New Year's Eve Party Announcement

We've moved our New Year's Eve party from the church to Steve & Amy's house. Show up anytime after 7pm. Stay as late as you would like. The party officially ends with breakfast the next morning. Bring something fun to do and something good to eat. We'll celebrate the New Year, eat some great food, play board games, video games, etc. We'll just have some fun being together.

NOTE: This is not an outreach event. Our student leadership team wasn't able to complete our planning for a New Year's Eve party as an outreach event so we changed the party to a smaller event for students already involved in our student ministry.

DIRECTIONS TO THE ADAMS' HOUSE: Take "D" road to Whispering Streams to Hidden Cave. We are the last house on Hidden Cave.

2008 Progressive Dinner

Saturday night was our second annual Progressive Dinner. Last year we had our dinner close to Thanksgiving. This year we went with a Christmas theme. I was disappointed with the low student turnout, but I'm still glad we had it. I think everyone there had a great time. As expected, the White Elephant gift exchange was good for some laughts. I'm very grateful for our adult leaders who made the night a success by opening up their homes and preparing food.

Here are some ideas I had to improve turnout for the event next year. . .

1) Schedule it on a night before the students are out for Christmas break. I would like to have it on a Sunday night, but every Sunday in December is filled by other church activities.

2) Promote it as a Christmas party instead of a progressive dinner. Everyone knows what a Christmas party is. Not everyone gets a "progressive dinner."

3) I'm considering catering the main course so our adult leaders don't have to do so much. I would like to use the night to honor our student and adult leaders.

4) Give personal invitations to our student and adult leaders including supportive parents.

5) Find a Christmas gift I could give to all the students and adults as an expressive of gratefullness from our student ministry.

Merry Christmas!!!

The Last WNI in 2008

Last night was a great night. We had a lot of fun. We had a Christmas Caroling Singing Contest (it was much more fun than it sounds). We stuffed our Christmas stockings. We dished out the punishment to the losers of our food drive. We recognized Charlie Leinbach as our adult servant leader for November. There are a few moments I hope to always remember:

1) Donna Conner was the MVP of the Christmas Caroling Contest. She won it for her team. I'll never forget seeing/hearing her scream carols at the top of her lungs. Then she told the HS'ers (her team's opponent) to "go big or go home." It was a classic moment.

2) Steve Lynch, Eddie Maddie, & Kristen McGowen were the reps from the losing team in our food drive. The reps from the winning team got to choose one of the donated items to feed to the "losers." Sarah Hennerich chose sour kraut. I will never forget watching Steve Lynch down a fork full of sour kraut.

3) Ky Vaughn taught last night about Mary and the birth of Christ. I hope to always remember one of the statements she made: "God is not a piece of our puzzle. We are a piece in His puzzle." Great stuff.

The only downer of the night was our attendance. We were missing several students. I hope they'll be back soon.

I do have one correction for the night. I challenged the students about their lack of participation in the food drive. Along with the challenge I should commend them for being so supportive of raising money for the crisis pregnancy center. At one point I challenged the students who brought candy for the stockings, but not food for the baskets. That wasn't completely fair. First I should challenge the students who failed to bring anything. At least the students who brought candy for the stockings were willing to give something. I was most proud of the studuents and adults who brought stuff for the stockings and food for the baskets.

Why Steve is thankful for our student ministry. . .

I had a great thanksgiving. I missed all of last Wednesday, but I had a great time with family and friends over the break. I am so thankful for all of you. I am thankful for every student who decides to be a part of our group every week. I am thankful for every adult leader who sacrifices some of their free-time to lead our ministry and love our students. I am thankful for every student and adult who takes initiative to make our church and student ministry better. I am thankful for the patience and support and even forgiveness all of you give me as I lead the group. I am thankful for the many words of encouragement I have received over the years of serving in this church. I am thankful for the many friendships God has given me with students and adults through this youth group. I am thankful for the accountability and encouragement I receive from seeing you all live out of your faith in Jesus Christ. I am thankful for every step someone in our church takes toward God. I am thankful for every changed heart, every changed attitude, every changed life. I am thankful for a God who initiates and drives it all. I am thankful for a God who contintues to show patience and faithfulness to the work He began in us. I love you all and I thank you! Steve

In the Year 2009

Part of good leadership is good planning. I'm trying to get better at both. I've started working on the calendar for 2009. In the past I've set a few days or a week aside to plan the next year. This year I'm going to try to stay a year ahead all the time. Instead of planning being an event, I'm going to try to make it an on-going process. The 2009 calendar is provided at the bottom of the page. It isn't finished. From now on the calendar will always be a work in progress. Check it out!

