{"id":316,"date":"2010-11-22T14:00:40","date_gmt":"2010-11-22T19:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ywupdate\/?p=316"},"modified":"2010-11-22T12:27:32","modified_gmt":"2010-11-22T17:27:32","slug":"mckinney-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ywupdate\/2010\/11\/22\/mckinney-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Where the Rubber Meets the Road"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/75\/2010\/11\/D.-McKinney2.jpg\" rel=\"prettyPhoto[316]\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-358 alignleft\" title=\"D. McKinney\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/75\/2010\/11\/D.-McKinney2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"142\" height=\"107\" \/><\/a><a title=\"Denise McKinney\" href=\"http:\/\/denisemckinney.com\/default.aspx\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Denise McKinney<\/strong><\/a> &#8211; Ministry Coach, Writer and Communicator, Tulsa, Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p><em>Does My Youth Ministry Have the Shape, the Story and the Staff that Will Anchor Students\u2019 Faith?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Recently, my husband reminded me that before any inclement winter weather hits this year, I need to have my two back tires replaced.\u00a0 We live in Tulsa, which is not much of a winter wonderland during the cold season. But if the kids who yearn to build a snowman are lucky, we will typically get at least one good snowfall between December and March and quite possibly a few ice storms.<\/p>\n<p>Because we don\u2019t frequently have a ton of winter weather issues, neither does our city have a lot of resources to deal with inclement weather when it does arrive.\u00a0\u00a0 So, when the rubber meets the road, I want to be able to steer through whatever storm is dumping snowflakes or frozen water particles from the heavens.<\/p>\n<p>That is a lot like what I hope for in building, organizing and dreaming about how to minister to teens. Our students are going to encounter elements of real life that will test their faith when the rubber meets the road and those kids of circumstances will reflect on whether we helped anchor their faith or whether they&#8217;ve been set adrift in rough waters. The following set of questions is the first set of three you will see in coming weeks that have helped me examine what it means to shape, story, and staff a ministry that is enduring and effective in the lives of teens, when the rubber meets the road.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><em>SHAPE<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Does my ministry shape allow me the flexibility to customize  ministry to individual students who don\u2019t fit the description of the  majority?<\/strong> If all I ever plan for is the 99 who will come to anything  I schedule, then I\u2019m missing a crucial call of Christ to go get the 1  who is not with the crowd.\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s a student who doesn\u2019t know  others, doesn\u2019t feel like he\u2019d fit, or thinks her many questions or  failures have disqualified her from encountering God.\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s a  teenager who doesn\u2019t really like me or the stuff we do at  church\u2014regardless, that student is exactly the one we should not lose  sight of.<img decoding=\"async\" title=\"More...\" src=\"..\/wp-includes\/js\/tinymce\/plugins\/wordpress\/img\/trans.gif\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Does my ministry shape have teaching and experiences that build on each other?<\/strong> Cohesiveness is really effective!\u00a0 Something that ties back into what  was learned before, or prepares students for a lesson or experience down  the road helps them frame a clear, full picture of God\u2019s story in their  lives.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Do I have the freedom to modify or toss out something that is not working or bearing fruit?<\/strong> Sacred cows, watch out!\u00a0 And\u2026I realize this also means gently and  graciously fielding the protests of all who consider the unfruitful  endeavor a beloved spiritual practice!\u00a0 Part of discipleship for all of  us is pruning the branches of life and ministry that have lost their  purpose and effectiveness.\u00a0 This one is hard, because it can truthfully  put our jobs on the line.\u00a0 My advice is to move slowly and prayerfully  in modifying and even slower and more prayerfully in tossing out!\u00a0 Do  everything you can think of to win over your protestors, but know you  eventually may have to humbly pull the plug on something and gracefully  endure the responses.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Can I identify natural and intentional entry points to reach and invite new students into the ministry?<\/strong> If there are no avenues for new students to enter your youth community,  they will not come.\u00a0 Entry points can be very diverse.\u00a0 They can be  relational like you and volunteers being\u00a0 present, visible and available  to students at extracurricular events and school lunches.\u00a0 They can be  students bringing students.\u00a0 Entry points can also be  programmatic\u2014offsite events where students get introduced to the adults,  peers and the ministry in a neutral environment.\u00a0 They can also be as  simple as a friendly leader\u2019s face standing near your church entry each  week meeting new families and offering escorts to whatever is happening  for teens.\u00a0 The main thing is to keep a mix of on and off site options  throughout the year and to offer relational and programmatic entry  points.<\/p>\n<p>Part 2 will press forward into &#8220;Story&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-report-this\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ywupdate?moderation_action=report_form&#038;object_type=post&#038;object_id=316&#038;width=250&#038;height=300\" class=\"thickbox\" title=\"Report This Post\">Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Denise McKinney &#8211; Ministry Coach, Writer and Communicator, Tulsa, Oklahoma Does My Youth Ministry Have the Shape, the Story and the Staff that Will Anchor Students\u2019 Faith? Recently, my husband reminded me that before any inclement winter weather hits this year, I need to have my two back tires replaced.\u00a0 We live in Tulsa, which [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[218,204],"tags":[314,315,317,66,316],"class_list":["post-316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-print-resource","category-reflection","tag-denise-mckinney","tag-rubber-meets-the-road","tag-shape","tag-staff","tag-story"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Where the Rubber Meets the Road - ECC | Youth Worker Update<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/ywupdate\/2010\/11\/22\/mckinney-3\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Where the Rubber Meets the Road - ECC | Youth Worker Update\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Denise McKinney &#8211; Ministry Coach, Writer and Communicator, Tulsa, Oklahoma Does My Youth Ministry Have the Shape, the Story and the Staff that Will Anchor Students\u2019 Faith? 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