The Youth Ministry Meeting Makeover w/ Kate Downing

Ever wondered if there's a way to make meetings less painful and more productive? Kate Downing pulls back the curtain on what makes ministry team gatherings work—or fail spectacularly.

Returning guest Kate Downing shares practical strategies for transforming team meetings from dreaded time-wasters into valuable, engaging experiences that build team culture and advance ministry goals.

Kate's Great Tips
• Starting meetings with celebration time (20-30 minutes) focused on relationship building and recognizing God's work
• Using language like "what are you praising God for" instead of "wins" to avoid creating competition
• Creating and sharing detailed meeting agendas that serve as both roadmaps and historical records
• Incorporating professional development through theological training and guest experts
• Maintaining focus on relevant topics while knowing when to take detailed discussions "offline"
• Ending meetings 15 minutes early for "15 minutes of fun" as a built-in reward
• Applying similar meeting principles when developing student leaders
• Setting clear start and end times to respect everyone's schedules
• Using collaborative note-taking systems that allow everyone access before and after meetings

Join us for Season 7 of the Youth Ministry Booster Podcast where you'll hear from Kate and other great leaders as we talk about what it means to fly fair and fast in youth ministry.

Transcript

Airplane Mode Confessions

Speaker 1 0:19

A snap In my heart. But I also really appreciate the little song that you sang. I'd like that to always be my intro.

Speaker 2 0:25

Well, I mean, you brought the overalls because we're going to go to work. We're going to go to work today on the podcast, we're going to talk about meetings, but before we talk about meetings, we need to talk about what brought us here today. But, like, literally brought us here today. Oh, let's talk about it. We still got the white backdrop. We actually in Nashville. We are indeed About to go to a conference with some friends, and so we want to stop by the Lifeway Studios see our friend Donnie hang out a little bit. We love talking. We're excited for Season 7 of Youth Entry Booster, so Amanda and I are going to record some videos that'll be a part of the coaching stuff that happens inside the community. But we all decided, hey, we got to end up in Chattanooga, why don't we fly through Nashville together? But then I learned we flew on different planes. We arrived about the same time.

Speaker 1 1:05

We did, and I'm glad that we did yeah.

Speaker 2 1:07

Because I learned that you don't follow the FAA guidelines of turning airplane mode on your phone. Danger alert. Danger Will Robinson, Kate Downing. Please tell me why you don't and what you think won't happen by abiding by these very strict and important safety procedures.

Speaker 1 1:29

Here's the thing, zach, and I think you can tell this because I'm wearing overalls. I am a rule follower, I don't break a lot of rules, I don't live on the edge.

Speaker 2 1:41

So I truly Okay In most things yeah.

Speaker 1 1:43

So I truly am taken aback.

Speaker 2 1:46

Oh.

Speaker 1 1:46

I am shocked that you, a much cooler person than me, you can tell because you're not wearing overalls.

Speaker 2 1:51

Oh, I'm not wearing overalls. Yeah, at leisure, actually, that you do, in fact, turn airplane mode on I, they stand up and recite the code of how to buckle your belt.

Speaker 1 2:09

Are you at attention? Yeah, hand over heart.

Speaker 2 2:11

No, you pay attention when they say the safety pledge at the front of the plane. It is important that all eyes are on them.

Speaker 1 2:19

Yes, absolutely. I will tell you, I do watch them because I just feel like these people. It's like it's like in youth ministry, when you get on a stage and no one is paying attention to you.

Speaker 2 2:27

You feel for them, yeah, and I'm like oh.

Speaker 1 2:29

I will be the most invested audience.

Speaker 2 2:31

member Overcommit.

Speaker 1 2:32

I am in this with you Now. Do I put it on airplane mode no?

Speaker 2 2:35

So you just let your phone emit signal amidst both takeoff and landing, potentially interfering the pilot's radio signals. That could jeopardize the whole flight.

Speaker 1 2:46

I feel as though I am not powerful enough.

Speaker 2 2:49

It's not about what you can do. It's about what you didn't do.

Speaker 1 2:54

You know, I've heard a lot of theories that they only make you do that, because if there is an emergency, then you're focused and you're not distracted by your phone.

Speaker 2 3:02

So we're just going with conspiracies. Let me guess Sasquatch, sasquatch, sasquatch also real, like just yeah. What other cryptids do you live by? I?

Speaker 1 3:09

mean why not? Oh wow, I don't know, zach. Did we land on the moon, did we not? Oh my gosh yeah. Good questions.

Speaker 2 3:15

The water that I haven't touched isn't wet.

