"Only 18 months" is Bullshit

If you hear something repeated often enough it can morph into a fact.
This is the whole idea of the TV show hosted by magicians Penn & Teller.

And this duo need to resurrect the show in order to debunk one final lie...

Everywhere you read and go, given enough time in the world of youth ministry, someone will inevitably mention the "statistic" that the average youth minister will stay at a church for 18 months.

I've written here, here and here that longevity matters. So, if the "18 month stat" is factual, then it's doing tremendous damage to the effectiveness of youth ministry.

The only trouble?

The "fact" is bullshit.
And I'm sick of hearing it.

Yeah, I went there.

The reason I say so isn't because I've done extensive research. I haven't. I can't even find any solid numbers (but I'm comfortable with the actual number being around the 4 year mark).
I'm not even going to dispute the reality that a sizable chunk of those in youth ministry don't round out their second year.

BUT...Someone must be honest enough to draw back the curtain on the "fact" which is the foundation of this myth.

The "stat of 18 months" is only factual if everyone included
a) is full-time and
b) sees youth ministry as their long-term profession.

It's wrong to place a full-time youth minister in the same boat as someone working a 15-hour-a-week position (trust me, I've done both) and unrealistic to assume they will be in a church for the same length of time.

Furthermore, it's dishonest to lump those who view youth ministry as profession, trained or being trained to do the vocation, with someone who's doing youth ministry whilst undertaking a separate, unrelated, degree at university.

The "18 month stat" is a falsehood which should be removed from the youth ministry airwaves. All it does is paint a negative picture of those in youth ministry and falsely give those who've cracked their second year a sense of longevity.

Strutting around in longevity

This week I've been back reading water meters and positively strutting around like i own the suburbs of Cremorne Point and Cammeray.

Through my continuation at reading meters I'm now at the stage where I'm reading the same areas for a third time. By now i can almost walk up to the water meters without too much trouble and, so far this week, have been able to knock off a days work by 1 and 2 in the arvo.

This all got me thinking about a stat i may have made up and old guys with skullets.

I remember seeing a stat which said that a youth minister will have their most productive period at a church between years 4-8 (years 7-10 for senior ministers). Working this week reminded me why.

Both water meter reading and ministry are hugely cyclic. You do the same things time and time again (within reason). Reading water meters you (hopefully) read the same regions four times a year. In ministry you go through the liturgical year, school year, annual camps, bi-annual leaders weekends and the full lectionary every four years.

Now for the skullets (a mullet where the wearer is bald in the front... thus skull). At a youth ministry convention a few years ago, i remember the MC had those in ministry stand. Then those in the job for 5 years. Then 10 years. Then 15 years.

As the time in ministry expanded, those standing dwindled, until two long haired bald guys were the only ones left.

One of them said that the job gets easier the longer you are at it. It makes sense...

With longevity you inevitably repeat the same tasks. Your twentieth term planner should be much easier and faster to produce than your first. Your eighth camp should run smoother than your first. The mistakes you made in your first big event, should be ironed out (or at least identified sooner) by your tenth.

This all goes without mentioning the advantages of building trust and influence throughout the church and youth ministry as time goes on...

Future numbers success

In the past I've blogged about the inevitable question that is asked whenever youth ministers get together.

I said I don't fear numbers for they hold significance, but this morning in church my mind wandered to what I think one of the real queries should be when measuring success.

This question relies upon longevity and focuses on the effectiveness of the disciple-making process. It asks..."From the number of year 11's you had three years ago, how many are still around?"

Getting large numbers isn't always easy. I would love it if it was. But it's also not impossibly hard.

You just do lots of crazy things. Go on nothing but wild adventures. Have amazing advertising. Shamelessly poach kids from other churches. Cater especially to the popular crowd. Never challenge them with the truth of the Jesus and the invitation to give their lives to Him.

But the overall Kingdom effectiveness of this method will be reflected once they leave school.

Sure, some teens will get married or move away for work or study, but the majority of the fruit will wither. If we are called to make disciples, not just high-school-followers, then this will be reflected in the answer to the question...

Why does youth ministry matter?

This week I'm snowed under. I'm preparing four talks and two small group sessions for an upcoming camp this weekend (thus the lack of posts).

As a searched around my old files, i stumbled across the youth ministry philosophy i did at college. I answered the question in the title of this post to begin.

My reasons?

First... Young people matter to God. They need to hear the life changing message of the gospel.

Second... the NCLS (national church life survey) has conclusively shown, backed up by other research, that the vast majority – up to 85% - of Christians in churches today made their commitment to follow Christ prior to their 21st birthday. The church should focus on times when people are looking for things to stand for and identifying their belief systems.

