10/27/2009

Hanging with Heather at Woodale




Heather Flies is one of the most solid jr high pastors I know. I was reminded again about how stoked I am that she is on our Spring Messiah Tour when I was visiting her Church last Wednesday night. See the 5 things Heather said below at our adult leader meeting that were rock solid!

One of the things i do is visit all of our speakers (ALL OF THEM are full time youth workers) with their own kids. Tonight is special because both Darin Streblow and Eric Samuel Timm (Believe special artists) are also hanging out! I am so used to being our context where I serve at Christ Church that it was healthy for me to be in a new fresh environment and see youth ministry models from the outside. I get to do that about once every two months or so traveling with Believe and it's always so telling. Anyway,I had a great time hanging with past Believe tour comedian Daren Streblow and my dear friend Eric Samuel Timm. Lots of laughs. Check out Heather's adult meeting notes, are you doing this stuff?



If you are missing the opportunity to circle up with your volunteer leaders before kids arrive then you are missing out! It was obvious to me that Heather's team was quite used to this ritual and Heather's comments were so great I had to share them here. None of Heather's quick reminders were rocket science or even new ideas but how many of us forget these things and need to be reminded consistently? When was the last time you reminded your adult leaders these things? Check out Heather's quick list:

Pray for kids when you are not here. Heather had note cards from the week before where kids had the opportunity to write two things for someone else that they prayed for and one thing for themselves. Right there and then we broke off into groups of three and prayed over the cards messages. If you don't do it when you circle up with leaders then what makes us think they are ever going to do it on their own throughout the week? We have to model what is really important.

Don't fear kids! You are at least 15 years older than them. They don't bite. Engage them!

Sponsors: Don't talk to each other. We can do that anytime. We all agreed to be here tonight to invest in kids. Talk to kids!!

Look for new kids: When you find them, connect them. Heather mentioned the names of some kids who had agreed to serve by hanging with new kids. Don't saddle those leadership kids with new kids every week though. That is not healthy for them either.

Look for the kids who are alone but don't neglect the gregarious kids. They need attention too.

Remember that you may be the only positive adult interaction and healthy touch they get all week. Your investment matters!


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