Speaker 1 3:17

Yeah right, Not on airplane mode To debunk To be able to be debunking these myths.

Speaker 2 3:23

If someone's sitting next to me saying craziness, I've got to make sure that my phone has internet connectivity.

Speaker 1 3:30

For the research, for the part of the flight that you're like randomly in the middle, you just start getting text messages. Well, you don't know this. I don't know this.

Speaker 2 3:35

No, it's like a little gift. No, listen, listen, I invite. But even if you have the free Wi-Fi because you're a Southwest A-list member, there's something about having your phone off, just that little gift of your phone off during a flight where all you get to enjoy is what you've already downloaded, because you were a planner.

Speaker 2 3:53

I do that the photos that you've taken because you're nostalgic. You just start scrolling through photos. I look at photos of my boys just growing up. Every flight is just this little nostalgia walk of like they've gotten so big. And then it's whatever. Spotify you have to download, which is always the most random songs, because you download playlists which are not entire albums.

Speaker 1 4:12

Yeah Well, most of my downloads are Dateline episodes, wow.

Speaker 2 4:17

How far back do they go? If you want to know what I'm listening, if you ever see me on a plane.

Speaker 1 4:22

You better believe. My phone's not in airplane mode and I am listening to a Dateline podcast.

Speaker 2 4:26

Okay, we're learning about each other and I love it so much.

Speaker 2 4:30

One of the things that we wanted to bring you back to talk about one we shared this summer. We're excited about the book, but this fall season for a lot of folks is the return to rhythm. Good or bad, fight or flight, we are back in rhythm, and one of the things that comes with rhythm is meetings, and so one of the things that I know about you is, in your new role, you have gone from being a part of many meetings to now running many meetings, and I just want to get a little wisdom from you, katie, or maybe like what you've learned, what you've implemented, because one of the things that I know is that there's nothing worse than being in a meeting where you felt like we did not need this meeting. Oh yeah, and you are responsible for many other youth ministry friends' time yeah, and I got to believe that the army of a dozen or so folks that if you were to waste their time, they would rise up against you. They would, and so I want to hear how you like quell the insurgents. Yeah.

Speaker 1 5:20

Yeah, I think they would burn my house down, they would just not show up. Yeah, yeah, that's awesome.

Speaker 2 5:24

Or they would get their phones out and they would start looking yeah.

Speaker 1 5:26

Not on airplane mode. Let me show you.

Speaker 2 5:28

Okay, rule number one Next meeting you have initiate airplane mode.

Speaker 1 5:32

Okay, that I would actually get passionate about.

Speaker 2 5:33

Yeah, airplane meeting. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 5:35

I do make everybody close their laptops.

Speaker 2 5:45

Oh, okay, no, let's talk. Okay, so you're having a meeting. Y'all meet how often? With whole teams, smaller teams, like we've all got different. We've got some of the meetings we go to, some of the meetings we plan. Yeah, what are some of the routines or rhythms of meetings that you would encourage others to consider?

Speaker 1 5:55

Yeah, so our kind of church structure is we meet as a central is what we call it but basically all of our student pastors from every campus gather together once a week.

Speaker 2 6:06

Once a week, okay.

Speaker 1 6:07

So Tuesday mornings catch me 9-15. Okay, we're meeting together.

Speaker 2 6:11

Like locked in. It's like don't make other plans. This is when we're doing this Okay. You build other things around that, because that time's a little bit sacred, yeah it is.

Speaker 1 6:19

It is Now. Obviously we're flexible based on our church and other things that need to happen. So we got an internship interview happening next week.

Speaker 2 6:27

So we're not going to meet for our student meeting because that takes priority. But don't plan a coffee meeting with a friend or a volunteer during that time, because it's important, absolutely so.

Speaker 1 6:35

9-15, tuesday mornings we're meeting together, so that's every student pastor from all of our campuses, and we get the chance to just spend some time celebrating the things that God's doing, because I think that's super important.

Speaker 2 6:45

Celebrating is huge. I do think that that's if you don't hear anything else. If your meeting is just what's next and not what has been. You're missing out on at least a third of what can be good in a meeting. So I love it. That's off the top. Yeah, that's what you're starting with. Love it, okay.

Speaker 1 7:06

I also think it's a piece that we tell our small group leaders to like do highs and lows or roses and thorns or whatever, because if you get somebody talking in the first place, they're more likely to keep talking when you're talking about the actual like more serious things, little warm up drills, yeah. So sometimes our celebration part. I call it our check in time. So sometimes I try to mix it up, so sometimes it's celebrating like a win from that week.

Speaker 2 7:25

Yeah.

