When I first started in Youth Ministry, another Youth Pastor called me up one day and invited me to coffee with a couple of other people. That gathering started a larger gathering and for a few years up to 15 youth pastors/parachurch workers in the area got together once a month to just talk ministry and life. The people at these gatherings changed constantly, as people came into and left ministry in the area. Out of that initial gathering, a group of us started a monthly event for our youth. There were three of us that started that monthly event. Two of those guys left ministry within the year. Three other guys came on board. Little did we know what God was doing.
Over the course of a few years, our friendships grew from just hanging out at youth events, to hanging out whenever we could get together...not just to plan youth events together. It was probably my favorite time in ministry, hands down. Then two of the guys left ministry. One moved away, one needed to be out of ministry for awhile for a multitude of reasons. People came in, things changed and in the end, there is only one of us ministering to youth in the area still...though I work for him now, so technically I'm still in a type of ministry! Ha!
Today, three of the four of us got together for lunch. It was good, relaxing and fun. Driving home, it occurred to me, that during that time in ministry, when the four of us gathered regularly to talk and pray together, I was at my most positive and productive. I was energized and excited to do ministry and probably the most effective as well. Which got me to thinking. What would happen if churches required their leaders to be in a fellowship of other church leaders regularly? Would it help to ease burnout if church leaders had groups of people from outside their church but in ministry to talk with and laugh with and be real with? Would it change things if we made church leaders connecting with church leaders a big deal? Or would that just become a chore? Another meeting to go to? Something else to run?
I have no answers. I'm just thinking out loud.
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