Networking, partnership and collaboration are all common words used among youth ministers and other ministry leaders today. It seems like virtually everyone says they value networking in some form or function. Some choose to mention it in their mission statement, others list it as a core value, and some see it as a far-off goal. No matter which way you categorize networking, often times we do not make an effort to put the rhetoric aside and actually share experiences of networking that work.
Here is our story...
Last spring, our small network of youth pastors and para-church leaders in Orange County California had been meeting on a bi-monthly basis for a few years. As a network, we often conversed about the importance of modeling the Kingdom ideas found in Acts and about being part of One Body. As leaders we did our best to model this for our students, but with so much need among our own students, a relative lack of resources, and the funny probability that summer camp would become our own families vacation; doing more just wasn't on the list. Still, we had a vision for greater things…
This summer we decided we would not continue the status quo of individually doing the same things… summer camps, youth group, Sunday teaching, and hope for vacation. The Lord was steering us towards the smart cliché of working smarter, not harder.
Our network, made up of Non-Denominational, Covenant, Community, Lutheran and para-church organizations, decided we either throw in together and join forces, or stay separate and continue to stay discouraged. It was time to trust what the Lord was calling us towards and model being One Body for our students.
The plan was easy. We decided to meet at a centrally located park on Wednesday nights and share the task of ministering to our students and walk them through a weekly study on Acts. We took a few simple steps of making reservations at a park, creating an excel sheet with assignments like worship, teaching, food and games, and encouraged everyone to share in covering the responsibilities.
The summer was a huge hit! Students met students from other churches who went to their school, some had no idea they were Christians. Youth pastors felt the freedom to take vacation and trust that their students were well loved and served. Students felt free to invite their friends and some students even came just to check out what was happening. Responsibilities for meeting times felt light as sometimes your only responsibility was to love on students or adult volunteers.
As the summer came to an end, this gathering of students was truly one body; no longer divided by denominations or titles. Despite the sadness that the summer had come to an end, there was a new promise of connection and hope as students returned to their campuses. Youth pastors and youth leaders felt refreshed after a summer of fun memories with students and relaxing times with family.
Romans 5:12 says, "so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others."