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).