Blog by Dave Sippel

A few months ago I was sitting in a seminar listening to Mark DeVries share his model for volunteer recruiting. During the session a young leader in the room confessed, “Most of the time I am the only adult at youth group on Sunday nights.” At first I was shocked. Then I reflected back on my early youth ministry experience. There were many Friday nights where I was the only adult at our weekly outreach gathering. I kept all of the kids safe. I knew all of their names. What’s the big deal, right??

I will be leading a backpacking trip this summer. I’ll be spending a week hiking on the Appalachian Trail with high school students from all over the state of Florida. This will be my 10th summer leading this same trip. The Appalachian Trail restricts the size of groups that hike the trail. In some sections you can only hike with 10 hikers or less. Along our section we hike with a maximum of 12. This limits the physical impact and the noise on the trail itself. We generally take 2-3 adults on our hike with 8-9 youth. This seems like a heavy ratio but there are good reasons. As you walk along the trail the group gets pretty spread out. Fast hikers, or mountain goats, take the lead while the slower hikers plod along as best they can. Experienced hikers move more quickly than the newbies. We want our adults to be scattered throughout the group so that we’re adequately taking care of each participant.

Our youth ministries can be pretty similar. It’s not enough to just provide supervision for the youth. 1-2 adults can keep all of the youth in one room and keep them safe. But, we’ll need more adults if we want to really build disciples. We need adults to be scattered throughout the ministry to minister to the leaders and the stragglers. The leaders need to be supported and continually inspired. They need support if and when they fail as leaders. The stragglers need to be lovingly encouraged to grab their packs and get walking. They need a gentle guide when they lose hope or lose sight of the trail.

It takes many adults to really know the youth themselves. If we hope to inspire and encourage our youth we’ll need to recruit some extra adults for this journey. At Youth Ministry Architects we have come to the conclusion through our research that it takes 1 adult volunteer for every 5 active youth. 15 youth per week = 3 adult volunteers. (Notice that we don’t include paid staff in the number.)

The youth leader that I mentioned above is no longer at her church. Now, I wonder what happened with those youth. The best thing we can do for our churches is to multiply ourselves. If we leave, the trained adults that we have been working with can continue to provide quality care for the youth that we’ve left behind.

 
David Sippel is a senior consultant for Youth Ministry Architects.

Dave began working in youth ministry in 1994. From 2001 to 2011 he served as a youth director at three of the largest United Methodist churches in the Florida Conference. Since 2008 he has consulted with churches from 18 states and 6 denominations.  Dave is a regular speaker for camps, retreats, and youth ministry training events. Dave also serves as a coach for the Youth Ministry Institute. He is a dedicated volunteer with his local church youth ministry. Dave is a graduate of Asbury College. He lives in  Lakeland, FL with his wife, Teresa, and their two sons; Grant and Cade.

David Sippel
Senior Consultant and Director of Connections
YOUTH MINISTRY ARCHITECTS
CHILDREN’S MINISTRY ARCHITECTS
Building Sustainable Youth Ministries….One Church at a Time
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dave.sippel@ymarchitects.com
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We’ve all heard the phrase “trust the process” but do we truly embrace what it means in our ministry?  This past week I had the privilege of working with children’s ministry volunteers and staff at St. Stephen’s United Methodist Church on their mission statement, values, and 3 year goals for the children’s ministry. The process that YMA uses to create visioning documents requires participants to trust us as we shift gears often, change the subject focus, and ask folks to leave their work earlier than they typically like.

-Blog by Dave Sippel

“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? 
I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:19 NIV

Okay, so even God is doing a new thing. Why aren’t we?

Well, there are lots of reasons. It’s almost a cliché. “Change is hard.” You bet it is.

The youth ministry that I work with is considering ideas for providing separately resourced programming for middle school and high school kids. They currently meet together for youth group on Sunday nights. We’re running out of space and we’re experiencing some of the other issues that come along with combining the groups. It’s been an interesting discussion. To some of our team members, the need is obvious. Others seem threatened or even contented with what we’re currently offering. Here are some of the major issues:

1. We have some volunteers that have been volunteering since the 1980’s. No kidding!! They have seen things done one way for the last 10-12 years. It’s hard to imagine doing it any other way.
2. Our building is full during other normal days and times that we might consider moving to.
3. Our kids are busy and families are driving in for church. It’s hard to ask them to do more.
4. Music and arts rehearsals are held on the same night as youth group currently is. Things are pretty conveniently scheduled with one ministry flowing into another. A change in the schedule would certainly have a ripple effect.

We often look for the painless way out of our current situation. I have been dieting to lose 50 or 60 pounds. I’ve lost 40 so far and people have noticed. They consistently ask, “How did you do it?” One person asked if I had “the surgery”. They are all looking for the easy way out. My answer has been, “It’s easy. Cut the bad food out of your diet. Get more sleep and more exercise.” Like the rich young ruler in Luke 18, they usually walk away and become “very sad”. It is just too hard to give up what is comfortable and easy.

We need to remember the outcomes that we’re hoping for. Our youth, their growth, and their needs ought to outweigh any negatives. The journey will not be easy. The verse from Isaiah above reminds us that there will be “wilderness” and there will be a “wasteland”. However, the verse also points out that there will be “a way” and there will be “streams”. We are not alone on our journey. “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6 NIV.

Let’s keep the end in mind. Let’s work with our teams, volunteers, etc. Let’s ask the right questions and dare to consider new answers. Let’s get over this idea that there will be an easy way out. Let’s challenge our churches to do the hard things. They may actually have an eternal impact.

David Sippel is a senior consultant for Youth Ministry Architects.
Dave began working in youth ministry during the summer of 1994. From 2001 to 2011 he served as a youth director at three of the largest United Methodist churches in the Florida Conference. Since 2008 he has consulted with churches from 18 different states representing 6 different denominations.  Dave is a regular speaker for camps and retreats. He has also been a seminar speaker at several youth ministry training events. Dave also serves as a coach for the Youth Ministry Institute. He is also a dedicated volunteer with his local church youth ministry.
Dave is a graduate of Asbury College in Wilmore, KY. He lives in Lakeland, FLwith his wife, Teresa, and their two sons; Grant and Cade.

Dave.Sippel@ymarchitects.com                 Website: www.YMArchitects.com
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