Brainstorming: What to do with our Adult Leaders

How many leaders are too many? God has been blessing us with leaders, in fact I think I could have 5 more if I asked specific people in our church to do things, yet I'm not sure how to keep the leaders I have busy. This Sunday we're having a leadership meeting, and I've been brainstorming tasks to keep them all involved. I LOVE OUR LEADERS, AND I COVET HAVING THEM AROUND. I hope none of them ever feel like they're unimportant to the ministry, because I know that it's crucial to have them around.

I don't want to give them busy work, because I know that they're far too talented and busy with their lives to be doing menial tasks that I could easily accomplish during the week (or give to our equally amazing student leaders). These tasks are above and beyond their main job of loving students and pouring into their lives. So I'm looking for tasks that are essential to keeping the youth ministry running smoothly, and here's what I've come up with so far:

1) Security. Every few weeks we need one of them to be in charge of walking the building and getting stragglers back into service. Also we need them to be watching the students who leave the sanctuary, and we need them to watch the sound booth to ensure there are only two students at a time up there.

2) Prayer time. It would be nice to have one of them in position at 6:30 to get the prayer time started and running smoothly. Tiffanney and I usually get caught talking, so it would be nice to not have that worry.

3) Visitation Ministry. I need someone whose organized and would want to either come in for an hour on Thursdays or work from home but who would put together the youth database for me.

4) Online Presence. I need someone who will start and facilitate discussions online, make the youth group myspace look cool, and other things like that.

5) Setup/Teardown. This is already happening, but I want to mention it because I value it so much. Every week we put up these moving walls in the sanctuary to make the space feel more intimate, and these things are a pain. It involves taking them out of the closet they're stored in, handing them to someone on the main floor by passing them over the edge of the balcony, and then getting them in their correct spots. And then we reverse the process at the end.

6) JR High event planning. As we grow bigger, I'd like to see us do some events that are targeted more at different age groups. It would be really cool to have someone step up and start doing Jr High only events, as well as HS only.

7) Small Group Leaders. Is there a dumber name to call small groups than small groups? Yet that's what we're doing right now 'cause I'm too lazy to switch them over to Cadres or something cool like that. Anyway, we will need leaders as the groups get bigger. John is doing a great job with the Sunday School class, and I'd include that under small groups (not saying we need a leader, I'm brainstorming all of the jobs that are needed in the youth ministry).

Those are just a few ideas. If you're one of my leaders and you're reading this, leave a comment telling me what you'd like to do, or suggesting something else I haven't already thought of. Also, come ready on Sunday to talk about where you'd like to get involved.

Am I missing anything? Leave me a comment and let me know.

-Jeff-

Wednesday again!!!

It's finally Wednesday again! This is definitely the best and hardest day of my week. So much work goes into making everything perfect for a service, but then to see how God moves makes it all worthwhile!

God has been doing some amazing things in our ministry this last month and a half. I really feel like we're being positioned to do something incredible. God has really birthed in our students a passion for prayer, and we're seeing them shedding weight in their lives so they can move faster and climb higher in God. And God is honoring their dedication to Him. They have really started to learn what it means to wait in the presence of God, and how God blesses when we cry out to Him.

We're in a season of blessing right now and it feels like everything we touch turns to gold. It shows in the way God is answering prayers so quickly. Last Monday we found out our renter was moving out (last time it took us several months to get a new renter) and we have someone moving in already! It just blows my mind that God is moving so quickly. So what am I asking God for right now? You'll have to wait and see. Actually, I gotta go pray, see you tonight!

-Jeff-

Sermon Prep: Getting Started

Sometimes I just need to start writing. If I do that then the ideas start to flow. If I don't I'll sit there and stare at a blank screen forever before getting into it. If you're like me, you're always searching for the perfect way to start a message. Something that conveys the essence of the talk, plus grabs people's attention and is usually humorous. But before I get there, there's just a blank canvas sitting before me. Here's a look at how most of my sermons start:




Or some other form of greeting. I do this because the hardest part of writing is getting that first sentence done, and that's usually how I start my sermons anyway. So, my advice for anyone suffering from writers block is just to start writing. Even if it's dumb, you can go back and erase it anyway. What did people do before Word Processors?

-Jeff-