Strong Vision Casting in Youth Ministry: How to Identify, Implement & Inspire!

The time to grow a healthy, thriving youth ministry is NOW...let's work together to make it happen! Check out GrowYourYouthMinistry.com for more info *** If your youth ministry calendar is packed but the room still feels flat, the problem might not be effort. It might be direction. Today we get painfully practical about vision casting in youth ministry and why a clear, God guided vision is often the dividing line between a youth group that feels alive and one that feels like it’s dead.

We talk about the difference between a good idea and a real vision, then we show you how to turn vision into a simple filter for everything you do as a youth pastor: your events, your teaching plan, your leader meetings, your budget, and your weekly schedule. We share how our church frames mission around discipleship and a healthy church environment, and why focusing on health over growth keeps you from building a youth ministry that looks impressive but burns people out.

From there, we get specific about what vision looks like on the ground. We unpack how to teach students to think biblically about everything, how to help teenagers know Jesus instead of just knowing about Jesus, and how student leadership teams can change the return rate for new and unconnected kids. We also share simple ways to communicate vision so volunteer leaders actually buy in, including quick “locker room talk” moments before youth group and redefining goals for tough small group dynamics.

📕 Book mentioned in this episode:
"Lead Like 'IT' Matters" by Craig Groeschel

If this helps you, subscribe for more youth ministry leadership and discipleship strategy, share this with a youth pastor friend, and leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review so more leaders can find the show. What’s the clearest vision you want your youth ministry known for?

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You may also enjoy these episodes:

(#292) Why do Some Youth Ministries Feel ALIVE & Others DEAD?

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Transcript

Why Vision Makes Ministry Alive

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Are you confused about what it means to truly cast vision for your youth ministry? Then stick around because today we're gonna talk about what it means to use vision to ignite life into your youth group.

SPEAKER_01 0:22

Welcome to the Ministry Coach Podcast, the number one podcast for helping you grow the size and health of your youth ministry. I don't know why I said that so fast.

SPEAKER_00 0:29

My name is Jeff Lascola, and this is Kristen Lascola, and today we're doing part two of an episode we started last week that the was that the was the suggestion of Luke Kim. We're on it. We're on it right now. Luke Kimmel.

SPEAKER_01 0:42

Yeah, Luke Kimmel.

SPEAKER_00 0:43

He wrote in and had some podcast episode ideas. And if you like Luke have some podcast episode ideas, write them in. You too can write in. You can. We listen. So you can either write it in the comment section on YouTube or you can email ministrycoachpodcast at gmail.com.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

Or now Spotify has a comment section.

SPEAKER_00 1:05

Wow. I didn't know that. Okay, so today we are talking all about vision because his question was what is the difference between a youth ministry that feels alive and one that feels dead? And we talked a lot about that last week. So if you want the part one of that, you can go back and listen to it. And where we're gonna pick it up today is vision. And we wanted to give this its own episode because it's pretty big. It's a pretty big topic that I felt like needed a little bit of its own moment here. Because the book that we're referencing throughout these two episodes, if you missed the last one, is Lead Like It Emphasized Circled Matters by Craig Groschel. I think it came out maybe a year or two ago. Now it's one of those like manual type of books, like do ministry like this. I'm like gonna reread it because it's that good. And his whole chapter on vision is excellent. And so what do we mean by vision? I'll be honest, I used to be very perplexed by when people said, cast vision, cast vision, you gotta cast vision.

SPEAKER_01 2:15

I'm like, why would they say it three times though?

SPEAKER_00 2:18

See, that's what I was trying to figure out.

SPEAKER_01 2:20

Cancels each other out.

SPEAKER_00 2:22

I just was like, what do you mean? I don't know. I'm just doing a job here. I don't know what you want me to cast a vision. Like literally, I just would like nod along, like, oh yeah, that's what that's what us leaders do, don't we?

SPEAKER_01 2:37

A lot of casting of the visions.

