Designed to introduce and promote the use of case studies and strategic intentional interviews into the growing and developing of present and future youth workers, Learn Before You Leap provides an argument for the use of “problem centered learning” strategies that are common practices in the areas of the social sciences, leadership and business but not yet publicly developed or resourced in the growing field of youth ministry education.
Learn Before You Leap also:
- Helps new youth workers process situations they’ll encounter through role play.
- Enables veteran youth workers to keep sharp and mentor younger youth workers and volunteers.
- Uses Problem Based Learning to help promote critical thinking and problem solving in the youth ministry context.
- Discusses the value and strategies for using interviews as a ministry development tool.
Includes ten case studies each addressing issues common to youth ministry organized by topical focus and a fully developed interview worksheet on the given topic—appropriate to a formal class room setting, an online threaded discussion, an informal youth ministry network lunch, a one-on-one internship discussion over coffee, or an individual reading.
Designed to introduce and promote the use of case studies and strategic intentional interviews into the growing and developing of present and future youth workers, Learn Before You Leap provides an argument for the use of “problem centered learning” strategies that are common practices in the areas of the social sciences, leadership and business but not yet publicly developed or resourced in the growing field of youth ministry education.
Learn Before You Leap also:
- Helps new youth workers process situations they’ll encounter through role play.
- Enables veteran youth workers to keep sharp and mentor younger youth workers and volunteers.
- Uses Problem Based Learning to help promote critical thinking and problem solving in the youth ministry context.
- Discusses the value and strategies for using interviews as a ministry development tool.
Includes ten case studies each addressing issues common to youth ministry organized by topical focus and a fully developed interview worksheet on the given topic—appropriate to a formal class room setting, an online threaded discussion, an informal youth ministry network lunch, a one-on-one internship discussion over coffee, or an individual reading.
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Overview
Designed to introduce and promote the use of case studies and strategic intentional interviews into the growing and developing of present and future youth workers, Learn Before You Leap provides an argument for the use of “problem centered learning” strategies that are common practices in the areas of the social sciences, leadership and business but not yet publicly developed or resourced in the growing field of youth ministry education.
Learn Before You Leap also:
- Helps new youth workers process situations they’ll encounter through role play.
- Enables veteran youth workers to keep sharp and mentor younger youth workers and volunteers.
- Uses Problem Based Learning to help promote critical thinking and problem solving in the youth ministry context.
- Discusses the value and strategies for using interviews as a ministry development tool.
Includes ten case studies each addressing issues common to youth ministry organized by topical focus and a fully developed interview worksheet on the given topic—appropriate to a formal class room setting, an online threaded discussion, an informal youth ministry network lunch, a one-on-one internship discussion over coffee, or an individual reading.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780310890300 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Zondervan |
| Publication date: | 10/09/2012 |
| Series: | YS Academic |
| Sold by: | Zondervan Publishing |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 160 |
| File size: | 2 MB |
| Age Range: | 18 Years |
About the Author
Kevin Turner is the Associate Professor of Youth Ministry and Theology at Colorado Christian University. He and his wife, Elizabeth, and their two kids live in Lakewood, CO.
Read an Excerpt
Learn Before You Leap
YS AcademicBy Kevin Turner
Zondervan
Copyright © 2012 Kevin TurnerAll right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-310-89029-4
Chapter One
SO, YOU WANT TO BE A YOUTH WORKER ...HEARING THE CALL
You're sitting in your office preparing your talk for the Wednesday night youth meeting when you hear a knock on your door. Looking up, you see the coach of the freshman soccer team at the local high school. He's been a part of your congregation for some time, but you don't know him well. After you invite him in, he begins to talk about a student on his team who's been dealing with a lot of spiritual questions. Recently, the student made a profession of faith, and now the coach has been talking about Christ with the whole family. The coach tells you that nothing he's ever done has been as fulfilling as ministering to this family. "I guess I'm beginning to wonder," he says, "if God might be calling me to full-time youth ministry. But how can I know for sure?" What would you tell the young soccer coach sitting in front of you?
