Vision

A diverse group of CSUMC adults gathered during the first weekend in December for a Visioning Retreat. We invited the Youth Ministry Architect (YMA) guys back, Dave Sippel and Nate Stuckey, to lead us through the process. We had adults that have been volunteering in our program for a long time, parents, new volunteers, and even parents of children who are not youth yet. It was a smart, insightful, and hardworking group. We ended the weekend with these finished documents:

1. A vision statement
2. A list of core values
3. A list of three-year goals with one year bench marks
4. An organizational chart displaying all of the ministries and activities our youth are a part of.

The process the YMA guys used to lead us toward the documents was effective and efficient and might be interesting for you to see.Before the retreat the Renovation Team sat down and compelled a list of potential retreat participants that was diverse. Team member then called individuals and asked them to participate. Once we had the 12-15 individuals we were looking for, there was a bit of pre-retreat homework. Participants were asked to consider these items:

1. Values: Please list at least 3 adjectives or adverbs that describe the spirit with which we as a church/youth ministry will use as we go about accomplishing our goals.
2. Verbs: Please write down 3 verbs that should describe the youth ministry.
3. Please list 3 nouns or results that should describe the youth ministry. If the YM does what it’s supposed to do, this is should be the result.
4. Please list 5 huge goals for the youth ministry, the kind that cannot be accomplished next week! Please include measuring sticks where applicable.

The YMA guys then led the retreat participants through a brainstorming process to capture these ideas on newsprint and put them up on the wall so that everyone can see them.

Here are photographs of the newsprint pages:

Values:

Verbs:

Nouns:

Goals:

      

Target audience: Who are we serving?

Vision Statement Template:

Process:

After the initial brainstorming time was done, the YMA guys divided us into three groups and we each rotated to sections of the room to work with newsprint sheets that represented the documents we were formulating: values = Core Values; nouns, verbs, target audience, and template = Vision Statement; and goals = Three Year Goals.

Each group ranked, refined, and tinkered with the previous groups’ work until we began to reach some level of consensus and by the end of Friday evening we had a first draft of all three documents. I believe we were all surprised to have made it that far in such a short amount of time.

Saturday morning we continued to refine the ideas, identify challenges, and in couples work to come to a final draft on specific parts of each document. We also spent some time naming all of the events, activities, and programs are available through youth ministry to compile an organizational diagram as a visual for everyone to see the scope of ministry. We were done soon after lunch, much earlier than expected. Everyone seemed to feel good about the process and excited about what had been produced.

Here are the final documents that were created over the weekend:

Youth Ministry Mission Statement

The youth ministry of CSUMC loves, serves, and fosters the spiritual development of our youth, their families, their friends, our volunteers, and our community in order that they may grow as disciples of Jesus Christ in fellowship with one another. 

Youth Ministry Core Values:

Loving – Loving God, others, and self.

Committed – Personal commitment to God and CSUMC through prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness.

Fruitful – God’s Spirit seen in and through us.

Welcoming/Encouraging – Every person feels at home, connected, and safe.

Grounded – Foundation from God’s word, the Bible.

Enjoyable – Activities have an element of fun.

Tradition – We appreciate and value Church Street’s traditional worship and setting.

Youth Ministry 3-Year Revolving Goals:

Target Date: January 1, 2015

One-Year Benchmarks Target Date: January 1, 2013

1. Net growth of 10 new youth per year joined some area of the youth ministry.

1. Benchmark:  10 new youth joined some area of the youth ministry.

Next steps:

i.     Ensure the attendance records track visitors.

ii.     Compile a list of recent youth visitors to some area of the youth ministry.

iii.     Develop a plan for following up with visitors, ensuring they receive follow-up invitations.

2. Total number of volunteers has increased by a net of 5 volunteers each year through intentional recruitment.

1. Benchmark: Intentional recruitment strategies have been developed; 5 new volunteers have been recruited.

Next Steps:

i.     Review Mark DeVries’ article on volunteer recruitment (Marc Gamble has this).

ii.     Develop a master list of volunteers needed through summer 2012.

3. Each youth Sunday school class staffed with 3 trained adults.

1. Benchmark: Structure for ongoing Sunday school teacher training has been established, and each youth Sunday school class has been staffed with 2 trained adults.

