed without any pressure. That's one of the hardest things to balance though I think; being able to keep the attendance coming without worrying to much about the numbers. The postcard was a good way of working on attendance without worrying too much about it.

We also did the beginnings of some planning for the upcoming months. I never understood the amount of planning that went into getting things ready for youth group.

Wednesday was my first time to lead the youth group message. Because a lot of the kids don't know me we decided that sharing my journey of faith or what some would call a testimony. I shared how I had grown up in a Christian home just like many of them. I had gone to Church, gone to youth group, did everything that a good Christian was supposed to do but it hadn't been enough for me. I talked about complacency and its threat and temptation to each of them. I shared about how I had stood on the fence and how that had affected my life. It had been a series of events that had made me climb off the fence and that was something I had told them about. I am not sure what the kids thought exactly. It was hard to read their expressions. But I know that my story had to be shared. I think that it was important for them to hear it and to understand that God can work in ordinary lives. Its not just people who have had horrible influences or people that had run completely away from God.

I was in at the Church on Friday to do a fundraising event. It was a good experience that reiterated what it means to be a servant leader. Its the leading by being a servant and doing the things with the kids that no one else wants to that makes the leader. It not only shapes the leader into a better person but also allows the kids to be able to respect the leader more. Tammie is such a good example of this. She is always serving the kids and never thinking of herself.

Contemplative Youth Ministry

I started reading this book by Mark Yaconolli at the beginning of last week. Its a good book that provides some really cool ideas for a youth group and strengthening their walks with God. One of the main points that he discusses is authenticity. This is important because he thinks that this is the one of the only ways to truly be effective. He says that there are a couple of ways that this can be achieved. Through surrender and receiving of God's love. This is important because it shows that part of ministry is about growing as a person. It also made it clear to me that as leaders in ministry its important to be able to be walking with God and doing the things that you are preaching at others to do. In order to walk with God we must do as he says and "surrender and receive".

These are all my thoughts for now.