1. When did you first sense your own call to youth ministry? Where were you? Who were the key people involved?
2. How has your own calling to youth ministry been confirmed?
3. Have you ever gone through a time when you doubted your call to ministry? If so, what caused your doubts?
4. What errors have you observed in people trying to discern a call from God to vocational ministry?
5. What books or resources were helpful to you in discerning God's call to ministry?
6. Do you feel the calling to youth ministry is distinct from a call to ministry in general? Explain your answer.
7. How important are emotions and a desire to do ministry in sensing God's call?
8. Are all Christians called to ministry? If so, what is distinct about the call to professional or full-time ministry?
9. At what age can an individual begin to discern a call of God to vocational youth ministry? Or, to ask it another way, how would your response be similar or different if the person sensing God's call were a tenth-grader rather than a young adult?
SUSTAINABLE SCHEDULING
When the alarm blares in your ear, it takes all your energy to reach out and turn it off. Your achy body protests as you swing your feet onto the bedroom floor and head to the shower. It occurs to you that it's been a couple of weeks since your last day off; in fact, it's been more than a couple of weeks. The cycle of ministry seems endless; there are always student needs to address, leaders to train, talks to prepare, camps and retreats to plan, and administrative details to take care of, not to mention a seemingly endless series of staff meetings. It crosses your mind that the schedule you've established may not be sustainable. You realize you need to make a change soon or else you'll burn out entirely.
1. Have you ever felt "burned out" or overly fatigued in ministry? What steps did you take to bring yourself back to health?
2. What are your current practices in terms of a day off? How does your day off correspond to a Sabbath?
3. Someone once said, "Workaholism is a sin that the church applauds among its leaders." How do you respond to this quote?
4. What impact might ministry workaholism have in the following areas?
• Personal walk with Jesus
• Relationship with spouse
• Modeling for students
• Impact on other staff
• Personal health
• Parenting your own kids
• Ministry longevity
• Passion for ministry
5. How much annual vacation is appropriate for youth workers to receive?
6. Have you ever used "comp time" to overcome the impact of a busy ministry week?
7. What symptoms warn you that you are feeling burned out?
8. How many hours a week is appropriate for a youth minister to work? Explain.
9. Someone once said, "If the devil can't make you bad, he will make you busy." What is the problem with busyness in ministry?
10. Do you think ego and the "need to be needed" plays into a youth worker's inclination to overwork? Explain your answer.
THE MINISTRY PEDESTAL
As you say "Amen" to end the prayer, then say goodbye and watch the high school sophomore leave your office, you have a funny feeling in the pit of your stomach. You find yourself asking, "Did I handle that well?" Of course, students have asked you to pray for and with them before, but the wording of Jason's request stood out: "Can you pray for me?" he'd asked. "You see, my life is kind of messed up right now, and your prayers as a youth pastor are closer to God's ear than my prayers are." You find yourself wishing you'd questioned that assumption. You start to wonder if you've somehow allowed your students to think that you are connected to God in ways they could never be. Have you let them place you on a ministry pedestal?
1. Are some Christians more likely to have their prayers answered than others? Explain your answer.
2. When have you seen pastors or youth workers placed on a pedestal?
3. What are the dangers of allowing yourself to be thought of too highly?
4. What about the people you look up to? What are the dangers of placing unrealistic expectations on others?
5. Are there specific ways that you struggle with a feeling that you should appear to be more "spiritual" than you really are?
6. Why do you think some churches and ministries write unrealistic job descriptions that seem to assume that the right pastor or youth worker will solve all their problems? Why do you think people take on those jobs?
7. One ministry expert has written: "Pedestals become mutual conspiracies between pastors and people when pastors are treated as more spiritual by virtue of their office or calling." Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Explain your answer.
