Priorities for a Healthy Ministry Network

You are in the desert with thousands of cows and just enough sense to keep on your horse. On a whim a you join a cattle drive for vacation and you are in way over your head.  A crusty old cowboy named Curly guides you in everything bovine.  However he gives you so much more.  He tells you the secret of life.

"One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that "

But what is the "one thing?" You ask?

"That's what you have to find out."

The scene is from the classic movie, "City Slickers" and it shares a valuable lesson for us all. We need to keep first things first in our lives and ministry.  Now when it comes to networking we too have just one thing and that is lived out in the definition of a network.

A Healthy Ministry Network includes...

a community of youth workers, students and caring adults who unite by praying together and sharing relationships, resources and strategy to reach and equip teenagers for Christ.

So how do you accomplish this "one thing"? Well through mistakes and experiences in networking youth leaders, the Network has come up with four priorities that create healthy and effective youth ministry networks.

Praying Together

Prayer is that vital connection to the God of the Universe. God calls us to abide in him and help others do the same. He unleashes his love and power through us when we pray. And Jesus modeled praying for unity so that the gospel would be shared around the world (John 17:20-23). Prayer aligns our vision with God's vision for our community. As we create a foundation of prayer in our network God will infuse His DNA into our work.

Building Relationships

Every youth leader should be given the warning "Do not do youth ministry alone!" Ministry is about building relationships that change eternity. When you do life and ministry together with other youth workers you increase your effectiveness as you sharpen and equip one another. It builds trust. And it is Biblical.  Jesus commanded us to love one another (John 15:11-15). And his plan was partnerships for Scripture says "It is better to have a partner..." (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)

Developing Strategy

How can we reach every? God has called us to discipleship. Before he left earth he said "...make disciples of all nations." (Matthew 28:18-20). Your network answers His call. Imagine if students were transformed and helping others to transformed because somebody partnered with God to reach them. It takes a plan. We need to discover what God is doing, design a plan through prayer and do it. We call it an action plan. You can call it whatever you want as long as it equips youth to reach their world.

Sharing Resources

There never seems to be enough to do what needs to be done.  That is where sharing resources turns the tables around. God gives the resources you need right in your community. Just think in your church 50%-80% of the people are already connected to youth.  They are parents, teachers, grandparents, social workers, relatives and even the teenagers themselves.  When you mobilize people in your community you will have an army of youth workers ready to influence every teenager.   And look at the youth leaders in your community, someone may have a bus, another has access to the local school, another may have trained student leaders, and then someone else has a plan.  We are better when we work together.

Doing your "One Thing."

So how is God calling you to work together with other youth leaders in your community? It is time for you to find out what that "one thing." is for your community. We want to help you through training resources at www.nnym.org/training.

You can also connect with a Network Coach to help you think through how to better develop your ministry network. Don't forget to refer to all the helpful materials here in this Training section!