Goals Descriptions

1. Bring middle school ministry process in line with overall church ministry process - Currently we have a middle school ministry process, but we are just now developing one for our church. So once it is created and finalized, I'll just align what I do with that.
2. Do no programming simply to do programming - I try not to do time-killer babbysitting programming, but I still do some. I ended a program this fall that I felt was basically babysitting. What I'll have to watch out for is the programs that tend to pop up either to accomodate church-wide programs or to fill in "slow" times.
3. Have over 75 students and 25 visitors at our Super Bowl party - This is one of the biggest things we do all spring. Last year we had 72 students and 16 visitors there. I'm hoping we can increase both of those a little bit.
4. Create a time sheet for each week to budget time better - I'm hoping this can alleviate some of the stress between my wife and I. I'm pretty good about making sure that I don't always work, but it sure is tempting. This will also hopefully help me apportion the right amount of time to the right things.
5. Improve front-end portion of Crucible - The Crucible is our 8th-grade guys rite of passage event. It's a weekend event that has about 7 weeks of study on the front-end. I'd like to make this portion a bit more thought-provoking. This is the coolest thing I get to do all year. It's awesome.
6. Improve Chrysalis - This is the 8th-grade girls rite of passage event. It's a good idea, but it needs some attention, direction, and modification to make it life-impacting.
7. Have over 75 students attend D-Now - I can't remember how many we had last year, but I'm pretty sure we'll hit this number.
8. Have over 150 students and 75 visitors at Mission Impossible - This is the biggest outreach event we do all year. It's awesome. Last year we had 126 students and 68 visitors.
9. Spend at least 2 hours per week on UpRising opening - This is the opening for our Sunday morning small groups. Normally I spend about 20 minutes on it because it's a lower priority. With me doing less now, I can do more things with excellence. The opening is only about 20 minutes long, so 2 hours should be way more than enough time to bring in some creativity and excellence.
10. If UpRising small group attender misses 3 weeks in a row, they get a call and a card from both their leader and a peer - In our area, you can easily miss 2 weeks in a row, but 3 weeks in a row kind of shows some effort to not come. Currently they'll just get a call or an email from their leader. I'd like to increase that to a card and a call from both their leader and a friend.
11. Age and gender grade all A-Teams - Right now we would need to add 2 leaders in order to accomplish this, but I think it is probably our most pressing need. A-Teams our are small group discipleship classes, so I'd like to keep the topics relative and the sizes small (4-6 students).
12. Have crew teams have a gig at least once a week - Our crew teams (ministry teams) are currently under-utilized, so I think setting up expectations like this will help make sure they get the opportunities they need to minister.
13. Have all student ministers read "contemplative youth ministry" - This book is expressing ideas that I've had for the last couple of years. It's amazing. I haven't even finished it yet, and it's changing how I look at ministry to students.
14. Have at least 4 student ministers attend at least a portion of the NYWC - This is the National Youth Workers Convention, which will have a conference here in Atlanta this year. So I'd like to have several of my workers go to get some training. (I'm going to try to go to the whole thing.)
15. Develop a functional outreach program where students will attend consistently and be presented with the gospel - I've revised our outreach program at least 4 times in the 3 years that I've been here. I'm doing it again. This fall we created a program that was good for getting guests, but it didn't have consistent numbers (some weeks low 20's and some weeks mid 40's). I'm trying to create something that kids will enjoy so they will invite their friends and can hear an applicable Biblical-based message containing the gospel.
16. Have my title changed to remove associate and more accurately reflect what I do - Currently my title is Associate Youth Minister. Since I came, my position has fleshed out to be running the middle school ministry, the creative elements of the youth ministry, and creative development of overall church ministry. What my title should be, I can't say. Probably something like Minister of Middle School and Creative Elements. That's a horrible title, but at least it's more accurate.
So that's what I'd like to accomplish. We'll see how it goes. JM