Young Adult Leader Tip of the Month
Welcome to the first installment of our new monthly video blog for leaders featuring Threads’ young adult ministry specialist Jason Hayes. Each month Jason will take a couple of minutes to share leadership advice that will help you take your ministry to the next level.
In today’s blog Jason challenges you to a new way of thinking about how you approach your community of young adults.
About the Author
Jason Hayes is the young adult ministry specialist for Threads. His primary role for Threads is to serve as a speaker, church consultant, and writer. He is the co-author of Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and the Churches That Reach Them and the author of Blemished: How the Message of Malachi Confronts Empty Religion. Jason earned a Master of Divinity from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Prior to coming to LifeWay, he served at Long Hollow Baptist Church in north Nashville. He is also happily married to his beautiful wife, Carrie, and is a proud dad to their two sons. Learn more at jasonhayesonline.com.
There have been 11 replies so far
Relational inclusion through friendship is foundational to effective ministry. Helping others find what they were created to be is important to sustaining our ministries. Thanks Jason for your brilliant brevity.
1 | James Elrod
Thursday, October 8, 2009, at 10:01am
I totally agree with this. I have really been trying to focus on community in my ministry and it has had fantastic results!!
2 | Dan
Saturday, October 10, 2009, at 5:03pm
James and Dan, thanks so much for stopping by. I’m glad to hear this resonated with you guys.
3 | Jason Hayes
Sunday, October 11, 2009, at 5:09pm
I really like the progression of belong, believe, become…good job! And I love the video blog idea!
4 | Thad
Monday, October 12, 2009, at 11:49am
Jason,
Good to hear this content again. Even better, I like that you’re posting a 2-minute cast. It’s digestible, keeps us mindful, and engages us with what you’re currently learning from all corners of the country. Good job. Now…more! (P.S. Sorry that next cast’s background will be different… but maybe viewable on COPS.)
5 | g
Monday, October 12, 2009, at 2:05pm
Jason, Thanks for championing for young adults!
This video somewhat assumes lost people are “looking” for a church to belong and then we accept them (belong, belief, become). If/when this is the case, I agree.
However, we would probably agree fewer lost people are wanting to belong (to the church). Instead, we need to reposition ourselves to GO to them, join them in their community(ies), and share stories (listen and the gospel story), etc.
This is the greater challenge to leaders b/c it challenges our practice of spiritual formation.
6 | wes
Monday, October 12, 2009, at 4:13pm
Wes, I couldn’t agree more. While these individuals may not be looking to belong to the church, they are clearly telling us of their desire to belong in community.
Thus, believers have a great opportunity to really engage this generation - not as future church members, but as people who are worth investing into.
This is what what I was striving to communicate. Sorry for any confusion. Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts.
7 | Jason Hayes
Monday, October 12, 2009, at 4:55pm
Jason,
Appreciate the paradigm considerations. On the practical side, how has this shift affected worship, small groups, service? Are there any suggestions or potential pitfalls that you may have when attempting to getting the ministry and people to reflect the Belong, Believe, Become paradigm?
8 | Ryan
Wednesday, October 14, 2009, at 12:48pm
Ryan, that’s a GREAT question that I’ll do my best to answer. Forgive me - I’m on the road today and will need to be a bit more brief than desired.
It’s tough to say exactly how all of this plays out in your specific church in that each context is unique. However, I do believe this type of paradigm creates some tension against how we often function within the settings that you’ve mentioned. I think it changes the make-up of who’s in our small groups, how we interact with others in our corporate times together, and the scope of our service projects.
While each new change brings new opportunity for challenge, I believe what is gained is much grander than what might be jeopardized in this type of shift. The advice I would offer is to simply get started. We often want to create big programs and initiatives for things like this, but what is most effective is when leadership casts vision and models the implementation of that vision. This takes time to change the culture of our church, but doing it this way produces longer lasting and more healthy fruit.
Hope this helps.
9 | Jason Hayes
Wednesday, October 14, 2009, at 3:18pm
I am so glad you are helping give some advice to young adult ministers and I agree with what you are saying it works. My question is however, once people are coming cosistantly to your Bible study or activities, how do you inspire or encourage them to take more ownership of that ministery? Any advice would be great.
10 | stephanie
Tuesday, October 27, 2009, at 11:20pm
Stephanie, thanks for coming by the blog. I believe that ownership comes along with responsibility. In other words, get these individuals involved quickly in some role of leadership or volunteering. In addition, I’d begin meeting individually with a core group of leaders that you see potential in. Your personal investment in them will be fruitful.
11 | Jason Hayes
Wednesday, October 28, 2009, at 6:14am
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