Speaker 1 7:26

Sometimes I have them pair up and we do something called an up in and out.

Speaker 2 7:29

Oh, okay.

Speaker 1 7:30

Which is how's your relationship with God so up?

Speaker 2 7:32

Love it.

Speaker 1 7:33

How's your emotions, your heart?

Speaker 2 7:35

your relationship with yourself.

Speaker 1 7:37

You're in and then how's your out? How are your outside relationships, your marriage, your closest friendships?

Speaker 2 7:42

Peer group yeah, outside relationships, your marriage your closest friendships Peer group yeah, yeah, how are you doing? Also important to talk about having friends outside of the church. That's a reality. Sorry, that's a separate conversation. We'll come back. We'll circle back. But I love that it's a different. Again, a third dimension it's not always just high and low, but maybe a little more 360 view of stuff.

Speaker 2 7:59

Okay. Well, and the pairing up too. That's one time. Depending on the size of the meeting, it can be a little like talk in front of the whole group. Hey, how are you doing in front of people that you may not be comfortable sharing all of who you are? I'd like to pair up.

Speaker 1 8:13

That's nice, that's a good value of time and I think it gives an opportunity. Like you know, we'll pray together and just check in with each other. And it's just a cool. It's a cool you know, kind of discipleship moment to take in that meeting. So I think that time is obviously very, very valuable.

Speaker 2 8:27

So I don't want to waste it. Is it 20 minutes, 30 minutes, Like if you were going to like give it a bumper? How long is that time of the meeting?

Speaker 1 8:34

So usually 20 to 30, the first kind of section of the meeting we dedicate Significant portion, yeah. It's that relationship building. It's that relationship building. It's that unifying. It's the setting your attention back on the Lord. We're about to talk about a lot of details. Let's set the tone for the meeting first.

Speaker 2 8:50

Can I ask a sidebar question? Maybe don't name names if it makes folks uncomfortable Is sometimes and I say this as someone that used to work at a church that the celebration time was codenamed God sightings, and so sometimes it became a little bit of like one-upsmanship, of like I just really saw God move in this way and like three people down they'd be like I actually saw God move in an even bigger way. Do you ever feel like the celebration time because you have multiple folks from multiple campus experiences and I could imagine for a youth minister meeting with their volunteers, does that ever feel competitive or has that ever become an issue? I'm just trying to think through some of the ways in which celebration could go sour and I feel like one-upsmanship might be that I don't know if that's been true or no.

Speaker 2 9:39

Well, you know I think I've been a part of meetings like that before for sure. Did you ever play into it at all? Like, maybe you were like, yeah, like he said this. So ah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 9:45

Or you know there are. There are those weeks where you're like everything went bad. Yeah, and nothing I all I can think of is how I messed up the response moment and how we didn't have enough check-in people and how the pizza was late.

Speaker 1 9:57

But I'm so glad you had all these kids and this great thing. So I do think there can be that competitive nature to it. But I would say with the team I have right now some really good hearts in that. But one of the kind of language pieces that I try to use is I try to actually not use the word win Because again, that does feel a little Because if there's winners then there's an implied losers. It's a little more competitive. Some people are motivated by the competition.

Speaker 2 10:23

I am not.

Speaker 1 10:24

That is not a motivator for me, so I try to use the language of like what's something you are praising God for, and so what's something that you are?

Speaker 2 10:31

really thankful to the Lord for, and so that way maybe it can be couched in. Hey, I'm thankful that I had some volunteers, that they showed up. No one got sick this week.

Speaker 1 10:42

Yeah, yeah, so it doesn't always have to be. You know, 27 kids got saved.

Speaker 2 10:44

Yeah, you know, we 28 at our campus, exactly no one's counting.

Speaker 1 10:49

Exactly.

Speaker 2 10:49

We're counting yeah.

Speaker 1 10:50

But I think, like that heart, setting that heart out of like, hey, what are we grateful to the Lord for doing? This isn't about you. Yeah, you can come and go. That work.

Speaker 2 11:00

Okay, well, speaking of coming and going, we celebrate, and then is it old business, new business, like I'm trying to think through ways in which, in a youth ministry mindset, it wouldn't just feel like how does the meeting, how do you get to?

Speaker 1 11:17

the meat of the meeting, like is there like a set agenda, or how does that look? Yeah, so I love an agenda, because I also amen.

Speaker 2 11:21

By the way, yeah, I actually don't think you're ready to have a meeting until you have an agenda, because what were you going to talk about?

Speaker 1 11:25

Sorry, that's a word, well, and some people can keep their agenda in their brain.

Speaker 2 11:29

Yeah, but this is a team meeting. We should all get to know Amen.

