Published November 18, 2016
Northridge Church, Rochester, New York
Aaron
Ministry Highlights
Our Fall-Retreat was this month, and we saw God do some things that were absolutely amazing. We dove deep into what it means to be a Cross-Bearer, and many students turned from their perception of the “happy, healthy Christian” and realized their need to be ready to sacrifice for the cause of Christ.
Our “Parent Night” was this month and was a GREAT success – we had over 80 parents attend, and they were afforded the opportunity to engage with our program night but ALSO meet their child’s SGL (Small Group Leader). This is a huge night for our mission, and we felt that God really used it and blessed our efforts in the preparation.
I had an amazing opportunity to interview some of the executive level staff at 12 Stone Church in Atlanta during a two-day trip in Georgia. This was extremely enlightening and powerfully practical for my ministry development – that is truly a spiritually motivated and thriving Church that I have lots to learn from!
We have experienced an unanticipated and unparalleled spike in attendance over the last month – from 120 to 153 in just three weeks. We are thrilled, but praying for the right kinds of systems to continue to develop that enable us to make a “small” experience for each student to be known and loved.
Key Prayer Requests
Our Pregnancy – My wife is 27 weeks along and beginning to experience some of the significant changes that come with carrying a big baby around all the time! I would love prayer for her to remain strong and encouraged and that I would be a supportive, loving and understanding husband.
Growth Push – Due to that growth spike mentioned earlier, we need prayer that our leaders and staff would be more focused than ever on knowing and loving the individual students entrusted to their care.
Family Time – Lauren’s elderly grandmother passed away this week and we are heading to the funeral. While her passing is a relief due to an extended and painful illness, we are still attending our fifth funeral in the last four years for family, and that simply gets old.
Lead Pastor Transition – Drew is still quite new to our staff, and there are lots of adjustments still to be made as a church body. I’m praying that God will continue to provide unusual and unparalleled unity around the fact that Drew is “God’s Guy” for our church.
Prominent Lessons
This week’s lesson was related to building relationships with people who are far from God. My wife and I have been slowly building a relationship with our neighbors across the street. Conveniently, they are also big Red Sox fans, and we’ve been talking about watching a game together for some time. This month, we had the opportunity to have them over for dinner and watch the game. Throughout the evening, we simply sat and listened to them tell stories about their life and experiences together as a couple – it was really enjoyable, and gave us great insight into who they are as people. The outreach strategy of our church is Pi2 – Pray, Invest, invite. Lauren and I have struggled to do this due to our lack of interaction with people who don’t know the Lord. However, this step of intentional relationship building was a GREAT REMINDER of the fact that our neighbors will spend eternity somewhere – and I want to be the person that God uses to bring them to himself.
We had an opportunity to include parents in a weekly night of programming this month, and it was a true blessing to me and my team to see what a great participation rate we had. Watching parents enjoy the fun elements of the night and engage with the serious elements of the night is EXACTLY what we were hoping would occur. The significant lesson I learned was just how obviously I am not the main discipler of the students in our ministry. We had a 30+ minute portion of the night that was dedicated to parents interacting with their child’s SGL, and the connections that were forged were beautiful to hear about later. Parents were sharing DEEP struggles about their children with the SGLs – the vast majority of which have never been shared with me and never will be! However, God is using these 35+ adults to spiritually influence our students in ways that I NEVER could – I’m so grateful that is the case! In my mind, the validity and necessity of a Small Group based Youth ministry was cemented on that Wednesday night.
I read a book called “Sustainable Youth Ministry” in which the author outlines what is necessary for a Biblical, sustainable, successful youth ministry. It was very encouraging to me especially because he is insistent that longevity and patience are two of the most essential components in successful youth ministries. Rather than expecting “larger than life” results with instant success and life-change, he advocates for carefully planned, well-structured, well-funded and generationally-staffed youth ministry that measures success in decades. This is a great reminder for me in the midst of some awesome “short-term” success that we’re experiencing. It would be easy to think that we have found some “magic formula” that makes Youth Ministry work, but the reality is that we are simply doing our best to please God and the tangible results are presently easy to see – that does not mean, however, that we are producing long-term results that will impact students years from now. Only time will tell and grace will produce the results we hope for!
This month I had a unique opportunity to be down in Atlanta, Georgia interviewing and meeting with the staff of 12 Stone Church. They are one of the largest churches in the nation, and their ministry is thriving in a number of different ways. I’m thankful for the influence they had on me during my time there this week, and I learned quite a bit about myself, ministry, leadership and youth ministry in particular.
However, my significant lesson was related to my pride. Being in an environment like that where things are going so well, it is easy to get DEFENSIVE about suggestions or ideas that they have because I could take it as an “attack” on what we’re doing at our church. However, I needed to learn to be EXCITED about what God is doing at this incredible ministry, and to take their suggestions or ideas as just that – suggested ways that our ministry could improve and become more effective in our culture. It is only pride that would drive a student to be DEFENSIVE about the coaching of a teacher. I need to be more secure in who God has made me to be and what He has called me to do, rather than feeling that I would have to “measure up” to a different church.
Key Goals for the Next Month
Family Time – I will have two extended opportunities to be with family in the course of this month. I would like to ensure that I leave my responsibilities behind and not allow them to stress me out while I’m with my family (which doesn’t happen as much as we’d like).
Complete PT701 – I have done all the work, I’m just finalizing the project submission stuff! I need to get that done.
Begin the Paperwork for PT702 – This is due on January 1, and I don’t want to wait until the last minute on this one.
Submit Proposal for PT704 – I have proposals for all the rest of my projects submitted, but I need to get this last one rolling.
Lauren
Ministry Highlights
We had our Fall Retreat this month and it was amazing! We had almost 100 students come (a record) and God did some amazing things in the kids hearts. I love watching our adult leaders interact with the students and also my husband as he passionately preaches the Word of God.
We reached an all-time attendance record during our weekly program this month. So encouraging to see God working in our ministry and watch students invite their friends to come!
Key Prayer Requests
My grandmother passed away this month. She is my last living grandparent, making five family funerals in the last four years for Aaron and me. Pray for emotional strength and that we would continue to believe the Lord knows best.
Pray for Aaron as the holidays are busy times for our church, and his involvement increases while his work days decrease (due to taking off time to be with family)
Prominent Lessons
As our baby grows inside of me, there are always new physical and emotional lessons to learn. I was pretty nervous going into our Fall Retreat as this was our first youth trip during pregnancy. I wasn’t sure how I would cope physically, how my sleeping would be affected, and how that all would have an impact on my emotional stability as I tried to spiritually impact the students around me. Instead of worrying about it, I learned to just take it one step at a time, one hour at a time, and one day at a time and do the best that I could. I took breaks if I needed them, I sat out on physical activities if I needed to, but then really gave it my all when I could – in the band, leading small group, eating meals with the kids, cheering from the sidelines, etc. I thought I would be judged for the things I couldn’t do, but it was quite the opposite. I found people to be tremendously understanding and even encouraging of me taking breaks, and the student especially loved using the excuse that “Lauren’s pregnant, she can’t do that.” It was cute. I also remembered that like always, God gives me the strength to do exactly what he’s called me to do. He is ever faithful.
Key Goals for the Next Month
I would like to take one girl out to coffee this month.
We will have our group of 15 Student Leaders over for lunch this month.
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