Last night our Prayer Ministry met for the first time this year.

This is the most positive, encouraging, and supportive group in my parish. I love these meetings (which is impressive, because I’m a meeting-o-phobe so avoid meetings as much as possible).

I invited about 30 people to my house and 10 showed up (a perfect sized group).

We met at 6pm and had dinner. I made the main dish which was simply chicken wraps, and asked everyone else to bring something. I don’t worry about trying to organize who brings what; if we have five salads, that’s okay, and if we have five cakes that’s awesome.

Around 7pm I started the meeting with a brief prayer, then (and this is the most important part of leading a group prayer) I shut up and let everyone else pray for whatever they wanted to.

Then, I told the group some specific and amazing things that happened last year; things I know happened because God was honoring their prayers.

After I finished telling them how amazing they are and how much I appreciate their ministry I asked them what they wanted to do this year and I shut up so they could talk (keeping your mouth shut is a good technique for leading a group).

My job for the rest of the night was simply to keep the group on track . . . which was difficult because they have big hearts and want to help everyone in the church.

I also (subtly) made sure every idea had a clear action step attached to it and that someone was in charge of that step.

When the conversation dwindled I closed with a prayer (again giving everyone else as much time to pray as they wanted). They helped me clean up my house and then stayed around to chat for a while before leaving.

Notes:

• I now have a refrigerator full of food.
• My two kids were there and they were loud and noisy, but everyone seemed fine with that. When I invited people, I told them to bring their kids if they wanted. None did, but I let them know up-front that this was a kid-friendly meeting.
• I feel like we are now ready for our parent meeting this weekend.
• I’m filled with joy. The people involved in our Prayer Ministry are the most humble and loving people I know. I cant wait until we get together again.

Here is a video that I plan to use the next time I plan a Youth Minister’s training meeting. This video captures the essence of what youth ministry looks like behind-the-scenes.

Last night one of my key volunteers and I had dinner with a couple who is interested in leading a small group together. This can be a dangerous situation for me because when I start talking about ministry I get pretty excited . . . so excited that I think I scare people away. A couple years ago I even put together a 30 page document explaining how simple youth ministry is–ah, the depth of my stupidity. So, I’ve decided to try and explain ministry in one sentence. Here’s what I came up with:

Basically, we need to listen to the teenagers; we’re here to be youth ministers to them, which means we’re here to serve them, and we can’t serve somebody unless we know what they need (you wouldn’t bring a ham sandwich to a guy that’s freezing to death–I didn’t actually say that last night because it’s too corny, but I was thinking it), and we can’t know what they need until we take the time to listen to them–after we know where they are, then we can help them grow. (Technically that is one sentence.)

Then I spent the rest of the dinner trying to take my own advice and listen to the couple so I can serve them and help them grow as ministers.

You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.
~John 13:13-15

Incorporated into Christ by Baptism, Christians are “dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” and so participate in the life of the Risen Lord. Following Christ and united with him, Christians can strive to be “imitators of God as beloved children, and walk in love” by conforming their thoughts, words and actions to the “mind . . . which is yours in Christ Jesus,” and by following his example.
~CCC1694

Inviting new people into youth ministry is probably the most difficult part of this job. One year I made around 200 phone calls and asked almost 100 people if they might be interested in joining our ministry. After all that work I had 3 new volunteers. I loved those three people, and they were fantastic youth ministers, but it’s easy to get discouraged after hearing dozens of excuses from people you know would be great youth ministers.

I’m not going to pretend that I’m great at finding new volunteers . . . in fact, I stink at it, but in this post and future posts I want to share what we’re tried and why I feel they were successful.
My all-time favorite way to bring a new volunteer into the ministry is by taking baby-steps with them. Ask them to do something small for the ministry—a one-time event such as being a chaperon for a social, or handing out pizza is great. Then just chat with them about the ministry (be positive – too many youth ministers spend too much time complaining about their ministry). Casually ask them questions about their expectations and desires, and really listen to what they say. Develop a good relationship with them.

At some point let them know about the needs of the ministry – maybe you bring them up at that event, or maybe you wait for a later event. Make sure you draw a connection between what the parents want and what the ministry’s needs are. And remember, all we are really doing is asking people to serve Christ. Never be embarrassed about doing that.

One of our best volunteers came out of a social we planned at the beginning of the year (see my article “Community Life #1). I called a mom to chat about youth ministry, and then she invited us to her house for a social. During the event I hung out with the teens and made an effort to chat with the parents. I found out that her and her husband used to volunteer in their parish’s youth ministry when they were in college, so she had all kinds of experience. She stepped up, got her husband involved, and has become the most active volunteer in our High School program; she plans great events, finds other volunteers, and organized a student-led Praise and Worship band.

This technique is my favorite way of bringing new volunteers into the ministry. All you are doing is just getting to know someone and finding out if they might have the gifts necessary to be a youth minister. You’re also setting the example by connecting with one person, who connects with another, and that is how the Body of Christ grows. This takes time, but those people are always the best volunteers. When you get discouraged, remember we’re on God’s time and we have to be as patient with him as he is with us.

The easiest and most effective thing our ministry ever did was organize a Prayer Ministry. Here is why we did it, and the steps we took to get the ministry going.