WNI 11-19-08 Strange Noises From Speakers and other places. . .

Last night presented a multitude of distractions which made me miss the Sanctuary and the separate WNI services for the JH & HS. We will all be together for December so the Kids' & Adult Choirs can use the Sanctuary for their Christmas productions.

We had several glitches from the sound & video equipment. For some reason my computer froze right before the service started and we lost all the song lyrics. We had to enter them on the fly. Then Travis stood right in front of the projector. No one could read the words. At one point Rexx and Larry came on stage while Travis was playing and singing and moved his music stand and mic stand out of the way. Travis' reaction was hilarious. You had to be there. Then our sound system started to make this weird static noise. I just had to shut it down. Did I mention I miss the Sanctuary?

To add to the technical distractions, one of our students had some issues controlling his body a couple times. I had asked everyone to focus their thoughts and attention on God. I just began praying for the worship set. Then I hear this awful sound from my left. It was an unmistakable noise which filled the room. Everyone heard it. I knew it can only be one thing, but I tried to ignore it. Then the snickers come. Then the laughs. One of our students had farted and the focus was gone. I really had no idea how to end the prayer. He did the same thing again during the time of response. This time I didn't laugh.

Despite the distractions we had a good night. Steve Lynch did a good job closing up our series called FORWARD MOTION. He talked about the importance of celebrating the steps we take in our faith. At the end of the night we all had a opportunity to share a step we have taken which we can celebrate and a step we need to take. We wrote them on paper footprints. I wish we had another week to give students and aduls a chance to share their steps outloud.

Soles4Souls Campaign

We ended our Soles4Souls campaign yesterday. It was a great success. Here are the totals:

1st Place--Adult Leaders--110 pairs of shoes--thanks Larry!

2nd Place--Freshmen & Sophomores--34 pairs of shoes

3rd Place--Junior High--15 pairs of shoes

4th Place--Juniors & Seniors--13 pairs of shoes

We also received another 306 pairs of shoes from the church and Hope House!

Special thanks to Amy, Charlie, Zach, Racheal, Katie, Breanna, Patricia, Ben, Tim, and anyone else I forgot who banded, counted, & boxed up the shoes.

School of the Osage 2008 District CHAMPS!!!

Congrats to the Osage Football team for an impressive win over Versailles to win the district title. 39 -0!!! We'll be rooting for you next Wednesday night in the sectional playoff game against Rogersville.

Since there is a football game next Wednesday we need to go to plan B for WNI. Any ideas? Should we have a pre-game tailgate party at church or a post-game 5th Quarter? I'm leaning toward the tail-gate party. Leave your ideas below under comments.

Youth Leader of the Week

Last Thursday I sent out an attendance report to all of the adult leaders and ask them to call 2 students who have missed recently. Diana took the list and called all the students! ALL OF 27 of them. I can't begin to explain what an encouragement that is. Of those 27, 10 came back Wednesday. Then she sent the following email to encourage all of us:

Note: The youth I spoke with this evening were glad to know that they were missed. The parents that I spoke with were glad to know that their child was not just a face in the crowd, but in fact was someone who was noticed as not being at WNI last week or in past weeks.

I agree with Steve, we must stay in touch with our youth and not let them "fall through the cracks". Some of these kids had no idea who I was when I called, so I let them know that I was calling for Steve on behalf of WNi. They were amazed that Steve noticed when they were not there. A commom comment was "Wow, you noticed!"

We must continue to reach out to our youth!

Hopefully we will share leadership better this week so she won't have to make those calls by herself. Thanks Diana!

A Week of Encouragement

I have received some great encouragement this week I want to share with everyone. Some of it is mostly for my benefit. Some of it is encouraging to the entire student ministry.

1) One student asked if we could ask all the students to put away their cell-phones during WNI. Apparently some students are texting during the service. Now that is NOT encouraging, but I was very encouraged by the student who cared enough to ask if we could put a stop to it.

2) A different student gave our ministry one of the best encouragement ever when she said (in her own words), "I used to think I knew every thing about being a Christian. Since I started coming to this youth group I realized I didn't. I have learned so much by coming here."

