Mark McDonald - an update

After almost six years Mark McDonald has finished up with Broken Bay Youth Ministry. Mark has moved to Melbourne so that his wife can take up a new position. Mark was one of the main authors of blog posts for Broken Bay Youth Ministry and the Internship blog. In the coming months Mark will continue to blog at Mark of Faith. His Blog will cover three topics:
1. Ministry
2. Leadership
3. Faith

You can check out the latest post at www.mrmarkmcdonald.wordpress.com

You can also follow Mark on twitter @mrmarkmcdonald

What fires you up?

I was at a conference recently when the speaker, Robert Fergusson, said “fire overcomes fear every time”.  At first I was puzzled.  Robert went on to say that anyone who is really fired up about their subject matter will be able to overcome any fear they have of public speaking.  Anyone pumped up enough about an extreme sport will be able to overcome the fear the task should naturally raise in someone.  So the best way to overcome your fear is to stay focused on achieving your goal.

Many of us have at least one fear within our ministry, what if it doesn’t work?  What if I can’t get support? What if I can’t find resources to make it work?  What if nobody comes?  Yet if we take this image of “fire overcomes fear”, when you are passionate enough (fired up) you will overcome your fears.  So in ministry how do we get “fired up” in a positive way?  Here are three simple questions:

1. What are you passionate about? When someone doesn’t want doing a certain job you can always tell.  The check out operators at my local supermarket don’t want to be there.  Yet when someone is passionate about their subject, topic or ministry it has a natural pulling power.  When I hear someone speak passionately about their mission trip I want to book my plane ticket right away.  When you are passionate about your ministry it fires up the other people around you.

How can your passion move people from caring about your ministry to helping in your ministry?

2. What are you discontent with? Is there some problem that makes you a little angry?  Do you ever wonder why nobody is doing anything to fix it?  We all have things that we feel need to be fixed, solved or corrected.  You might be the solution to a problem.  This discontent with how things are may give you an insight into what might fire you up.  If you can align your “holy discontent” with your ministry then you are more likely to overcome the fear of running the ministry. (find out more about this here)

How can you use your discontent to find a positive solution to a problem?

3. What do you enjoy doing? After almost 20 years in youth ministry people ask me why I still work with teenagers.  Because I enjoy youth ministry I find it gives me energy to keep going.  The people that I admire are those who work in children’s ministry; they have so much energy and patience.  People in ministry stay around longer when they enjoy what they are doing.  Perhaps you need to look at the specific tasks within your ministry that you enjoy doing; do more of that.  Have a look at the specific tasks that drain you of energy and see if you can delegate those to someone else.

How can you do more of what you enjoy doing and delegate the rest to others?

There are obviously parts of every ministry that are hard to handle.  Yet someone will still need to do them for your ministry to succeed.  Perhaps instead of enduring or fearing them, in the future you can stay fired up about your passions and enjoy your ministry.

Please leave a comment.

Recruiting Volunteers

Recently we looked at customer service in ministry.  Some of the companies that have great customer service have great staff or good staff to customer ratios. In a ministry setting the presentation of your ministry may be as good or great as your leaders and volunteers.  So how do you recruit more volunteers to improve your leadership ratio?  Recruiting volunteers and building a volunteer team are as important to your ministry as the content of your ministry.

So here are four things to remember about volunteers in your ministry setting:

1. People do care and want to help – Australians are generous people, it is just that sometimes you just have to ask for support before you can see this generosity.  People have so many things to think about that they may not put their hand up to volunteer unless they are asked directly.  When people do care about your ministry, you need to invite those people into your ministry as volunteers.  Perhaps people start in a supportive role by helping behind the scene, leaving you to tackle the up front leadership role.

How can you move people from caring about your ministry to helping in your ministry?

2. People do have time, although limited – People are always busy and sometimes they look at how many hours you do as a ministry leader and think they could never give that much time to the Church.  So how can you break down volunteer positions to manageable amounts of time.  Perhaps you can ask people to volunteer for one session per month, or volunteer to setup the session then go home.  People do have spare time but as a ministry leader you need to understand their other time commitments.

