Is it burnout or just a funk?

In direct sales, you know right away if you’re succeeding or not – you either have the sale or don’t.  In sports, you know if you scored or not, you can measure your stats to gauge success or failure.  You can measure or see the results of your work in physical labor jobs, even jobs like accounting have an output you can see.

Youth ministry is one of those professions that has a lot of “gray areas.”  You’ve spent the last several months and years pouring your heart into your ministry.  You’ve stayed up all night at lock-ins, retreats.  You’ve worked long hours to be there for your youth ministry.  You’ve done the work.  Have you been successful?

It depends, did someone just schedule a 4 hour meeting on “improving your numbers”?

Did a parent just stop you to say thanks for how much you have impacted their child?

Did a youth just direct every profane word they know at you, because you caught them smoking a joint?

Did more than one youth in your group decide to go to school for seminary?

Did your own child just complain about “you like the youth kids better”?

On any given day, what you do may not directly tie to how you allow yourself to feel at the end of the day. You are in control of what you do but, you are not in control of the results that you may feel on a daily basis.

Here’s the good news: God calls us to youth ministry to be faithful, not impatient for worldly success.  You’ve been faithful.  But maybe you’re working too hard at trying to be seen as successful.  Or maybe you’re just working too hard.

You’ve heard that if you don’t take care of yourself in youth ministry, no one else will. You can get youth ministry burnout.  This time of year, it’s common for youth workers to be tired, discouraged or “in a funk.”  How can you tell the difference between a temporary downturn and serious youth ministry burnout?

If it’s a temporary downturn, give yourself a break.  Return to the basics like prayer, sabbath, rest, personal time, exercise and eating right.  Find friends to talk you through things.  Have fun outside of youth work.  Seek pastoral support – and you might need to look outside of your church for this help.

If you think you might be in burnout mode, seek help.  How to tell the difference?

According to crisis intervention research*, there are 4 main areas that burnout affect: behavior, physical, interpersonal, and attitudinal. The following are the things that can be effected in each category:

Behavior:

- abuse of alcohol/illicit drugs

- difficulty coping with minor problems

- loss of enjoyment

- dread of work

- increased irritability/impatience

- losing things

- suicidal or homicidal ideation/attempts

- reduced work efficiency

- PTSD-like symptoms (post traumatic stress disorder)

Physical:

- chronic fatigue

- insomnia

- muscle tension

- panic attacks

- weakened immune system

- flare-ups in preexisting medical conditions

- weight gain or loss

- changes in appetite

Interpersonal:

- withdrawal from family and friends

- difficulty separating professional and personal life

- decreased interest in physical or emotional intimacy

- loss of trust

- loneliness

- allowing clients (pastors/parents/youth?) to abuse your professional boundaries

- ending of long-lasting relationships

- difficulty coping with minor interpersonal problems

Attitudinal:

- boredom

- guilt

- depression

- pessimism

- helplessness

- survivor guilt

- grandiosity

- sense of meaninglessness

- self-criticism

The world needs good youth workers.  Your role as a youth pastor has the opportunity to transform lives. But the world needs you to be healthy.  Your youth and your family need you to be healthy.  If too many items on the lists above sound familiar, it may be time to take a break, reevaluate and seek help.

Be blessed,

Erin

Questions:

For the veterans, have you gone through times of burnout? What got you through it?  What advice would you give to youth workers who might be experiencing burnout symptoms?

Is there anything you’d add to the list of burnout symptoms?

What do you do to stay healthy in youth ministry?

About Erin Jackson

Erin Jackson is National Director – Community & Care for the Center of Youth Ministry Excellence and the YouthWorker Movement. She is a veteran & certified youthworker as well, and loving her current role as a volunteer Senior High Bible Study teacher. She lives in Arlington, Texas with her husband Dennis, three kids and a dog. She can be found blogging at http://umyouthworker.com/
Follow @ErinJackso

Originally published for The YouthWorker Movement, 5/8/2012.

*(Source: Cooper, J. (2010). Essential crisis intervention skills. In L. Jackson-Cherry and B. Erford (Eds.), Crisis intervention and prevention (pp. 55-71). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, p. 70.)

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Behavior:

- abuse of alcohol/illicit drugs

- difficulty coping with minor problems

- loss of enjoyment

- dread of work

- increased irritability/impatience

- losing things

- suicidal or homicidal ideation/attempts

- reduced work efficiency

- PTSD-like symptoms (post traumatic stress disorder)

Physical:

- chronic fatigue

- insomnia

- muscle tension

- panic attacks

- weakened immune system

- flare-ups in preexisting medical conditions

- weight gain or loss

- changes in appetite

Interpersonal:

- withdrawal from family and friends

- difficulty separating professional and personal life

- decreased interest in physical or emotional intimacy

- loss of trust

- loneliness

- allowing clients (pastors/parents/youth?) to abuse your professional boundaries

- ending of long-lasting relationships

- difficulty coping with minor interpersonal problems

Attitudinal:

- boredom

- guilt

- depression

- pessimism

- helplessness

- survivor guilt

- grandiosity

- sense of meaninglessness

- self-criticism

About Erin Jackson

Erin Jackson is National Director - Community & Care for the Center of Youth Ministry Excellence and the YouthWorker Movement. She is a veteran & certified youthworker as well, and loving her current role as a volunteer Senior High Bible Study teacher. She lives in Arlington, Texas with her husband Dennis, three kids and a dog. She can be found blogging at http://umyouthworker.com/
Follow @ErinJackso

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God has been working in my life in such a big way, that I’m afraid if I don’t write things down, we will miss the moment.

Over the last few months, I have been called to combine my ministry passions to start a whole new ministry, one we are calling “Just One Starfish.” 

About the name.  You know the modern day Starfish Parable?  The author is unknown and there are several versions, but the gist is:

A man and his grandson are walking along a beach.  Because of the change in tides, thousands of starfish have washed up on shore.  The grandfather realizes, if the starfish stay on the beach, they will certainly die.  The grandfather begins picking up starfish one by one and throwing them back into the ocean.  The grandson looks down the entire beach and says, “Grandpa, there are thousands of them!  How can you even make a difference?!”