SPEAKER_00 2:39

If I had a nickel for every vision I casted, oh man, I'd be a wealthy woman. So I think what I've learned in the past few years, which has been super helpful, is that vision is different than an idea. And that's what Craig Grochel writes about in his book. It's like, it's not just I have a good idea, but vision is actually guided by God. It's like a God-given like revelation. Like, what like a good way to ask yourself this is like what keeps you up at night? What breaks your heart for your ministry? What are those things that are just these non-negotiable missions that you have for your ministry? And that is probably the type of thinking that's gonna get you closer and closer to then what's the vision for your ministry? And by vision, we just mean direction. We mean goal, we mean like a picture yourself. I always picture myself as the captain of a ship. I've never been a captain of a ship, but if I were, I imagine myself to be holding that big steering wheel.

SPEAKER_01 3:49

Um like steamboat Willie.

SPEAKER_00 3:51

Yes, yes, exactly. Ever since I saw that cartoon, I'm like, that's me, baby. That's my inspiration. So I imagine I am holding on to this wheel and I'm making these slight movements to get the ship to where it needs to go. Well, on the ship are crew and guests and members, and there's all these people, and they have a role to play. Maybe they're just along for the ride, maybe they're actively serving and swabbing the decks. I don't know, but they're doing something and I'm keeping the direction going. Not that I'm not actively working, but it's my job to make sure we get there.

Busyness That Leads To Burnout

SPEAKER_00 4:30

So here's why this is important for us to talk about because as youth pastors, I coach a lot of youth pastors, and one of the number one complaints they have is I'm busy. I'm so busy, I don't have any margin, I don't have any time. And yeah, we are like there's no way around that. But the question we need to ask is, okay, but are we busy with the right things? Because I think what we can do is fill our plate and fill our schedule and fill our ministry with a whole lot of things, and they might even be good things. But do they align with the vision? Do they align with the goal? Are they getting us to where we need to go? Or are they just making everyone busy? Are they just adding one more thing to the calendar? Is it just, you know, noise? And then it makes us feel like, oh, well, we're doing something, we're working really hard. Meanwhile, we're on the road to burnout. Our leaders are on the road to burnout because nobody's gonna give their time, attention, money for busyness, you know, like if the hard work is leading to the destination and it's aligning with the vision, people will give their life for that. But if it's just like, what are we doing here? Or just like busy all the time, and I don't really see the point anymore. And I think youth groups can like start to drift into those types of waters of just like, I don't know, we just do stuff. Right. So, as the leader, the one holding that big steering wheel, probably has a name. The helm?

SPEAKER_01 6:03

Yeah, let's go with that. That sounds right.

SPEAKER_00 6:05

So, with the leader at the helm, it's like people are looking to you of like, so what's the point of all this? Are we just going to be circling the waters for 40 years, you know, or are you taking us somewhere? And that's a great question for you as the leader, the youth worker, to kind of sit with, because otherwise, it gives in to complacency, it gives into confusion, um, people just kind of get comfortable. And there's really like how going back to Luke's question, nothing's alive anymore. Like it's just like we're going through the motions. So, we're gonna talk about like some examples of vision now, and then like how do we communicate it? Because if you're the only one who knows it, uh, it's probably not gonna get very far.

A Mission Statement That Filters Yes

SPEAKER_00 6:58

So, as a church, our mission statement, our vision is this simple phrase making disciples in a healthy church environment. I've mentioned that before on the podcast. So, if you break that down, making disciples in a healthy church environment, to me, two priorities stick out discipleship and health. So, what that means is everything we say yes to at North Coast Church has to be filtered through does this eventually get us to the goal of people becoming disciples of Jesus Christ, not just like we always say we want to make disciples, not decisions. And so, where we put all of our time, money, resources, energy for marketing and hype and all of that goes toward discipleship stuff. And then healthy church environment means we're always focused on health over growth. And that's why we talk about that a lot on this podcast because I've been swimming in those waters for a long time. I've always been taught you always, always, always put health over growth. If you do that, then the growth will inevitably come because healthy things grow. And then I always think, but also mold grows and also weeds grow and also. So I try not to go too far with that analogy. But yeah, healthy things do grow. So if we focus on discipleship and health, that helps us have a filter of what we're gonna put our time, money, energy, and resources toward and what we're gonna highlight from the front as a church. So your turn, put your like picture yourself the captain of that ship called the SS Ignite or whatever cool name your youth group has, right? Where are you going? Where are you steering? Are you just piling stuff or are you headed to a destination? So I'll tell you mine.

