conversations on the fringe

As God’s beloved children, we cannot begin to grasp the infinite worth we are to Him on an unconditional basis (Ephesians 5:1, 1 John 3:1,2). We were “bought at a [very high] price” (1 Corinthians 6:20), “chosen” (Ephesians 1:4), a “dwelling place in which God lives” (Ephesians 2:22), and much, much more. In fact, more than 200 descriptions of us in the New Testament attest to our unconditional worth because of Christ’s work. Let’s not deny his grace by giving in to untrue feelings of worthlessness.

In the spirit of Henri Nouwen’s great work “The Return of the Prodigal Son” take a moment from your busy day and meditate on the image below and bask in the knowledge that the Father loves you because you are simply His, and not because of what you do…

The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth.

If you are in crisis or thinking about suicide you deserve immediate support please call The Trevor Lifeline1-866-488-7386

In most professions there is a level of supervision that is required to ensure fidelity to certain expectations.  To make sure that the company’s employees are “hitting the mark”.  At best, in many churches, there is the annual performance review but the one performing the review is either way too removed to be helpful or too involved to remain objective. 

Another problem we run into in youth ministry is that youth ministry and its staff operate on an island.  They are just out there, separate from the rest of the “real church” and are just making it up as they go along, not identifying best practices or even gauging if what they are doing is actually producing the fruit they were hoping for.

The following are suggestions for providing supervision in youth ministry.  These ideas will help whether it’s your Sr. Pastor doing your review or you performing reviews on your volunteers.  It is not meant to be a corporate exercise but one intended to provide a system of ongoing feedback that measures how well we are stewarding our privilege of pouring into the lives our youth.

1. Care about their spiritual life first –  This goes without saying but it often takes a back seat to other “important” ministry stuff.  Make sure your team is serving from a cup that runs over not a cup that is nearly empty.  Spend time communicating with them the importance of their own spiritual health.  The principle “You cannot transmit something you don’t have” applies here.  If our volunteers are operating out of a deficiency then they will likely burnout and be ineffective.  Make this a priority.
2. Review all curriculum used – Most volunteers are not trained in theology.  Most volunteers are not even aware of the doctrinal positions of their church yet they are given free reign to teach.  This is not a mandate to micro-manage but it is a strong encouragement to know what is being taught in your ministry.  Countless problems can be attributed to well-intended, untrained volunteers teaching conflicting material to their youth.  The number of call from parents or elders concerned about non-biblical teaching can be reduced by training your volunteers on how to use the curriculum.  More importantly it will allow you the opportunity to teach your volunteers how to “handle the word of God” appopriately.
3. Develop training opportunities – Time-pressured volunteers do not have the luxury of escaping for a weeklong conference on youth ministry.  Most can barely squeeze in their kids softball games into their already busy week.  Use technology to share relevant information such as webinars, articles, and self-study courses.  Pick up the tab on these if your budget allows.  And schedule regular one-on-one time at least monthly.  Let them know up front that this is an expectation for all volunteers so they can make an informed decision from the get-go.
4. Direct observation – There is no better way to provide feedback to your volunteers than by observing them in action firsthand.  When was the last time you were able to sit in on their small group?  When was the last time you were able to give them immediate feedback on their leadership?  There are multiple ways to do this if you can’t be present.  You can Skype into a group meeting, have them video record group meetings for training purposes.  How cool would that be if you happen to have a “star” volunteer and you can capture them on video and use that to train other volunteers with?
5. Develop policies and procedures – This seems very corporate but it has saved our butts on more that one occasion.  Do your volunteers know what to do if a student discloses that they are being abused at home?  Is there a reporting structure in place that they are aware of?  Do they know they expectations and safety guidelines in place to protect them and the students?  If not it would be wise to invest in developing these.  You could even do it with your team.
6. Develop a resource bank – This could be a library with hard copies available, it could be a list on Amazon.com, names of others in the community that specialize in certain areas of need.  This should include other youth workers in the area for collaboration.  Is there a Youth Ministry Network that your volunteer can access?  Are there professionals that work with youth in other arenas that can sharpen you and your volunteers? (i.e., teachers, social workers, counselors, legal professionals, health care professionals, etc.)
7. Collaborate with others to equip your team – You do not have to be an expert on all things.  There are plenty of others who can contribute to the training of your team.  several years ago we had a rash of teenage girls engaged in self-injurious behaviors (cutting).  At the time we knew nothing about this behavior.  But, we did know a few others that did so we invited them to come work with our team.  They provided an understanding of cutting that removed some of the shock for us and we were able to better engage the girls in ways that made a difference.  Identify the assets in your congregation and community and invite them to share with your team.

