In life, change is unavoidable. Kids change from children to adolescents over night. We move from season to season with very little fanfare. Products and television shows move and change as the public changes their tastes. Change happens.

In youth ministry, changes can bring about frustrations when done poorly or changes can bring about new life when carried out with care.

I read a great article this morning that compared changes within our youth ministries to changes on the hit children’s television show Blue’s Clues. No foolin’. The post was right on the money. If you are in youth ministry or you are anticipating changes within a ministry, read this article.

You probably know the scenario quite well by now. You enter a new ministry with all the gusto in the world, excited at the chance to make a difference in the lives of students (again). Not only that, but you also have another shot to share the vision God has put into your heart in a way that works for you (and seems supported by the leadership who hired you). There’s only one problem, though… the youth worker on staff before you left you some baggage that you feel needs “cleaning up.” Maybe it’s the night the student ministry meets or the person who was left in charge of the praise team. In any event, you gamble again with the concept of change, wondering what it’s going to take to put a well-needed fresh spin on things.

Perhaps the real issue, though, is if the change is as needed as we think it is. Many times in ministry we enter our latest paradigm with baggage of our own, often wanting to create our new context into the image of our old one. Other times we have been operating with an outdated model of how to do student ministry that may have worked before but won’t necessarily work again. With this in mind, the real tension lies not in the structure we’ve inherited but in the agenda of our own hearts.

Keep reading:
Getting A (Blue’s) Clue About Change