Building a Strong Youth Ministry – An Interview With Mark DeVries, Part One
By Jerry L Work

In the following interview (part one of a two part series), a nationally recognized expert on youth ministry explains why it is so important for churches to put real effort into the building of youth ministries.

You are consulting with churches nationally. Tell us about the greatest needs that you are finding in local churches today.

Mark: As you know, most churches are looking for the quick fix. One church, who had been through 5 youth directors in 4 years, called us and asked if we could help them find a “youth ministry superstar.” That hope fits the expectations of most churches…they are hoping for just the perfect person, just the perfect program model, just the perfect youth space to build a thriving youth ministry. The problem is typically not with the sincerity of the leaders or with the components of the ministry; the problems is that there is no system, no process that moves the disconnected pieces of the ministry forward in a single direction.

What has been the most encouraging trend that you have seen recently concerning student ministry?

Mark: Churches desperately want to have a thriving youth ministry. Very few churches need to be convinced any more about how important youth ministry is. Churches are beginning to admit that they just might need a little help rethinking youth ministry.

Do you feel that churches are catching the vision to involve parents and truly partnering with them in discipleship?

Mark: Oh I wish they were. Most churches still see parents as ancillary to the real work of the youth ministry. I’ve read one youth ministry professor even suggest that youth workers who focus on family ministry are misguided, that they should focus on students and let the adult ministry staff worry about parents. At the same time, there is a groundswell of interest from a growing number of professionals, volunteers and parents involved in youth ministry that unless we equip and partner with parents, the long-term impact of our ministries will be severely compromised.

What are the indicators that most trouble or concern you with what is happening in many student ministries today?

Mark: My concern is not “events” per se. My concern is that events are approached episodically rather than systemically. A church does a Discipleship Now that is totally disconnected from the small group program which is totally disconnected from the Girls of Grace Conference which is totally disconnected from Acquire the Fire, which is totally disconnected from the summer mission trips. Each of those components are fine…usually better than fine. They usually touch kids’ lives deeply. What they fail to do though is to draw kids into a trajectory of faithfulness that integrates the transforming “moments” into truly transformed lives.

Youth Ministry Architects, founded by Mark DeVries, is one of the country’s top youth ministry consulting firms.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jerry_L_Work
http://EzineArticles.com/?Building-a-Strong-Youth-Ministry—An-Interview-With-Mark-DeVries,-Part-One&id=1936673

from this article.

True is, there are a bunch of youth ministry websites that I frequent, youthministry360 is one of them. I had read this article a few weeks back … but somehow found my way back here again … reading the post … then the comments … then the post again. I have been involved in youth ministry since 1975. Lots of the youth guys that I read … were not even born. The recurring theme from generation to generation … is “how to reach and keep” young people committed to Christ and to His church. There are tons of things I did wrong … and maybe a few things I did ok. Jason Curry did the nail on the head … we must love, serve, invest in them.

One direct quote from his post goes over and over in my head and heart …

The truth is, students are smart. They know when they are being used and when you really care. At the end of the night, one comment stood out and forever changed my view of youth ministry. She said when she started coming to Rock Creek, “she felt wanted, not just needed.”

Wanted … not needed. More profound words can not be found as a basis of a growing youth ministry.

Check out the whole post here.

Source: youthministry 360
http://www.youthministry360.com/training/how-to-grow-your-youth-ministry/

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• Youth MInistry Top Sites is Open (youthgrouptshirts.com)

A ranking list for all things ‘youth ministry‘ is now open for business … or should I say Free Use! If you are a webmaster, blogger, youth minister or all of the above … this is kind of a fun thing to help rank the best youth ministry websites. It’s a win, win for all … being it will give your site exposure and a strong link for the major search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing to pick up. Good strong content relevant links is what you are looking for if you ever want these engines to find you and get folks to your site.

How does it work. Well, you go to the site … youthministrytopsites.com . Click Join. Ah, wait before you do … you need to make a really cool 468 X 60 jpg or png banner … for the website / blog you want to promote. Upload that somewhere and get the url link and keep it handy. Now back to joining, fill in all the info including what category your site is in, tell them where that banner you just uploaded is located … and join. Now, they screen all those that want to be on the top site list so as not to just collect a bunch of spammers.

Wait, you don’t have banner, can’t make a 468 X 60 banner and don’t know what the heck I am talking about … that’s ok … email them and they will help you out. Maybe even get one made for you at a nominal fee ($25) and store if for you on their site. Here is their email address to get that done … webmaster (at) youthministrytopsites (dot) com

The site is brand new so this is a chance to get in on the ground level of a cool fun little deal … and get your website promoted for free.

from this article.