Teaching Students To Think Biblically

SPEAKER_00 8:53

Here's a few things I want. I filter everything through these questions. I want students to be able to think biblically about everything. I want to teach them how to think, not what to think, so they can stand on their own two feet spiritually when they leave this ministry. That for me is the vision. How does that come through? That comes through in our teaching. Um, that comes through in the way that we worship, that comes through, I drip it in all the time through my teaching of teaching students how to get to logical conclusions based on what the Bible says. So, for example, this weekend we were talking about the attributes of God. I had the week of uh the attributes of God's power. And we were talking about like how he's the uncreated creator. That's one of his attributes. And so I taught them how to think along the lines of asking who created God is a category error. What is a category error? All right, here's what that means. What does Tuesday taste like? You can't ask that because it's a category error. So if you say who created God, you're saying, Who created the uncreated creator? You just canceled out your thinking because God is not confined by space, time, and matter. We need something outside of that to act upon that. You can't act upon your own existence. So I was starting to get them to think a little deeper than just God made everything, because that's what it says in Genesis. True, but how can we think bigger than that? Because you will be challenged on your belief that the Bible is accurate, that the Bible is true. And so, can you look to just thinking patterns and simple logic to say, yeah, well, it has to be because this, this, this, and this? So every single time I teach, I'm trying to get them to think biblically. Like, let's look about look at this rationally. Like, you don't just have to say because the Bible said so. The Bible's rational. And I'll show you that every time I present a point to you that this is a very reasonable faith. And you don't just have to be like, well, I don't know. Kristen said when I was 12 that, you know, it's like, but you can be a rational thinking person and see that this all adds up. But maybe you just need someone to teach you how to think that way. And that is kind of what saved me. And I think that's why I'm so passionate about it because I remember thinking zero plus zero will always equal zero. How does how does how does anyone, how does anyone explain something from nothing? Yeah. Like no matter if you're an atheist or a Christian, it doesn't add up.

SPEAKER_01 11:32

Right.

