The Future for Volunteers in Student Ministry

(Contributed by Randy Johnson)

What will be needed by volunteers in student ministry as they seek to impact the lives of students? Here is a list, but I am sure it is not exhaustive. Most of what is offered below is happening now or needs to happen soon for volunteers to be the best they can be. Please consider the following as food for thought.


1. A STRONGER EMPHASIS ON CALLING
Volunteers, more than ever, will need to feel a sense of calling for what they do. They will need to feel that working with students is what God wants me to do. Ephesians 4:12, “…to prepare God’s people for the works of service...” (NIV) Implied here, is the fact that God calls and expects each of His followers to be involved in ministry. Every believer has been called by God to do his work. The only question then, is what is my ministry? I Corinthians 12:7, “Now to each man the manifestation (or gifts) of the Spirit is given for the common good.” It is clear that not only calls us to ministry, but every believer has been gifted by God for ministry and to help the church to become all that God wants it to be. It makes sense, then, that God would not call us to be his ministers, without giving each of us the ability to carry out our assigned ministries. Your church has everyone it needs to carry out it’s mission. The only problem is that some of our members have not discovered their gifts or they are unwilling to utilize them.

2. A GREATER NEED TO BE EQUIPPED FOR EXCELLENCE
Training will have to be more pointed and streamlined as the pace of life increases. There will be a higher expectation on the part of volunteers as we ask them to do more than just show up on a Sunday or a Wednesday. Therefore, training will be important but harder to implement in a busy society. Therefore, training may have to take place in the home via the internet or a DVD. On-line training is already a reality but not wide-spread.

3. A GREATER EMPHASIS ON SPIRITUAL HEALTH/FAITH DEVELOPMENT

“A healthy youth ministry doesn’t begin with ideas, but with spiritual leaders… who rely on God’s power.” - Doug Fields  

“Our conduct is a model to those we serve. If we betray that model, we betray our Lord. We are in a serious business. To be careless in our morality reveals our separateness from God.” - Brooks R. Faulkner  

“Our ministry is one marked by service to God and other people. If we are to lead youth to follow the example lived out before them, then we must follow the example Christ has given us.” - Wesley Black  

“The difference between those who are effective leaders of youth and those who are not, may simply be a difference in their habits.” - Connected, Committed, & A Little Bit Crazy  

“Set an example for the believer’s in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” I Timothy 4:12 

Dr. Jackie Wilks a writer, speaker, and teacher who lives in Shawnee, Oklahoma, says, “Volunteers will need to model Christ-like behavior for their students which would include -- goodness, kindness, gentleness, joy, love, peace, patience, faithfulness, and empathy in order to build authentic relationships with students. Students need to see these traits modeled if they are to replicate this behavior in their daily lives.” For example, being a youth leader in Bible Study is more than just teaching a lesson. For volunteers, modeling a Christian lifestyle is extremely important. Leadership with students is about conducting yourself in such a way that teenagers see the importance of God’s Word, Christian values, and the value of living in a Christ-like manner. LIfeWay coined the phrase a few years ago -- The leader is the lesson.

4. A MANDATE FOR SCREENING/TRAINING (LEGAL ISSUES) 
If your church does not have a child protection policy and a volunteer screening process, your church is in jeopardy. A Definition of Sexual Abuse - Any forced, manipulated or coerced sexual activity for the pleasure of the abuser that could include physical, verbal, or visual methods. MinistrySafe, Ft. Worth, TX (2006), www.ministrysafe.com
Why Have Churches Become Easy Targets?

• Churches are trusting. According to Richard Hammar, attorney and author of Reducing the Risk of Child Abuse in Your Church - “Churches are institutes of trust.” We usually assume that faithful members are good folks. We don’t install metal detectors at the doors of our churches. We are communities of trust and everyone assumes that most folks can be trusted. 
• Predators are not easily recognized. 
• They do not wear signs. They can slip into your church unnoticed. The usual offender is between 20 and 30 years of age. 20% of sex offenders begin their activity before the age of 18. They are often married with children. The majority of child abuse cases involve individuals who have been know for a long time. Strangers account for less than 20% of the abusers. In fact, abuse often takes place within the context of an ongoing relationship. Hammar says, “If abuse occurs in your church, a respected member will most likely be the molester. Emphasis on stranger danger will leave your church ill prepared.” 
• Churches offer ample & easy opportunity for contact with children. 
• We are always searching for volunteers. Hammar also says, “While it’s uncomfortable to even consider this, the most likely assailants include Sunday School teachers, religious educators, nursery or preschool workers, a teacher in a church operated school, camp counselors, scout leaders, adults who volunteer to transport children to church, and clergy.” 
• Other organizations have become more difficult to infiltrate. 
• With screening policies now in force for Boy Scouts, Organized Sports for children & youth, Schools, etc., the church has become the last place pedophiles can go to gain access to children. Some statistics indicate that, prior to recent screening guidelines, as many as 10% of scout leaders may have been pedophiles. When these people find out volunteer policies have been changed and that they will be screened prior to their involvement with children they will move on. 

