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I am the youth pastor at a fairly new church plant in Victorville, CA. I can honestly say that this is the most fun in ministry I have ever had. In fact my pastor, Larry White, preaches FUN. He has told me if “doing ministry” isn’t fun then there is something wrong. During the past two years at Horizon Church, I have learned some very valuable lessons about ministering in a church plant. I would like to share some of those lessons with you.
1. Adopt the vision of your pastor and church.
When we started the youth ministry, Orizontas (Greek for Horizon), I knew what God wanted -- the youth of the church to be connected with the church. He wanted them to BE the church. Too many times churches separate their youth from the adults in the name of “youth group.” But what they are really doing is separating the youth from the adults because they do not want the youth to disrupt their “adult learning.” That is why at Horizon; we do not have a youth group. We have a youth movement of young people who are looking to change their world for Christ.
Now, this may not be the case in every church but it does happen. So we have adopted the vision of our church instead of creating a separate vision and mission statement for our ministry.
I want our students to know and understand that they are members of this community of faith and that their voice matters. As a result, we have youth that help lead worship on Sunday mornings as part of our worship team, youth that help in our children’s ministry, youth that serve in our outreach ministries to the homeless shelter, youth that serve as greeters, ushers, and part of our set up crew. This all happens because we make sure to involve them in the mission and vision of our church.
2. Be Flexible (The Bruin Principle)
In planting a church, one thing I am sure we have all learned is that we HAVE to be flexible. We have to bend without breaking, adapt to change, and be teachable.
When Orizontas started, we met in my backyard. 16 teenagers, 5 adults, and Bruin, my crazy Rottweiler, sitting by the pool. You see, we didn’t have a place to meet because the church only had one tiny office about the size of a sardine can. So, my house was the next best thing. Now, my Bruin loves kids. He is the friendliest Rottweiler you will ever meet. He thinks that when you come over to visit, you are coming over to visit him. He will lick you, lean into you, and paw at your hand until he gets your attention. He is basically like a little kid screaming “LOOK AT ME!” If you come to our house by yourself, Bruin will give you all the attention in the world. Can you imagine a bunch of teenagers coming over? Bruin made it difficult to worship, give a message or even just hang out and talk because he was in the middle of everything and constantly stealing the kids’ attention and plastic water bottles! Bruin taught us all to be flexible that summer. He taught us that youth ministry really isn’t about the youth pastor or a youth room. It’s about the youth. It’s about being able to deal with many distractions and little annoyances in order to come and worship God. Just like life.
3. Invest in your leaders
I learned a long time ago from a youth pastor that mentored me, that if you want “success” in youth ministry, than you have to invest in your leaders. So at Orizontas that is exactly what we do.
I encourage our leaders to take classes or attend seminars on youth ministry. I often forward them helpful articles or books that will help them in their spiritual journey. We have them over for dinner, go to movies together, or go to their houses just to hang out and share our lives with each other. These relationship events are the types of things that are practiced in our church as well.
I remember a story about how Matt Leinhart of the USC Tojans took out his whole offensive line for dinner just before the start of the 2004 season. He said he did it because he needed to trust his first line of defense. He hung out with them, invested in their lives and built friendships that ultimately led to a National Championship in football. Invest in your frontline. Your leaders are the ones talking to the kids, your leaders are the ones cleaning up your mess, and your leaders are the ones praying for you. Gain their trust by investing in their lives.
4. Loyalty
I really admire athletes that stay the entire length of their careers with one team. People like Magic Johnson, Tony Gwynn, or Walter Payton. People, that despite losing seasons and hard times, stayed loyal to their teams.
Church planting isn’t easy. I have seen good people leave because the money wasn’t there, the church wasn’t growing numerically, or it was just too demanding. When you remain loyal to the little things, then the hard times aren’t so hard. Loyalty is deciding to remain faithful to those above you, around you, and under you. Nothing ruins a ministry faster than people who are un-loyal. Or people who are not willing to stick it out when times get tough, when only one kid shows up to an event, when a parent chews you out, or when the pastor just doesn’t seem to “get it.”
Loyalty means that even when it looks like other ministries are growing and are being more “successful,” you remain faithful to what God has called you to. Remember, your reward is not a 300-person youth ministry. Your reward is in Heaven.
