On his blog “Student Ministry Ideas” Jonathan Davis recently posted about Growing Your Youth Ministry.
What does harvest look like in youth ministry? Is it growth in numbers? Is it new salvations and baptisms? Is it the number of students in your group that feel called to ministry? Without defining how the harvest is measured, it’s difficult to define the harvest. The student population is ripe for cultivation and growth in Christ. There are seeds to be planted and watered, there are weeds to be pulled, and the harvest, as Jesus says, is plentiful.
Jonathan goes on to outline three main ways that we can stay focused on the harvest:
1. Cultivate Fertile Soil
2. Water Often
3. Stay Harvest Minded
In his post he goes in to detail about what he means with each of these. I’d like to add one more though.
4. Power of Pruning – I went and bought flowers for our front bed one year. As I was talking with the garden specialist he said that once I put the plants in the ground, I needed to prune off all the flowers. I should continue to do so for a while. I thought this seemed counter productive since the point of planting flowers was to have beautiful flowers. The reasoning is this. If you prune the flowers off now, the plant will focus not on growing flowers, but on growing deeper roots. Deeper roots mean the plant will be healthier, and in turn will grow larger, prettier more plentiful flowers.
How does this relate to your youth ministry? Maybe there is something you are doing that you may need to discontinue. It might be a good program, but maybe it is taking your focus away from growing deeper, creating stronger roots. And a stronger, healthier root system will increase the harvest.
What else would you add? If you have not done so already please go over and read the other posts on the Student Ministry Ideas blog too. You will be glad you did.
The Power of Pruning is a great addition Russell! Thanks for reading my blog man! It can definitely become important to evaluate programs and their effectiveness over time. The tough part is when you need to cut a program that “seems” effective. The “sacred cow” mentality can enter into the equation at that point. In your opinion what’s the best way to phase down a program that people love? I personally think the best way is to cast new vision. If people have something else to get excited about then saying goodbye to old programs may become easier.
Creating a culture in your youth ministry that values your purpose and people over your programs. Not easy to do, but I think when we can do that programs, and events become a tool and a means, not an end. I consistently ask why? Why do we do something? Why do we do it this way?