Speaker 1 11:32

But let me tell you what I can do.

Speaker 2 11:33

Okay.

Celebrating Wins Without Competition

Speaker 1 11:34

I cannot lead something and be thinking and processing and taking notes and think and think okay, wait, what time did that?

Speaker 2 11:42

Does that event start that I need to remind them about? No way I'm going to remember that stuff. You've got to have a checklist.

Speaker 1 11:46

Yes, so if you want the logistics of how we do it, I create an outline of our meeting agenda. Okay, so it's pretty similar each week.

Speaker 2 11:54

Okay, now we change the pieces of it, so it's why you know the check-ins look different Sometimes up and announce and a database system basically so like google drive or one drive or whatever drop box folder kind of thing, yeah, okay uh, so I save that so they can access it before the meeting. There's a record before and after.

Speaker 1 12:16

Yep, and they can they can kind of watch me take notes in it while are you also the note taker?

Speaker 2 12:21

is that kind of do you delegate out, or is that part of your facilitation? Is the one that is the note taking?

Speaker 1 12:26

I I take notes because it helps me remember, so it's helpful for me to take the notes that I want to keep track of, then that document obviously gets written, gets remembered. Exactly so that gets saved, so then they can access it later. Their campus pastors or their leads can access that later.

Speaker 2 12:44

Good receipt of time.

Speaker 1 12:45

Exactly. So I'm not having to answer 27 text messages later saying, hey, wait, what time does that event start? And I can say, hey, just check on our meeting agenda, it's written on there for you, it's actually written down.

Speaker 2 12:55

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 12:57

So that for me is really helpful.

Speaker 2 12:59

So I love an agenda. So in the agenda part, in the meat of the meeting, are you kind of doing calendar bits or is there like issues based stuff or what are some of the components that maybe move in and out of that the meat of the meeting?

Speaker 1 13:11

Yeah, yeah. So one of the pieces that I love, that we we do kind of at the top, so the first half of the meeting to me feels like relationship building kind of check-ins and then how can we get better, like how can we? Do some development. And so this fall, we jokingly call it the fall of the fall of doctrine which sounds negative. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but basically we're taking the fall to talk through some specific aspects of doctrine. What do we believe and why do we believe?

Speaker 1 13:39

it, we teach it to our students, but are we confident?

Speaker 2 13:42

Do we understand the deeper things? A little workshop sharpening.

Speaker 1 13:45

Yeah, okay, so we're going through soteriology right now. We're talking about the doctrine of salvation. We're talking about what faith and justification, all these things that we teach, but maybe we haven't taken time to really dive into the details Instead of just putting it in the envelope and assuming and hoping yeah. Yeah, and it's been A lot of folks do.

Speaker 2 14:02

A lot of folks are like hey guys, we're going to talk about what it means to be saved this week and everybody, just Everybody, just nods and you're like let's open it up and see what's inside. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 14:10

So we take about 30 minutes and we walk through like a couple of different pieces of whatever you know theology. We're looking at that day whatever piece of doctrine and we discuss it and I'll try to throw questions out of like, yeah, but you have a student who doesn't believe that, or you have a kid that doesn't understand that. How do you explain this to?

Speaker 2 14:27

them.

Speaker 1 14:28

And just let them give each other wisdom across the board. Hey, how do you explain?

Speaker 2 14:32

sin A little role play Finneyman technique yeah.

Speaker 1 14:35

Yeah, and that's really fun. It's been such a gift to us. Now sometimes we'll bring in like another staff member. So we had our executive pastor come in a couple of months ago and talk with us about grief counseling, Like how do I get the call in the middle of the night? How do I go make a hospital visit? How do I sit with a family, what does that look like?

Speaker 1 14:55

And so that was really helpful because that was a needed thing in that season for our team, so bringing in some other staff members who are experts in their area to speak to the 27 different things that we do as student ministers.

Speaker 2 15:07

Yeah, that's right 28, but that's numbers counting Yep exactly. No, but that's such a good thing because I think the value add part makes it enriching. Sometimes people will use either like videos or like have like a chapter of a book for like book club stuff.

Speaker 1 15:20

Absolutely but.

Speaker 2 15:20

I love the value bringing other voices Like that. Sometimes meetings can feel really insulated. So that's one of the reasons the stories of celebration gratitude are good to hear from others, but maybe you aren't seeing or hearing. But then also to see that there's other folks in your church, even if it's like lay folks from your church that are really gifted in administration or leadership.

