Always be recruiting and equipping leaders: When I was serving in a smaller church, we had a team of a few dedicated leaders who were great youth leaders. The problem was that since we had "enough" leaders to do most of the things we were doing, I never felt a sense of urgency to recruit and equip new leaders. In a larger setting, it's clear that my role is not to do all the ministry, but rather to lead a ministry in which adults (and students!) are contributing significantly to the leadership of the ministry. Looking back, I know now that such an equipping mindset is no less important to a smaller church setting, and I regret that my inability (or refusal?) to equip more leaders translated to missed opportunities to serve more teenagers and better serve the ones already attending our church.
When the youth pastor lets go of more things, more things succeed. "You can't do it all" is a refrain so often repeated at youth ministry conventions and on blogs that you'd think we'd get it by now. However, the fact is that many of us are control freaks. In a smaller church setting, I was able to keep control of just about everything because our youth ministry was small enough. It took me over a year in a larger church to learn that being a control freak is not a great leadership model. Not only do I avoid burnout by giving up control of parts of our youth ministry, but I've found that the less I try to do myself, the more that actually gets done, and done well. That's something I wish I had known and practiced when I was in a smaller church.
Having a plan is a good thing. When I served in a smaller church, it wasn't uncommon for me to plan events only a few weeks ahead of time and prepare lessons the day before (or the day of!) youth group. Why? Because I could do it and get away with it. As a result, events were kind of thrown together, youth group lessons didn't have a lot of direction from week to week, and our youth ministry lacked a sense of purpose. Having a plan is a good thing, no matter what size church you serve. It allows for events and programs to run more smoothly, and it also gives us more time to listen to God and perhaps allow him to change our course.
Question: What do you think larger churches can teach smaller churches about youth ministry?