This is not an exhaustive list but maybe a good start.  As we still struggle to be taken seriously in the ministry world orchestrating systems of supervision will definitely increase the potential of our ministries.  What are other ways can we provide support to those who serve alongside us?

There are good reasons why competent adults find themselves uncommonly baffled when working with adolescents. As winsome as they may be at times, teenagers present youth workers and volunteers with challenges that other age groups do not.

First, teens are often an involuntary participant. They are in your office, groups, outreaches, programs, etc. because somebody else – parents, friends, grandparent, sibling – has thought it necessary that they be there. They often see their life as none of your business and their difficulties as not of their own making, and would much rather assign blame to the very people that make them attend your groups, to other’s misguided thinking, and to the wind and tides rather than assume accountability for their problems that you could assist them with.

Second, the symptoms with which reactive, angry, acting-out adolescents present can be very intimidating. They storm out of rooms, run crying into bathrooms with and entourage in tow, they cut their arms, punch walls, drink and drive, refuse to go to school, provoke arguments, and the like. If they’re really mad, they show it by locking themselves in their room, threatening suicide. Sometimes they don’t eat enough for their bodies to function. Sometimes they refuse to say anything at all. Adults often feel an enormous pressure to make the scary symptoms stop. Right away!

Third, teenagers – especially those who do not want to be in your youth group – don’t necessarily adhere to common social protocols that grease the sticky interactions that occasionally occur in first meetings between people. These students don’t care if you are more uncomfortable than they are in getting a conversation going. The look on their face just tells you that they think your youth group sucks. Some adolescents don’t want to make a good impression, or care if you like them (some would prefer that you didn’t), or be interested in what you have to say. This is in marked contrast to the encounters we have with more accommodating students, and it especially blindsides the adult volunteers who historically have banked on influencing students through the authority bestowed on them by age, status, or title.

THERE IS NO INFLUENCE WITHOUT A RELATIONSHIP!

“You go into this room with this person and a of kids you go to school with and you’re supposed to start telling them about your personal stuff. They always want me to talk about God and stuff but I don’t even know what I think about any of that stuff. I can barely get through each day. It’s so stupid, I mean, like, who is this person anyway? And they always act so caring and everything and they don’t even know you.”

– Michael, age 16

“They’re always asking you things like, ‘Do you know where you will go if you were to die tonight?’ and ‘What would God think about that?’. Dumb stuff like that. I mean, what did they think I would say after I got into a fight with my mom this morning? God, it’s just so frustrating to be asked these questions instead of having a normal conversation.”

 – Kim, age 14

“It’s like they try not to have any feelings themselves or something. I don’t know – it’s weird. It’s, like, they can’t just be normal people. I’ll be sharing something in my small group that was really funny and they will look mad because I’m not saying what they want to hear. Once, I was crying about when my boyfriend broke up with me and all she could say was how sad I must have felt. Yeah, like no kidding, lady. Couldn’t she have thought of anything better to say?”

– Angela, age 17

Fake. Not normal. Frustrating. Those poor youth workers probably thought they were doing a good job of being sympathetic and helpful and available. The students did not. Somewhere the connection was being missed. We need a more suitable matching between what we offer and what the adolescent needs and wants. There has to be a bridge by which we can walk across where trust can grow.

Trust is such a fragile thing in the beginning. Too often we lead with a punch (focus on behavior) and lose any chance we had at developing a meaningful rapport with the student.

We might do better at engaging the difficult student if we looked at our ministries from the other side. How does this particular adolescent experience our ministry from the beginning through his or her last connection?

Blaming teenagers for their indifference or negative reactions they have towards our Christianity is ridiculous and unfair. So many adolescents who are authentically curious and want help for whatever ails them can’t work within the interpersonal format offered and they are being dismissed as being unreachable. Some of these students are unworkable, at this time, but more are labeled that than need to be. Maybe it’s time to recognize that teenage resistance to Christianity is a reflection of our inability to provide access to our faith that is seen as attractive and useful.