SPEAKER_00 11:33

So, anyways, I get really passionate about that. And then number two, I want students to know Jesus, not just know about Jesus. I want students to be in an opportunity to have an experience to fall madly in love with Jesus. How does that come through? Comes through in my teaching, you know, showing Jesus, Jesus for who he is and giving them worship experiences and talking about Jesus from the perspective of a real relationship with him so that they can see um that this God we're worshiping, I mean, it's the only thing worth giving your life to because of how much he loves you, you know. And so I try to give them analogies that they can understand and be really real with them. Like this weekend I gave them the analogy, there was these uh people that were stuck on this roller coaster, terrifying. I think it was in Florida and they were at like a 90. Oh, I saw that. Oh, it's horrible. At least they weren't upside down, but they were at like a 90 degree angle for hours. And so the firefighters come up this crane to get them, and these girls are like hysterical. They're crying, they're freaking out. And the firefighter is like, I'm clipping you in to my belt, like you're not gonna fall. You're okay. I need you to stand up. And I was telling my students, like they eventually did. Obviously, they're off the roller coaster, but don't fight the one who came to rescue you. Like their one and only goal was I came to get you out of a mess. So don't fight the one who's here to rescue you. So always showing them, like in a way they can understand in real life examples, like why this are I think we always talk about like you need to love God, but getting them to fully grasp that God loves them and how much and the proximity he is to them, that's for me a vision for all of my students. So everything we teach and do shows like this God loves you. How could you resist? You know, like even if you don't understand all of it, how could you resist? You know, you won't understand all of it. That's okay. And then I want students to learn to be the church. The way we do that is through plenty of opportunities to serve and be involved. So that aligns with that vision. We have a student leadership team, you know, we do service projects, we give students opportunities to be on stage and be visible. And because we want them, you know, like Erwin McManus said, we say this all the time teach students that, you know, the church isn't for you. You are the church and you exist for the world. And here's how you do that. And I feel like that creates a very sticky faith. I want students to have a meaningful, meaningful relationships with peers and leaders that encourage and challenge them through their discipleship journey. I think relationships and strong ones are what keep you in church. I think without those, people flounder and feel invisible. And even if they come, I feel like they start to taper off. But if you can glue them to God's word, like our senior pastor Larry says, you know, you glue them to God's word, you glue them to each other, and it creates such a sticky environment that people, you know, it's that back door being shut and people stay because they love the discipleship that they're getting and the encouragement from relationships, and they're getting God's word, they're getting both sides of that. And then lastly, I want students to love church to the point that they pay to go and that and you charge, plain and simple. Well, our one of our senior pastors, Chris Brown, always said that he's like, is your youth group so such that if you said, hey guys, we're gonna have to start charging like five bucks a night for you all to come to like keep the lights on and blah, blah, blah, like would they still show up? Right. You know, it breaks my heart when kids are kicking and screaming going to church and like can't wait till they get to decide and then they're not gonna go anymore. But to show them, like, there is you don't want to miss this, you know. And so everything I do tries, I try to align with that vision. So those are mine. I don't know if you know what yours are, but it's a great thing to ask yourself what breaks my heart, what gets me fired up, what makes me passionate? And that's the difference between a youth group that has it and is alive versus one who doesn't. Otherwise, again, you're just sort of drifting, floating through, and people are looking to you like, what are we actually doing here? Like, why is this worth me volunteering my time on a Wednesday night for what to babysit? You know, just for some big youth group and playing dodgeballs. That what are we doing here? And so now let's go to how do we communicate that?