3) Diana called all the JH and HS students who have missed WNI the last few weeks! ALL of them.

4) We had the highest total attendance so far at WNI. It was also the highest attendance for JH-WNI & HS-WNI individually.

5) Amy and I have received several cards and gifts in recognition of Pastor Appreciation Month. THANK YOU!

WNI 10-29-08 A Record Night!

Last Wednesday was a record night for WNI! We had the most students so far at our JH-WNI: 15. We also had the most students so far at our HS-WNI: 36. That's 51 students total plus 2 graduates and 10 adult leaders. 63 total! What a night. Numbers only matter because each "1" is one of our students. We started our new series FORWARD MOTION by watching a video clip by Jared Herd. His main point was that being a Christian is not about a leap into being "SUPER SAINT." It is about taking steps to become more like Jesus Christ. It was great stuff. I think it really prompted some thought among our students and adults. Charlie did a great job taking on some leadership at JH-WNI. He is now the director of JH-WNI.

Steve's Review of WNI 10-22-08

Last night was a good night for both JH-WNI & HS-WNI. We did have a little set back when Travis broke a string on the guitar right as the JH service was supposed to start. He grabbed my guitar and had to lead worship sitting in a chair so we could mic. It was kind of a comical sight. Despite the technical difficulties, the worship set was great.
We closed out our GODVIEW series. The students seemed to really connect with the lessons. I gave each group an opportunity to share how the series had impacted them. Both groups had some comments. The HS really took off. I was very encouraged by their thoughts. I felt like I did a better job teaching in the HS. I guess that makes sense. It is my second time around. The lesson was a reminder that we will can't fully experience God now. In 1 Corinthians 13 Paul writes:

"Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely."

I was pretty fired up about this in the HS-WNI. I just can't wait for the clear picture!

We took group pics of the JH & HS. Here's a copy of the fun shots.

NEW WNI Series--"Forward Motion"

You've been there before. You've just come home from a mission trip/youth group retreat/conference where you made a declaration to change the world. Sometimes it happens. But too often, after a few months, you don't seem too different than you were before the experience. You were so caught up in the emotion of the moment and were ready to do something big. But following Christ is more about the small steps we make every day, steps of obedience, steps in relationship with Him. We call this series forward motion because the Christian life is more about the steps we take, not the leaps. We will begin this series October 29th.

Steve’s Review of WNI 8-15-08

Attendance:
JH-WNI—1 first time guests; 13 students; 7 adult leaders
HS-WNI—2 first time guests; 31 students; 2 graduates; 4 adult leaders

I must admit I left church Wednesday feeling a little discouraged about the night. The last two weeks have been outstanding. I had mixed feelings about this week. Two things discouraged me: 1) Several students seemed distracted and lacked focus during the lesson. This was more true in the HS-WNI than the JH-WNI. I want to see students engaged when I teach. I want to see the desire for God on their faces. It discourages me to see students chatting or bored. In the HS-WNI, I gave the students an honest challenge, "I will strive to teach my best if you will come with hearts and minds seeking God." When a lesson doesn't connect well, I criticize myself more than I do the students. I carry my end of the bargain better on some weeks than others. I work hard on the lesson every week, but I have to admit some lessons are delivered better than others. 2) At the end of the HS-WNI, we put the Sanctuary back together for Sunday morning. In my mind I see all the students jumping in to help and not leaving until the job is done. I am so thankful for the student leaders who do help, but several jumped ship escaped to the multi-purpose room before we were finished. Next week, we will keep all hands on board.

The GOOD: Despite the distractions, I believe the students connected with the lesson at the end of the night. We talked about the names of God and Israel's practice of giving new names to God as they had new experiences with Him. I told the students God has been revealing Himself since before the beginning of time. His revelations are recorded in the Bible. If we are going to seek God, we must seek Him beyond our years, beyond our circumstances, beyond our understanding. At the end of the night I challenged our students to write a name or description of God they have experienced on cards and then pin them to a cross in the front of the room. It was a special moment. When we give credit to God for who He is and what He's done, we worship.

IMPROVEMENTS FOR JH-WNI: We have a great adult leadership team. I need to find ways to share more leadership with them.