How can you break down the volunteer jobs into manageable portions of time?

3. People are capable of a great deal – there are many talented people in your parish with skills that you need.  Perhaps they have never run a ministry before but they could do great things for your ministry.  Volunteers will give everything to a ministry if they are treated with respect.  As a ministry leader look to use people’s gifts and empower them to be the best they can be.  Don’t just delegate a task to a volunteer; empower them to use their initiative to complete a task.

How can you show more belief and trust in your volunteers?

4. People need to be thanked – we can’t pay volunteers with money but we can thank them at every opportunity.  People can tell if you are genuine in your appreciation or are just thanking them to get more out of them.  When you are sincere in your appreciate of your current volunteers and they will appreciate an future volunteers they recruit.

How can you show appreciation to your volunteers?

We can all do with more volunteers in our ministry because people move on to other things.  You can never have too many volunteers so never knock back someone who wants to help.  If you do recruit more volunteers than you need, use your experienced volunteers in leadership and training roles, again volunteers are capable of a great deal.

Please leave a comment on how you recruit volunteers.

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Intern Island

Sometimes you have a thought stuck in your head and you just can’t get it out in a way that makes sense.  Then someone comes along with a song or an article that sums up your thoughts perfectly.  Well I been thinking and reflecting on our Internship this past week when I had this article emailed to me:

True Conversations from Intern Island: Love Your Pastor as Yourself by Darren Sutton

Whilst this article doesn’t sum up my thoughts perfectly, I thought it was so good I would link to it rather than restate the same thing.  There are two points that I would like to make before you read the article:

1. The Senior Pastor is your Priest – the article is written by a leader in a Christian church that refers to the Senior Minister as the Senior Pastor.  In the Catholic Church the senior pastor is the Parish Priest.  Basically in our Church the Parish Priest is the boss for anyone in an employed position or Internship position.
2. Some Interns work full time – some interns in America work daily with a senior leader as an intern for 12 months.  Their work load is greater than you would have being an Intern for 4 hours per week.  You may not have as much access to your Parish Priest as a full time intern, but the same issues apply, love your Parish Priest as you would love yourself.

I hope that you enjoy the article and find it worth while, click below to go to the article by Darren Sutton.

True Conversations from Intern Island: Love Your Pastor as Yourself by Darren Sutton

A New Creation

Happy Easter to all those who minister to youth and young adults where ever you are around the world. This is the greatest seasons in our Church that continues long after the supermarkets have stopped selling Easter Eggs.

The Easter message has got me think about our ministries, are they a new creation because of Easter? How can we use the joy of Easter to empower us in our ministry?

There are two important points about Easter:
New Creation: When Jesus rose he was a new creation. Jesus was not a patched up version of his old self, he was a new creation. The Church reminds of this through the baptism of catechumenates at the Easter vigil, they are a new creation after their baptism. We can forget this because everything seems the same on the outside.
Old Body: When Jesus rose from the dead he was in his old body. Jesus didn’t get a new body; his resurrected body had all the scars from his crucifixion. Easter would have a whole different meaning if Jesus left his old body in the tomb to take a new body after his resurrection.

Jesus resurrected his old body into a new creation and Jesus does the same for us at Easter. As a ministry coordinator, Intern or volunteer, Easter is the time for you to become a new creation in the circumstances of your old life. You may not have changed your ministry position, but you can have a new attitude to your ministry during this Easter season. Here are three attitudes to take on:

1. Leave it at the Cross – if there are things that have been a burden to you in your ministry, leave them at the foot of the cross. The cross is a symbol of all that Jesus did for us at Easter. Perhaps you need to write down your burdens and worries, place them in an envelope and leave them at the foot of the cross. Jesus died so that we can be free; we are missing the point if we don’t live into that freedom.
2. Become a new creation – The Easter season is the beginning of the Church’s year so take on a new years resolution. As a new creation in Christ what ways can you make a positive change in your ministry? Are there some new habits that you can develop to become a better minister? This week I started telling myself to see the best in people, it is amazing the difference it makes to see the best in others rather than how they could improve.
3. Share the Joy – have a sense of urgency about sharing the Good News. If you won a million dollars in the Lotto, you would rejoice and spend it quickly because it is a good thing. How much more important then is it to share this Good News with as many people as quickly as you can? Share the joy with those in your sphere of influence and you never know what effect your Joy can have.