How To Communicate Vision Clearly

SPEAKER_00 16:39

How do we communicate that vision? So every time, you know, I love having my leader meeting, you know, I tell them what we're doing, and I think I need to be a lot better at telling them why we're doing it. Um, we have a really big event in October called the battle, and that's when I get really vision-y with them. I tell them, guys, we're gonna be in costumes and yelling for four weeks. We're gonna lose our voice. It's gonna be overstimulating. You're gonna leave with a migraine. Here's why we're doing this because this attracts unchurched kids. It just does. The model works. Those kids are going to get saved. Happens every year. Those kids are going to get plugged into church and they're gonna eventually invite their families, their parents, their siblings, and then they're gonna come to know Jesus and they're gonna get baptized, they're gonna get in a life group, they're gonna get discipled. And I'm not just saying, like, I hope this happens every year. If we put on an incredible event, hate to say it, but because some people are like, event driven is dead. I and when it stops working, I'll stop doing it, you know. And these kids, it's not just like I said a prayer because you got me all worked up. It's like you came back, you're still here. Now your parents are coming, now you're going to camp, now you're on my leadership team. I mean, it's not every single kid, but a huge portion of them. That's why they come to church. Oh, when did you start coming to North Coast? I'll say that all the time. Oh, well, this kid at my school invited me to the battle, and now I go. So I can tell that to my leaders, guys, this isn't just about let's have fun and wear costumes, scream our heads off. This is missional, and here's where this fits into our vision. They get so hyped, they get so on board. Like my leaders, and maybe for some of you, you're like, How do I get my leaders to engage? You know, like my leaders don't want to play games, or my leaders show up later, my leaders don't want to get involved, or whatever. Maybe it's not the leaders. Like Craig Rochelle says, most of the time it's not a people problem, it's like a systems problem. So if the system is, I need to make sure I'm communicating my vision for why we're doing what we're doing, so that you are like, oh, well, that's worth my energy, that's worth my passion, that's worth my time. You know, hyping your leaders up, that huddle before a youth group, that little locker room talk where you tell them, here's the game we're about to play, you know, and I'm use that metaphorically. Yes, you can tell them about the actual game you're playing, but like, here's what we're about to do. Like, here's my vision for tonight, and here's where this fits into our youth ministry, and here's why what we're doing is important. Like dripping that in all the time. Another great place to drip that in is your student leadership team. You know, I tell them all the time, like, hey, here's my vision for Tuesday nights, and here's how I see you guys fitting into that and being a part of it. Like, I mostly like try to mobilize them to go after the fringe kid or the new kid or the unconnected person who is high risk for not coming back, you know, because nobody talked to them. And I'm like, you can solve that problem, you know, better than I can, because again, we always say this like they expect the adults to be nice, like, but that's not really what they're looking for. They want a peer connection, and only kids can do that for each other. So a student leadership team is a great way for that. So, like I guess a great exercise, you know, to like now what kind of thing is ask yourself a couple of questions. Why does your youth group exist? What do you see as being the reason for the existence? And what can your youth ministry be the best at? Like, I have certain things that I'm really good at in youth ministry and certain things that I'm not super good at. So, what can I be the best at that aligns with the vision? I'm probably just gonna put all my effort there. You know, you don't have to take every single idea somebody throws at you if it doesn't align with the vision or your gifts or your passions or your heart for the ministry. Maybe ask it this way if you could only do one thing, what would it be? You know, if your senior pastor said, All right, only one thing for this whole year, what are you gonna do? Like, what would be like the non-negotiable, like, well, we can't get rid of small groups? That would probably be mine. I would probably say small groups, and then I'd probably go to worship, you know. It I feel like without small groups, everyone's just kind of like a floater, you know? And yeah, the question we asked earlier, what breaks your heart? What keeps you up at night? You know what breaks my heart is when students lose their faith after they leave my ministry because kind of like the sower in the seed parable, they were like faced with some challenge that felt insurmountable, whether it was life or the theologically, that they couldn't overcome. Because they didn't know how to think correctly. I think if you learn how to think biblically about everything early on, there is nothing that can shake your faith so bad that you lose it. Like you can have painful experiences, but if you can even think about those biblically, and like that's what I was talking to my students about this week. And I said, Jesus was really honest with us. He said, In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. I said he didn't even spare himself from suffering. Last time I checked, none of us have been crucified. So he's not even saying, Oh, like human condition. Like he entered that and allowed suffering to even enter into his own life. And so we can't think we're going to be immune from it. But I told them, you know, the hard question that people wrestle with is if God is sovereign, if God is good, and if God loves me, then and he could stop it, but he chose not to. I said, that is a question you're and just being honest with them, you're gonna come back to that over and over and over again. We looked at the story of Job. It's like that's tough. Like we don't have to sugarcoat that for them, or like, oh, well, nothing to see behind the curtain. Just don't open the book of Job and you'll be fine. But it's like, that's tough, you know. And I said, What did God say to Job? He wasn't like, oh, poor Joby, oh he was like, I'm God and you're not. Where were you when I did this? Where were you when I did that? Like, it's kind of like, oh, excuse me. And I think we just need to help them navigate through those harder parts of scripture because someone is gonna point it out to them at some point. So we can't shelter them from it, but we teach them how to think biblically about everything. And I said, and so even if you don't know the answer, like Peter said, where else are we gonna go? Like when the firefighter climbs up the crane and you don't want that rescue, um, where are you?

SPEAKER_01 24:06

Where are there options?