The grandfather picks up a starfish, shows it to his grandson.  ”It matters to this one,” and throws it into the water.

It Matters to That One.

And here is where I have seen God at work in my heart:

After 15 years of youth ministry, if you ask me, “What would you focus on if you only had a few months to work with a youth group but wanted to have the most impact?” I would tell you that I’d focus on missions, Student Leadership and student led ministry.  Basically, I believe that young people are fully capable of doing great ministry and they are too often spoon-fed ministry programs that neither challenge nor empower them.  In a sense, the current church system creates a culture of youth that are consumers of ministry – youth directors are paid to run and create ministry programs to teach youth about faith, not necessarily to empower youth to do ministry. (I’m sure there will be a post on this later…)

If you asked me, “what are the most impactful ministry moments you’ve participated in?” The list is short – mission trips, 30 Hour Famine, retreats and one-on-one conversations.  What makes these four impactful is this – they empower youth to do ministry, to make a difference about real issues, to really share their gifts and to really get to know people.

In fact, the most meaningful ministry I’ve personally done in my life was before my days as paid church staff.  In college I volunteered to mentor a local Waco junior high girl, Stephanie.  What did “mentoring” entail?  Sometimes we’d meet at her school, talk about her day and work through her homework, sometimes she’d come to my apartment and we’d do ordinary things like bake cookies.  In time, I met her entire family.  I was just a college kid and they were just a family in the local town…we just did life together.  Through this, I learned that people who look differently, live on a different side of town, have a different world view and life experience, can become important people in my life.  People who I know by name, not just by labels or sterotypes like you might hear in a news story about the poor in your city.

I was reminded of the power of that connection last February when my family joined our Arlington church youth group in attending Church Under the Bridge in Waco.  When Christine, Stephanie’s mom, just happened to be attending church there for the first time on the day that we just happened to be there, I knew it was the kind of coincidence that only God could provide.  At the time, my husband and I had been in a period of trying to discern how God wanted us to be doing ministry.  We didn’t know Sunday morning if God put Christine at church that day for us or for her…after lots of prayer, we think He wanted to get our attention.

Adding to this, for the last few months, I’ve volunteered at Mission Arlington once a week.  I love talking to the clients and families that walk in for assistance.  I’ve used a lot of my once rusty college Spanish and have met families from all sorts of walks of life and ethnic backgrounds.  I have met some of the hardest working people I’ll probably ever meet.  It has broken my heart to talk to families that are hoping the Mission can help them get some things for their new apartment – like a bed so they don’t have to sleep on the floor anymore.  A bed!  With each family I get to pray that God will meet their material needs, but that God will also protect them and that we can all be a light for Christ in our community.  I have learned that the fastest population growth in our city is in segments the Church as a whole might be failing to reach – working poor, non-native English speakers, single parent families.

What does this mean?

So this is where I’ve found myself:

• I have a passion for teaching youth to be leaders and to be actively doing their own ministry.
• I have a heart for the needy in our community.  (Did you know that 1 in 5 children in Arlington, TX live below the poverty level?)
• I believe that the most meaningful youth ministry is not found in hanging out in the city’s largest, coolest youth room, but that the most meaningful ministry is done in one-on-one mentoring. 
• As it turns out, I also have met a lot of great people in our community and in the Youth Ministry community at large.  People with whom I can partner for launching a new ministry.  

With all these experiences mixing around in my head and heart, I began to dream and pray about how God could use me to make a difference.  There were a lot of “what if” questions to consider:  What if we could engage youth in a relational ministry in our community?  What if we could create a way for youth to do meaningful ministry above and beyond the summer mission trips?  What if we could also train the youth to be leaders and continue with follow up and coach them as they grow?  What if we found student leaders from youth groups all over the city and from all denominational backgrounds to participate?  What if we did a program similar to Big Brothers/Big Sisters, but with youth serving as mentors and a focus on at-risk kids during what I believe is the most critical moment of decision making, preadolescence (5th graders specifically)?  What if we designed the ministry in such a way that it could be duplicated in communities everywhere?

And the answers to the what if questions became “Just One Starfish.”  In a nutshell, Just One Starfish is a mentoring program that coaches student leadership and matches up high school students with at-risk, upper elementary school students for one-on-one mentoring.

I believe with God’s help, we can transform lives, one mentoring relationship at a time.

Where do you come in?

You might be wondering if this is something for you.  

For Youth – are you a teenager who loves Jesus and wants to make a difference in your community?  Would you like to learn more about being a leader?  Do you like the idea of being a positive role model for someone younger than you?  Are you feeling called to make a difference? This might be for you.

Youth will apply to be a part of Just One Starfish by filling out an application available in June.  If you want to stay in the loop, fill out this little contact form.  You can also follow the latest Just One Starfish news at our Facebook page (“like” our page) and/or follow Twitter “@JustOneStarfish”

For Adults – are you an adult who can coach students and encourage them?  Are you willing to commit to diligently praying for this ministry?  Do you know someone in our community that works with youth?  We will need coaches for this ministry to help in training and followup.  We need adults to support this ministry both through prayer and financial support.  We need adults to be advocates for our ministry and to tell people about it.  As our ministry expands, we will need adults with gifts and interests all across the board – marketing, networking, accounting and more.  If anything here sounds like a fit for you, adults can get connected by filling out our contact form or sending a message through our Facebook page.

For Youthworkers - Are you a youthworker who wants to guide youth to be intentional about personal ministry and to love serving the local community?  Do you have youth in your ministry that long to make a difference, but haven’t found their ministry fit?  Are you looking for a ministry that allows your youth to mature in their faith walk, but does not compete with your church’s ministries?  Or do you have access to a space where we can meet for training and activities?  If you answered yes to anything, this might be for you.  We are looking for ministry partners of all denominational backgrounds.  Youthworkers can get involved or just get more information by contacting me through our contact form or Facebook page.  I would be happy to visit with you and your youth group about Just One Starfish. 