Speaker 2 15:39

There's got to be a business owner in your church that would have a lot of insight for both your staff and volunteer team, or even your student leadership team, like that's one of the things we'll get to the end of this conversation talking about, like the ways in which this trickles down, and because this is, I think, a skillset of leadership. As much as meetings are painful and maybe you grit your teeth, but part of what meetings should do is make our work better and make us better or feel better about the work that we're doing. So, okay, is that, is that something you're asking ahead of time, months in advance, or like? Is that like scheduled out as well, or is that kind of just? Is that get to be pivoted or a component, just depending on what you need?

Speaker 1 16:21

Yeah, I think it's kind of taken a couple of different forms over the last year, so right now I would say the fall we know.

Speaker 2 16:27

So you kind of build it out.

Speaker 1 16:31

Yeah would say the fall. We know it's kind of build it out. Yeah, but in other seasons, like you know, we just unfortunately walked through a season of a lot of tragedies with some of our our students and their families, and so I said, you know what? We need somebody to come train us on what this looks like and how to how to lead a funeral, and I mean just so many different pieces to that. So we scheduled out some different people to come in to speak to that yeah, in particular.

Speaker 1 16:49

So I think there's flexibility in it of what's needed in that time but, some type of value add? I just think is really helpful in those meetings.

Building Meeting Agendas That Work

Speaker 2 16:57

And then onto the business of stuff. Is that stuff calendar? Is that stuff like? I mean, again, ministry moves in weeks, so how many weeks are you talking? Is it that week and the next? Is it this week, next week and the next 30 weeks, like, what does that look like?

Speaker 1 17:14

as far as the scope of a weekly meetings conversation, yeah, yeah, so I try to make sure that we are enough weeks out. That's not a really great answer of numbers, but enough weeks out that nothing's taking us by surprise. That's kind of my mindset on it. So that we're thinking about and talking about two or three events ahead. So we'll kind of in that next sort of section again, I think, in like an outline of my agenda and then in that next section we talk through important info and so that can be an upcoming.

Speaker 1 17:44

you know, like many of us just walk through promotion Sunday or launch Sunday.

Speaker 2 17:48

What does that look?

Speaker 1 17:48

like for you.

Speaker 2 17:49

How's it going, do you?

Speaker 1 17:51

have enough volunteers for all of your small groups and talking through that. But weeks ahead of time of okay, are you planning this? Are you thinking through it? So upcoming events that are happening. We'll talk through sermon content. So, hey, what are we talking about the next day?

Speaker 1 18:07

So, on Wednesday. But then what are we talking about the next week, so that there is a refresher the day before and then also like thinking ahead toward what are we talking about in terms of sermon content? What illustrations are you using? What ideas do you have A really great way to kind of get some group think? In what can often be siloed, so that's a piece of that too.

Speaker 2 18:29

I love that, because that is bringing in some of the other work that we have to the work that we have in the meeting, and I think sometimes that's where I think the meeting can feel a little bit stifled or stagnant is that we're just talking about things that we were going to do, and that's always what makes me anxious is that a lot of times, meetings are like okay, we have all this stuff to do and I'm like, well then, let's stop meeting and go like like end it, end it and let's go work.

Speaker 2 18:53

But if you can bring some of the work into that, if there is now that's a danger, though, and because sometimes some people that the work is just the responsibility of two or three will make it the meeting that 13 people are in, and so have you. How do you handle some? I know, because you guys organize larger events and kind of sub teams across your team. At what point do you like kind of like, hey, let's spin that off into something else, so that way, what these two folks need to get done doesn't occupy the time of eight other people. Yeah, I don't know if you've been in those. I will never forget being in a church meeting where they were discussing how they were going to structure the parking lot for the next event, because they wanted to have the most cars possible.

Speaker 2 19:36

I was like I don't even know if I'm involved with this event, and this is a 25 minute conversation that I'd like to leave.

Speaker 1 19:43

I do not so.

Speaker 2 19:44

I got into the bathroom. I did. That was a self-initiated bathroom break.

Speaker 1 19:48

I was like I need this. I need to put myself in airplane mode.

Speaker 2 19:52

You just made it really easy for me to be like, okay, I'll be right back. I came back, but yeah so there are ways that you, as a facilitator for the meeting, can be like. That sounds great. Let's have you two talk about it later, or how do you handle some?

Speaker 1 20:03

of those you know I'm sure I don't do that perfectly by any stretch of the imagination.

Speaker 2 20:06

So let me be honest about that.

Speaker 1 20:08

But you know I try to be spotted Truly. I try to have somebody elbow me. But I try to be that. That's kind of why I want to be as planned as I can go in so that we don't get sidetracked by the details and say, ok, hey, let's, let's talk about that offline. I hate that phrase because I love that phrase.

