Cultivating Missions in Youth Ministry: IDEA #5

- by Ryan Hurlburt -

This is a multi-part series for anyone involved in youth ministry delineating how to not only get your students involved in missions activities, but embody a lifestyle of being on mission for Christ. The complete series will include a list of ten practical ideas to infuse missions into the daily life of your youth ministry.

#5. PARTNER WITH OTHER YOUTH PASTORS/LEADERS

“We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13

Meet with other youth pastors & ministry leaders from your area to pray for, encourage, and challenge each other to reach students effectively for the gospel. Discuss the options of facilitating a large-scale outreach event for students to be involved in (maybe once a year). You can also encourage them to get involved in similar ongoing service projects, even let them “shadow” you on a few occasions. After all, we’re supposed to be working together to bring people to Christ.

Hopefully the rest of the leadership in your church won’t have any issues with this. If they do, gracefully tell them to read their Bibles and ask themselves the question we discussed in the first post of this series, “Where does it say that the body of Christ should always remain separated and compartmentalized?”

Now, hold the hate mail. I believe in the necessity and value of local church bodies. I am not proposing a merger. What I’m suggesting is that the Body of Christ (that is, the Church, with a capital “C”), make sure their surrounding community sees them working together toward a common goal. That can’t happen if you aren’t communicating across campus parking lots and property lines. If the leadership at your church insists on staying within your denomination, then work with it. Take small steps and show them how potent you can be when you combine forces with men & women of similar vision and passion – sorta like Captain Planet, only Jesus-centered.

Does your church already have partnerships like this? Can you reference any groups around the country that do this regularly and do it well?

Advertisement