8. What specific strategies can ministry professionals employ to avoid the tendency to cover up problems or intensify public religiosity to justify their positions?
9. Is it possible to walk in humility, repentance, forgiveness, and holiness while allowing others to place you on a ministry pedestal? Explain.
10. Is there any value to being placed on a pedestal as you lead others? If so, what is it?
DEALING WITH DISCOURAGEMENT
As you open the freezer door and grab the carton of butter-brickle ice cream, you reflect on the evening's board meeting. The agenda you'd been sent in advance had given no indication that this month's meeting was going to be devoted to beating down the youth pastor. As you think over the litany of accusations from parents, stark data about falling attendance at youth events, and even other pastoral staff misunder-standing your motives, it's not hard to figure out why you're feeling depressed and really, really tired. It crosses your mind that a job in your brother-in-law's plumbing warehouse might be a lot less stressful and maybe even more satisfying. But you're not quite ready to grab your laptop and begin writing your letter of resignation. At least not yet ...
1. When was the last time you felt really discouraged in your ministry?
2. How important is other people's recognition of the value of your work to your sense of well-being in your ministry? Explain.
3. What is the relationship between "internal" and "external" call in discerning one's path in ministry? Does one overrule the other? Explain.
4. How do you remind yourself of the truth of your call when you get discouraged?
5. Who could you call for encouragement if you were feeling badly about your ministry situation?
6. What person has been most encouraging to you in your ministry? When and how was the last time you expressed your appreciation to that person?
MARRIED TO THE MINISTRY?
A church trustee pulls you aside after worship one Sunday. "You know, the wife of our previous youth pastor always attended every youth retreat as a chaperone, and she also led one of our middle school discipleship groups. I've noticed that your wife doesn't seem to attend many youth events ..." You take a deep breath and remind yourself to count to ten before responding, but you know you'll have to count a lot higher than that for your heart to stop racing and your blood pressure to return to normal. It seems outrageous that the church would place expectations on your spouse based on your job description. As you slowly blow out your breath, you think through your response and say ...
1. Have you ever had to deal with your church or minstry assuming your spouse will take on certain responsibilities in the youth ministry? If so, in what areas? How did you respond? How did your spouse respond?
2. What are reasonable expectations for a ministry spouse in the following areas?
• Church attendance
• Ministry participation
• Small group leadership
• Sunday school or Christian education
• Vacation Bible School
• Retreats or camps
• Bible study groups
3. If you are employed by a congregation, how would church leadership respond if your spouse decided to get involved at another church down the street? How would you respond?
4. When you were hired for your latest ministry position, did you ask specifically about expectations for your spouse? If so, how did you frame the question? What was the response?
5. Does your ministry have expectations (whether explicit or implicit) for the spouses of its leaders in any of the following areas? If so, what are they?
• Clothing (modesty or style)
• Entertainment
• Work/Career choices
• Alcohol
• Media choices
• Hospitality/Entertaining
• Child rearing and schooling
6. Do you think ministries generally treat ministry wives differently from ministry husbands? If so, how?
7. Respond to the following sentence: Due to the unique demands of professional ministry, the spouse of a youth worker must actively support the ministry if it is to be truly impactful and blessed by God.
"HELP, MY PARENT IS A YOUTH WORKER!"
As you drive home from the youth ministry conference, you keep rehashing the conversation that occurred around the lunch table that day. A few youth workers were talking about the unique challenges of raising their own kids while working in youth ministry. A few specific quotes stick in your mind ...
"No one in the church ever disciplines my son because they're worried they will offend me or my spouse. He's becoming spoiled and acts like he's entitled to behave any way he chooses because I'm one of the pastors."
"I have the opposite problem—people seem to nitpick my kids, and speak up about any behavior they consider wrong or even childish. It's like my two daughters can't even be regular kids, just because I run the youth program. They are held to a higher standard than other kids, and it's not fair."
