4 Reasons We Get Stuck in Ministry
“I feel like I’m doing a lot of things, but as far as making progress.. I’m stuck.”
This was the beginning of a conversation I recently had with a young youth leader. They were beginning the second year at the church, and had not really made any changes but just observed initially. They had done a great job of talking with parents and students, building some support and were doing ok. But I could tell that they were wanting to move forward, instead of just maintaining what they had always done.
Those words “…I’m stuck” resonated in my head. I have felt that way. Things are going ok; kids are coming, meals are being provided. However, it feels like we’re spinning wheels but not going anywhere. It’s that feeling of outstanding potential, but not knowing how to harness that and move forward and grow in our ministry.
Have you ever felt stuck? There are many reasons it could be. Maybe it is a season in the church or your ministry. Perhaps it is things beyond your control. Whatever it is I want to suggest a few things that will keep you stuck, and how to change.
We Are Not Sure of Our Target –
One reason we get stuck is that we do not know what we are aiming for. What is your target audience? It would be easy to answer “Every youth in our community,” but the reality is that you should probably have an identifiable target you are trying to reach.
It might be a target for your overall ministry like students 6-12 grade who attend schools in our district or live within 5 miles of the church. It might be unchurched students in our city. It could be for a specific part of your ministry such as a Bible study that is designed to reach Sr. High girls in 10-12 grade. No matter what, for each ministry, you offer I suggest you can write down and identify your target.
We Do Not Know When We’ve Succeeded-
What is your win? This was a question I was introduced to when we started using the “Grow Curriculum” They asked you to Identify what success looks like. This is something that everyone in your ministry knows, and can identify when it happens. We adopted the one from Grow which was something like “it is a win when a student takes a step forward in their faith.”
Our leaders know this, and I ask them occasionally to share their wins. One leader shared about a student who came to their group who never talked or answered, but by the end of the semester, that student volunteered to pray. YAY!! That was a win.
We Do Not Identify the Spiritual Needs of our Students
Do you know where your students are spiritually? I don’t suggest you take each one and grade them or write them on board. However, I do recommend that you get a pretty good idea of the type of students you have in your group.
I was listening to the Carey Niewoff podcast, and his guest was Jud Wilhite. During the conversation they talked about how they were developing their values and to do so they needed to get an idea of where their congregation was spiritually. So they used a scale of negative 5 to positive 5. Positive five was like the apostle Paul, and negative 5 was, well not a very spiritual person. They determined that most of the people in their church were from -2 to positive 3. What does this do?
If you can determine where your students are then you can begin to find ways to move them to the next step in their faith. If you have mostly students who are brand new Christians, then a four week series on sharing your faith would not be a great choice. However, a series on the basics of the Bible might be perfect.
We Program for the Wrong Reasons –
Why do you do the programs that you do? Why are your groups divided like they are? Why do you teach the curriculum that you teach? Often our answer to these questions is “because we have always done it this way” or “because I learned it at a conference I just went to” or “this is the way they do it at the church down the street” I’d suggest to you that each of those are the wrong reasons.
When you program based on what you have always done, or the latest thing, or what someone else is doing, you might have success. But more often than not you will find yourself stuck running programs and activities that are not for the students you are trying to reach, and that don’t help them to grow in their faith as you hope.
However when you determine who you are trying to reach, where they are in their faith, and what the next step for them would be, then you can program with a purpose.
Getting Unstuck –
If you are feeling stuck, then I suggest that you take some time with your team, or some youth, or on your own and evaluate. Ask these questions: Who are we trying to reach? What does success look like? Where are students in their faith? And only then look at your programs and your calendar and ask, “What programs or activities will help move the students we are trying to reach to the next step in their faith?