Third... The story is told of a struggling youth minister, who when faced with justifying his ministry, placed two candles before his unimpressed audience. He then proceeded to break one candle, reducing it to half the length of the other. Upon lighting both candles the minister then asked the congregants which candle would burn the longest. The audience concluded that the tallest candle would. With this exhibition the pastor sat down – his demonstration concluded.

This displays one of the greatest benefits of youth ministry – the longevity of the fruit. The results will burn for Christ the longest, giving a greater impact to the community around them.

The Levels of Leaving

As I've written plenty of times before, longevity matters in ministry.

But, it's unrealistic to believe that you'll be at a church forever.

Every church worker is, ultimately, inly ever an interim minister.

No matter the precise timetable, there are progressive levels of leaving.

Open. Available. Looking. Legacy.

Open - You're not ready to leave, but you've achieved enough things that you'd look back with pride. Now, if you're dream job found you, you'd be open to exploring the option and possibly jump at it. Ideally, I wouldn't imagine someone would be at this point during the first four or five years of their placement.

Available - Now you've available to move on, but are more than content to stay. By now you've established a culture you're happy with and have an increasing awareness of any opportunities which may be on the horizon. Now, if a fantastic opportunity arises, they don't have to knock on your door, you'll give it a sniff. Ideally, I wouldn't imagine that you'd get to this point until you're seven or eight years in.

Looking - Once you've been in a place a decade, having cycled through a few generations, you might move towards to next stage in leaving - Actively looking. Now, while you'd loved to stay, if a healthy succession plan is in place, you can move to the next step freely.

Legacy - You don't leave cleanly, but - again, with a healthy succession plan in place - transition into another complementary ministry at the same church/denomination.

The way they view your tomorrow matters

Lately I've been thinking quite a bit about building trust... Thus this post earlier this month.

You build trust by showing that you've been present in the past, doing the right things, at the appropriate time, with a proper understanding of what you do, over a lengthy period of time.

But, channeling the Dr-Phil-truism that past behavior is a firm indicator of future behavior, all these things focus on things in the past.

Trust is built on what you HAVE done.
Trust is built because you WERE there.
Trust is built due to the consistent caring questions you HAVE asked.

But trust also rides on one intangible.

Tomorrow.

Will you be there tomorrow?
Will you be there if things get EVEN MORE difficult than today?
Will you be able to handle the way the other person responds to the hardships they face?

As I concluded in my last post about trust, this all points to the compounding advantage of longevity.

For, the more tomorrows you've been around for, the more likely people will think you'll be there for the next difficult tomorrow.

Why I left

With (hopefully) multiple job interviews in my not-to-distant future I'm going to answer a question i expect be asked in each interview... "Why did you leave your last church?"

I moved on from Balgowlah for multiple reasons.

Firstly, my life had changed significantly over my three and a bit years. I got married, moved out, learnt to drive and my Dad got cancer.

All these influenced my decision to move on. Any church i was going to work at would need to be a place i could settle down for at least the next five years (remember that my first principal for ministry is longevity). At this church i would start a family. This was not going to be the case at Balgowlah (nothing against them). I had already been there for over a dozen years, all my Christian life, and it was time to branch out.

Both personally, spiritually and professionally, this was the right choice at the time. I needed to live and work outside of the Balgowlah bubble that i had grown up in.

Secondly, i had three aims when i applied for the initial position in 2004. Develop a stronger young adult ministry. Develop a reinvigorated youth ministry. Contain the fallout from losing Neil.

Looking back at my years at Balgowlah i think i achieved my goals. Through the birth of IMPACT and the expansion of BUYA i don't look back with any regrets and am proud of what i did.

Thirdly, i thought me moving on would be a positive for Balgowlah. Please don't read this as saying that i was disappointed that Liam got the job... but i felt that Balgowlah needed someone new in the youth minister chair. After thirteen years of Neil, and then three years of me, a fresh perspective was in order. With IMPACT off the ground, the timing (i felt) was right.

Even with a year out of ministry i know that the choice i made at the time was the correct one. I don't regret the decision that i made... because with the same set of circumstances... i would still make the same choice.

Second year problems

I've mentioned before that longevity's a positive thing in ministry but, having been at my church for over a year now, it's starting to create a problem...

For I get ideas fairly quickly. When faced with a sermon or children's address, I'll have a thought pop into my mind without too much strain. 

But I also have a poor memory.

Herein lies the problem.

I'll forget the stories, illustrations and objects I've used in the past, and one day, get caught using the same immediate-ideas to describe different, even opposing, things.