Speaker 2 20:27

Ok, good, I love that because it doesn't make sense when we're in person. That's true as someone that lives on Zoom meetings. There are Zoom phrases that we say in real life, but I got to believe if I was in a. Again, when we're on a Zoom call, it's oh, we'll talk about that offline or off cam or whatever, but I can't imagine sitting at a table being like that's great, kate, let or whatever. But I can't imagine sitting at a table being like that's great, kate, let's talk about that offline and we're just like we're not even IRL.

Speaker 2 20:55

Wow, it's true. Also the people that like double click things. I just it's a lot. It's a lot People double click things.

Speaker 1 21:03

What do you mean, hey?

Speaker 2 21:04

let's go ahead and double click on that Wait somebody says that oh my friend.

Speaker 1 21:09

People say that phrase.

Speaker 2 21:10

It is in the jargon and it is troubling. People will double click an idea as if it was on some imaginary screen in front of all of us. Again, it comes from a Zoom era where people will be like, hey, scroll down to that, click on that. But I've heard pastors preach in a way that I feel like they've used phrases like let's double click on this big idea. It's like the new unpack, it's like let's unpack this idea even though that idea was not ziplocked at all.

Speaker 1 21:36

Yeah, oh my gosh, there's so many phrases I don't understand.

Speaker 2 21:41

But I do know 6, 7, and 41.

Speaker 1 21:44

So. I know the teenage lingo. Well, you got it. You got it, you're good, you're good.

Speaker 2 21:48

Thank you, so good.

Speaker 1 21:50

Well, I would say that one of the pieces to keeping it on track is that before big events so you've come and even sat in on some of our meetings before.

Speaker 2 21:58

Oh, I have. Yeah, yeah, again, part of the reason you're here is I've watched, appreciated the process and also wanted for you to share with folks.

Speaker 1 22:05

Yeah, so we'll we'll schedule in some particular meetings where, uh where it is valuable for people to get into the details of their area.

Speaker 2 22:12

Okay.

Making Meetings Valuable and Fun

Speaker 1 22:12

Because and we'll call them crosstalk meetings, because what you know Allie is talking about when it comes to check in affects what Darren is talking about when it comes to opening doors for the worship service.

Speaker 2 22:22

Yes. Yeah, so they need to know and it matters, it does matter, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 22:26

Across the board who's doing what, when and where. But trying to like schedule those in, I think, is a big piece of that. So we don't get caught in our normal weekly meetings.

Speaker 2 22:33

Well, because someone who maybe is behind or is just really determined may overshadow what everybody else is feeling and that can help it squelch some voices. So okay, so we get through the business of the business. Yeah, how do you know when to cut it off? Is it, is it again the agenda set a tie, like? Is it like the clock runs out and we're like we got to move on? Or how do we get out of a meeting?

Speaker 1 22:55

How do we get out Amen? So, uh, we do. The lights are turning off, I guess, so we have a set in time for this meeting, and everybody's aware of that. Now, granted, are there some times where we go a few minutes over. Sure, it does happen, but target time but yeah, absolutely, and within like five minutes. Like the goal is that we're not going to go longer than that.

Speaker 2 23:21

It's not start at 9.15 and we go until we're done.

Speaker 1 23:23

Yes, oh yeah, no, that just think a way. Yeah, part of my job is to steward their time, like you're saying, and so I want to do that. Well, yeah.

Speaker 2 23:34

Because a lot of them are then trying to go to lunches at schools, or they're trying to go get a lunch with a volunteer.

Speaker 1 23:38

Yeah, so we have a hard stop time. One of my favorite things to do, though, is my goal is that we actually in the meeting 15 minutes or so before our end time. Love that, and then we do something I like to call 15 minutes of fun.

Speaker 2 23:54

Okay, and so it's.

Speaker 1 23:55

sometimes it ends up being eight minutes because we go along, but the goal is the end of the meeting is fun.

Speaker 2 23:59

Yeah.

Speaker 1 23:59

As opposed to most meetings where you just feel kind of beaten down and you're like I should have a to-do list.

Speaker 2 24:03

Well, there it was it. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 24:05

So I'll try to plan a game that we play together. Okay, and it can be like a, the goal for it being hey, this is an idea for a game you could play on a Wednesday night with your students. Okay, or something fun.

Speaker 2 24:15

Or in a small group or something. Yeah, makes us, makes it be silly.

Speaker 1 24:21

You know whatever, all the silly kind of things. So just very bottle flipping, yeah, I mean just silly stuff but that way it gets people like excited again and a little less dreary at the end and moving and up and moving. Yeah, and it forces us cause they want to do it. So it forces us to stay on time because they're trying to get there. There's a reward.

