Just Care

Student ministry is simple. It’s not easy. But it’s simple.

 Just care.

 Just care about your students. Just care about your volunteers. Just care about the parents.

 Just care.

 Now I understand that sounds like a no brainer. I am not exactly dropping some earth shattering insight here. I believe that care covers a multitude of ministry.

 Your vision, strategy, hopes and dreams for your ministry are all important, but without care, they are just empty words and ideas. So here are two ways I believe care can be practiced, that I think will strengthen your ministry.

 CONSISTENCY

I’ve been in my current role for just over 3 years now. Before my arrival I was told that there had been a lot of turnover in my role and at our campus. So I began to ask parents and students what they thought the student ministry needed, but also what they wanted for it. After many conversations the word that came to mind was consistency. So I told my volunteers and parents that’s what we were going to be. Consistent.

 My purpose in this was to be the consistent faces in the lives of our students week in and week out. In a world that is so inconsistent in everything, my leaders and myself were going to be the consistent voices in the lives of our students. I wanted our students to know we cared enough to be present in their life, consistently.

 We run our Wednesday night programming from August to May. Our most recent last night of ministry, a student came up to me and said, “thanks for being here every week.” This was a huge win, because after 3 years of trying to be consistent, she was telling us that it mattered to her that we were.

 Consistency shows you care. Consistency will soften hearts and eventually help students to open up. Consistency will create connection. Consistency gives your ministry integrity. Consistency builds trust and opportunities to speak Jesus more clearly to Jesus in relational rhythms. Consistency has no time table, and it may take a long time to take root. But when it does, it produces meaningful fruit in the lives of students.

 Consistency says you care. And it’s simple.

 CURIOSITY

I don’t like cliche’s so I’m going to give you one since that makes sense. “People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

 I imagine you’ve heard that before. It’s mostly attributed to Theodore Roosevelt but we don’t know for sure. Regardless, there is a lot of truth to it.

 And so, how do we communicate how much we care? I have found curiosity to be incredibly helpful. And the way to stay curious is by asking “one more question.”

 When you are engaging with a student, volunteer, or parent just ask one more question. And if you ask one more question, ask another one. Ask one more question until you don’t have anymore. This is an intentional practice on your part to get to know the people you serve. It forces you to listen. It forces you to remember what people are facing or going through. It provides prayer points, that you can circle back on later.

 It’s a practice that gets you thinking about others and not yourself.

 And most importantly, it communicates that you care.

 Ask one more question about their favorite food, or sport, or video game, or fashion choices, or social media post or whatever. Just ask one more question. You may not get anything from them, but it’s an attempt to communicate that you care and that will go a long way.

 And if you do this consistently (wink wink) enough, you will get to know your students and their families. And when you know them well, you can serve them well. So just ask one more question.

 It’s simple. You can do it.

 Share your thoughts with others in our YM360 community:

1. What is an area in your ministry that needs more consistency? Not perfection, just consistency.

2.   How can you begin to create a culture in which you and your leaders begin asking one more question?

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