Rooting yourself

Yesterday was a cliffhanger. If you couldn't sleep last night, waiting anxiously for the answer, then you should probably get out more.

But my conundrum about getting business cards is a part of a larger question.

How do I show the people that I'm serving here that I'm planning to stick around?

Business cards would be only one small way.
As is putting my details on 1000 promotional cards.
As is making connections in the local schools and community groups.
As is inviting people to partner with you.
As is casting a fresh vision.
As is being a part of the long term planning for the church.

Why is is important? Because planting roots communicates that you can be trusted. It shows that you're not planning to go anywhere.

From the start of my ministry, I've always said that longevity is important, both for those in the ministry and the person at the forefront.

The annoying thing? I've never been in a ministry position longer than 28 months...

Are we worth half a million bucks?

I'm extremely grateful that I work for a church, full time, in youth ministry.
I'm grateful that I get to do something which I enjoy and find meaning in and I'm grateful because my family like to eat.

I don't know what the average full-time youth minister/pastor is paid per year. For the sake of this article I'm going to say $40,000 (that is about on par with what I found here and here).

With longevity being important and youth ministry being cyclic (getting in a new generation of kids every six years), I wonder, after a dozen years, does a church get a HALF A MILLION dollars worth?

Now, twelve years is a long time...
And spiritual (not to mention physical, emotional, relational, social, mental) transformation and development is impossible to measure...
And this can as easily apply to any ministry worker (children's, family, small groups, pastoral care, admin, associate, teaching, lead/head/senior minister)... 

BUT

If you went up to your average church and asked them to chip in $500,000 towards a ministry would they reconsider because the number is so substantially greater than 40K per year?

When weighed up against the way that large sum of money could be used, would they see it as a fair trade?

Additionally, if this money was viewed as a long-term investment not a rolling annual amount, would the evaluation of a ministries' effectiveness be different?

If nothing else, when such substantial numbers are thrown about, it should make those working in ministry sit back and consider the great, long-term, cost faithful people have made.

Am I a bigger failure as a teacher or a youth minister?

My last post asked if I was a greater success as a teacher or as a youth minister.

I ended that post by concluding that I’ve had more hits in the classroom than the pulpit.

But, a question which troubles me far more is the title of this post: What am I a bigger failure in, teaching on youth ministry?

Without doubt, at various times, both have left me feeling defeated.

I’ve had, even after only a few years (maybe even because of my inexperience), numerous lessons which have been train wrecks.

I’ve never left the classroom with the place on fire, students writhing in pain or an evacuation drill needing to be declared, but lessons have certainly not been executed as well as I’d hoped.

It’s understandable, in your first time teaching a topic or entire subject, that everything that you try won’t alway be a winner.

The same is true with youth ministry.

I had plenty of days when I’ve been driving home after a Friday or Sunday with a sense of defeat.

In both jobs I’ve felt like an imposter.

In both jobs I’ve felt unorganised.

In both jobs I’ve made administrative mistakes.

In both jobs I’ve clashed with colleagues.

In both jobs I’ve been underprepared.

In both jobs I’ve felt ineffective.

But I’ve got a nagging certainty, when it comes to this question - again - the church is on the losing side.

I failed far more in youth ministry than I, so far, have as a teacher.

Why?

Because I failed my own standards.

As I posted way back in 2008, one of the most important elements in effective ministry is longevity.

And I never stayed at a church longer than 4 years as the youth minister.

I didn’t, for a variety of reasons, stick around long enough to have generational impact.

I didn’t see one generation of kids grow into young adults.

Sure, I did see young people mature, but not truely transition beyond a single life stage.

And, in this, I failed.

As a teacher, it’s expected that you’ll cycle through a number of teachers during high school.

In some regards, it can be a positive.

You get different voices.

You get different classroom management techniques.

You get different teaching styles.

You get different personalities.

You get exposed to different passions.

But in ministry, consistency trumps novelty.

Relationships trumps knowledge.

Trust trumps technique.

In this, I failed spectacularly.

The trust equation 2.0

I wrote here that the equation to build trust was the following...

Time + Knowledge = Building Trust.

It occurred to me during the week that I was missing a vital element.
Trust is actually built by the following equation...

Time + Knowledge + CONSISTENCY = Building Trust.

It's only with trustworthy actions done predictably, dependably and repeatedly, over a lengthy period of time, will a person's trust for you will deepen.

This is just another reason why longevity matters.

Golf Club Church

Over my years of blogging I've mentioned a golf club that I go to for a few quiet refreshments. The club is nothing spectacular, but it has cheep beer and is always a good place for a chin wag.

