I've been in youth ministry for over five years, and one of the events I always look forward to is Disciple Now weekend. If you don't know what Disciple Now is, it's a weekend retreat filled with worship, bible studies, fellowships, and mission projects. Students stay at host homes, and in some sense, it's like a weekend lock-in! I've been a part of Disciple Now weekends since I was a teenager, and I've always enjoyed how God moves in the lives of everyone who participates in them.
For the longest time, I believed Disciples Now's could only be done by individual churches, however, two years ago my mind changed after I partnered with other youth ministers in my area to put together a community Disciple Now. If you haven't tried to work with other churches to have a joint Disciple Now weekend here are five reasons why you should:
Collaboration: The old saying goes, "Two heads are better than one," is completely true. Working with a group of ministers to brainstorm ideas brings out the best in everyone. When different ideas start being pitched, everyone's creativity goes into overdrive and our students are blessed by it. Moreover, this provides an opportunity to work though weaknesses in an idea, which may not be caught when you plan by yourself.
Off-set Cost: Youth budgets are always tight, and being able to put together a quality Disciple Now can be hard when you have little money to spend. Yet, when you work together, each church is able to shoulder the burden so everyone can have a great Disciple Now. Furthermore, from my experience, when everyone gives what they can the costs are always covered. Plus, there's always extra money that can be used for next year!
Helping Smaller Churches: When I was a bi-vocational youth minister, putting together a Disciple Now was hard. Sometimes I would get invited to join with another church, but I always felt like it was their Disciple Now, not ours. When multiple churches come tougher, this provides an opportunity to help out the smaller churches that are not able to do one. Smaller churches feel valued because they were able to contribute, and don't feel consumed by one group since the Disciple Now is for everyone!
Worship: When you worship with your students, it's awesome. But when students from multiple churches come together, it changes the entire dynamic. When multiple youth groups come together it exposes your students to different styles of worship. This helps them see there's no one way to worship our God. And as an added bonus, it now gives you a chance to incorporate a new style of worship you may not have had in your youth ministry.
Kingdom Emphasis: Out of all the reasons, this is the big one because a joint Disciple Now weekend shows our churches being the Church. Students need to see Christianity goes beyond walls and intersects with everyday life. They need to see they are not the only ones living out the faith, and that there are tons of believers out there trying to live it out just like them. A joint Disciple Now weekend encourages students and shows them the Kingdom is all around them!
In the end, everyone is blessed when ministers work together. God is glorified, the Kingdom is emphasized, and what could have never been done by one is now accomplished, because a group came together. If you want to start a joint Disciple Now, but don't know where to start, please feel free to contact me anytime! So the big question is what's stopping you?
Joshua Fuentes is the student minister at Second Baptist Church in Corpus Christi, TX and works with youth and college students. He's been married for five years and has a beautiful four-year-old daughter. You can find him on Facebook or follow him @JoshuaFuentes85 on Twitter. Josh also blogs at millennialchristianity.com and contributes to youthmin.org.