Networking and building relationships with other youth workers, church members, people in the community, and pastors is essential to expanding your influence and growing your ministry. Here are five reasons you need to start networking today:
1. You need the encouragement.
Youth ministry can sometimes feel like the loneliest job on the planet. No one understands you. You feel like your Senior Pastor doesn’t understand the extra hours you give and parents think all you do is watch YouTube videos and eat pizza all day. Take the time to connect with other youth pastors in your community on a monthly basis. They get it. They are just like you.
2. You need more volunteers.
When you take the time to build relationships with the parents in your ministry as well as other adults in your church, it is as if the heavens open up and God pours volunteers into your student ministry. The vision that the Holy Spirit has put in you to reach young people will come out in conversation. Most folks are looking for ways that they can serve but they don’t know how their gifts fit. When they catch the vision and see how they can partner with you, they will jump on board. Psalm 110:3 states, “Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power...” (NASB).
3. You need more speaking opportunities.
Networking with other ministries, leaders and churches across the United States will naturally lead to more opportunities for you to speak. The next time you are at summer camp or youth conference, break out of your comfort zone and get to know the other youth leaders who are there with their youth groups. You never know when a little networking will lead to a new opportunity.
4. You need more resources.
Not enough money in your youth budget? Taking the time to connect with other adults in your church or community (outside of your student ministry) can lead to great financial provision. There are many Christians (and even some unbelievers) who God has positioned to parter with your student ministry financially. One of the best ways to tap into that provision is to build relationships and share the vision.
5. You need a new ministry.
Want to know the dirty little secret of finding a new ministry? Network. As you go through the process of searching for where God is calling you next, most of the time, the churches who will extend you a job offer are those who know you. Friends in ministry and life can connect you with churches that are searching. Stop looking at churchstaffing.com five times a day or uploading your resume to Vanderbloemen. It is typically WHO YOU KNOW, not what you know (or your experience/credentials), that will land you in your next ministry.
