On Monday, I start my new position as Minister for Youth & Young Adults at Asbury United Methodist Church. I’m excited, and also a little nervous about getting back into ministry. I know I’ve grown a lot and learned a ton since I was last doing youth ministry, but I’m still a little overwhelmed by the responsibility and privilege that comes with working with students.
Obviously, one of the first things I want to do is just start getting to know the students, the volunteer leaders and the church community. But other than that, I’m really just beginning now to think about “What do I want to do first…?” I’ve been told by numerous people to “blow up the program” and start from scratch. But, we all know how well that eventually works out in a church setting. And one of the rules I was always taught in seminary was to make very small, minor changes and do that very slowly. So, it will be my challenge to negotiate those two lines and figure out what I think should be blown up and what is important to keep.
For those of you who are in ministry right now (particularly youth/young adult ministry), what are the things that you would do in your first month of ministry? What is the first thing you’d do? Obviously, relationships are key – and beginning to develop those. But, what are the important first things to do as I begin? When I first started youth ministry in Idaho four years ago, the first thing I did was pick a name for the youth group and made t-shirts. I’m guessing that’s not the most important thing to do – so…what would you do?
