Earning the Right to be Heard

In my job I get to work with volunteers who are often older, wiser, smarter, more in shape, financially successful than me, etc. I often call on these leaders to be involved in transforming the lives of teenagers. I wrote a blog post for YouthMinistry360 and here were some of my thoughts of how I try to earn the right to be heard by them.

As Youth Pastors, we should all have a strong desire to build healthy adult leaders who will partner with us to invest in students. how do we do that?

As a youth worker, it’s not uncommon for most of your adult leaders to be as old as us, if not older. What right do we have to tell them how to serve? (Ever had this feeling? I sure have.) The difference in life experience can sometimes be weird. I find it odd when having coffee with an adult volunteer twice my age to be asked, “What am I supposed to do?”

Over the course of 10 years of youth ministry I’ve learned that adult leaders are more than willing to hear ideas & suggestions. They want to know how to best use the time they sacrifice in serving. They want to serve & make a difference in the kingdom.

Too often we forget that we aren’t just leading students; we’re also building up other shepherds. I’ve sat with people who have volunteered in every ministry I have overseen. From teachers, electricians, plumbers, to people who own their own private plane, each one of them benefited greatly from me modeling what was expected of them.

Read More