I had recently listened to a talk given by Fr. Pat Martin who works with people who have various disabilities. Years ago he organized a group of business people to raise money to build a new center for his ministry. They planned some brilliant fundraisers, but each one failed because of a detrimental act of nature such as “fog as thick as pea soup” which made the state shut down several major roads and effectively canceled their fundraiser. Eventually, Fr. Pat realized they had left Christ out of their plans; they were trying to do ministry without God. Fr. Pat immediately canceled their next fundraiser and they all went on a prayer pilgrimage where they turned all their work over to God. After that, God blessed their efforts and their center was built.

The same thing happened at my church. My first couple of years here I worked between ten and twelve hours a day, planned all kinds of retreats and events, and studied tirelessly to lean how to be a better youth minister. All of my efforts resulted in a ministry that limped along. I felt like a failure, and to be completely honest, I almost quit; If I couldn’t help this ministry, I felt I should get out of the way and let someone else be in charge. And that, of course, is exactly what God wanted me to do – to get out of his way and let him be in charge.

We organized a simple prayer ministry in order to bring our ministry in alignment with God’s will, and since then, God has been honoring those prayers and blessing this church. Great leaders have shown up who are taking ownership of the ministry; Great teens have shown up who are open to God’s love. This is an exciting time to be a youth minister at this church, and the best part is it’s not about me, it’s all about God.

Finding new volunteers is usually the most difficult part of this job, but I had no trouble finding people to join our Prayer Ministry.

• Start by praying – right now.
• Every November my parish sends out “Time, Talent, and Treasure” surveys inviting people to participate in our church’s various ministries. With my Youth Commission’s blessing, I added a category called “Prayer Ministry.” The first year we sent that survey out fifteen people signed up . . . it was that easy.
  • If you don’t have a “Time, Talent, and Treasure” survey, or don’t want to wait until next November (please, don’t wait until next November), email, call, or talk to as many parents as possible. This is such a simple ministry and almost everyone agrees in the importance of prayer, so inviting people to pray is relatively easy.
• We sent those fifteen a letter (which I will include so you can see how unimpressive it was) inviting them to a meeting at which we would organize the Prayer Ministry. Five people showed up and they were all carrying calendars – It was the perfect number and they were the perfect people for an organizational meeting.
• At the bottom of this article, I will include the agenda for our first meeting. We basically wanted to answer two questions:
  • Why we wanted to do this (our mission statement)
  • How we wanted to do this (our strategy)
• We came up with half a dozen great ideas but we all agreed to keep this as simple as possible.
• Here is what we do:
  • Once a month, 30 minutes before our first Confirmation meeting of the month, we pray the rosary for our teens in the Eucharistic chapel. . . Yep, that’s it. There are other ideas and projects in the works, but our foundation is always the rosary.
• One important thing to do is to find someone else to officially lead the ministry.
• One of those original five is the leader of our Prayer Ministry. That means once a month, about a week before the meeting, she sends out an email to people she knows, including me, which reminds me to send out an email to the parents. My job is to support, empower, and encourage her ministry. Remember our job is “to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry” (Ephesians 4:12).
• We’ve also set up a Google calendar and put announcements in the bulletin, but emails and personal invitations seem to be the most effective way to invite new people to pray with us.
• When necessary, the original five will stick around after the rosary to discuss other plans.

If you don’t already have people praying for your ministry, get a Prayer Ministry started today (Pray Now). Don’t plan anything, just connect with some parents, get them together, and let them plan and run the ministry. God will bless you if you humbly turn your ministry over to him.

The letter I sent:

Dear <VOLUNTEER’S NAME – with only 15 letters to write, I thought typing their individual names was worth the effort>

Thank you for your interest in joining our Youth Ministry’s Prayer Ministry.

We’re going to have our first meeting <DATE>, at <TIME>, in <LOCATION>.

Since this is a new ministry (one that is long overdue) we need to get ourselves organized. That will be the purpose of our first meeting: to decide exactly how we want to work together to pray for our youth ministry.

I have a few ideas, but I would like for you to bring ideas to the meeting as well. Here are a few questions that might help you come up with some ideas:

• Who exactly do we want to pray for (teens, volunteers, sponsors, parents, etc.)?
• How do we want to pray?
• Do we need/want to meet regularly? Should we organize a method for praying together, or on our own, or both?

I’ll serve you a delicious dinner, so if you’re going to come, please RSVP so I’ll know how much food to bring. My email is: <YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS>

If you have questions please call or email me.

Working with you in ministry,

<YOUR NAME>

First Meeting’s Agenda:

• Pray
• Food and Chat (Get to know each other.)
• Pick someone to take meeting notes.
• Brainstorm Mission Statement (Why We Are Here):
  • Our Prayer Ministry exists to pray for every person, program, and event connected to the Youth Ministry, and to invite other people to pray with us.
• Brainstorm how we want to fulfill our Mission Statement:
  • Prayer sponsors – make bookmarks/business cards/refrigerator magnets/etc. with teen’s name and give them out after masses.
  • Traveling Youth Ministry Prayer Candle.
  • Bulletin announcements
  • Pictures of Confirmation candidates
  • Monthly Rosary (This is the idea that developed into the backbone of our Prayer Ministry.
• Do we need to meet again to get organized? If so, what exactly is the goal of that meeting?
• Closing Prayer
  • Impromptu prayer by me, then I asked everyone if there was anything going on in their lives they would like us to pray for, and we closed with an Our Father.