Speaker 2 24:38

There's a little built in reward at the end of a meeting run. Yeah, that's good, that's good. Well, I love the idea that, again, youth ministry is unique, but the chance to play together. Like I think some folks would just bottle that up and save it for like a staff retreat or for like a staff fun day after a busy season. But to have built in to the weekly rhythm of meeting that like no, there's a reward of fun.

Speaker 2 25:02

There's a thing that we're doing. We used to do it sometimes with Zoom meetings. We would do little sketch offs or like that was the way we like who had the best picture of either some idea from the meeting, or like one person would pick on somebody, like everybody do a sketch of Kate or whatever, and then you got to pick which one was like the best sketch of you. That was a fun Just trying to like anything to engage because I think so many times.

Speaker 2 25:24

It's really easy to like just kind of drone out, tune out and wait for your turn to talk.

Speaker 2 25:30

And you miss out on the collaboration that's supposed to be there and that's probably, I guess, maybe, if you want to dig into the memory banks of stuff when you're in meetings that you aren't in charge of, because I think that's a lot of us too charge of, Because I think that's a lot of us too A lot of us serve most of us probably serve in some kind of capacity where we are in a meeting that we did not plan and we did not run. Do you have any or want actually actually want, yes? Do you have any wisdom for how to stay engaged or try to offer to be as collaborative as possible to make the most of how do you make the most of a bad meeting?

Speaker 2 26:04

Yeah, yeah, without telling the person it's a bad meeting this is a terrible meeting.

Speaker 1 26:09

You know, I think some of it. My tendency in those moments when it's a bad meeting is to start just doing work, which I tell my team all the time. I'm the chief sinner among us that I have done work during meetings.

Speaker 2 26:19

Not my meeting Time to email. Yeah, let me send these text messages.

Speaker 1 26:22

Let me do these things that I need to do. It's not study hall, Right?

Speaker 2 26:24

right right.

Speaker 1 26:26

But I think, when I can understand that, even if it is parking lot conversations, okay, god's given me a voice, he's given me a perspective, if I have a perspective, on it.

Speaker 2 26:36

Sometimes I just don't Okay, thank you, because I was like there are some that you're just like either way, either way either way, yeah, yeah, yeah, truly, y'all sound way more invested than I could ever be.

Speaker 1 26:49

Yeah, Truly do not care, and sometimes being quiet is the most helpful thing because I'm not wasting everybody's time with my dumb opinion about a parking spot that I don't know anything about.

Speaker 2 26:52

That matters a lot to them. That matters a lot to them.

Speaker 1 26:54

But I think there are some times when I do engage or, you know, do think through like what's actually being talked about as opposed to what I need to. You know, wish I was doing instead of sitting in this meeting, that there are oftentimes, when ideas do come to my mind that I think well, hey, what if we tried this or what?

Speaker 1 27:10

about that that do end up being beneficial to the team as a whole, and so to trust that there is some reason why the Lord has us all in this room together, and let me be willing to use my voice in a moment that might be helpful, and also be willing to be quiet, because I think a lot of people struggle with always wanting their voice to be heard.

Speaker 2 27:28

Especially in leadership roles. Absolutely.

Speaker 1 27:30

Yeah.

Developing Student Leaders Intentionally

Speaker 2 27:36

Tell us a little bit, because one of the areas of leadership that matters for every ministry of every size is the ways in which we are raising up, equipping, training, preparing the next generation of leaders, and we've got a lot of students that are in key club and student council, student government, or they're captains or vice presidents of teams or boards or organizations. What are some of the ways in which you, through ministry work, try to enrich student leaders? Because I think sometimes people will have like a monthly or quarterly student leader gathering that may be a little more worship infused or maybe a little more spiritually enriched, but there's probably also some business or conversation to be had or done. What are some ways in which what you've learned from office life and ministry that you wanted to implement or share with teenagers in leadership roles?

Speaker 1 28:20

Yeah, well, I think, some of those same ideas that let's make, whatever this meeting is going to be whatever it is, make it be Whatever it is Make it valuable, and so you know. Let there be an opportunity for students to celebrate what God is doing or how they're seeing God work, or you know if they're part of a serve team that they're, you know, on the hello team.

Speaker 1 28:38

They're hanging out with kids during kids ministry. They are whatever service area they might be serving in. We'll give them a chance to celebrate that with other students to say hey this is what I'm learning.

