On November 1, 2018 I began full-time ministry in next generation ministry! I must say I am loving it! For those of you have followed my blog, you know I have been writing about next generation ministry for over two years. You know I graduated with a doctoral degree in next generation ministry and you know I have a written a few small digital and print books on the subject.
Most “next generation pastors” are in name only. It’s not that they or their ministry to the next generation is unimportant. To the contrary, I believe their work and ministry should take some of the highest priority in church. What I mean “in name only” is that most pastors with the title “Next Generation Pastor” are simply glorified youth pastors. They are most often pastors doing the same old model of children and youth ministry, only this time wearing a different or cooler name tag.
Now, if you are doing any ministering in any capacity to and for the next generation, I can see how you would call that next generation ministry. However, that is not how I define next generation ministry. In fact, I find there are few and far between who are doing true next gen ministry. I write this not to degrade anyone involved in ministry to the next generation. If you still find yourself confused at this point, I would point you toward my first book, Next Generation Ministry and Discipleship, where I spell out what I consider true next generation ministry to be. A good follow-up is my second book, The Student Ministry Time Machine, where I move from mere next gen ministry theory to practice thereof.
Believe it or not, the intent of this post is not for me to sell more of my books. Being on the frontier of true next generation ministry, my intent is to journal my findings for you so far of full-time next generation ministry in a small church environment.
As a Next Generation Pastor, I am not expected to be at every next gen ministry event nor would it be possible for me to do so. To lead leaders who lead leaders, you must first serve! This is what Jesus did. My first order of business has not been to come in and change anything. My church’s preschool, children, youth, and college teams were already leading effective ministries. Your situation may be different and I understand. Context will differ for each us. I found it my job to add to or enhance my church’s current ministries to the next generation. My church’s ministries to the next generation have now been unified in the form of next generation ministry (“cradle to college”). Before suggesting and discussing a program or event here or there to my leaders that I think might enhance our current level of ministry activity, I thought it best to first honor all of our next gen workers and volunteers by giving them a Christmas present for all they have done this past year. Appreciation is important but so is Celebration! Thus, the next item on my agenda is to celebrate all of my next gen teams and leaders by taking them out to eat. Appreciation and Celebration are small tokens when you consider how much time the rest of the year leaders, volunteers, and workers give of themselves to the ministry.