follow.

who is ignite for? a question we hear a lot.
ignite is for followers.
that's right, followers. and yes, we are still ignite youth LEADERSHIP conference
i can hear the cogs grinding as you try to put this together.
let me try to help.
when you hear the word leader - or some derivation of the word leader - what, or who comes to mind? for me it is the pastor, the president, the ceo - those in "power." however, as i have come to find, and maybe you have too, just because someone is put into a position of management or power, that does not make them leaders. as a matter of fact, as history shows, many people in those positions turn out to be terrible leaders.
at ignite, we believe in order to lead well, you need to follow well.

if you take a look at some of the greatest leaders in the bible, you'll see what i mean:
abraham - the father of a nation. what if God spoke to you and said, "leave all that is familiar - your country, your family and your people - and go to a place that i will show you later,"? i would hesitate, wouldn't you? what if God spoke and said, "take your son - your only son - the one you love and go sacrifice him,"? i'm pretty sure that would be a quick no from me. but abraham followed God. after God spoke the first time, "abram left, just as the Lord had told him..." - genesis 12:4. after God spoke the second time, "early the next morning, abraham got up and saddled his donkey. he took with him...his son isaac." - genesis 22:3. he knew what it meant to follow, and in following became the father and leader of the nation of israel.
david - arguably, the greatest king of israel. also, the only man in the bible for whom it was said he was a man after God's own heart. in one of the most famous psalms, psalm 119, david says "i rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches." - psalm 119:14. sounds like he was follower, what do you think?
jumping to the new testament...
the 12 disciples - peter, james, john, matthew, andrew, james, judas, bartholemew, thomas, simon, thaddeus and phillip. the 12 that walked with Jesus. all Jesus said to these individuals was "follow me." and they did. actually, if you want to find a synonym for disciple, try follower.
paul - formerly known as saul - the persecutor of the church. God revealed himself to saul one day on the road to damascus...you may remember the story. let's just say a radical life change happened when he started to follow the one he had been persecuting. fast-forward a couple years to a letter that paul writes to one of his church plants in corinthians. he tells the people there, "follow my example as i follow the example of Christ." - 1 corinthians 11:1.

can you say that to the students in your youth ministry?
maybe we need to change our perspective on leadership.
maybe the most effective way to make leaders, is to first make disciples of Christ.
what are your thoughts?

Rated F

Any youth pastor knows there must be some element of fun in our ministry. I work mainly with Jr. High and they not only need fun but they also need a chance to get up and move. So here are some of the games I use that our students have enjoyed. Games can take on many purposes, so I’ve outlined a few here. Maybe you can even use one tonight.

Game to Help Students Mingle

“Speed Dating”
Create a list of questions that are open ended (Tell me what your dream vacation would be…, Tell me what you would do with $10,000…) and put them on a card, numbered. Set your room up with chairs facing each other about 2 feet apart so that students will sit facing each other but have enough room to hear their own conversation. Put the card on one row of seats. Ask the kids to sit anywhere they choose. Those that sit in a chair with a card will ask first while their partner answers. When the partner is done answering the asker then answers the same question. After a designated time have those not sitting in a chair with a card move over 1 seat. The asker asks question number 2. Continue until your out of time or out of questions.

Game to Release Some Energy

“Shuffle Your Buns”
An oldie but a goodie. I remember playing this in High school and our students still love it today. Set the chairs up in a tight circle with 1-2 extra chairs thrown in. 1 person is “it.” They need to try to sit down in an open chair. Everyone else is sitting in a chair and has to scoot, slide, shuffle their buns to block the person from sitting down. If the person gets in a chair they pick the person to the right or left to be “it.” On a side note, try to have sturdy chairs. We’ve “broken” our share. Hopefully you’ll have no “injuries” like below. J

Game for Leadership Building

“Blind Square” (or triangle or whatever shape you want)
This is a quick, but effective teambuilding activity.Supplies:1.) As many blindfolds as you have team members2.) 1 large rope, at least 40 feet in length (depending on the number in your group)Simply blindfold all your team members and throw a rope on the ground next to them. Tell them to make a square, using the full length of the rope. They cannot take off their blindfolds until you instruct them to. There are many ways to follow this up to teach some leadership skills. It’s just great to see who takes charge, how they organize the corners, if one person facilitates from the middle, etc.

Game for Illustration Sake

“Powerpoint Game”
If I’m ever in a bind for a game, I pull this out. It’s customizable and can fit with anything. Simply make powerpoint slides with questions and answers on them and have your students work together to answer them or have them pick a corner as their answer and if they are wrong they are out. You can buy these pre-made or you can make your own (better yet have some student make one). Useless trivia, questions about your message that night, topic questions…you name-you can make it.