5. HAVE FUN!
One of our main beliefs at Horizon is that church should be fun. It should be a celebration. We want it to be a place where a person’s spirits are lifted, their soul is refreshed and their life is renewed. We do this by having fun in our services. We sing, we dance, we shout, we laugh…we have fun!
Like my pastor told me, if ministry isn’t fun then there is something wrong. Yes even visiting the sick in the hospital should be joyful. Christ said that “even to the least of these…” To be able to minister to the “least of these” and knowing that you are in fact ministering to Christ himself should be fun. So have fun in your ministry. Enjoy the ride that is youth ministry in a church plant.
Some of the most fun times in our 2 short years at Horizon is Orizontas’ annual beach trip. We live in the High Desert area of Southern California, so beach trips are a major event for us. We invite the whole church to come with us (remember our goal is to connect the youth with the entire church). We usually average about 60-70 people at our beach trips. Seeing our pastor catch some waves as he surfs, seeing the ladies hang out and splash in the water with our younger girls or seeing the men beat the younger guys in football is what it’s all about.
All of this and ministry is happening. These younger kids are seeing that you can have fun and be a Christian. You can laugh and sing and still love God. Ministry, while it is very serious, should be fun. So HAVE FUN!
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This article was written well.I believe that the youth should have fun and find different ways to worship the Lord.The youth are our future and it is important that they know that God loves them and wants them to obey him because he has wonderful things instore for there lives. Thank you for sharing this article.
Great job on this entry! The more we can integrate our students into the "big" church, the better chance we have of retaining them past high school graduation. Many times, through the prepratory approach (traditional youth group), we set our students up for failure because we unconciously instill that adult church is boring and the exciting place is youth group. So when they graduate, they don't feel comfortable entering into the adult community. A good question would be, how can someone make the transition from prep to integrative in an already existing church with a traditional mindset towards student ministry?
1. Adopt the vision of your pastor and church? As I read Acts 2 with Peters sermon on the first day of church, I see him telling us God gives vision to ALL His people, provided they are listening and watching. This includes young people. See them mentioned there specifically. The pastor and elders are NOT the focal point of vision casting and controlling as far as scripture declares. I know this thought is not institutionally correct because you are supposed to see your pastor as an "inteligent shepherd" and lay folks are "dumb sheep" needing to be led.
2. Be Flexible - That's a very good concept for believers to grasp. But hopefully the non-leaders (lay folks) aren't the only ones expected to be flexible so they are expected to agree with everything the way "the pastor" says should be, and he never has to be flexible with what "lay folks" hear God saying. I've heard preachers calling for this, but to them it's only a one-way concept.
3. Invest in your leaders. - Absolutely. They are to be growing up to be like the leader, not perpetually dependent upon him, always a subordinate to him. Luke 6:40 Jesus expects followers to be LIKE the leader (equally capable) as a result of their learning.
4. Loyalty - Definitely! As long as this is not a one-way concept where lay folks are supposed to be loyal to the pastor, but he can suggest they leave and find another fellowship when they challenge him to think outside his monolithic box.
5. Have fun! Great! Leave the ceremonialism behind. Worshiping in spirit and truth has no repeditive ceremony. However much of the shared spiritual life of believers involves shared weaping and sorrow. There is serious warfare going on. There are believers sliding into sin. This is nothing to be jovial about. Often we need to move beyond fun, so don't get stuck in only fun mode. Taking up your cross is not always fun.
Good Article. Spoke volumes of how and why some are called to church planting and some are not.
Does Tim Really know it all or does he just give that vibe of cheesy Christian answer man? Love ya tho bro
I would like to meet Bruin the dog . Meeting Bruin the dog would be a beatific experience: a kind of beatitude .
Animals (and perhaps even plants) can possibly minister on behalf of the Creator, perhaps in ways ungessed at . In the book of Numbers Balaams donkey was described as imparting some profound insights from the Creator to Balaam .
May Jesus bless Bruin and all the folks in the Horizon church --young and old .
It should be noted that Mykel has been removed from youth ministry due to immaturity and lack of leadership. Just goes to show that some can write well, but not live it out. Hmmmmmmmmmm.
Concerned (Watson Family), Don't know where you get your information but I was never removed from any leadership position. I think you should take your own advice and "live it out." When leaving a church be man enough to meet face to face with the leadership and not run away through an email.
