When I look back at my youth ministry journey, my 31-year-old self wishes I could help my younger self—the one who began the journey many years ago—learn the gift of delegation.

It took me many years to embrace the gift of delegation. Now that I’ve learned how to do it well, delegation has created a richer student ministry, one that empowers the gifts of my students and volunteers. Does the gift of delegation escape you? Here are three ideas to get you started.

Empower Students

I spent many years thinking every event had to have my stamp of approval…every snack, ice breaker game, worship set list needed my OK. The longer I led this way, the more I realized my students had very little ownership. Once I began to empower students to use their gifts within the student ministry, the more I saw the ministry become a priority in their lives. Do not underestimate the kind of group games, team building and worship service students can create when those areas of ministry are delegated to them. I have grown to see the creativity and energy students can add to programming areas that are delegated to them.

Empower Adult Volunteers

There is not a single youth pastor on the planet who embodies every single gift set. Recruiting adult leaders who bring a variety of gifts, interests and talents to your ministry and then empowering them by delegating areas where their gifts are best used will bless your students. I am not gifted in leading worship or anything super techy—how boring would my ministry be if I just decided to lead worship with songs on my iPod instead of delegating these areas to leaders who have these gifts to offer. It is so important for our students to see that our ministries are about teamwork, and delegating areas of our student ministries to adult volunteers is part of creating a team-based environment.

Encourage Relationships

I am a relational person. I truly wish I could have a personal and deep relationship with every student within my ministry. The truth is that I am limiting the ministry and myself if I don’t delegate relationship-building to other adults. When we have trained and equipped others to pour into our students, it is a great joy to see how many more students are supported by having adults who are willing to pour into them.

Start by trying one of those ideas. Release students into leadership. Or, encourage adults to build relationships with students. When you do that, you’ll begin to see the ministry grow, and you’ll see the fruit of your willingness to release control and give leadership away to others.