Next Steps:

i.     Review YMA resources related to Sunday school teacher training Calendar a Sunday school teacher training event for May 2012, or sooner.

4. Major Event Coordinators have been assigned to at least 6 of the events of the youth ministry.

1. Benchmark: 2 major event coordinators have been assigned and have shadowed the Youth Ministry Director through the planning and execution of the events.

Next Steps:

i.     Choose the 2 events for which major event coordinators will be recruited.

ii.     Create a list of potential major event coordinators for one of the events in the previous step.

5. Youth ministry is funded at $1,000/active youth, minimum.

1. Benchmark:  Attendance records have been analyzed and funding has been adjusted accordingly.

Next Steps:

i.     Define what you will mean by “active youth”.

ii.     Alter the Attendance Tracking spreadsheet which you received from YMA to allow for the simplest possible tracking of active youth.

6. Church has hired 1 FTE youth staff per 50 active youth.

1. Benchmark:  Attendance records have been analyzed and staffing needs have been assessed.  Staffing needs for the coming year have been projected.

Next Steps:

i.     Complete the “Next Steps” for Goal 5 above.

7. One monthly article by youth published in the Messenger as well as email, Facebook, and the website.

1. Benchmark:  Six articles by youth have been published in the Messenger, on Facebook and the church website, and distributed via e-mail.

Next Steps:

i.     Communicate with the Messenger coordinator to discuss process for submitting articles.

ii.     Recruit one youth to write an article about a specific youth event (Walk Through Bethlehem, Christmas Choir Service, Resurrection, etc.)

8. 4 midweek, volunteer-led Bible studies have been meeting with 4-5 youth active in each.

1. Benchmark:  Volunteers for one mid-week Bible study have been recruited and trained.  Curriculum for the study has been selected in accordance with the curriculum plan, and recruitment for youth participants has begun.

Next Steps:

i.     After the curriculum retreat, select curriculum for the Bible study in keeping with the outcomes of the curriculum retreat.

ii.     Follow Mark DeVries’ recruitment strategy to begin recruiting volunteer small group leaders.

9. 85% of Confirmands remained active in youth ministry in 9^th grade.

1. Benchmark: A mentor program that pairs 9^th graders with Confirmands under a structured program of leadership development focused on discipleship and ongoing engagement in the youth ministry has been launched.

Next Steps:

i.     Obtain rosters of 2012-2013 6^th graders and 9^th graders

ii.     Quantify what it means to be “focused on discipleship.”  (For example, mentors and mentees will meet to review the Confirmation curriculum, and both the 6^th grader and the 9^th grader will reflect on their experiences in Confirmation.)

10. 85% of 2011-12 9^th graders have been active in the youth ministry as seniors.

1. Benchmark: Youth from the high school graduation classes of 2012 and 2013 who completed confirmation, but did not remain active have been surveyed to assess their reasons for stopped involvement.  Sunday school curriculum for juniors and seniors has been changed to reflect the desire for more challenging material.

Next Steps:

i.     Create or attain lists of youth who will graduate in 2012 and 2013, who completed Confirmation, but who are no longer active in the youth ministry.

ii.     Develop a list of critical questions to ask these students, asking why they discontinued their involvement, expressing your desire that they become involved again, and thanking them for their time.

11. Programming offered youth exposure to challenging issues (_______, _______, _______) thru __________ study.  (TABLED UNTIL AFTER MARCH 2012 CURRICULUM RETREAT)

12. 5 additional youth per year have participated in at least one mission opportunity with an emphasis on service, faith, and spiritual growth.

1. Benchmark: 5 additional youth participated in one mission opportunity with an emphasis on service, faith, and spiritual growth.

Next Steps:

i.     Establish a benchmark number from last years’ mission opportunities which will serve as the gauge for the one year benchmark.  Add 5 to that number.

ii.     Make a list of active youth who did not participate in any of last years’ missions opportunities

iii.     Develop a strategy for encouraging those youth on the list from step 2 (above) to participate in one of this year’s opportunities.

13. Technology has been used daily with youth and by youth such as short scriptures and religious thoughts for the day.

1. Benchmark: A strategy for best daily use of technology in the youth ministry has been established.

Next Steps:

i.     Follow up with the youth who said, “I’ll handle it!” to ensure she has needed resources.

ii.     Thanks and encourage this youth!