"Concerned" is only partly correct. It is true that Myke was not directly removed, but was subtly "encouraged" to move on to other pastures, due to the lack of maturity and complaints from so many parents, including some staff members.
Wow. Looks like someone is very bitter and is handling things unbiblically. I guess these "concerned parents" should have went to Mykel in person instead of posting these comments on a 2 year-old article. If this is the Watson family that left Horizon, they do not have a long track record at Horizon. You were there what? 6 months? Didn’t get your way and left? Sad that people can't stay for the long haul and pack their bags when they don't get their way. As far as Mykel. You did a great job man. You laid a firm foundation and taught kids Christ and how to be real in this world. I don't remember anyone complaining other than the Watson family when you didn’t spend ALL your time with their kids. Praise God there are youth pastors like you Mykel who see it as more important than teaching relationship with Christ than reciting verses. That it is more important to Love God and Love People than it is to follow some man made rules to Christianity. Maybe the Watson family can subtly learn that.
I am Mrs. Pickens (Mykel’s wife). I am appalled at some of the untrue and libelous comments left about my husband. Regardless of what certain people may think, we were in no way “encouraged” to step down from ministry. There were no “subtle” hints that we missed. We are both intelligent people, and can read through the lines pretty clearly. Anyone in ministry knows that not everyone will agree with everything you do, because all people are selfish and have their own agendas to some degree. Anyone on a church staff knows that we don’t always like each other, and we don’t always get along, but we have to work through it and support the gifts and callings the Lord has placed on our lives, and the lives of others. Regardless of people’s personal feelings regarding my husband’s style of ministry, this article is about church planting and the lessons we learned being a part of a church plant. To take away from that because of a difference of opinion is shameful.
Great article and as someone who has seen the work of Mykel and Horizon I can attest that they do a great job in serving the Lord. In over their head? Not even. Mykel ran a great youth ministry. It's just too bad that people like Concerned or Horizon escapee ran at the first sign of difficulty. Doing church isn't easy....especially when you have people like those blasting Mykel for trying something different or just being real and not fake.
I use to go to church with Mykel and saw first hand the ministry of Orizontas. I don't always agree with Mykel but he does love kids and if I were to be in another church plant I would use this method.
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This article was written well.I believe that the youth should have fun and find different ways to worship the Lord.The youth are our future and it is important that they know that God loves them and wants them to obey him because he has wonderful things instore for there lives. Thank you for sharing this article. Posted by Kristy Moheit | Posted at 07/31/2006 9:43 AM
Great job on this entry! The more we can integrate our students into the "big" church, the better chance we have of retaining them past high school graduation. Many times, through the prepratory approach (traditional youth group), we set our students up for failure because we unconciously instill that adult church is boring and the exciting place is youth group. So when they graduate, they don't feel comfortable entering into the adult community. A good question would be, how can someone make the transition from prep to integrative in an already existing church with a traditional mindset towards student ministry? Posted by Fritz Below | Posted at 08/01/2006 7:06 AM
1. Adopt the vision of your pastor and church? As I read Acts 2 with Peters sermon on the first day of church, I see him telling us God gives vision to ALL His people, provided they are listening and watching. This includes young people. See them mentioned there specifically. The pastor and elders are NOT the focal point of vision casting and controlling as far as scripture declares. I know this thought is not institutionally correct because you are supposed to see your pastor as an "inteligent shepherd" and lay folks are "dumb sheep" needing to be led.
2. Be Flexible - That's a very good concept for believers to grasp. But hopefully the non-leaders (lay folks) aren't the only ones expected to be flexible so they are expected to agree with everything the way "the pastor" says should be, and he never has to be flexible with what "lay folks" hear God saying. I've heard preachers calling for this, but to them it's only a one-way concept.
3. Invest in your leaders. - Absolutely. They are to be growing up to be like the leader, not perpetually dependent upon him, always a subordinate to him. Luke 6:40 Jesus expects followers to be LIKE the leader (equally capable) as a result of their learning.
4. Loyalty - Definitely! As long as this is not a one-way concept where lay folks are supposed to be loyal to the pastor, but he can suggest they leave and find another fellowship when they challenge him to think outside his monolithic box.
