The following is a millennials response to a recent Growing Leaders post in regards to Serve.
As a millennial myself, I find myself immediately connecting with the “new school” way of thinking but I’m not sure how “new” this way of thinking/leading is. In fact, if I were to categorize Jesus into one of these categories, I’d say he would fit best under the new school. Jesus may not have a wireless connection or a verified social media account, but he doesn’t need one to pursue a relationship with us, empower us, fill our hearts and spirit with passion and lead us to the cross.
Serve is a very important time for students, and for some this may be their only opportunity to step out of their comfort zone and allow God into their hearts. Our host team and host church provide the venue and volunteers to fulfill Gods mission for that week and the number one thing I ask of my team is for them to allow God to work through them as he pursues a relationship with these students, their leaders and the community.
From my perspective, the key to a successful Serve is the atmosphere established by the host team and supporting volunteers. From the moment the students enter the Serve church, they need to be surrounded by a host team and student leaders that have a relationship with God and a strong passion for sharing his love and the gospel with others. Our interaction and activities with the students need to be empowering, thought provoking and encouraging. The guidelines in Tim Elmore’s article, Six Rules Next Generation Leaders Follow provide a great outline…
Trust – an atmosphere that allows the students to feel open and trusting ranks high on the list. From my experience, when these students trust their surroundings, they are willing to step out of their comfort zones and present whatever is on their heart to God. It is also important that they know they can trust God.
Why? – provide an environment that allows our students to ask whatever is on their mind. In most cases, students have an endless amount of questions and we want to encourage them to ask! This is a great opportunity for them to have a deeper understanding.
Relationships/Discipline follows passion – a relationship with God will put the passion in their hearts and discipline will follow. This also follows the guideline, relationship before results. In addition, it’s important for these students to develop relationships within the Christian community for guidance and support
Encourage – leading and encouraging the students will give them a sense of confidence and self-worth. It will empower them. In result, they will lead others to God when they return home.
There may also be a way for the students, with guidance from Serve, to utilize social media to spread the gospel and their love for God.
To summarize, I feel the “new school” leadership qualities is a great way to connect and inspire the students attending Serve. I think this would be a great brainstorming topic and the outline provided in the article would be a good starting point.