Strategic Cooperation In Your Youth Ministry
Are you thinking strategically when it comes to reaching this generation of teenagers? Are you evaluating your approaches and programs, gauging their effectiveness? As you do, I want to encourage you make sure you remember an extremely important tool in you have at your disposal:
Cooperation
I think we can all agree that reaching this generation with the message of the Gospel is a huge task. I believe it can be done, but it will take all of us working together as the Body of Christ. Cooperation is key.
I remember a dinner I had years ago with the founder of First Priority, Benny Proffitt. Sadly, we shared common stories about how many churches are failing to work together. As we sat there I jotted down several things on a napkin (which is still in my desk today). This napkin is a list of connection points that typically bring churches together in our communities. Moving beyond our individual church strategies, traditions, and theology, these basic things are rallying points that we all share:
- Christ
- Cross
- City
- Children (Students)
- Campus (Schools)
- Cause
- Crisis
Now, all of these are unifying factors. But a crisis will unite churches quicker than any of these. If there is a natural disaster or death, we drop everything, come together, and rush to take care of the impending needs. This is both a natural and appropriate reaction. So, how do we harness this spirit of cooperation to reach teenagers?
My prayer is that our churches will begin to view the spiritual state of this generation of teenagers as a crisis. I am no alarmist, but I believe a crisis mentality would lead us to drop everything, work together, and do what it takes to meet the spiritual needs of teenagers.
Let me challenge you to be a catalyst in bringing your city’s churches, organizations, and leaders together. A lost and generation provides the common denominator for you to work together. Doctrines do not have to divide if the message of Christ is central. We can communicate a unifying strategy to other pastors and leaders by agreeing that the CRISIS with students in our communities belongs to all of us, not just one church or denomination.
Collectively, we will become stronger than any one individual or organization.
Matt Wilson is the Executive Director of First Priority Greater Birmingham. For more information on First Priority in Alabama go to www.gofirstpriority.com. For other locations across the county go to www.fpoa.org. Follow Matt and First Priority on twitter: @mattwilson518 and @firstpriorityal.
Share your thoughts with the youthministry360 community:
- Is cooperation something you do well? Tell us about it . . . What are the challenges? What are the benefits?
- What keeps you from partnering with other churches to reach the teenagers of your community?
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by First Priority and Matt Wilson, youthministry360. youthministry360 said: The task is too big to do alone. Great article on @ym360 Blog about strategic cooperation in youthministry: http://ow.ly/25Lpb [...]
Great stuff Matt! The C’s are easy to remember and I think easily divide into categories of truth and mission that unite us. We can unite around truth, but if we don’t do something about it what’s the point. Or we can partner on a mission, but easily lose truth. Your list of C’s capture both of those things. Anyway, thanks for writing!
Thanks for stopping by, Travis. Matt’s a good one . . . YM360 is blessed to have him as a friend and a member of the YM360 community.
It seems that more and more of our leaders are motivating students to quit being “collectors of information” . . . and to get out and live the Truth they are learning. This is what I hear you saying, and I’m in full agreement!
Thanks for contributing your voice, Travis. Stop by again anytime.