IMPROVEMENTS FOR HS-WNI: We need to have some music playing as the students come in to help set the atmosphere for the night. We need to make sure the students know they are all expected to help in the Sanctuary until the job is completed.

Off to a Great Start

I am so pleased with the start of our JH & HS WNI services. Our student and adult leaders have jumped on board to make the changes a great success. I believe most of the students are connecting well with our GODVIEW series. I love the atmosphere in the Sanctuary. The student leaders have really taken ownership of setting up the room each Sunday and taking it down each Wednesday. I am especially thankful for the high school students who helped out Wednesday even though they could have run off to the Homecoming Activity night. The music has been great. This is the first year we’ve had a totally student-led worship band. Thanks goes to Garrett, Ben, Jonathan, and Travis. As a result of all these positive elements, attendance is steadily growing. All glory and credit goes to God. Keep praying for us!

Taking the First Step

Wednesday was the first week of separate WNI services for the JH and HS. I must admit I was anxious about the change. I wondered about the students’ reaction to meeting in the Sanctuary. I worried about the JH students’ reaction to having their own service. I agonized about the transition between the two services. After all the anxious moments, it was a great first week. The Sanctuary looked great. The JH students had a great service. The transition seemed too easy. Caryn gave a great testimony. We had a good opportunity to worship. Teaching the lesson twice was an interesting experience, but I felt good about it. We had 11 JH students and 32 HS students. I look forward to improving over the weeks and months to come. I look forward to seeing each service take on its own personality. Our greatest need right now is adult leaders in the HS service. Please pray as our leadership team recruits more leaders.

CHANGE IS COMING

This Wednesday we have a big change coming to our student ministry as we begin separate WNI worship services for junior high and high school students. A senior in high school and a seventh grader in junior high live in different worlds. This change will help us better meet the unique needs of each “world.” I also believe this change will increase our potential to grow.
The current plan is to begin the JH-WNI in the Sanctuary at 6pm while the high school students hang-out in the Multi-purpose room. This year’s sixth graders are invited to join the JH-WNI. At 7pm we will make the switch as the HS-WNI will begin in the Sanctuary and the junior students can hang-out in the Multi-purpose room after their service.
As I write this, we still have leadership positions that must be filled to be successful in this change. Please pray God will provide the right adult leaders for the following positions.

Welcome Table—We need adult leaders to supervise a Welcome Table where students will sign in as they enter the sanctuary.

Sound & Video—We need adult leaders to supervise the Sound & Video Booth in the Sanctuary during the WNI services.

Teachers—In order for both programs to work, we will need to share the teaching load.

Pre & Post WNI Supervision—We need adult supervision in the Multi-purpose Room from 6-7 for the high school students and from 7-8 for the junior high students.

Each leadership position will involve leading and training students.

Steve's Review of WNI 9-24-08

Wednesday was a great night. We had the highest attendance of the year so far breaking 50 for the first time this year. The worship team did a great job leading music. My only regret for the night was not having time for Caryn’s testimony. We will make it happen next week.
I hope the students connected with the lesson. We started a new series called GODVIEW. A.W. Tozer says, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” For the next several weeks we will take a close look at our views of God. Often our views or ideas of God fall far too short of who He is. Sometimes they even contradict who He is. To grow in our faith we must have a maturing and accurate view of God.
I am very proud of our students. They are doing a great job of stepping up to share leadership of our youth ministry. They are helping with set-up, running the computer, taking pictures, and many of them are bringing their friends to WNI.

A Pat on the Back

I need to brag on some students. I really appreciate Amanda & Jennifer taking pics for us this last Wednesday. It's that time of year to update our youth group mug shots. They did a great job at getting us started. I am also thankful for Shelby and Caryn getting our drama team off the ground. Thanks to their efforts, and Krista's support, we will have our first practice this Sunday @ 4pm. These are great examples of shared leadership.

A Problem to Solve

Late this summer we made the decision to launch separate junior high and high school WNI's. We believe we can better reach each group's unique needs if they are separated. The launch date for this change is Wednesday, October 1^st. We plan on starting the JH at 6pm and the HS at 7pm. However, we've run into a challenge. Many of our high school students are showing up after school and staying until seven. We've have 30 students in the Multi-purpose room by 6pm the last two weeks. Many of these students are in high school. Here is the challenge: What do we do with these high school students from 6-7 during JH-WNI? If we hold the JH-WNI in the Multi-purpose room, we don't have another good place for the HS'ers to hang out. If we let the HS'ers hang-out in the Multi-purpose room, we don't have another good place for JH-WNI. One student suggested we have JH-WNI in the auditorium. It's not a bad idea, but I'm afraid the JH'ers may feel slighted. I am very open to suggestions. I need a Solomon to step up and solve this problem for us.

