What are your hopes and dreams for 2017? You may not be one for new year’s resolutions (I’m certainly not – I have no will power at all), but the start of a calendar year is a good time to take stock of your youth or children’s work and reflect on where God is leading you.
1 Reflect on last year
Gather your team together and ask yourself some questions: What went well and should be developed further? What went well, but might be nearing the end of its life? What went badly but should be persevered with? What went badly should be stopped?
These can be tough questions to answer. It might mean facing up to the fact that a ministry we hold dear needs adapting or even stopping. It’s important to remember that our ministry is actually God’s; we shouldn’t hold things so closely that become untouchable, even in the face of evidence that suggests they need to be brought to a close.
Doing this kind of reflection helps you to work out where you should deploy your resources. It is also very helpful in discerning the new places where God is at work.
2 Decide on the new year’s priorities
Your reflection should guide the process of setting aims for the year. You should also give your team chance to share what God has put on their heart for the youth and children’s work in your church. Sift through all the possibilities and decide where God is guiding you and your team. Write these up so that everyone can have a record of what you’ve decided. This will help to inspire your team and develop ownership of the youth or children’s ministry, so that it doesn’t just fall on one person’s shoulders.
3 Take your aims to the church leadership
Getting your church leadership on board with your plans is vital, as it will mean everyone is working from the same place. Many disputes between children’s and youth workers and clergy/PCCs come from differing assumptions about the aims of the work and the roles of the worker. Make sure you’re all singing from the same hymn sheet!
4 Pray
I’ve kind of assumed that you’ll have been praying throughout this process, but make sure you lift everything up to God, praying for the plans, yourself, your team, the children and/or young people, their families and the whole body of the church. That seems a lot, but you don’t have to pray everything all at once! Keep talking with God about your work, asking him to show you where priorities are and what new thing might be coming up.
5 Ask everyone else to pray
There will be those in your congregation who can’t volunteer to help with the youth clubs or Sunday School, but who have a passion for making Jesus known to children and young people and would love to pray for you. Tell people about your aims for 2017 and ask them to join you in prayer for the work God is doing in the children, young people and families in your parish or network.
Alex Taylor is part of the Diocese of London’s youth and children’s team. He likes baking, running and supporting Bolton Wanderers. Well at the moment, he doesn’t like supporting Bolton, but he still does.