Again Happy Easter to all of you and thanks for reading this blog. Perhaps you can pass this on to others and share the Good News through this blog.
Please leave a comment about what Easter meant to you in 2010

Who are you following?

Is youth ministry a team activity or an event for the Lone Ranger? People inside a youth ministry often believe that they are part of the parish team, yet those outside the youth ministry often believe the youth team is heading in their own direction. Who is right in your situation? Are you heading in the same direction as the rest of your parish?

Here are two groups that your youth or young adult ministry should be following:

1. The Parish Priest – Your Parish Priest and the other clergy should know what you ministry is doing and approve the direction it is taking. Your role as an intern and minister is to steer your ministry in the same direction that the Parish Priest is leading the Parish.
2. Parish Council – Your parish council have been discerning the direction that your Parish is heading, your job is to be guided by their direction. The Parish Council look at the best interests of the entire parish, where as you are focused on your ministry. As important as your ministry is to you, it may not be the number one priority for your parish.

Here are a few things to think about when looking at who you are following:

1. Affirm in Public – give public affirmation to the Parish Leaders. Your ministry should affirm in public how it is following the direction of the Parish. This public affirmation will help promote your ministry in its standing within the parish and gain you respect from the Parish Leaders.
2. Challenge in Private – if you feel that the interests or needs of your ministry are being overlooked, always challenge the leadership team in private. Arrange a meeting with your Parish Priest or Pastoral council. Never show disrespect to the parish leaders, especially in public.
3. Suggest rather than complain – people are usually looking for improvement, but complaints always sound negative. How can you turn your complaint into constructive feedback? Your constructive feedback may just be the advice that the Parish Leaders are looking for.

Why is all this important? One day the current members of your ministry will leave and join other ministries in your Parish. For example, young people grow into young adults or leave for the social justice group or focus on the music team. The attitude that you instil in the people under your care now will benefit the entire parish when they leave your ministry. Who knows, the next Parish Council President may be in your young adults group right now.

Please leave a comment about how you have affirmed the Parish Leadership in your Parish.

Where is your ministry going?

Recently I was meeting with an intern when they asked me the question “what can I do with my group when we meet?” This is a question that I get asked by those who are new to ministry and they are looking for the perfect program. I have learnt to answer with the question “where are you headed?” In order to know what to do when your ministry meets, you have to know where you want to take the group.

Stephen Covey say that the second habit of effective leaders is to “begin with the end in mind.” In ministry the leader has to dream a vision of what the ministry to look like when it is fully established. Once you know where your ministry is headed, you can then work out the steps to get the group there. Andy Stanley calls this the Principle of the Path, the path that you begin determines the destination.

Here are three focus areas to help you determine where you are going:

1. Big Picture Vision – when your ministry is fully developed what will it look like? Some people might call this the five year plan but you need to hold this image up to your group on a regular basis. Also you may take five year or ten years to achieve this vision so dream big and create concrete examples for the vision.

2. Graduation Day – what will an individual leave your ministry with? We don’t often think about people leaving our ministry, yet we know nobody stays in a ministry forever. If you want to know where to take your group think about what skills and abilities do you want them to have when they leave your group. Focusing on one imaginary person, it also makes your big vision practical, a vision for real people.

For example, if you want your high school students to graduate your youth group with a love of the Bible, you will have to teach them how to read and pray the scriptures.

3. +/- One Year – How has your ministry grown n the past year and how will it grow in the next twelve months? Whilst we don’t know how long it will take us to achieve our big picture vision we can make a plan for the next twelve months. Break up the year into months or terms and make a plan based on three types of events:
1. Recruiting: you need a special recruiting phase at least once a year even if you invite new comers to each meeting. You also need a period to teach the new recruits the culture of the ministry.
2. Leadership: in each twelve month period you should also offer a leadership development program to raise the next leaders for your ministry. The best phrase to describe this is “do yourself out of a job”.
3. Celebration: “all work and no play” is a bit boring so make a plan to celebrate and have fun. Celebrations are not just “nights off”, they are really important events where people share the successes of the ministry and feel ownership.

