Linked Post: How New Ideas Affect Your Ministry

At ym360, everything we do falls into one of four categories: Bible Study Resources, Training, Community, or Networking. For us, networking means highlighting great content, great people, and great ministries. When we find something valuable, we share it. This happens most frequently on our Flashback Friday posts. But it happens in other ways, as well.

One of the ways we focus on Networking is by linking to solid content we encounter on blogs or websites.

Christopher Wesley is a great youth minister and one of our ym360 Contributors. Chris blogs daily at Marathon Youth Ministry. It's one of our favorite blogs. You should definitely add it to your list of regular reads. 

Chris writes an awesome post today on the impact of new ideas in your youth ministry. It's not only a topic that speaks to the benefit of intentionality, but it speaks to the benefit of always seeking to grow and improve. We've included an excerpt of Chris' post entitled, "How New Ideas Affect Your Ministry" below. Read the excerpt, then head over to Chris' blog for the rest. 

How New Ideas Affect Your Ministry, by Christopher Wesley

Easter marks a transition time when our ministry starts brainstorming new ideas for next year.  The goal is to dream big in the spring, plan in the summer and implement in the fall.  Over the years some of the new ideas that we’ve thought of have emerged into awesome initiatives.  On the flip side, some of them failed.

You need to dream big and conjure up new ideas in youth ministry.  Youth ministry is dynamic and relevant in the lives of teenagers because of all it’s creativity.  For some it’s easy to be creative, for others it takes some work.  Fears and incompetencies can bring delays to implementing your ideas; however, as long as you are aware of the pitfall there shouldn’t be much to worry about.  To survive any of the obstacles you need to understand that new ideas affect your ministry by:

DIVERTING ATTENTION: In order for a new project to get off the ground it needs the majority of your attention.  That means something will suffer.  Instead of trying to do it all prepare ahead of time by delegating (More on delegating, click here) responsibility to your leaders.  Make sure whatever you are letting go of has someone’s upmost love.

Click here to read the rest of Chris' article.