"I feel like our family lives in a fishbowl. Everybody at church thinks they know my kids well, and they feel free to provide suggestions, opinions, and insights. People come up and hug the kids at church— people they hardly even know. It's tough on them."
As you pull into the driveway, you can't help wondering about how your working with teenagers shapes the lives of your own children.
1. If you have kids of your own, which of these quotes most resonates with your experience? Which one represents the problem you believe to be the most prevalent experience among parents who do youth work?
2. What advice would you give to each of these youth workers?
3. Brainstorm the possible long-term impact of each of the above situations on the kids involved. What are the potential positives and negatives of each situation?
4. If you are the parent of teenage kids, what are your expectations about your children's involvement in your ministry?
GIFTED FOR YOUTH MINISTRY?
Sitting at the computer typing out the month's youth ministry finance report, you're happy to be distracted from this grueling task by an incoming email. And you're happy to see the note is from a former youth group member who is now in college studying to be a youth minister. She tells you that she has just taken a "spiritual gifts inventory" as part of a class, and the report indicated that her primary gifts were Helping, Giving, and Discernment. Her note closes with a question: "Do you think that mix of gifts would lead to a successful career in youth ministry?" How would you respond?
1. Do you know what your own spiritual gifts are? How did you determine them?
2. What is the ideal gift mix for a youth worker? Explain.
3. Do you use spiritual gift inventories in your ministry with students? Do you use them with high school students? How about middle-schoolers? Why or why not?
4. How important is the gift of "leadership" to success in youth ministry? Explain.
5. How do you explain the difference between spiritual gifts and natural talents?
6. How important is it to know the mix of spiritual gifts present among the other adult leaders (both paid and volunteer) in your youth ministry? Do you see any possible disadvantages to knowing this information?
7. Do you believe there are other spiritual gifts in addition to those specifically listed in the New Testament? For example, would you consider worship leading, small group facilitation, or the ability to build a great ministry website to be spiritual gifts? Why or why not?
8. Do spiritual gifts require training to be used most effectively? Explain.
9. What is the relationship between your ministry's needs and your own spiritual gifts? Is it ever right to say no to a legitimate need because it is "not my gift"? Explain.
10. What would you say to a Christian student who tells you she doesn't have a spiritual gift?
BOUNDARIES AND ACCESSIBILITY
Just as the first forkful of hot, delicious spaghetti reaches your lips, the jarring melody of your ringtone blares at you from your pocket. Under the withering stare of your spouse (who's been planning this special birthday dinner all week), you pick up the phone to see who is interrupting your dinner hour. It is, of course, one of the kids from your youth group—one who's really been struggling over the past few weeks. As you excuse yourself from the table to take the call ("It will only be a minute," you say), you think back over the past week and the midnight phone call from a concerned parent, the early morning call from a staff member, and the heated argument with your spouse concerning your availability to students seemingly at all hours of the day and night. You begin to wonder whether you need to set some different boundaries about your own availability.
1. Do you have a current policy about your availability to students by phone? What are the rules? Are you satisfied with the existing policy? Why or why not?
2. How does your personal availability compare with the availability of others on the staff of your church or ministry?
3. Respond to the following statement: If you are available to students 24 hours a day, then they never will learn to depend on God and walk by faith.
4. Do you think wanting to be available to students at all times signifies a healthy desire to "be there" for students or is it a sign of a "messiah complex"? Explain your answer.
5. What boundaries do you have in place regarding students dropping by your home? How about your office?
6. When you go on vacation, do you leave a "number where you can be reached"? Why or why not?
7. Are there any kinds of "emergencies" that would necessitate a phone call interrupting your family vacation? What would it be?
8. Have you ever taken a "Sabbath" from your cell phone? Why or why not? Have you ever challenged your students to take a technology Sabbath? Why or why not?
9. Are you personally accessible to students through Facebook, Twitter, IM, email, or other social networking options? Why or why not?
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Learn Before You Leap by Kevin Turner Copyright © 2012 by Kevin Turner. Excerpted by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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