Speaker 1 28:48

This is how I'm seeing God work and move. Give them an opportunity to speak into sermon, prep planning for events in your ministry. Give them buy-in to that. Have fun, Do something that's fun and engaging in community building. Make it valuable. Hey, how can you grow in your understanding of what a Christlike leader is? How can we grow I mean talk about doctrine with them?

Speaker 2 29:11

Why not?

Speaker 1 29:12

It doesn't always have to just be how to be a leader. It can be.

Speaker 2 29:14

Let's talk about the or voting on the t-shirt for the next event. Yeah, both good. But maybe even better is to have some of those value added, enriching conversations. Yeah.

Speaker 1 29:24

Yeah, where you have the chance to really kind of take that as a discipleship opportunity. So I think there's a lot of different ways that those meetings or that those gatherings can look, but I think make them valuable. They oftentimes end up being and I'm chief among us of the centers of this they're like the last thing and you're like oh wait, that was on the schedule for today. I forgot.

Speaker 1 29:44

Okay, I guess let's talk about what we talked about Sunday morning, but longer, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, yeah, oh, let me order pizza real quick and we'll play nine square for most of it, and then we'll chat about something.

Speaker 2 29:55

It'll be a leader. Hang yeah, and that's fine.

Speaker 1 29:57

There's some value there too. But being strategic and thinking through, how am I utilizing their time well so that they feel like this is a valuable thing for me to be a part of? And I'm actually discipling them through this so that I mean again, that's my perspective, that's the way my brain works is, how can I have them celebrate something? How can I have them get excited about what God's doing? How can we talk about important things, value added things, and then how can we involve them in the ministry?

Speaker 2 30:24

Love it, love it, love it. Well, friend, always good to have you with us, always excited to hear from you. What are something that your team's working on in ministry stuff right now that you maybe it's not finished, it's still a little bit of a wet paint you're thinking about Like what's something that you guys are excited about? Obviously the fall of doctrine. I mean when doctrine falls, you know worship follows I. Obviously the fall of doctrine. I mean when doctrine falls, you know worship follows I. Don't know what are the things that are kind of new and exciting for y'all.

Speaker 1 30:50

Yeah, so one of the things that we're kind of focused on or I would say I'm really focused on some of our team we're getting to speak into is our onboarding and training of volunteers.

Speaker 2 31:00

Okay.

Speaker 1 31:02

Streamlining, organizing that, coming up with some creative ways to be able to resource them.

Speaker 2 31:06

Yeah.

Speaker 1 31:07

Um, again, more creatively than a training, you know, a boring training meeting that nobody wants to be a part of Um, so that's a a piece of it. And then we're headed into um, our conference weekend, which we call TUL weekend, and you know, though camp just pretty much ended, we're in camp planning. Camp is a year-round occurrence, september and October we've got some big planning meetings for those things.

Speaker 2 31:30

So we're working toward. What are some of the things for? So TUL is kind of your multi-campus citywide conference. There's some things that even in the last year or two I know for a lot of folks in-town events post-COVID have taken different shapes and things. In-town events post-COVID have taken different shapes and things.

Speaker 1 31:45

Is there anything from last year to this year or the last couple of years that's shifted for you and just thinking about how an in-town intentional weekend event has become more important in some ways than others, or stressing certain things.

Speaker 2 32:02

Yeah, I think that this event has always been more of a discipleship event for us and comfortable in that.

Speaker 1 32:05

Yes, but what's been so cool is because it is in town. It's always funny to me, that camp where you go away and it's a lot more money and you got to like, get on a bus.

Speaker 2 32:12

It's like a financial investment. Yes, that's your evangelistic piece and it is. It is Because kids do want to go to camp. Kids love camp.

Speaker 1 32:18

Yeah, but I think figuring for a lot of churches that D now weekend or disciple now weekend can be very discipleship focused, but that it is such an easy evangelistic opportunity for students as well. Yeah, yeah, so if you're not having to make them pack a bag, and pay a lot of dollars and get on a bus to go somewhere.

Speaker 1 32:38

What an easy ask to say hey, football team, come with me. Hey, you know glee club, hop in my mom's minivan and we're going me. Hey, you know Glee Club, hop in my mom's minivan and we're going. So I think we're working on always holding that balance that evangelism and discipleship are two sides of the same coin, but looking at making that event meet the needs of our students who want to grow deeper, and also meet the needs of those who don't know Christ yet.

Speaker 2 33:03

Love it. We'll check in in a few months. Yeah, thank you all so much. Another episode of the Youth Ministry Booster Podcast. Join us for season seven, where you get to hear from Kate and a bunch of other greats as we talk about what it means to fly fair and fast in youth ministry. All right, we'll see you back next week.