For “Experts” - Are you involved in, or do you know someone involved in, a ministry similar to Just One Starfish?  I believe the quickest way to learn to be successful in a venture is to learn from other successes, so let’s talk.  Feel free to pass this message on to anyone who might have some insights.

Want to know more? Fill out our contact form for more information.

How will it all work?

Here’s how I see things will work:

In my ministry vision, we team up high school sophomores and juniors with local at-risk 5th graders, so we can foster a mentoring relationship that could potentially last 2+ years during the critical time of preadolescence.  

First, we teach those high school youth the basics of mentoring and leadership, plus, working with local youthworkers, we follow-up with the youth and coach them through this new ministry. Unlike other mentoring programs, we want to support youth volunteers with training, conversation starters and follow-up.  After training, youth will be paired up with a local upper elementary school student for mentoring.  Ideally, the two will meet a couple of hours weekly for 2+ years – long enough to make a difference as a positive, stable role model.  Through this ministry, we can prayerfully build youth leaders into young adults who know how to do meaningful ministry and how to actively engage in community service.  Young adults who won’t leave the Church because they know their value to the Body of Christ…and we can positively impact the lives of children in our community who can benefit from healthy role models.

So this is where God has been calling me.  Launching a whole new ministry!  We begin in Arlington in the Fall with a vision to expand to other communities.

Summary

It feels exciting, exhilarating, scary and right.

And I’m going to need a lot of help.

So, if you’re reading this and you happen to know someone who’s interested in helping, or who has great ideas, who has a big pile of money to donate to cover training material costs or who is just willing to pray hard for this new venture, send them my way.  Or if you know someone who knows someone, feel free to pass this post on to them.

Can we save the world?  Maybe not.  But we can transform lives, one at a time.

Yours in Christ,

Erin

P.S.  Future “Just One Starfish” updates will be at our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/JustOneStarfish.  You can help and stay in the loop by clicking there and “liking” us, or fill out our contact form for more information.  We will have our blog and website up and running in the next couple of weeks.

 

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God has been working in my life in such a big way, that I'm afraid if I don't write things down, we will miss the moment.

Over the last few months, I have been called to combine my ministry passions to start a whole new ministry, one we are calling "Just One Starfish." 

About the name.  You know the modern day Starfish Parable?  The author is unknown and there are several versions, but the gist is:

A man and his grandson are walking along a beach.  Because of the change in tides, thousands of starfish have washed up on shore.  The grandfather realizes, if the starfish stay on the beach, they will certainly die.  The grandfather begins picking up starfish one by one and throwing them back into the ocean.  The grandson looks down the entire beach and says, "Grandpa, there are thousands of them!  How can you even make a difference?!"

The grandfather picks up a starfish, shows it to his grandson.  "It matters to this one," and throws it into the water.

It Matters to That One.

And here is where I have seen God at work in my heart:

After 15 years of youth ministry, if you ask me, "What would you focus on if you only had a few months to work with a youth group but wanted to have the most impact?" I would tell you that I'd focus on missions, Student Leadership and student led ministry.  Basically, I believe that young people are fully capable of doing great ministry and they are too often spoon-fed ministry programs that neither challenge nor empower them.  In a sense, the current church system creates a culture of youth that are consumers of ministry - youth directors are paid to run and create ministry programs to teach youth about faith, not necessarily to empower youth to do ministry. (I'm sure there will be a post on this later...)

If you asked me, "what are the most impactful ministry moments you've participated in?" The list is short - mission trips, 30 Hour Famine, retreats and one-on-one conversations.  What makes these four impactful is this - they empower youth to do ministry, to make a difference about real issues, to really share their gifts and to really get to know people.

In fact, the most meaningful ministry I've personally done in my life was before my days as paid church staff.  In college I volunteered to mentor a local Waco junior high girl, Stephanie.  What did "mentoring" entail?  Sometimes we'd meet at her school, talk about her day and work through her homework, sometimes she'd come to my apartment and we'd do ordinary things like bake cookies.  In time, I met her entire family.  I was just a college kid and they were just a family in the local town...we just did life together.  Through this, I learned that people who look differently, live on a different side of town, have a different world view and life experience, can become important people in my life.  People who I know by name, not just by labels or sterotypes like you might hear in a news story about the poor in your city.

I was reminded of the power of that connection last February when my family joined our Arlington church youth group in attending Church Under the Bridge in Waco.  When Christine, Stephanie's mom, just happened to be attending church there for the first time on the day that we just happened to be there, I knew it was the kind of coincidence that only God could provide.  At the time, my husband and I had been in a period of trying to discern how God wanted us to be doing ministry.  We didn't know Sunday morning if God put Christine at church that day for us or for her...after lots of prayer, we think He wanted to get our attention.

Adding to this, for the last few months, I've volunteered at Mission Arlington once a week.  I love talking to the clients and families that walk in for assistance.  I've used a lot of my once rusty college Spanish and have met families from all sorts of walks of life and ethnic backgrounds.  I have met some of the hardest working people I'll probably ever meet.  It has broken my heart to talk to families that are hoping the Mission can help them get some things for their new apartment - like a bed so they don't have to sleep on the floor anymore.  A bed!  With each family I get to pray that God will meet their material needs, but that God will also protect them and that we can all be a light for Christ in our community.  I have learned that the fastest population growth in our city is in segments the Church as a whole might be failing to reach - working poor, non-native English speakers, single parent families.

What does this mean?

So this is where I've found myself:

• I have a passion for teaching youth to be leaders and to be actively doing their own ministry.
• I have a heart for the needy in our community.  (Did you know that 1 in 5 children in Arlington, TX live below the poverty level?)
• I believe that the most meaningful youth ministry is not found in hanging out in the city's largest, coolest youth room, but that the most meaningful ministry is done in one-on-one mentoring. 
• As it turns out, I also have met a lot of great people in our community and in the Youth Ministry community at large.  People with whom I can partner for launching a new ministry.  