SPEAKER_00 24:07

That's kind of that's when it came full circle this week. And I'm like, so where else are you going? Yeah, you know, like maybe you don't like this firefighter, you don't trust him and you don't know him, but it's your best bet, and you can figure it out and spend the rest of your life trying to like, okay, let me try to understand this because I don't, that's okay. You just gotta start somewhere. You gotta trust. Just clip in. Yeah, get down. Hey, quick question for you.

Youth Ministry Growth Accelerator Invite

SPEAKER_00 24:35

Have you ever felt like you are working really hard in your youth ministry every week, but you don't know what the next step is or how to grow your youth ministry? Well, you are not alone. And that is exactly why we created our course and coaching program called Youth Ministry Growth Accelerator. Inside the program, we're gonna walk you step by step through strategies, systems, leadership principles that help ministries grow, both in size and in health. This isn't just theory, it's the exact framework we've used and taught to youth pastors all over the country and even globally. In addition to the course and coaching, you will also have the opportunity to join a cohort community where you can meet with other youth leaders who are on the same journey to encourage each other, share ideas, and stay accountable as you put things into practice. So if you're looking for a clearer path to grow your ministry, head over to grow your youth ministry.com to see everything that's included. Once again, that's growyouryout ministry.com. All right, let's get back to the episode.

Make Vision Tangible For Every Leader

SPEAKER_00 25:39

So, yeah, vision, I think that is one of those things that feels super theoretical. So hopefully today it feels feels a little more tangible. Just think of it as direction, goals, purpose, and aligning everything you do in your youth ministry with that and making sure you're communicating it to the people who need to get on board with you. Because when they catch the bug and they've got it, you're unstoppable. Right. Because if you're trying to just like carry everyone's load, like, come on, guys, it's gonna be really fun up here, I promise. Like, uh, you know, but being that vision caster, there we go, or harnesser, you know, you've got to harness that power of the vision so that people catch that bug and say, This is worth it. Like, camp's gonna be hard, here's why it's worth it. Youth group can be hard, small groups can be hard, here's why it's worth it. And you can adjust goals for them. I'll sometimes tell my leaders like, I know leading a seventh grade boy small group, actually, seventh graders are angels. Let's go eighth grade. I know leading an eighth grade boy small group can be really tough. Here's let's just redefine your goals right now. Teach them how to be quiet when someone else is talking, how to listen and not have to be the loudest voice in the room, and how to find a verse in the Bible on their own. Let's just make that the goal for the next pretty lofty goals for each creators four weeks. Uh, just so that they see like this is a tiny part of the vision and we're getting to discipleship. Or, hey, maybe ditch the talk sheet and these boys just want to pray. Pray for each other. How did that go? Were they willing to just because sometimes youth pastors will say, well, they don't want to read or discuss anything on my talk sheet. Okay, they probably want to talk about themselves. So let's just turn this into tell me a little bit about what we can be praying for you for. I don't know, but as a leader, adjust so that everyone can get to the vision from where they are, you know.

Part One Reminder And Closing

SPEAKER_01 27:48

Yeah, and make sure you check out the part one of this series, which was all about youth ministries that are live versus ones that are dead. Um, let's do a quick You sound dead right now. I do sound dead.

SPEAKER_00 27:58

Also, if you're ever wondering when you watch our YouTube channel why I itch my face so much, is because I have a very itchy face, also. Because sometimes I watch it, I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm always itching my nose and my face. I think it's partly dog hair. I'm always kissing the dog and her little hairs, they're teeny tiny, they like get in my nose and they itch.

SPEAKER_01 28:27

You solve your problem. All right, this comes from uh this channel is called This Is a Channel on YouTube, or just the channel on YT. It says such good content. Thank you. Straight to the point. We appreciate it. Thank you for watching and listening, and thank you guys for watching and listening. And we'll see you next time. Welcome to the Ministry Coach Podcast. Guys.

SPEAKER_00 28:53

Today we're gonna give you five super fun and easy games that you can play with even the smallest of super fun and easy games that you can play with the smallest.

unknown 29:04

I have to do