5. Have fun! Great! Leave the ceremonialism behind. Worshiping in spirit and truth has no repeditive ceremony. However much of the shared spiritual life of believers involves shared weaping and sorrow. There is serious warfare going on. There are believers sliding into sin. This is nothing to be jovial about. Often we need to move beyond fun, so don't get stuck in only fun mode. Taking up your cross is not always fun.
Posted by Tim | Posted at 08/07/2006 5:25 PMGood Article. Spoke volumes of how and why some are called to church planting and some are not. Posted by James | Posted at 08/15/2006 2:10 PM
Does Tim Really know it all or does he just give that vibe of cheesy Christian answer man? Love ya tho bro Posted by Tim Lover | Posted at 10/17/2006 6:34 PM
I would like to meet Bruin the dog . Meeting Bruin the dog would be a beatific experience: a kind of beatitude .
Animals (and perhaps even plants) can possibly minister on behalf of the Creator, perhaps in ways ungessed at . In the book of Numbers Balaams donkey was described as imparting some profound insights from the Creator to Balaam .
May Jesus bless Bruin and all the folks in the Horizon church --young and old .
Posted by secret agent man | Posted at 10/23/2006 5:19 PMIt should be noted that Mykel has been removed from youth ministry due to immaturity and lack of leadership. Just goes to show that some can write well, but not live it out. Hmmmmmmmmmm. Posted by Concerned | Posted at 02/15/2007 9:33 PM
Concerned (Watson Family), Don't know where you get your information but I was never removed from any leadership position. I think you should take your own advice and "live it out." When leaving a church be man enough to meet face to face with the leadership and not run away through an email. Posted by Mykel | Posted at 02/15/2007 9:55 PM
"Concerned" is only partly correct. It is true that Myke was not directly removed, but was subtly "encouraged" to move on to other pastures, due to the lack of maturity and complaints from so many parents, including some staff members. Posted by Horizon Escapee | Posted at 02/20/2007 1:50 AM
Wow. Looks like someone is very bitter and is handling things unbiblically. I guess these "concerned parents" should have went to Mykel in person instead of posting these comments on a 2 year-old article. If this is the Watson family that left Horizon, they do not have a long track record at Horizon. You were there what? 6 months? Didn’t get your way and left? Sad that people can't stay for the long haul and pack their bags when they don't get their way. As far as Mykel. You did a great job man. You laid a firm foundation and taught kids Christ and how to be real in this world. I don't remember anyone complaining other than the Watson family when you didn’t spend ALL your time with their kids. Praise God there are youth pastors like you Mykel who see it as more important than teaching relationship with Christ than reciting verses. That it is more important to Love God and Love People than it is to follow some man made rules to Christianity. Maybe the Watson family can subtly learn that. Posted by Horizon Attendee | Posted at 02/20/2007 4:42 AM
I am Mrs. Pickens (Mykel’s wife). I am appalled at some of the untrue and libelous comments left about my husband. Regardless of what certain people may think, we were in no way “encouraged” to step down from ministry. There were no “subtle” hints that we missed. We are both intelligent people, and can read through the lines pretty clearly. Anyone in ministry knows that not everyone will agree with everything you do, because all people are selfish and have their own agendas to some degree. Anyone on a church staff knows that we don’t always like each other, and we don’t always get along, but we have to work through it and support the gifts and callings the Lord has placed on our lives, and the lives of others. Regardless of people’s personal feelings regarding my husband’s style of ministry, this article is about church planting and the lessons we learned being a part of a church plant. To take away from that because of a difference of opinion is shameful. Posted by Wife | Posted at 02/20/2007 11:57 AM
Great article and as someone who has seen the work of Mykel and Horizon I can attest that they do a great job in serving the Lord. In over their head? Not even. Mykel ran a great youth ministry. It's just too bad that people like Concerned or Horizon escapee ran at the first sign of difficulty. Doing church isn't easy....especially when you have people like those blasting Mykel for trying something different or just being real and not fake. Posted by Robert | Posted at 03/15/2007 12:25 PM
I use to go to church with Mykel and saw first hand the ministry of Orizontas. I don't always agree with Mykel but he does love kids and if I were to be in another church plant I would use this method. Posted by James Roberson | Posted at 09/24/2007 4:01 PM