I contributed 5 of the 20 worship outlines in this book.
I am an average youth pastor.
I don't have all of the answers and some weeks it feels like I don't have any of the answers. I forget students names sometimes and say stupid things that hurt their feelings. I often find a good word picture or object lesson and build the lesson off of that instead of the other way around. I have put the finishing touches on a Wednesday night Bible study on Wednesday more times than I can count. I don't always pray as much as I should and I never study as much as I should. I try every new youth ministry model that comes from the "experts" and I have had at least 3 mission statements over the past 5 years.
But I love students ministry. I love watching teenagers as they serve God. I love to see them worship and forget about themselves for a while. I love seeing someone wake up to the love of God if only for a little while. I love to see them out serving their community and sharing the love of Christ with others. I love to be a part of their lives and I love seeing the world through their eyes. Like I said, I'm an average youth pastor.
Just a little bit about me so you know where I am coming from. My name is Shane Yancey. I am a 32 year-old graduate of Auburn University in Auburn, AL. I majored in English with a concentration in creative writing. I am a youth minister at a church in Eufaula, AL a small town in the deep south. I have been in at this church (Calvary Baptist) for 8 years now. I have been in youth ministry for about 10.
My youth group years were in a southern Baptist church that considered anything not in the hymnal only slightly less offensive than Satan worshiping. I am still working in a southern Baptist church, but this one is much more open to new ideas and new ways to express our love for God.
My church averages around 200 each week. (the membership is almost 900 but that's another story) We are probably the 3rd largest Baptist church in our small town of around 12,000 or so. The great thing about my church is that all of the people from the senior adults on down are open to new ideas. As long as it has a reason behind it they are willing to try it. I know that is very rare, and I know how lucky I am to be here. Our church has a mix of people who have been coming to church their whole lives, and people who have just started coming so it is lots of fun.
Our student ministry involves students between grades 7-12. So from about 12-18 years old. This is too much of an age range in my opinion, so we are working slowly, very slowly, to break them into two groups. Our large group meeting on Wednesday (right now called Catalyst) averages around 40 students. If they would all come the same week we would have around 75, but that never happens.
Catalyst lasts for 1hr and 15 minutes. Our normal meeting consists of a game time, some singing time, some teaching time, and small groups. We have six small groups led by my adult volunteers (one of the benefits of being at a place for a while is that you can accumulate volunteers).
Sunday mornings for "Sunday School" we have 6 classes broken up by gender and in 2 grade increments.