So the next time you are wondering what to do with your ministry night or training session, think about where are you going and how will this meeting take us closer to where we want to be. Leave a comment about ideas that help you determine where you are going.

Distance Mentoring

You may have heard about or even studied by distance education. Distance education is a way of providing educational services to remote areas or where distances are too great to travel. In some forms of distance education, the student and the teacher will never meet face to face. In other forms, such as those offered by the Broken Bay Institute, the student can access material provided by the teacher and interact with the teacher using technology without being in the same room.

Perhaps you may not have heard about distance mentoring, or perhaps you are receiving distance mentoring without knowing it. Do you have a favourite writer that you read everything they write? Do you search YouTube just to get another clip of an inspiring or dynamic speaker giving a talk? Are you a Facebook fan of somebody who inspires you? If you answered Yes, then you are receiving distance mentoring.

Mentoring is growing in popularity but it can be difficult to find a mentor who is the perfect fit, especially if you wish to meet them face to face. But if you are prepared to engage a mentor using the new media, you have access to a whole range of material that can teach you new concepts and expand your thinking. The difference with distance mentoring is that just like distance education, you may never meet your mentor and they may not even know who you are. Without having to meet your mentor face to face, this opens up new possibilities to finding a mentor. You could recieve mentoring from someone famous, someone in another country or even someone who died over a century ago.

I encourage you to find a distance mentor who can teach you about life and ministry in your area of interest. Search for someone who expands your thinking, inspires you and develops you as a person. Perhaps you need to find a distance mentor who gives you a vision of something better. Find a media that suits your style, perhaps podcasts are you thing or maybe you prefer to read.

So who are my distance mentors? I will always download the weekly podcast by Matt Chandler because I love the way he breaks open the Scripture. I learn so much from Matt because he is 35 years old with children, just like me. Whilst he is one of my current mentors, because he lives in Dallas Texas we will never meet.

If you are looking for a distance mentor check out websites that host blogs or articles. Start by reading this blog every week to get into the habit of learning from others. The articles from the Catalyst team are a good start www.catalystspace.com/content/articles. You could also read articles posted on Cathnews www.cathnews.com and follow the links to the original writers. Or start your own search for a distance mentor by searching podcasts on Itunes.

If you have a distance mentor, please leave a comment or post it on the discussion board of our Facebook group. I would love to hear from you.

Base camp or Mobile outpost leadership

What type of Leader are you? Are you main stream or on the edge? Are you working with the majority or working with a minority? Are you the leader of the base camp; part of the core of your community? Or are you the leader of the mobile outpost; part of the pioneering frontline?

Sometimes we think one is better than the other, but I would say that one is not better than another, but you can't be both.

If we think of miltary bases, the front line outpost always needs to be mobile and adaptable. The front line outpost needs leaders who can think on their feet, try new methods and adapt to the situation in front of them. Perhaps your role as an intern in the parish is to be mobile, adaptable, fresh and innovative, you lead the frontline.

The other type of miltary base is the base camp, much larger and more stable. The base camp needs to be realiable and gives direction about the big picture strategy. The base camp is often some distance from the front line but usually knows more about the long term strategy. Perhaps your role as an intern in the parish is to be dependable, stable, visionary and understand the overall strategy, you lead the majority.

Any community needs both types of leaders, but don't expect the same leadership from the one person. Work together with other interns and parish leaders to cover both areas of your parish.

Examples:

In your parish are you someone who leads a small group of people who cater for a specific need? Then perhaps a flexibile style of leadership is needed. Perhaps you lead a mobile outpost. Youth ministry is often like a mobile outpost in that youth are different to the majority of parishioners and the ministry needs to be fresher and more adaptable than other ministries.

In your parish are you someone who leads a ministry that is central to the parish? The Parish Council are the obviose base camp leaders but so are liturgical ministries, because the liturgy is the dependable base camp everyone returns to each week.

Either way offer your leadership to the parish as an intern and lead in way that suits your skills and gifting.