Going on the Santa Cruz trip on April 6th?

1. Notify Josh if you haven’t already done so (josh@restoringhope.com)
2. Download the EMERGENCY MEDICAL INFORMATION AND RELEASE [Santa Cruz 2010]
3. Bring it signed on Tuesday!

See you then!

I wrote this as a guest article for morethandodgeball.com. It was inspired by my past 12 months here at Central Student Ministries. Enjoy!

One year ago, I came to my church to be a missionary to the youth of our community in a church where there were no teens and no youth department in place. One year later, I have some wins, some losses, and some pieces of advice for those starting a youth ministry from scratch.

1. You may come in with an arsenal full of ideas, or you may be whimpering at the very thought of someone calling you “pastor”. Regardless, as you walk through those church doors in your first days, don’t talk too much. If you listen closely and ask the right questions, you can find more direction than if you arrogantly or nervously stumble through your ministry philosophy or your 12-point plan to save the world. You don’t know as much as you think.
2. Students are not the “X Factor” in a healthy, thriving ministry; parents are. Remember, only a fraction of your students have the potential to drive, and only a fraction of them have jobs. This means that, unless all of your teenagers are within walking distance and are incredible fundraisers, parents are still their lifelines to any formal gathering you will ever have.  Spend time with parents and get to know them, because when you get parents to believe in your vision and heart for their kids, they will not only support their kids being a part of the ministry, but will invest in it themselves. Don’t neglect parents; they’re your responsibility too.
3. It’s normal; you want to see results from your ministry. But watch out, because wanting results in any timeframe you would consider to be fair (anytime between day one and year one) makes you do stupid things. Like a baker who bakes a pie at twice the recommended heat in half the time, you (and your students) will be engulfed in flames of failure. You cannot expect to turn up the intensity of your ministry and expect results in half the time. Relationship building is a brutally slow process. Don’t expect results for a very, very long time.
4. Starting something from scratch has a huge advantage: you don’t need to clean up someone else’s mess (instead, you can make your own). You have complete freedom to be creative and really make your ministry unique. Don’t let any program be grandfathered in simply because it’s “what has been done”. Experiment. If it doesn’t work, hit the “reset” button and try something else. You have a rare window to try something new before habits and traditions are made and you have to fight for the opportunity you currently have. Live it up.
5. Distractions are everywhere. They come in forms of what you have (lame facilities and the awkward kid no one likes) and what you wish you had (Saddleback’s “The Refinery” and super student-worship-leader at the neighboring youth group). But as a shepherd of your flock, it’s your responsibility to cherish the students you have and not covet the ones you don’t. Challenge that student, pour into him or her, and love that one as if they alone are the reason you accepted your calling.

It’s hard work, but remember that everything from baking a pie to student ministries is made better from scratch.

Josh Herndon is a rookie youth ministry planter in El Sobrante, CA.

Everyone sees life through a lens. With each person, a lens has its own unique scratches and scuffs, colors and shapes, tints and colors caused by life’s experiences, both beautiful and not. We all see life through some makeup. But what if stopped and looked at life through another lens, the lens of Jesus as written about in scripture?

This summer we are investigating just that. We will be reading Jesus’ words and hopefully adapting some of his tone to our own.

Our series titles through the end of June:

May 29: Lens
June 5: Wallet
June 12: Sparrow
June 19: Sawdust
June 26: Bread

The Cinderella series has come and left. We are gearing up for some summer fun including Summer Camp (June 29-July 3) and some service projects in July. Looking forward to it!

Jenny, an adult leader, is interviewed about one of her past dating relationships.

A video we did for our series, “Cinderella and Coldplay are Killing Your Love Life”.