With all these experiences mixing around in my head and heart, I began to dream and pray about how God could use me to make a difference.  There were a lot of "what if" questions to consider:  What if we could engage youth in a relational ministry in our community?  What if we could create a way for youth to do meaningful ministry above and beyond the summer mission trips?  What if we could also train the youth to be leaders and continue with follow up and coach them as they grow?  What if we found student leaders from youth groups all over the city and from all denominational backgrounds to participate?  What if we did a program similar to Big Brothers/Big Sisters, but with youth serving as mentors and a focus on at-risk kids during what I believe is the most critical moment of decision making, preadolescence (5th graders specifically)?  What if we designed the ministry in such a way that it could be duplicated in communities everywhere?

And the answers to the what if questions became "Just One Starfish."  In a nutshell, Just One Starfish is a mentoring program that coaches student leadership and matches up high school students with at-risk, upper elementary school students for one-on-one mentoring.

I believe with God's help, we can transform lives, one mentoring relationship at a time.

Where do you come in?

You might be wondering if this is something for you.  

For Youth - are you a teenager who loves Jesus and wants to make a difference in your community?  Would you like to learn more about being a leader?  Do you like the idea of being a positive role model for someone younger than you?  Are you feeling called to make a difference? This might be for you.

Youth will apply to be a part of Just One Starfish by filling out an application available in June.  If you want to stay in the loop, fill out this little contact form.  You can also follow the latest Just One Starfish news at our Facebook page ("like" our page) and/or follow Twitter "@JustOneStarfish"

For Adults - are you an adult who can coach students and encourage them?  Are you willing to commit to diligently praying for this ministry?  Do you know someone in our community that works with youth?  We will need coaches for this ministry to help in training and followup.  We need adults to support this ministry both through prayer and financial support.  We need adults to be advocates for our ministry and to tell people about it.  As our ministry expands, we will need adults with gifts and interests all across the board - marketing, networking, accounting and more.  If anything here sounds like a fit for you, adults can get connected by filling out our contact form or sending a message through our Facebook page.

For Youthworkers - Are you a youthworker who wants to guide youth to be intentional about personal ministry and to love serving the local community?  Do you have youth in your ministry that long to make a difference, but haven't found their ministry fit?  Are you looking for a ministry that allows your youth to mature in their faith walk, but does not compete with your church's ministries?  Or do you have access to a space where we can meet for training and activities?  If you answered yes to anything, this might be for you.  We are looking for ministry partners of all denominational backgrounds.  Youthworkers can get involved or just get more information by contacting me through our contact form or Facebook page.  I would be happy to visit with you and your youth group about Just One Starfish. 

For "Experts" - Are you involved in, or do you know someone involved in, a ministry similar to Just One Starfish?  I believe the quickest way to learn to be successful in a venture is to learn from other successes, so let's talk.  Feel free to pass this message on to anyone who might have some insights.

Want to know more? Fill out our contact form for more information.

How will it all work?

Here's how I see things will work:

In my ministry vision, we team up high school sophomores and juniors with local at-risk 5th graders, so we can foster a mentoring relationship that could potentially last 2+ years during the critical time of preadolescence.  

First, we teach those high school youth the basics of mentoring and leadership, plus, working with local youthworkers, we follow-up with the youth and coach them through this new ministry. Unlike other mentoring programs, we want to support youth volunteers with training, conversation starters and follow-up.  After training, youth will be paired up with a local upper elementary school student for mentoring.  Ideally, the two will meet a couple of hours weekly for 2+ years - long enough to make a difference as a positive, stable role model.  Through this ministry, we can prayerfully build youth leaders into young adults who know how to do meaningful ministry and how to actively engage in community service.  Young adults who won't leave the Church because they know their value to the Body of Christ...and we can positively impact the lives of children in our community who can benefit from healthy role models.

So this is where God has been calling me.  Launching a whole new ministry!  We begin in Arlington in the Fall with a vision to expand to other communities.

Summary

It feels exciting, exhilarating, scary and right.

And I'm going to need a lot of help.

So, if you're reading this and you happen to know someone who's interested in helping, or who has great ideas, who has a big pile of money to donate to cover training material costs ;) or who is just willing to pray hard for this new venture, send them my way.  Or if you know someone who knows someone, feel free to pass this post on to them.

Can we save the world?  Maybe not.  But we can transform lives, one at a time.

Yours in Christ,

Erin

P.S.  Future "Just One Starfish" updates will be at our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/JustOneStarfish.  You can help and stay in the loop by clicking there and "liking" us, or fill out our contact form for more information.  We will have our blog and website up and running in the next couple of weeks.

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What do you say when asked, “Is Hell real?”

“So, youth, what do you want to learn about?”

 “Revelation, angels, and Satan?  Where do we go when we die?  Okay, sure, we could do that.  Oh wait, look at that shiny thing over there!’

I must confess something I am not very proud of — For years, I have been a professional controversy avoider.

It’s sad really.  It’s just that I would rather stay on subjects I feel comfortable with, so for years I’ve gently sidestepped all sorts of tough subjects.  You know, subjects that, if you took a theological stand on them, some parent might be calling your office on Monday to figure out what in the world you were thinking.  (Or more likely, they’d be calling your boss’s office after talking to all of their friends…but that’s a different article altogether.)

So, instead of talking about potentially controversial things like what the Bible says about hell or damnation, I’ve leaned toward happier, safer things like discerning spiritual gifts and helping your neighbor.  I’ve avoided Hell and Satan as topics…and even angels for that matter.  Really, I’ve avoided as many confusing, tough topics as possible.  (To the youth I’ve served, I apologize for that.)

I’m done avoiding the tough stuff.  It’s time to take on the H word – Hell.

Enter two popular youth ministry speakers: Rob Bell and Francis Chan.

Like many youth workers, I’ve known the work of Rob Bell for years.  His nooma videos have been great conversation starters.  His style has almost become a household name, with people donning “Rob Bell” glasses to look hip and everything.