Steve’s Deep Thoughts on WNI 9-17-08

I thought we had another great week Wednesday night. It wasn't perfect. We had to split the worship set because the words weren't ready. We were missing some key students who I really wish were coming. Still we had 41 students, one college student, and four adult leaders including myself. I thought the lesson went well. Sometimes when I finish teaching I immediately feel good about the lesson. Most of the time I immediately begin tearing myself up. I have a difficult time measuring how the lesson impacts the students. This week I let my buddy Max Lucado help me teach. We talked about the importance of valuing people and relationships as we represent Christ. Max gave a great illustration about a skyscraper, a father, and his employee daughter. You had to be there.

The highlights of the night. . .1) Matt did a great job on his testimony. I'm loving the testimonies. I hope we can keep it going. 2) Students responded to God Wednesday night. I had two students in my office who needed to talk. Another student accepted Christ. 3) Travis C. asked when we were bringing back the WNI discussion groups. No one else has said anything about the groups so it was very encouraging when he brought it up. 4) The worship was disjointed because of the lyric issue, but the students actually connected better after the lesson was over.

Room for Improvement. . .1) We need someone to enter the lyrics for worship. 2) We need more adult leaders to show up earlier in the evening. We specifically need more ladies. I need to make some phone calls and do some recruiting.

Steve’s Review of WNI 9-10-08

Overall it was a good night. Over forty students attended with an additional six adults. That is the most we have had so far this year. We had over 30 students hanging out in the Multi-purpose room an hour before the night was to begin. Kelsey Abbott's testimony was a homerun. I was really impressed with her confidence and message. I introduced her as Kelsey Kleiss. . .whoops! I was quickly corrected and it was a good laugh. The band (Travis & Ben) did a great job leading music. The songs and sound were good. I hope everyone took the opportunity to worship.

The lesson was okay. I feel like it could have been better, but it was certainly worth hearing. I think the students were mostly engaged. We talked about the third goal for this year. . .We will share leadership. The big idea is that all of us are better than one of us. I stressed that no Christian is meant to live out their faith alone. God intended for us to walk in our faith with other believers. I challenged the students to have relationships with three kinds of believers. First they need to have healthy relationships with believers who are where they are. Second, they need to have relationships with believers who are where they want to be. Finally they need to have healthy relationship with believers who are where they used to be. If we surround ourselves with Christians who support us where we are and others who are calling where we should be going and if we are helping other believers grow as we have grown, we will not be easily defeated.

I would love to read your thoughts. Leave a post!

Steve's Growing Pains--An Honest & Long Entry

This last spring and early summer I went through a very discouraging time. I was discouraged in the youth ministry. I was discouraged in the music ministry. Underlying both of those was a discouragement in my faith. Amy can tell you, I was ready to quit. I have been discouraged in the ministry before. It seems to be part of the job. However, I have never been quite so discouraged in my faith. Through this time God led me to do some soul searching. He showed me some things in my life which I must do different. The youth mission trip was a very renewing and encouraging experience. It did much to lift me out of the discouragement. Still, I am processing much of what I learned this spring and how it will impact my life and the way I do ministry.

When I first started at Riverview seven years ago I was full of energy and passion and vision. My life looked much different than it does now. Madalyn was our only child. I was still teaching seventh grade history. I was willing to do whatever it took to build a successful youth ministry. What I lacked in leadership qualities I made up for with time and energy. I often neglected my family and my own health in striving to be a great youth pastor. Ministry was my source of fulfillment. It probably looked good on the outside, but it wasn't so healthy backstage. As my life has changed, student ministry has become more challenging. I don't teach anymore therefore it takes more sacrifice and intention to spend time with students. My family has grown from three to five. They now outrank the ministry in my list of priorities and serve as a much greater source of fulfillment. I am no longer willing to make the unhealthy sacrifices for ministry I made before.

