Attitude in Ministry

This last weekend I went on a trip to "CONVO". This is an annual high school convention in the pacific northwest conference of the United Methodist Church. There were some great speakers, workshops, free times, conversations, and worship. I will probably end up blogging about the subject of the conference later, "Love All, Worship One," but for now I wanted to focus on what I noticed in the many different church groups at the conference.

There were almost a few different types of groups that I ran into. As DSO (Designated Safety Officer) I went out of my way to make sure the boundaries were followed and everyone was having great safe fun. What I ended up seeing was a few different styles of groups: disregard for rules/authority, pessimistic, and healthy.

The first kind of group I ran into was all about fun. They had a decent size group there. The kids were laughing and running around. I noticed however that this group did not seem to respect anyone trying to tell them what to do. When lights were supposed to be out they were running in the halls, shooting each other with darts and trying to take showers. When I would ask any of them to go to bed or head outside during scheduled time they would ignore me. I asked their leaders to get them outside and they commented that their kids are difficult.

What struck me about this style is that they are a group centered on rapport. The leaders most likely are trying to be friends and have fun. This leads to no authority for their leaders or others. The expectations were always stated before but the youth felt like there was no authority to carry through with it. This style of leadership leaves kids with a friend instead of the much more needed mentor/minister.

The second kind of group that I ran across was the pessimistic. This is one where they would complain, sit in little clusters and poo poo everything that was invited/suggested. In this type of group I noticed that the leaders were burt out. They did not smile, cheer, clap, or sing with the songs. They set the energy level for their youth and the youth meet it.

In this type of group the leaders are teaching their youth about faith. They are teaching it is boring and only worth doing if you are paid (not even then). This type of leader needs to move on because they are not helping their youth grow at all. Instead they are punishing and tainting the view of faith and God. If we as ministers are supposed to be incarnational (represent Jesus) then they are teaching that He is pissed and bored.

The final group that I saw was a healthy energetic group. The youth socialized with people. Listened to leaders. Saught out advice, support and guidance from their leaders and others. They cheered and encouraged others on. They also participated in all discussion (if not led it).

How did they do it? Their leader had created a safe environment where they could be themselves and grow. They never sacrificed authority to speak truth into their kids lives which leads their youth to seek their advice on critical junctures. They participate because they know that is how they will give and receive. Their leaders made it not about just fun, but growth and trust.

It was a great weekend and a facinating case study on what a healthy youth group looks like and how it interacts.