Last year, Rob Bell opened the door on Hell with his popular book “Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived.”  Basically, he proposes that, if the nature of God is love,  how could this God of love condemn millions of non-Christian people to hell?  Is Ghandi, as a nonChristian, condemned to hell for eternity?  Bell would say no.  Bell suggests a universal salvation – that every single person will embrace Jesus – if not in this life, then certainly in the next.  He writes:

            “At the heart of this perspective is the belief that, given enough time, everybody will turn to God and find themselves in the joy and peace of God’s presence.  The love of God will melt every hard heart, and even the most depraved sinners will eventually give up their resistance and turn to God.”  (Love Wins, 107)

Yet another compelling and popular speaker at youth events, Francis Chan, responds to Rob Bell’s theology in his book, “Erasing Hell.”   Chan and coauthor Preston Sprinkle explore references to Hell in Scripture and try to explain what the Bible has to say about gehenna, hell.

            “So I decided to write a book about hell.  And honestly – I’m scared to death.

I’m scared because so much is at stake.  Think about it.  If I say there is no hell, and it turns out that there is a hell, I may lead people into the very place I convinced them did not exist!  If I say there is a hell, and I’m wrong, I may persuade people to spend their lives frantically warning loved ones about a terrifying place that isn’t real!  When it comes to hell, we can’t afford to be wrong.  This is not one of those doctrines where you can toss in your two cents, shrug your shoulders, and move on.  Too much is at stake.  Too many people are at state.  And the Bible has too much to say.” (Erasing Hell, introduction)

Chan explains that while we might not want to believe in a God that would condemn non-Christian people to eternal suffering, we might need to come to terms with God being a God whose ways we don’t fully understand.  Hell is real.  God’s judgment is real.  Like Bell, Chan refers to Scripture to explain his conclusions.

So what does the United Methodist Church officially believe?  Here’s what I found from umc.org:

Does The United Methodist Church believe in universal salvation?

The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church includes a section titled Doctrinal Standards and Our Theological Task, which records the official theology of The United Methodist Church.

The section on Distinctive Wesleyan Emphases includes a description of prevenient, justifying, and sanctifying grace. When a Christian, by the grace of God, accepts God’s “pardoning love,” he or she enters into a transformational process whereby there is every assurance of salvation….

While these statements of doctrine state that salvation is AVAILABLE to all persons, they stop short of saying that salvation is GUARANTEED to all persons. There is the stated or implied condition that, while God’s grace is necessary for salvation and that humankind cannot in any way attain salvation without God, that there is certainly an element of awareness and cooperation on our part to order our lives after the image of Christ if we have the capacity to do so.

There are persuasive arguments that include the faithful, thoughtful, and respectful use of Scripture on both sides– affirming and denying universal salvation. The Book of Discipline, which is the only official printed voice of the UMC, does not make a statement specifically about universal salvation. This places the question in a possible gray area, but the Discipline says what it says. One must read the doctrine there and attempt to understand it as well as possible.  (www.umc.org, Rev. Dr. Diana Hynson, 
Director of Learning and Teaching Ministries in the Congregation,
General Board of Discipleship)

Do United Methodists believe that faith in Jesus Christ is necessary to go to heaven?

Yes, United Methodists do believe that faith in Jesus Christ is the only way the Bible gives as clearly God’s gift and way of salvation and heaven.  God can save anyone that God chooses to save and we cannot decide whom God will save.  We simply trust the plain teaching of scripture.  See John 3:16, Acts 4:12 and many other texts.

Our belief in this unique path of salvation can never be used to put down other religions and the gifts that they have to give to the world, even to Christians.  That we have a gospel to proclaim is not grounds for hurting others.  We can and must be friends with Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and others. In dialogue with them we learn and they learn.  In a time when religion is so much in the news and on our minds, we need to be vigilant against our own hostility and follow Jesus in the way of love.

Our Book of Resolutions says, “While we as Christians respond faithfully to the call to proclaim the gospel in all places, we can never presume to know the full extent of God’s work in the world, and we recognize the reality of God’s activity outside the Christian church. It is central to our faith that salvation is accomplished not by human beings, but by God. We know that judgment as to the ultimate salvation of persons from any faith community, including Christianity and Judaism, belongs to God alone.” 
 (Rev. Dan Benedict, 
Center for  Worship Resourcing
, General Board of Discipleship)

 

So how do you as a youthworker, navigate through these opposing theologies about Hell?  How do you answer youths’ questions about hell and salvation?  Personally, I want Bell to be right.  I want God to embrace all people in the end and for no one to suffer for eternity.  I want “love to win” in the end.  But I also want to be responsible in what beliefs I teach youth.  We have but a short window to minister and teach the youth in our care…it’s time to wrestle with the tough stuff.

Where do you stand on this issue?

How do you delve into tough subjects with your youth?

 

Be blessed,

Erin

 

About Erin Jackson

Erin Jackson is National Director – Community & Care for the Center of Youth Ministry Excellence and the YouthWorker Movement. She is a veteran & certified youthworker as well, and loving her current role as a volunteer Senior High Bible Study teacher. She lives in Arlington, Texas with her husband Dennis, three kids and a dog. She can be found blogging at http://umyouthworker.com/
Follow @ErinJackso

Originally Published for The YouthWorker Movement, 4/10/2012

via WordPress http://umyouthworker.wordpress.com/2012/05/17/time-for-the-h-word/

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“So, youth, what do you want to learn about?”

 “Revelation, angels, and Satan?  Where do we go when we die?  Okay, sure, we could do that.  Oh wait, look at that shiny thing over there!’

I must confess something I am not very proud of -- For years, I have been a professional controversy avoider.

It’s sad really.  It’s just that I would rather stay on subjects I feel comfortable with, so for years I’ve gently sidestepped all sorts of tough subjects.  You know, subjects that, if you took a theological stand on them, some parent might be calling your office on Monday to figure out what in the world you were thinking.  (Or more likely, they’d be calling your boss’s office after talking to all of their friends...but that's a different article altogether.)

So, instead of talking about potentially controversial things like what the Bible says about hell or damnation, I’ve leaned toward happier, safer things like discerning spiritual gifts and helping your neighbor.  I’ve avoided Hell and Satan as topics…and even angels for that matter.  Really, I’ve avoided as many confusing, tough topics as possible.  (To the youth I’ve served, I apologize for that.)

I'm done avoiding the tough stuff.  It’s time to take on the H word – Hell.