What are the Consequences?

• Emotional, Physical, Spiritual Scars of… Children, Families, Friends 
• It almost impossible to measure the damage that occurs when a child is abused…especially when it happens through a relationship that has been established through the church. The child tends to associate the abuse with the church and all that it represents. Victims of child abuse often deal with it into adulthood and for the rest of their lives. 
• Loss of Reputation, Finances & the Ministry of the Church 
• A single incident of child abuse can devastate a church and divide the congregation. Members become outraged and bewildered; parents wonder if their own child has been victimized; programs for children/youth are jeopardized; church leaders face blame/guilt for allowing such an incident to happen; and the media can seize the opportunity to expose such an incident. Financial repercussions for churches are astronomical. Since 1994, one insurance company alone has had 800 cases of reported child abuse on file. Attorney fees for child abuse litigation could come to a half-million dollars for just one case. Only 20% of cases favor churches. Rarely do insurance policies cover all or even most of the costs. 
• Prosecution of Perpetrator 
• Consequences for convicted abusers include possible fines and/or a prison terms. In Texas, Sexual Assault of a Child is considered a 2nd Degree Felony and carries a sentence of 2 to 20 yrs. 

Steps a Church Ought to Taken:
1. Appoint a Child Protection Task Force or Committee
2. Develop a Child Protection Policy
- Two Adult Rule
- One Worker = Open Door
- Six Month Waiting Period
3. Develop a Screening Form
4. Provide Child Protection Training
5. Secure Permission and Authorization for Individual Background Checks
6. Check References Carefully
7. Keep Records and Training Up-to-Date
8. Report Suspected Abuse

Resources:

-- Reducing the Risk of Child Abuse in Your Church, 1993 Richard Hamma (www.reducingtherisk.com & DVD, 2003)
-- Church Law/Tax Report & Christian Ministry Resources, 1993 Steven W. Klipowicz, & James F. Cobble, Jr.
-- Child Abuse: Everybody’s Business (Child Abuse Prevention Coalition of Dallas, May 1996)
-- MinistrySafe, Ft. Worth, TX (2006), www.ministrysafe.com

5. AN EMPHASIS ON OWNERSHIP OF THE YM
As a youth minister, we will not be able to relate to or minister to all the students in our youth group. Even in the smallest of churches, we can’t do it all. Therefore, we will always need more workers/volunteers in youth ministry. Our goal should be to find more than just warm bodies, instead we will need folks who are willing to be trained and who see their work with students as their ministry. This means that we will need to learn how to share ownership of our youth ministry with not only our volunteers, but with parents of youth. To see our volunteers as partners in youth ministry, means that we will need to give them permission to do things that that allow them to exercise their gifts and abilities. For example, planning and conducting a retreat, mission project, social event, etc. 1 Corinthians 3:9, “For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.” 1 Corinthians 4:2, “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.”

6. A NEED FOR A MISSIONS COORDINATOR 
This generation has proven itself to have a strong desire to help and minister to others. They want hands-on mission experiences that allow them to interact with folks who need help. Someone needs to carry this banner as a part of the Student Leadership Team.

7. AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO STAY CONNECTED WITH STUDENTS
Communication is Vital - Texting, Facebook Groups, Email, Web Sites, Face-to-Face, etc. www.Dougandjonshow.com

8. A NEED TO ENCOURAGE AND EQUIP PARENTS AS SURROGATE VOLUNTEERS
Two Questions for Parents to Live with and to Answer:

• What are you doing to grow in your relationship with God? 
• What are you doing to help your children grow in their Relationship with God? 

Proverbs 22:6 "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." NIV 

Deuteronomy 6:4-7 "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." NIV 

“Let me restate the basic rule of Parenting: As God is to me--so I must be to my children. As he dealt with me--so must I deal with them. Such kindness as he has shown me, such patience and forbearing, such intolerance of sin -- these must I in turn show to those for whom I stand in the place of God. For in my children's minds a concept of God is growing, which is derived from my spouse and me, two powerful beings who gave them birth and who seem to rule over the cosmos of the home. Each time my children see a godlike attitude or action in their father or mother, the Holy Spirit will tell them, ‘Now you can understand a little better what your Father in heaven is like.’” Parents in Pain - John White, IV Press 

Plan A is the Family, Plan B is the Church = But it takes both! 

(Randy Johnson has 36 years of youth ministry experience in the local church. For the past 26 years he has served as the Student Minister at the First Baptist Church of Richardson, Texas. He and his wife, Carol, have two adult daughters.)