What I have composed is a 12 point summary of Doug Fields' book 'your first two years in youth ministry.' I don't know anything really about the guy, but he seems like he's a got a pretty good sense of humor and a good head on his shoulders. I really appreciated reading through his book for a class that I'm taking which is a survey of youth ministry. I felt it was a very tastefully written text which really speaks to the heart of youth ministry. The difficulty with this summary which I have written for a class is that I'm graded on my presentation of what I've learned and not exclusively what I've learned... period. This is only fair though because when you think about it information that you posess is only as valuable so long as you also possess the ability to communicate and have others share in that information. Anyways, I hope the information on my blogg is valuable as I have shared if for you:)
1. "Keep an Affirmation Pile." Doug recommends to starting youth pastors to keep a record of all the affirmations which you recieve from others because without affirmation it will be difficult to believe that you have really found you calling in life in youth ministry. I really believe this is true, a friend of mine who convinced me to come to Bible college and study theology is no longer a youth pastor, though he was when I knew him. I think (because I really don't know), that he left his position because he didn't have any affirmation in what he was doing. He was involved for about three years and now he's an electricians apprentice in Alberta trying to pay off his student loans.
Pg 57
2. "God is much more concerned about your being then your doing." AMEN. I really believe that is true. It's important to keep things in perspective. God is concerned about me in addition to the people that I'm serving. I need to take care of myself. I think it is entirely important to remember the presupposition of Jesus when he commands us 'love your neighbor as yourself,' the presupposition is of course, that we love ourselves too, if we're suffering and unconcerned about our own spritual lives, our ministries will suffer.
Pg 66
3. "Go Public." This is basically the same point stated differently, 'find someone to keep you accountable.' You won't get far on your own and so go public with others and have them keep you accountable, (though probably not having someone in your youth group would be more advisable).
Pg 74
4. "God doesn't need you to be a spiritual giant to lead." We need to keep our motivations for spiritual pursuit in check. We should realize that our maturity and development, though is important, isn't critical in the lives of the students you minister too. I had always thought differently... at least until I thought about it reading this book. Doug points out that "the Holy Spirit isn't limited by our efforts" (Fields 73).
Pg 77
5. "Remember the big picture, be sure to put people before your program." I can see this possibly being an issue in my ministry in the future where ever it goes, so I wrote it down. I'm a competative person, and as I read further along I need to be relational when asked about my ministry focus. This isn't to say that I shouldn't have a strategy or a particular focus, but that I ought to make it a priority to be relational a people focused primarily, second to that should be my 'strategy/plan.' Remember my students are people and not numbers.
Pg 85
6. 1 thess 2.8 "We were delighted to share with you not only the Gospel of God, but our lives as well." Doug makes a point to say here that ministry requires a certian veracity. That is to say 'Be real.' don't tell the kids everything that's wrong with you, or make your youth room your own rectory or anything like that. Just be honest in sharing some of your concerns and be willing to let kids into your life.
Pg 93
7. "You are an influence, not the influence." I think family is a critical dimensions of a teenagers life, and it's important to keep into perspective the background that your kids come out of. I know that will think that I'm busy, I usually buy into the lie that I am the only one who's busy at Prairie, but certianly there are others who are. It's likely true that when I get into youth ministry chances are that I'll one day I'll forget that parents are busy and stressed and that I am no the only one in their child's life.
Pg 105
8. In line with the previous statement it's important to consider the impact on the family. I need to keep in mind things like costs when I'm planning events and remember some parents have a few kids to pay for so keeping costs down is important, espically for parents with 4 or 5 kids, cheap is the way to go. remember family holidays and try not to schedual events close to holidays, again I wrote this down because I'm prone to forgetting that I'm not the only one who's busy.
Pg 108
9. With conflict it is easy to sidestep and not want to hurt another persons feelings. The Bible calls us to be a light and to speak truth into difficult situations. I have a way of avoiding conflict and not wanting to address it for this reason. But the fact is that the Bible doesn't call us to be nice but to be honest. The truth may hurt but it's effect will be far less painful in eternity.
Pg 130
10. "If your busy, chances are that your pastor is busier." I thought this was valuable information so I wrote it down. I did have the impression that my pastor whoever it would be that I would be working with would be a sort of mentor to be, but obviously, as Doug clarified, that's doubtful. He mentioned that you don't want to be a drain on your pastor, but your want to be a breath of fresh air, realizing that he's just as busy or busier more then likely.
Pg 159
11. "With a Team You Don't Bottle Neck Growth." That's basically a fact, it's not that it's a secret or something I didn't realize, but I think it's such a valuable point that I wrote it down. If your one man you can only take soo many people soo far. Doug made a good point earlier in the book with his 5-3-1 principal of ministry, and you can't take all your leaders on as number one with a youth group of 50 people or more, you need to balance out and utilize your leaders, otherwise you'll burn out, bottle neck, or your head will explode due to pressure.
Pg 173
12. "With a team your ministry skills will increase." Yeah, same deal, common knowledge, but it's a fact jack. I mean how you can you minister without a team, and if you can't minister within your team how can you hope to do it outside your team? aside from that, Doug highlites the fact that you can learn from other members within your team, always be open to learn from others in your team, 'as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.'
Pg 177
Feilds, Doug. Your First Two Years of Youth Ministry.
Grand Rapids, Mi: Zondervan Publishing Company. 2002.
~Christopher J.
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