Guest Post by Stephanie Caro
Heard this brilliant nugget of ministry wisdom on my drive to the airport this morning. Here’s how it translated in my mind for smaller church youth ministry:
1) You can’t have trained, resourced volunteers if you don’t provide, well – training and resources. (Brilliant, huh? I got a million of ‘em.)
2) You can’t get students into worship if your worship doesn’t “get” students.
3) You can’t get your senior pastor to understand your needs if you don’t see the need to understand his/hers.
4) You can’t open your heart to that irritating student if you close that student out.
5) You can’t have a growing class or study if you’re not providing ways to grow.
That’s all for now. You get the idea. Simple thoughts? Yes, but sometimes we miss the simplest things in our ministry efforts.
S
Stephanie has been involved in ministry to youth and youth workers in the local church since…a long time. Her humorous, straightforward style keeps her busy presenting and coaching at conferences, training events, camps, mission trips, retreats, churches, etc. She is a contributing author to several youth ministry resources in addition to her regular “Smaller Church Youth Ministry” column in Group Magazine. Stephanie is still hands-on involved in the “youth ministry trenches” serving at a church in Tampa Bay, FL, where she and her husband, Steve, live only 20 minutes from the airport!