Enter two popular youth ministry speakers: Rob Bell and Francis Chan.

Like many youth workers, I’ve known the work of Rob Bell for years.  His nooma videos have been great conversation starters.  His style has almost become a household name, with people donning “Rob Bell” glasses to look hip and everything.

Last year, Rob Bell opened the door on Hell with his popular book “Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived.”  Basically, he proposes that, if the nature of God is love,  how could this God of love condemn millions of non-Christian people to hell?  Is Ghandi, as a nonChristian, condemned to hell for eternity?  Bell would say no.  Bell suggests a universal salvation - that every single person will embrace Jesus – if not in this life, then certainly in the next.  He writes:

            “At the heart of this perspective is the belief that, given enough time, everybody will turn to God and find themselves in the joy and peace of God’s presence.  The love of God will melt every hard heart, and even the most depraved sinners will eventually give up their resistance and turn to God.”  (Love Wins, 107)

Yet another compelling and popular speaker at youth events, Francis Chan, responds to Rob Bell’s theology in his book, “Erasing Hell.”   Chan and coauthor Preston Sprinkle explore references to Hell in Scripture and try to explain what the Bible has to say about gehenna, hell.

            “So I decided to write a book about hell.  And honestly – I’m scared to death.

I’m scared because so much is at stake.  Think about it.  If I say there is no hell, and it turns out that there is a hell, I may lead people into the very place I convinced them did not exist!  If I say there is a hell, and I’m wrong, I may persuade people to spend their lives frantically warning loved ones about a terrifying place that isn’t real!  When it comes to hell, we can’t afford to be wrong.  This is not one of those doctrines where you can toss in your two cents, shrug your shoulders, and move on.  Too much is at stake.  Too many people are at state.  And the Bible has too much to say.” (Erasing Hell, introduction)

Chan explains that while we might not want to believe in a God that would condemn non-Christian people to eternal suffering, we might need to come to terms with God being a God whose ways we don’t fully understand.  Hell is real.  God’s judgment is real.  Like Bell, Chan refers to Scripture to explain his conclusions.

So what does the United Methodist Church officially believe?  Here’s what I found from umc.org:

Does The United Methodist Church believe in universal salvation?

The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church includes a section titled Doctrinal Standards and Our Theological Task, which records the official theology of The United Methodist Church.

The section on Distinctive Wesleyan Emphases includes a description of prevenient, justifying, and sanctifying grace. When a Christian, by the grace of God, accepts God's "pardoning love," he or she enters into a transformational process whereby there is every assurance of salvation….

While these statements of doctrine state that salvation is AVAILABLE to all persons, they stop short of saying that salvation is GUARANTEED to all persons. There is the stated or implied condition that, while God's grace is necessary for salvation and that humankind cannot in any way attain salvation without God, that there is certainly an element of awareness and cooperation on our part to order our lives after the image of Christ if we have the capacity to do so.

There are persuasive arguments that include the faithful, thoughtful, and respectful use of Scripture on both sides-- affirming and denying universal salvation. The Book of Discipline, which is the only official printed voice of the UMC, does not make a statement specifically about universal salvation. This places the question in a possible gray area, but the Discipline says what it says. One must read the doctrine there and attempt to understand it as well as possible.  (www.umc.org, Rev. Dr. Diana Hynson, 
Director of Learning and Teaching Ministries in the Congregation,
General Board of Discipleship)

Do United Methodists believe that faith in Jesus Christ is necessary to go to heaven?

Yes, United Methodists do believe that faith in Jesus Christ is the only way the Bible gives as clearly God's gift and way of salvation and heaven.  God can save anyone that God chooses to save and we cannot decide whom God will save.  We simply trust the plain teaching of scripture.  See John 3:16, Acts 4:12 and many other texts.

Our belief in this unique path of salvation can never be used to put down other religions and the gifts that they have to give to the world, even to Christians.  That we have a gospel to proclaim is not grounds for hurting others.  We can and must be friends with Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and others. In dialogue with them we learn and they learn.  In a time when religion is so much in the news and on our minds, we need to be vigilant against our own hostility and follow Jesus in the way of love.

Our Book of Resolutions says, "While we as Christians respond faithfully to the call to proclaim the gospel in all places, we can never presume to know the full extent of God's work in the world, and we recognize the reality of God's activity outside the Christian church. It is central to our faith that salvation is accomplished not by human beings, but by God. We know that judgment as to the ultimate salvation of persons from any faith community, including Christianity and Judaism, belongs to God alone." 
 (Rev. Dan Benedict, 
Center for  Worship Resourcing
, General Board of Discipleship)

 

So how do you as a youthworker, navigate through these opposing theologies about Hell?  How do you answer youths’ questions about hell and salvation?  Personally, I want Bell to be right.  I want God to embrace all people in the end and for no one to suffer for eternity.  I want "love to win" in the end.  But I also want to be responsible in what beliefs I teach youth.  We have but a short window to minister and teach the youth in our care...it's time to wrestle with the tough stuff.

Where do you stand on this issue?

How do you delve into tough subjects with your youth?

About Erin Jackson

Erin Jackson is National Director - Community & Care for the Center of Youth Ministry Excellence and the YouthWorker Movement. She is a veteran & certified youthworker as well, and loving her current role as a volunteer Senior High Bible Study teacher. She lives in Arlington, Texas with her husband Dennis, three kids and a dog. She can be found blogging at http://umyouthworker.com/
Follow @ErinJackso

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Looking for a proven successful youth ministry event idea to kick off your summer?  Try this: Ultimate Nerf Wars.

What you need: Tables, anything camouflage, tarps, bandannas in two colors (1 per person), score sheets, pens, Sharpies, glow-in-the-dark bracelets/necklaces, medals or prizes (optional) Bullet buckets to gather up bullets for reloading.  Lots of volunteers.

What people need to bring: Any and all Nerf guns and ammunition.  Make sure all Nerf guns and related parts are labeled with your name.  Encourage everyone to dress in black or camo and encourage facepaint.  Money to cover food costs (optional)

Who this works best for: Ages 8+.  We’ve done this event for tweens, youth and college students & they’ve all loved it.

