Three Questions that Changed My Student Ministry

Recently we have been re thinking how we do our student ministry leadership teams. Through a few different conversation on Facebook, and through reading and researching into the characteristics of Generation Y, I came across the blog 3 Question Leadership by Wes Henson (@3QLeadership).

In the post 3 Questions to Be a Better Leader (Part 1) and (Part 2) he puts forth 3 questions that anyone can ask themselves when they walk in a room, that will help them to be a better leader.

1. What needs to be done?
2. What Can I do?
3. Who can I get to help me?

I encourage you to read the blog for yourself. He goes into much more detail and explanation of each one. However I want to share a bit about how I used this to change my youth ministry

I have always been an advocate of youth led youth ministry, but I have become increasingly aware over the past few years of how important it is to give students the opportunity to lead, to succeed, to fail to take ownership. I notice many of my students are not willing to just consume anymore. They are either involved actively, or will find somewhere else to be. When I read this post it was like a light went off. How could I utilize this in my ministry? So here’s what happened.

I got my Senior High youth together. We had about 15 students on this particular night. We ate, did an opening activity where they had to put together a lego Go Kart and we talked a little about leadership.

Then I passed out post it notes and I asked..

What Needs To Be Done?

Where do you see a need in your community, your school, your peers, your church

They all wrote down needs. We had about 50 different ideas and suggestions for places they saw different needs.

Then I asked

What Can You Do?

I had them each go and pick out one or 2 different needs on the board. They could get their own, they could get someone else. The only criteria they had to pick something to which they felt they could change in some way.

Then they took time to write up a plan. I wanted them to write out a suggestion of a program or idea or ministry or way they could make a change in the issue they had chosen. Then they wrote it up and I had them share their ideas with the group.

Who Can I Get To Help?

Then I had them write down a few names of people who they could pull alongside them with this.

Are You Serious?

When we were closing I asked them to do one simple thing. I said, “If you are serious about this, if you are willing to do what you wrote down, then I am serious about helping you to accomplish that.” I had them write the words “I Want To Do Something About This” on the bottom of the paper.

So they did. And out of one group I have 5 actionable items and programs for the coming year. Some we are starting right away, some will start after football season. And they are the ones responsible. I told each of them, “If you don’t do it, this won’t happen.”

I’m excited to see how this works as we begin to implement these ideas. I believe this is so much better than telling students our ideas and trying to get them to buy into those ideas.