Our ministry loves to take a break from the monotony of ministry and so we’ll throw a game in to help them stay engaged, relaxed, comfortable and release some energy. Hopefully you’ll be able to use these sometime in your ministry. For more ideas come to Ignite and attend the session that’s all about games.

the sisterhood

i have much to learn about leadership - it's probably fair to say we all do. but you know what encourages and blesses my heart? when students teach me what it means to lead.

in our student ministry here at grace church we have a few students who really get leadership and flesh it out. let me share about one such student.

this summer there was a new freshman class moving into the sr. high ministry. if you have ever been an eighth-grader, you understand the trauma associated with moving into high school. it can shake your life up. our freshman class was no exception.

there was a group of 3 soon-to-be freshman girls that were inseperable and dreading the switch to sr. high. these are 3 girls that are full of energy. not the kind of energy that keeps you going during the day, but the kind of energy that causes you to laugh frequently, talk a lot and squeal often. they have the kind of energy that most sr. highers, even the sophmores, have already become too cool for. however, there was one junior - whose height makes her look a bit like a jr. higher - who decided to flesh out her leadership by welcoming these girls to high school.

some of you may know - most of you guys will not - that there is a book series called The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Let me sum up all 4 books for you in a nutshell: there are 4 best friends, inseperable since birth. however, once in high school their paths take them different directions for the summers. one day, before they are seperated for the first time, they go shopping. at a thrift store they find a pair of jeans that fit all 4 girls perfectly. now mind you, all 4 girls are very different shapes. so, obviously, they decide the pants are magic and for the next 4 summers the pants travel between them wherever they are. all you guys reading this are now suddenly realizing why you have never hear of these books.

so what does the sisterhood of the traveling pants have to do with 3 energetic, inseperable freshman girls and 1 sr. higher? well, it just so happens that a second sisterhood movie came out this summer. our sr. higher - let's call her jessica - found out that these 3 girls had been to see the movie. that was her in. she then took them shopping and the 4 of them bought a pair of travleing pants.

6 months later, the pants are still travleing, the girls are still full of energy, the friendships built are strong and through an example of leadership those 3 girls are now up and coming leaders in the sr. high.

one thing i do know about leadership is that it isn't about being up front speaking. it isn't about programs and big events.

leadership takes place when no one is watching.

leadership is servanthood.

do you have a story about a student who is actively leading? please share. we'd love to be encouraged

2009 is here and we at Ignite couldn't be more excited.

We are 18 days away from the student leadership forum...what? You don't know what the student leadership forum is? Well, I'm glad you asked.

Ignite Green is all about teaching student ministries how to grow through discipleship and leadership. What better way for students to learn how to lead, than to learn by leading their peers?

At least that's what we think.

So we created an opportunity at Ignite 09' for students to speak. That's right - students speaking to students on how to lead students. Confused yet? Don't be. It's as simple as this - we at Ignite want students to go from consuming to contributing.

So, if you are a youth pastor, a teacher, a volunteer, a parent or a student reading this and you say, "hey, I think I know a student or am a student who is ready to step up and contribute," then here is what you do:
1. go to http://www.ignite-youth.org/
2. click on the "download" tab at the top
3. dowload the student speaking application
4. have your student leader(s) fill out page one
5. you fill out page 2
6. mail to "Ignite Youth Leadership 4200 E. 25th St. Des Moines, IA 50317" or fax to 515.265.0891 (attn. ashley)
7. if you are paying attention, you've noticed that I haven't said anything about page 3. That's coming right now.

The first step in the student speaking process is the student leadership forum. This is an opportunity for all students that have applied to speak to show us their stuff. All applications are accepted, but only 4 students will be chosen to speak at Ignite 09'. All applicants will take a weekend trip to the beautiful (and most likely snowy) capitol city of Iowa - Des Moines - and will present to a panel of judges what they hope to present to their peers in March. It may sound a little bit like American Idol, but I will assure you of a few things:
1. students will not have to sing
2. none of our judges are mean
3. none of our judges speak with a British accent (however, they may if asked)

While we are on the matter of judges, let me introduce them to you:


Todd Stiles is founder of YLC (Youth Leadership Connection) a ministry to churches and youth workers. As a 15 year youth ministry veteran Todd has written numerous articles, and Bible Study materials. Todd is currently Lead Pastor of First Family Church in Ankeny, IA. where he serves with Julie and their four children.

Tim Kightlinger is the director of youth at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Urbandale, IA. Tim is also camera shy.

Our third judge is Ignite's very own Jonathan Meyer. Jonathan founded Ignite in 2004 and by God's grace continues to watch it grow each year. This year, he is really excited about the opportunity to hear students speaking at Ignite.

If you have further questions about student speaking opportunities at Ignite, questions about the leadership forum or just want to chat, you can reach us at ignite.youth@ymail.com.
But for now, happy new year,