Where: Any space big enough for running around – gym/Family Life Center/big open field

The set up:

You are creating a battlefield and you’ll want a team of volunteers to help you.  Take available tables and set them up on end as barriers, cover things with camouflage.  Gather up all those decorative ficus trees gathering dust in the Sunday school rooms & make a virtual forest.

Set up one table and chairs in a central area to be the “triage” unit.  This is where participants will come once they get hit by a bullet to have their score sheet marked (there’s an honor system element here).

Sample Schedule for a 3 Hour Event:

6:00-6:30 – Registration & Check-in.  As participants arrive, have them sign in with their name plus number of guns & bullets that they’ve brought.  Distribute bandannas or fabric strips as people check in to indicate their teams.  Optional: Have a target practice range set up to get people warmed up before the event begins.

6:30-6:45 – Boundaries & Rules

Gather everyone.  Let everyone know what the boundaries are.  The rules we’ve used are:

1. No aiming toward the head.
2. If you get shot, go to the “triage” station to get your score sheet marked.
3. Ricochets do not count as hits.
4. Ammo that is on the ground is fair game to pick up and reuse.
5. Have your bandanna in an easy to see spot (like around your head)
6. Each round might have specific rules for that game (see below)
7. Have fun!

6:45-7:00 – Round One – Army A vs. Army B* Allow for time between rounds to gather up bullets.

7:00-7:20 – Round Two – Infection or Zombie Nerf Tag

7:20-7:40 – Break! Eat Pizza, drink water, make friends.

7:40-8:00 – Round Three – Last Person Standing

8:00-8:20 – Round Four - Glow-in-the-Dark Nerf Tag

8:20-8:40 – Clean up all the bullets/Find your equipment

8:40-9:00 – Announce winners/give prizes/eat cupcakes/close in prayer

*Variations for each round:

Army One vs. Army Two - A classic battle between two teams, object is to have the team that gets hit the least.

Capture the Flag - Two teams battle against each other and try to capture the flag of the opposing team.  Object is to capture the flag and return it to base without getting shot.

Infection or Zombie Nerf Tag – 2 people are designated zombies & must walk around arms straight ahead (zombie style).  Only zombies have Nerf guns.  If they tag you with a bullet, you become a zombie.  Nonzombies can speed walk and hide behind things but not run.  Last nonzombie wins.

Glow In the Dark Tag – An absolute favorite.  Give everyone glow in the dark bracelets, turn out the lights & fire!

Every One for Yourself/Last Person Standing – A basic elimination round.    Once you’re shot, you’re out.  Object is to not get hit.

Youth Ministry Application:

Fellowship/Evangelism - this is a great outreach event.  It creates a non-threatening, fun environment for youth to bring friends.

Discipleship - an option would be to have Nerf Wars as part of a larger retreat or event.  This could easily tie into important ministry topics like spiritual warfare, armor of God, working as a team, being lights in a dark world, why zombies are not real, etc.

We'd love to hear from you!

Have you done this kind of event before?  What worked/what didn't?

If you try it, please send us your pictures!

Be blessed,
Erin

About Erin Jackson

Erin Jackson is National Director - Community & Care for the Center of Youth Ministry Excellence and the YouthWorker Movement. She is a veteran & certified youthworker as well, and loving her current role as a volunteer Senior High Bible Study teacher. She lives in Arlington, Texas with her husband Dennis, three kids and a dog. She can be found blogging at http://umyouthworker.com/
Follow @ErinJackso

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It’s my most despondent month in ministry. It’s the month where all of my critical self-assessment of our ministry comes to a head. It’s the end of the school year, which stumble-starts (in our community) a downturn in participation through the summer. Worse, another group of seniors is headed for the door, so you have to deal with that.

The seniors. Living testimonies to your failure as a leader. Forget for a moment the 400 different opinions about how you ruined senior Sunday. In your heart you know that you didn’t do enough in their lives. You had these kids in your care for X number of years and just look at them. Completely unprepared for life. Infants in discipleship that can’t quite feed themselves yet. But that’s all you get with them; tomorrow that infancy hits the street of “real life” which, statistically speaking, will erase your influence from most of them anyway. Sure, there are one or two that seem to have a grasp on things that really matter. But that’s easily chalked up to the quality of the individual; no point in taking credit for them. Freaking May.

So for most of May I avoid human contact whenever possible. The first week of June I get to go on a mission trip and that usually evens me out and I get approachable again. But last night at a vespers service in Chattanooga, my mind rabbit-trailed from a sermon’s main point to this ray of light:

Jesus was a terrible youth minister too.

I mean, they weren’t youth he was dealing with, because youth hadn’t been invented yet. Kids became adults back then in what is now middle school and didn’t have the opportunity to hipster-whine their way into their late 20s. (I just saved you a semester on adolescent development.) Jesus spent three years with his disciples, about twice as long as the average youth minister sticks around. And after 4 canonized Gospels of miracles, parables, small groups, betrayal, crucifixion, resurrection, and reappearance over the following 40 days his disciples high-five him and in a single question prove that they’ve learned nothing:

“Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

“Idiots. And now I have to leave,” had to run through Jesus’ mind. All of that effort and they still thought he was here to overthrow Rome. All of that example and they still didn’t get that his was a kingdom of love. “Alright, guys. Let’s make sure we’ve got our pics turned in for the disciple slide show.” It was probably nice, apart from the betrayal and crucifixion bit, not to have to deal with the accusing stares of a finance committee just before the ascension. “Jesus, you’ve been with these guys for three years and we’re just not seeing the results we were hoping for. Not sure if you’re a good fit for the direction we’re headed.”

It’s easy to forget that in youth ministry we’re not usually end-gamers. We’re launchers. And if we’re really honest–we’re mostly observers. There are certainly ministries that exist as primary spiritual influences in the lives of youth, but for most of the middle-class mainstream youth ministry that goes on we’re supplementing what spiritual development goes on at home. I think this is why I don’t enjoy particularly enjoy ceremony or marking occasions (apart from in general being a grumpy jackass). Nothing is really ever complete; we’re always moving forward. Particularly in Christian living, there is always a “next thing.” A next wonderful opportunity to live in service to others. Another opportunity to meet God in community.