I've been going to the club for a few years, drawn in my a mate, and it stuns me how the golf club is similar to a church.

First, the club is made up of predominately elderly people. They are active, but they would all be eligible for the Masters Olympics. Sure, there are some young people, but they are in the minority.

Second, there are regulars. The same people, at the usual table, standing in roughly the same spots.

Third, there is plenty of gossip, bitching and general moaning.

Fourth, the regulars seem to (alongside the ribbing), genuinely care for each other. Every so often you will catch a glimpse of meaningful concern for what is going on at work or within their marriages.

Fifth, money is a continuing issue. There is ongoing budget stress and this is sensed around the club. Especially amongst the staff.

Sixth, the staff seem to be (somewhat) under appreciated and stuck in a rut.

There have been numerous times when I could shut my eyes and hardly tell the difference between the golf club and a church. Whether it is a complaining staff member who is overworked, the stream of meetings, the politics, the rumours or the concern about the clubs longevity, I wonder how those within the club would feel that they are actually in a church setting.

Only they talk about golf, not God...

Foundations for ministry

As the year comes to an end i suspect that more of my posts will start to sound like answers to potential job interview questions. Today... What will you base your ministry on?

For me i have four traits that i aim for...

LONGEVITY - 1 Thes 2:8 - Ministry gains in leaps and bounds the longer you stick around at a church (I blogged a little on this yesterday). In looking for a position my mindset begins with the aim of staying for no fewer than five years. Over time and shared experience you build trust, gain influence (both with the kids and the wider church).

EXAMPLE - 1 Cor 11:1 - In ministry we must show in integrity, both personally and professionally, and servanthood (Mk 10:45).

EXCELLENCE - Col 3:23 - God's people should be known for producing quality. This doesn't necessarily mean that perfection is the minimal requirement, nor that failure isn't an option, but if you don't strive for excellence you won't hit it. This will require the needed effort and planning along with a strong dose of the following...

PRAYER - Psalm 127:1 - On my own strength i can do ok... for a while. Maybe a week. I achieve Graham sized results and goals. With dependence on God i do much better. God sized results and visions are much bigger than mine...

Can celebrating the past show our one-ness?

Ephesians 4:3-6 - Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirt through the bond of peace. There is one baby and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

One.

I wonder, in light of this passage, how should this shape the way Christian denominations treat each other’s practices.

I can think of numerous practical reasons churches have split. When I say this, I’m not referring to elements of belief - even though these will affect our practices - but the activities we do and the way we do them,

Baptism.
Communion.
Church governance.

These are the trinity of division.

We have split over the age and method of baptism.
We have split over the frequency, elements and significance of communion.
We have split over the eligibility, authority and longevity of leadership.

But, we are meant to be one.

So, do we show this in our practice?

Do we acknowledge the faith practices of other denominations? 
Or do we belittle them?

Do we insist that things are done “our way?”
Do we insist that they are done the “right way?”

I’ve been baptised, confirmed and married - twice.

Each of these things in my past can be challenged, even discredited, by those of different denominations.

I wonder, what message the church would send about the overriding unity we have in Christ if we openly acknowledge, celebrate even (!), the meaningful steps of someone’s faith journey in the past, just done within the tent of another denomination?

Everything isn't first-run

Last night I gave the devotion to kick off our latest church council meeting, giving a quick overview on the book of Hebrews.

This, while not being an arduous task, is just one more thing on top of what I churn out each year...

38 weeks of the Friday afternoon children's ministry. 
38 weeks of youth group.
40 weeks of Sunday morning Kid's Church.
140 scripture lessons (35x4).
25 sermons in the evening service.
4 sermons in the morning.

And this doesn't included any high school scripture lessons, which I have done in the past, or outside speaking gigs.
On top of this, I spit out 150 posts on Tiny Bible Bits and 120-150 blog posts.

All told, I "produce" in excess of 550 thoughts/lessons about God, Jesus, Christianity, the church and ministry.

AND I'm not extraordinary nor overworked.

But, whenever someone asks me where I draw inspiration for much of this, my answers can be a tad underwhelming.

If I produce a half-millennia of things, probably, only half are purely original.

The rest, largely, flows from - hopefully improving upon - what I've done in the past (thus the advantage of longevity) or is drawn out of what I've done earlier/going to do later in the week.

Thus, the Tiny Bible Bits will, most often, be drawn out of a scripture lesson, sermon, or children's address (thus linking with the Lectionary).

Inevitably, you'll do the same topics in scripture, the children's ministry, youth group and as a sermon series.

But, from the outsiders perspective, it can appear that a lot of what someone in ministry "presents" is original and this, realistically, could never - an need not be - the case.