This last spring I realized I must change how I do ministry if I'm going to be successful. I no longer have the time, energy, or passion to make up for the poor ministry habits I have practiced up to this point. In the past I have been a lone ranger leader. The major benefit of lone ranger leadership is control. I get to control the final decisions. I get to control the quality and final result. Honestly, this kind of leadership is selfish and arrogant and ineffective. Lone ranger leadership creates a ministry bottleneck. It only allows the ministry to be as good as my time and abilities allow. I heard a leader recently say "All of us are better than one of us." This statement has changed how I think about ministry. I hope and pray it will change how I do ministry. I must learn to lead through shared leadership.

In the past I have led through programs, events, and meetings. I must learn to lead through personal relationships. We will always have programs, events, & meetings, but they don't care for people. Only people can care for people. As a leader I must do a better job of caring. I must spend more time on the phone (and do a better job of answering my cell phone). I must spend more time outside my office and in homes and on school campuses. I must spend more time encouraging and not just directing. I must spend more time sending personal letters and postcards. In the past I have neglected relationship for the sake of my job. In the future I must prioritize relationships for the sake of my calling. I share my growing pains because I want you to know I am striving to mature in my leadership. I ask you to pray for me in making these needed changes. Though change often comes gradually, I hope you will notice some differences in the months to come.

WNI 9-3-08

Some nights seem easy. Last week seemed easy. Everything just fell into place. The students worshiped and responded well to the lesson. Tonight felt hard. That's not necessarily bad. The lesson was challenging. I told the students we needed to grow deeper. I told them we are generally a shallow youth group. It was a hard message to hear and hard to say. Some weeks I can easily read the group. Last week I could tell everyone connected. Tonight, I really didn't get a clear sense of how well the group connected. They didn't seem to connect with the music very well. The were also pretty quite during the lesson. I felt good about it going in and I believe the truth in the lesson was right on. I hope I wasn't too negative. I want to challenge them, but I don't have any desire to beat them down. I would love to hear some comments about the night.

One thing I am really enjoying about this year is hanging out with the students on Wednesday afternoon. I didn't do that last year. I mostly stayed in my office. I'm having a blast getting out of my office and just being with them. Tonight I lost to Travis in ping-pong and Jennifer in foosball. I was not faring well until I redeemed myself by beating Travis in Madden (certainly the video game upset of the century).

WNI 8-27-08

I thought last night's WNI was outstanding. It seemed like a smaller group, but at least 30 students attended which is great for the start of the year. During the music, everyone seemed to start out slow, but something clicked during the second song, "It is Well." By the end of the worship set, it was clear most of the group genuinely engaged in worship. Sometimes when I get up to teach it feels like I need to rescue the night. Last night it felt we had already had a great worship service. I felt less pressure and I had a blast.

The lesson last night was about GOAL #1 for 2008-09: We will increase our influence on area students, their families, and their campuses. I've already blogged about it in a previous post. Check it out.

The funny moment of the night happened as I was trying to get the group focused for worship. Kelsey blurts out, "Why are your fingers blue?" What? Good question. Instantly I knew one of my pens I had been chewing on exploded in my pocket. Travis broke out the Smurf theme song, "la la, la la la la, la la la la la." (I hope that tune is stuck in your head for the rest of the day) We all had a great laugh.

At least three students told me how encouraged attending last night. I would love to hear your comments!

GOAL #1 for 2008-09: We will increase our influence on area students, their families, and their campuses.

We have a good youth ministry. It is one of the best in the Lake area. We must not be satisfied with good. We can, and must be so much better. Many, if not most of the students on our local campuses are NOT being reached for God. Our youth group cannot reach every student by ourselves, but we must be part of the solution.

THE PLAN:
I want to launch a separate worship services for the Junior High and High School students. These two different groups of students have unique needs. We can better meet those needs with separate ministries for each group. Although this will make each group seem smaller, I believe it will ultimately help us reach more students. As a result of School of the Osage moving sixth grade to the Junior High, we will include the sixth graders in our Junior High ministry.

We need to serve our campuses including students, teachers, coaches, administrators, etc. We can serve them through outreach events like the Senior Banquet and service projects or random acts of kindness. We will also continue to reach out to students through our monthly road trips.

We need to serve our families by supporting our parents. We should honor our parents in a specific and generous way on Mother’s and Father’s Day. We need to offer our parents opportunities to become the best parents they can be through reading materials, seminars, classes, etc.