But at the end, the disciples got it. After Jesus left, they grew. This time they didn’t go back to fishing.

So while we may not always get to see the fruit, let me encourage you in your planting, tending, and watering. You get glimmers here and there; maybe see a bloom or two or shoots of new growth. And don’t forget that those in your care are on individual journeys; they’ll be making decisions beyond your influence. Be present. Be faithful. And remember that June is coming. The clatter of rising 6th graders is at the door.

Peace,

K

During this same time the Methodist church came under fire because of its very un-democratic episcopal structure. There were charges leveled against the church of being unchristian and anti-american (which is a totally different from now). We pushed back by saying that our structure was not about being mindless servants of an autocratic bishop, but that we were a single unit that was facilitated by the Bishop and other superintendents. It was about connection.

You saw the connection in how we operated. Yes there were individual churches, but they were constantly teaming up and coming together in small or large groupings to do everything from having a camp meeting to starting a hospital. We were different because we were not duplicating efforts, we were not fighting amongst each other for members; rather, diverse congregations were working together in a network (some might say a body) to accomplish far more for the Kingdom of God than any one of them could do on their own.

Fast-forward to the present and it is difficult to see that radical contrast to the congregational approach being lived out in our Church. The Connection may not be dead, but the signs of its imminent demise are everywhere. Since we are talking youth ministry here, lets use it as our test case. It was not long ago that conferences had thriving youth programs that were a beautiful collaboration between adults and youth from all over the conference. They did camps, retreats, mission projects, evangelistic rallies, you name it. What was even more beautiful than that was the fact that these events grew out of districts that were doing the same thing on a local scale.

Now that is quickly becoming the exception rather than the rule. More and more conferences are dissolving the youth ministry position because it has become irrelevant. If no one is coming or participating in those conference events, there is no need for a staff to facilitate them. Why? The big churches say the events are too low quality (translation: we can do it better by ourselves) and the small churches are concerned that if they join in with the bigger groups, their students might like the bells and whistles somewhere else better and leave.

Wow. How competitive. How unhealthy. How un-methodist.

I’m not sure exactly where it all jumped the shark, but one thing is clear to me now: we are on the brink of losing the beauty of the connection altogether. You know the story. After a couple of conversations with the DS, you get a new pastor. A couple months later there is electricity in the air when he takes to the pulpit to unveil his new “vision” for the church. You are going to have coffee in the lobby, go to the local mission once a month and even start visiting the people who visit your church. People praise him for being a visionary leader and follow willingly. When that pastor moves on, the church repeats the cycle with yet another pastor and yet another vision.

You can’t blame the pastors, it’s what our culture expects. Jim collins pointed out in Good to Great that over the past several decades, our culture has grown to associate this visionary-hero style leader with the pinnacle of leadership success. Around this leadership style has grown enumerable conferences, books and seminars that help even the most introverted step up and step out to cast their vision to the masses.

The problem is, this leads to isolated, suspicious, non-connected churches. Each church is out for its own success in its own mission with its own members. This is done in part because the churches have asked for a visionary leader and in part because that is how they are evaluated. They are evaluated for individual success. But that’s what we want, right? We want vital congregations. We want accountability. We want growth in each individual church.

And there it is: each individual church. Not the connection, not the body, each church must exhibit the same hallmarks of vitality. That is a congregational view not a connectional one. In a connection, each congregation will have different functions. Some might be the thriving evangelistic arm while another might be the missional outpost. One might be the writers and teachers who develop amazing curriculum while another might be incredible at hospitality. There may be churches with a few, committed members that perform a vital function within the connection that allows the connection to be successful and reproductive; while the church is not reproductive in itself.

There is a church like that in our community. It is small. It is not adding members each year. It is not converting people each year, but it is a vital part of what God is doing in our community. That church houses and cares for a host of missional interns that serve our community and reach out to the poor, ignored and oppressed. Those interns are not a ministry of that church (though they are a ministry of the Methodist church). The church doesn’t get statistical credit for all the amazing things those interns do, but without that church, that growing, innovative, vital edge of ministry in our community would be crippled if not gone altogether.

I think there is hope, but I think that our treatment for this illness has to have a multi-faceted approach.

The first step is to address that which is immediately under our control: ourselves. We need to get over ourselves as leaders and churches. It is not about us rising to Hybelian heights of leadership glory or growing into another mega-church with a crippling addiction to mortgages. We need to leave our vision meetings and long-term congregational strategy groups and start dreaming together. What could we do together that we could never do apart? What does the part-time youth leader excel at in her ministry that eludes the multi-staff mega church youth group? What would happen if we stopped thinking about our personal success and threw ourselves together for kingdom success?

However, we won’t be able to transform our methods if important, vital voices are shut down because they aren’t getting the right types statistical success. I work with an incredible pastor who is prone to pithy, wise outbursts that are as true as they are corny. One of them is that you can expect what you inspect. I agree. If we want to be a connectional church, we need to start valuing the types of success that grows from connectional ministry. Congregations that act as isolated, non-connectional bodies need to be seen as less vital (no matter how large or growing they are) than those who are using their resources to do something with the connection to impact their community.

You may be asking why. Why not just give in to our cultural history and go full-congregational? Why not just throw in the towel on an outdated and ineffective system? Because I believe that the connection is the key to our success in the coming era. Look at our world. It is decentralizing all around us. Fifty years ago the best metaphor for almost everything was a building with a foundation, walls, and roof. Now, it is the web. More and more we are giving up these hierarchical silos for nodal, interconnected networks. We are moving into an era of connection, and we have connection in our DNA! We have a system that is ready and has the potential to be far more relevant than anything else in that sort of world. I hope that we can save it before it’s too late.

Jeremy Steele has been working in youth ministry for the past fifteen years and now serves as the Next Generation Minister at Christ United Methodist Church in Mobile, AL. He writes for Group Magazine, RETHINK Church and various publications and organizations. You can find a link to all the places he contributes on his website at JeremyWords.com.