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Monthly Archives: August 2015
The best way to make yourself irreplaceable.
Everyone wants to know their work matters. We want to feel a part of a team. We want to contribute something that is unique. We want to be thought of as irreplaceable. These are not improper aspirations but how we achieve them matters.
Here is how you become irreplaceable
- Know your leader’s vision for the church and organization.
- Know what you leader is looking for in other leaders.
- Know what your job is.
- Begin training someone to replace you as soon as you know 1-3
The biggest mistake we make in making ourselves irreplaceable is thinking that we are irreplaceable or failing to understand that we will be replaced. If you lead in any capacity you need to understand two things you will not be doing what you are doing forever so 1. You can replace yourself and leave a legacy or 2. Do not replace yourself and leave a mess.
We all struggle with insecurity to a greater or lesser degree. It is often those insecurities that keep us from giving to others what we know about what we do. We fail to turn over key components of our job because we are afraid of being replaced. When we lead with such a protectionist mindset we fail to fully develop those we lead. We must give away to advance. We must empower others to do what we do and remove obstacles that hinder them from doing things better than even we were able to do.
If you begin your job day one striving to replace yourself you will never be replaced. The irony is the thing that actually makes you irreplaceable in whatever you do is by being really good at replacing yourself. Anyone can do a job but someone who can empower others to do their job better than they can do it themselves is truly valuable.
So start this week. Know your leader and identify your replacement and start making yourself irreplaceable.
How to Use Memes in Youth Ministry
Today’s post is written by Jeffrey Kranz and is sponsored by Disciplr: an interactive curriculum platform for youth ministry leaders. Check out our free interactive high school curriculum!
A few months ago a youth minister asked me, “How would you use digital tools to engage the middle-school boys in our youth group?” It’s a tough question, and we ended up talking about it for a good while. Tween boys may be the toughest group of kids to connect with in youth ministry.
One of the ideas we came up with? Memes.
If you’re trying to hold the attention of the guys in your youth group, or if you’d just like some ideas for sprinkling more humor into your youth ministry, this is for you! I’ll give you some ideas on how (and when) to use memes in your large groups and during the week, as well as a quick tutorial on how to make memes yourself. You’ll get a few fun ideas to add to any Sunday school lesson (no matter which curriculum you use.)
But just so we’re all on the same page: let’s start by defining a meme.
What is a meme?
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a meme is “an idea, behavior, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture.” However, when someone says “meme,” they’re likely referring to the “image macros”: basic images with funny text on top of them.
You’ve seen them. They look like this:
They’re everywhere, they’re easy to make, and they can be a great way to engage your youth group.
So we know what memes are—but what are they for?
Memes make stuff memorable by making it funny first
The memes that catch on are the funny ones. That means you’ll want to use these in your large groups when you come to certain parts of the message that have a lot of humorous potential.
Some good times to throw a meme into your presentation:
Got questions about family ministry?
Join us for a twitter conversation August 13th
So I had this random idea a couple of days ago to help push the family ministry conversation forward. I thought. What if we held a live twitter conversation with some of the sharpest minds in family ministry out there? And what if you in the Youth Pastor, Kids Pastor, Family ministry joined in with your thoughts and questions? So here is what we are going to do Tomorrow August 13th at 3pm EST we are going to hold a #asknextgen conversation on twitter.
Here is where you come in. We need you to engage and ask questions. You can chime in with your own questions, you can ask follow-up questions to questions asked by others. This is your opportunity to ask some of the brightest minds in family ministry a question you have always wanted. All you need to do is search out the hashtag #asknextgen and you will find the conversation. When you ask your question make sure you include the hashtag #asknextgen or you question or comment might be missed.
Looking for a way to make sure you don’t miss any of the action on Thursday? Use Tweetchat.com all you do is enter #asknextgen when prompted followed by your user name and password for twitter and you will be able to monitor the conversation, tweet, or respond to tweets all from one browser window.
So who will be on the #asknextgen panel?
A Family Ministry Manifesto.
Why ministry to families matters now more than ever
In two weeks my position at my church will change. I will move from the campus pastor role and will be the Pastor of Families for all our campuses. A few people have wondered if I view this as a demotion. Nothing could be further from the truth. I have enjoyed and learned much from 4 years as a campus pastor, much of which I will use in my new role. Having been a children’s pastor for 14 years and now being able to broaden my influence to families is a privilege indeed. I believe family ministry matters more than anything else the church can do and here is why.
1. A society is as strong as the families that comprise it. Aristotle wrote that the family is nature’s established association for the supply of mankind’s everyday wants. John Paul II further develops this idea.
John Paul II said the following of the link between family and society.
“The family has vital and organic links with society, since it is its foundation and nourishes it continually through its role of service to life: it is from the family that citizens come to birth and it is within the family that they find the first school of the social virtues that are the animating principle of the existence and development of society itself”
Aristotle saw the value of family without being able to see the purpose of family. The purpose of families is to show a watching world the covenant keeping love of Christ through the sacrificial love of husbands and wives for one another. It also through families that the world sees our need for a perfect father through imperfect ones.
