Where do we find the balance point with students between fun-loving friend and responsible adult leader?
Jack Crabtree isn’t asking us to play it safe so we don’t get in trouble. He is calling us to create an adventurous ministry and be careful with the precious cargo God and parents have entrusted to us. “As a youth leader, you are no longer responsible for just your life. You are now responsible for the safety of every young person under your supervision and care” (p.20).
Nobody would accuse me of being a helicopter parent, yet I’m pretty cautious about who’s in charge when my two middle school kids attend retreats, mission trips or summer camps because some leaders have not embraced this responsibility. Almost weekly I receive a reference call from a church asking me to vouch for someone applying for a ministry position. Nearly every call ends with the same question: Would you trust your own children with this person? Unfortunately, every so often I have to say no.
Crabtree presents this essential advice without being pedantic. He loves to have fun and immerse students in adventure, but he also recognizes we can all become overconfident and take unnecessary risks. This book is filled with heart-wrenching true stories of tragic incidents and near misses, some of them avoidable and others unforeseen accidents.
With great compassion Crabtree provides preventative measures for minimizing risks inherent in camps, retreats, mission trips, sports, high adventure, transportation and offers keen insights for dealing with serious accidents when they occur.
Avoiding a lawsuit is not the sole purpose of this book. “I’d like to keep you out of the courtroom, but there is a more compelling motivation for safety in youth ministry… Make it your goal that every young person and parent involved in your ministry would say your words and actions showed you loved the kids” (p.8).
It doesn’t matter if we are driving a student to McDonald’s for a Coke or leading a mission trip to Bolivia, we are accountable for returning these precious young lives home safe and sound.
by Jack Crabtree (Zondervan) July 2008, 240 pp., $16.99, www.zondervan.com