We need to communicate better. I want to be a better communicator this year using text, postcards, phone calls, etc. We must improve the way we promote our ministry to the church, schools, and families.

GOAL #2 for 2008-09: We will emphasize the importance of relationships.

Our programs are good, but they are not the most important or effective way to make an impact. God has intended for us to impact each other through relationships. As we share our lives with each other and encourage each other to follow Christ, then lives will be changed and an impact will be made.

THE PLAN:
It starts with me. I have a tendency to spend most of my time working on our programs (WNI, The Big Picture, Connections). I spend a lot of time planning worship services, writing lessons, planning and promoting events, etc. These things are important and need attention, but completing tasks is never more important than loving people. I must spend more time with the students and adults of our youth ministry. Hopefully as I model this, the other leaders in our ministry will follow by example. I would like to contact every student and adult involved in our ministry by the end of September. I want to spend more time on the school campuses this year. I want to designate time each week writing letters, making phone calls, etc. I want to see our Sunday School teachers and small group leaders doing the same. I want to see our students leaders reaching out to other students and encouraging them in their faith. I want to spend time every Sunday night during Connections making contacts with students.

GOAL #3 for 2008-09: We will grow deeper.

GOAL #3: We need to grow deeper.
Last year was great for WNI. We had nearly 50 students coming at our peak in the spring. The energy on Wednesdays was great. However, few students are attending on Sundays. Most of those who came during the school year stopped coming over the summer. Only six students participated in our summer mission trip. As a group, we are struggling in depth and commitment. This must change if we are going to make an impact on our campuses.

THE PLAN:
Once again depth comes through relationships. Mentoring and discipling begins with relationships. Through these relationships we can challenge our student and adult leaders to make commitments to God and each other. We must hold each accountable through clear expectations. As we teach we must dig into God’s Word be specific in its application in our lives. We will also place a greater emphasis on year-round serving through our monthly Impact Crew projects.

GOAL #4 for 2008-09: We will share leadership.

We must bear the weight of God's calling equally. One person cannot carry the weight of what God has called our youth ministry to be. We must all come together using our God given gifts and abilities to serve Him.
THE PLAN:
I want to begin a youth leadership team which will seek out God's direction and vision for our student ministry. Each person on the team will have one major area of responsibility and commit to meet once a month. Some areas of responsibility are. . .Sunday School Leader. Road Trip Leader. Impact Crew Leader. JH WNI Leader. HS WNI Leader. Communications Leader. Family Ministry Leader. We don't necessarily need all the positions to begin the team. We all need accountability and partnership in leading the student ministry.

I also want to form a planning team for next year's mission trip and the Senior Banquet, both of which will begin work in September.

I would also like to share leadership of teaching on Wednesday nights. I would like to start a teaching team for both JH and HS WNI. It should be made up of students and adults and will help share the teaching load on Wednesday nights.

We will spend Sunday nights focusing on our student leaders and letting them have a hand in shaping our youth ministry as God shapes them.

What's the Point?

Purpose Statement? Mission Statement? Vision Statement? Motto? What is the difference? I have no idea. But lately I've been thinking our youth group needs a simple and clear statement that summarizes our purpose. In the past our purpose statement has been:

Impact Student Ministries exists to Influence students to Meet others needs, Praise God with their lives, Actively grow in their faith, Connect with other believers, and Tell others about Jesus Christ.

It's not bad. It certainly covers all the bases, but it is long and hard to remember. We won't throw it out, but we do need something more concise and clear. Here's what I have so far:

We reflect God’s glory to our friends, our families, & our campuses.

What do you think? At least it's a start. Feel free to submit your own or rewrite my suggestion. I would love to hear your thoughts.

AN ENCOUNTER

Last night we had our first WNI of the school year. Around 30 students showed up. I was so encouraged. We didn't promote it at all. Everyone showed up on their own initiative. Some faces I have seen much of the summer. Many of the students haven't been around since last spring. It was awesome to see everyone together again.

To start the year we had an ENCOUNTER. An ENCOUNTER is a prayer service mixed with singing and journaling and of course praying. I thought it was a great night and a great opportunity to connect with our God. It is so encouraging for me to see and hear students and adults seeking God. We have had several ENCOUNTERS before, but we've never had as many students as last night. It is a very personal experience. I would love to hear comments from everyone about the night.

