LeadershipConnexion 1st QRT 2021

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YOUTH MINISTRIES/DYD | Lee Rogers | 717.795.5921 | lee@penndel.org There is nothing like being a new youth pastor! There’s the excitement, the vision, and the passion of the call. Almost everything is new. As a new youth pastor, at times I was overwhelmed with the immensity of the task; so much vision, so much to say, so much to accomplish. One thing I understood clearly was that ministry flowed best through relationships. Jesus was relational with His disciples. Barnabas was relational with Paul. Paul was relational with Timothy. I knew I had to develop relationships with the students and youth leaders in order to attain measurable discipleship results, that’s what I did. Once we landed on a clear vision and direction, we were well prepared to run in relationship together toward the discipleship outcomes as the Holy Spirit guided us. reNEW Most new youth pastors will spend a significant amount of time building relationships and establishing rapport. This is a time-intensive process that reaps results over the long-term. In some youth ministry contexts, it means attending school activities, birthday parties, and having relational events like (sigh) all-nighters. In other youth ministry contexts, youth pastors must focus on relationships with adult and student leaders, while the leaders focus on relationships with the students. The cost of this relational investment is emotionally and spiritually significant, and while the results we aim for are long-term, the nature of pastor-student relationships change after just a few years. Eventually students graduate from high 18
the Call school and enter the college or career phase of their life, generally phasing out of our youth ministries in the process. Youth pastors often see this shift occur in the third or fourth year of their tenure. Many of the students that we spent so much time and energy developing, begin their transition into adulthood, and a different crop of students occupy the seats. It’s about this time that many youth pastors hit a wall, thinking they have lost efficacy when they have really just lost relationships. Many will begin to question the call to their context, and possibly the call to youth ministry as a whole. When I hit the wall, I felt the same way, so I made it a matter of prayer. I said goodbye to a familiar group of students one week, and walked into what seemed like a completely new group of students next. I wasn’t sure if I had the emotional energy to invest myself in a new set of young people. It was at that time the Holy Spirit renewed my youth ministry call. I heard God say, “This group of younger students deserves as much of your call as the last. They are worth it.” That was all I needed; I was renewed. In renewing my call, God renewed my energy, vision and relational drive. This generation deserves as much of our call as any previous generation. Have you hit a wall? Ask God for renewal. LEADERSHIPconnexion | Spring <strong>2021</strong> 19
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LeadershipConnexion 1st QRT 2021

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