4 Steps to Developing Student Leaders
Student ministry is a lot to handle. When your group meets, there are many things on your mind. Having a student leadership team allows you to have other people in the room who knows what’s going on and can help make things happen. You have a choice in your ministry to build the ministry on yourself and your skills or build it on the leadership and skills of others.
Test them by asking them for help.
Just showing up is perhaps the greatest test of leadership. Showing up consistently? Well, you may have yourself a leader! The task should be simple enough that it can be done but without a high element of risk. You may need to try them again before you move to the next step but more than two attempts may mean they need more time.
Try them out in a greater role.
This is discipleship. When they handle the small things, try them out on greater things with more responsibility. This will require you or another adult leader to spend time with this student. Give careful attention to their skillset and desires. If they start to work effectively then you can bring them into your leadership culture.
Ask for their input.
This step is as much for you as it is for the student. Asking for input helps everyone grow and the potential for growth multiplies. Ask for input in the planning before an event and after an event. This practice done consistently will leaders become more invested in the ministry.
Invite them into the leadership team.
In order to have a healthy student leadership culture in your ministry, you need some formal structure. It ought to be a structure that you evaluate regularly—at least every three years. Leadership culture is constantly evolving in the workplace. If you are fortunate enough to have adults in your church who are in businesses with a strong leadership culture, then you have a great resource. Leverage the experience of others to elevate your leadership and the student ministry leadership. If you don’t have these people in your church you will want to search for them elsewhere.
One of our sources for student leadership is Wes Henson. He serves as Student Minister at Trinity Baptist Church Kerrville. He has worked with teams in a variety of ways and has one simple approach that benefits everyone. He calls it 3 Question Leadership. Click over to his blog and subscribe to dive into more insightful leadership discussions.