Sometimes God just smiles on you and you find something that you’ve always wanted … but were afraid to ask for. Yes, a high-powered tshirt launcher. From kipkay.com ….

And if that is not enough … here are the plans from kipkay.com

Source: Kipkay.com
http://kipkay.com/videos/explosions-and-loud-things/hi-power-t-shirt-launcher

I like this approach to getting the quality and quantity youth ministry volunteers that you need. Being a salesman for many years … I know the process of making the calls that you need to make to get the sale. I might add the little thing that one veteran sales guy taught me years ago … always keep your “tickler” file up to date. For all those cold calls that say no … I would still go back 6 months later and still see if they were not interested. The tickler file worked. You can another 30% of those that first said no … into a presentation, at least. I think the same would happen with potential youth volunteers … who say no … now … but things change.

from this article @orangeleaders

There is nothing more important to your ministry than the quality and quantity of your volunteer leaders. So your priority needs to be that.

Normally when I talk about the job of getting leaders, I talk about treating it like a job interview. You can’t be desperate…and you can’t take just anybody. You have to find the right people. I mean that…and still do.

For this post however…I want you to think like a salesmen. Not that you need to sell the job…but you have to think like a salesmen thinks.

Here’s how a salesmen thinks –

check out the rest of this post.

Source: Orangeleaders
http://www.orangeleaders.com/?p=3443

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• The decline of youth group (geneveith.com)

Encounter on Dk Orange

Originally uploaded by redroofventures

The thing about having or being a tshirt company … is that you can never stop producing new idea and shirts. You just can’t. When we decided to get into the whole ‘template design’ market a few months back — It was clear that we would have to live or die by the decision. So — we committed to keep new designs coming in all the time. Plus (as far as I know) we are the only tshirt company selling group tshirts at $5 a shirt with a minimum of on 18 on a quality tshirt like Gildan, Hanes, or Jerzees. People still can’t believe it … they can and want to know what the ‘quality’ is of the shirts. It’s the same shirt you are going to pay $8 for on the other guys site. We are really committed to helping our groups in this tough economy.

We have bare bones this thing to the point that our turnaround is even quicker than ever .. and frankly, people are loving it. Yeah, it’s true that some of our pages are not complete … but we do it all here, the printing, the art, the web design … We are getting at least 100 designs up on our pages weekly. So — they are coming … it’s just takes a while. Sure … we could farm it out to a web designer … but then we would have to increase our costs … we love it like it is … organic, home grown … no customer representatives … when you call us … you are talking to people who are actually designing and printing your stuff.

We are NOT the biggest Christian Tshirt company in the market, we are NOT oldest Christian tshirt company in the market, we are NOT the company like Custom Ink or uber whatever … we are just who we are. Been in business for 20 years+ helping people get their stuff … on time … and with less hassles.

Happy 2010

Unshakeable

Originally uploaded by redroofventures

Ski trip season is upon us. This is a navy shirt printed with bright blue, white and gray. A vertical positioning … and snow every where. We are adding about 100 shirts a week to our template designs … sorry that we could not get it finished by Jan 1 … it was a bigger job than we calculated. But … in due time it will be finished. We want it to be right.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Haiti and also the NGO’s that supply help in any fashion.

wg

Every youth ministry professional should take a gander at this report from Harris Interactive on research they have gathered on 8-12, 13-17, 18-24 year olds in 2009. It is in pdf form.

It’s 2009; do you know what kids today are saying, thinking and doing? Well for starters, according to Harris Interactive’s 2009 YouthPulseSM report, they are shopping, maintaining relationships, absorbing technology, worrying about the future, aspiring to greatness and going online and going online and going online. And this just barely scratches the surface of what their lives are all about.

A safe bet on something youth today are doing is making, and even more so, spending money. Today’s 8-24 year olds have a projected $342 billion in annual income and will spend a projected $220 billion. Their power and influence in the economic market is staggering. So what role do young people believe brands play in their shopping habits? 

Even with all of the incredible technological and media influence in the lives of youth today, family and friends are still a fundamental piece of their lives. Nearly all (95%) tweens, 86% of teens, and three- quarters (74%) of young adults have spent time with their family in the past month. And across all age groups, youth say they would first turn to their mom and then their dad if they were in trouble.

Source: Harris Interactive http://www.b2i.cc/Document/1963/102873.pdf