"I Love This Church"

I was playing basketball with some students after youth group last night. As we were playing one of them said, "I love this church. I want to come here forever!" Wow! I was speechless. I hope and pray our youth group and church is a place where negative stereotypes about church and God are crushed. Praise God. What amazing encouragement to know this is true in at least this student's life.

A Special Guest--WNI 4-16-08

Last night was a great WNI. Kendra, a former student in our youth group, came to speak. She did great. She was confident and courageous and clear. I think the students really connected with her story. She compared her story to that of the prodigal son. Her story is one of rebellion and return. Sin and forgiveness. Brokenness and restoration. Her story is one of "Amazing Grace."

She taught us so much. She reminded us of the power and consequences of sin. She taught us how to resist temptation. She challenged us not to underestimate our enemy, Satan or our hero, God. She reminded us that our personal decisions are never totally personal and always affect others. Most of all, Kendra told of a God who wants to forgive and heal and restore us.

Those are just my thoughts. I would love to hear from everyone else.

God Moment

We had a God moment in our second service Sunday. It may be hard to describe. Some things are best experienced. It started with a woman in our church named Kay. She has a bone spur in her neck which is putting pressure on her spinal cord. Claiming the promise in James 5.13-16, she called our pastor and asked in the church would pray for her. Since Chuck was scheduled to preach out of town this Sunday, he passed it on to Todd, one of our deacons. By the time Todd came to the front of the church we were already running 15 minutes late. Todd shared his heart and Kay's prayer request. He challenged us to seek only after God's glory and step to take the "meat" our pastor had been brining us. Next Todd gave an opportunity for anyone to ask for special prayer. Several shared. Some of the ordained men of the church led in prayer for the special needs. By the time all was said and done, we ran at least 30 minutes late. I didn't hear a single complaint. We will trust God for answering the prayers. In the meantime it was a wonderful moment of crying out in dependence on God. Thank you Kay for your honesty, humility, & courage. Thank you Todd for your leadership. Thank you church for responding as the body of Christ.

Prom 2008

For the last three years Amy & I have invited everyone to stop by our house on the way to Prom. We love seeing the students look their best and we gave a gift to everyone who showed up. This year we didn't push it because we no longer live on the way to prom. Still we had a few students show up. Here's the pics!

Servant Leader of the Month

On her last Wednesday, we honored Tori as Servant Leader of the March. She and her family are moving. We will miss her greatly!

Lake Plunge Video

This posting long past due. In fact, it's so old, I probably shouldn't bother, but I spent too much time on the video not to share it as much as I can. Long story short: Me, Chuck, and Ethan jumped in the lake at the beginning of March. The water was 39 degrees. The video tells the rest of the story.

2008 Super Bowl Party

We had a great Super Bowl Party Sunday night. We had a huge screen, a great location, the best food anywhere, an awesome game and plenty to do for those who didn't care about the game. Fifty plus attended the party including 30+ students. To be honest, most of the students didn't care about the game. I can't name one student who watched the entire game. I could probably name several who didn't see any of it. We had several video game systems set up with Rock Band, DDR, Wii, Guitar Hero, Madden, etc. as well as a ton of board games. For most of them we could have called it a video game party and they wouldn't have known the difference. That doesn't bother me a bit, but they sure missed a great game. I still can't believe the Giants won!

At half time we watched a video of LaDanian Tomlinson sharing his testimony. He has a great God-story. Four of our students accepted Christ and want to get baptized! Praise God. That beats any Super Bowl hightlight ever. I love to be surprised by God! Those decisions certainly made every moment of work worth the effort. Please pray for our new Christians, Samantha, Kiersten, Racheal, & Aundrea.

These four young ladies became Christians Sunday night!

I was so proud of the students and adults who helped load, unload, set-up, clean-up, tear-down, load, and unload again. It was a lot of work, but with so many willing to pitch in it seemed easy. I give a special thanks to the following students and adults who spent the entire afternoon and evening helping with the party: Marie, Jonathan, Tim, Racheal, Brien, Brandon, Natasha, Eddie, Steven, Jennifer, & Patricia. I hope I didn't forget anyone. Many others helped, but these were the few who made it from beginning to end.

I also give a special thanks to Rexx & his world famous barbque and Amy with all the great party food. No Super Bowl party at the lake had better food than ours.

Rexx "BarBQue" Morrison My lovely wife & daughter