A number of years ago I served in a church where the students really loved to sing worship songs. The only problem was they were always off-key and sang in different tempos. I determined that “someone” would have to learn how to play the guitar to lead them into something a bit more structured.
Thanks to a cheap guitar I bought at JC Penney and a few books from my local library, I became our youth group’s second “rhythm section.” After all, the first rhythm section already existed – it was the off-key, off-tempo students.
Groups respond to both kinds of rhythm, especially youth ministries.
Just like music, rhythm can become positive if you step into it with intention or negative if you let it swell into chaos. If you haven’t seen how this plays out, you’ve likely felt it.
• The Rhythm of Maturity
Teenagers may occasionally be abstract and forward in their thinking, but they still crave some of the foundation, structure and traditions from their pasts. It’s why you might find a couple of older students belting out some of their favorite cartoon songs on a road trip or busting out some old Pokémon cards late at night on retreats. This rhythm of maturity will frustrate you to no end if left unchecked – when you’ll try to be serious, they’ll defy it with fun; when you want to have fun, they’ll defy it by being serious. Then again, if you pay attention to the strings so you know where to press and where to release, you’ll enable students to stretch into the future in front of them while using what’s familiar as a bass line.
• The Rhythm of Ritual
Students who have been with your ministry a while tend to have their favorite activities and events, often nudging you to put them on the calendar. There are only so many times you can visit the country’s best theme park or do the same mission trip, though, before it all becomes nothing more than a routine. Sometimes you can change these “tunes” completely, but most of the time you’ll have to show them some “new arrangements” by adding some occasional surprises to what they expect. These help keep the group interested while creating new memories to share.
• The Rhythm of Identity
Every student ministry changes annually, for as one grade level graduates out another grade level graduates in. In light of this rhythm, you will need to understand how rookie and veteran students alike see your ministry so they can best find an identity in it. Pay attention to what things the majority of students cling to that they believe should never change versus other elements they’re more hands off about. I once asked a group of kids how they felt about changing the name of our ministry and most were open to it until one girl stood up and said, “I don’t care what you call it. I’m always going to call it our old name.” I asked her why she felt that way and it eventually came out that she felt it dishonored other students who came up with that old name who no longer were around.
• The Rhythm of Consistency
So many students are busy throughout the week and may not always make it to our regular gatherings. Even then, they want to know if they can bank on the time being the same from week to week. I learned this the hard way one summer when I varied the time and place our group met each week. We treated it like a mystery, waiting until the last possible moment to announce where we would get together. Needless to say, we lost more than we gained that summer. Often what we perceive as innovation is actually more of a guitar solo than a true melody everyone can join in on – disruptive more than productive.
• The Rhythm of Success
Both adults and students want to see the student ministry “succeed” somehow. When it does, we can feel from students the dreaded foil of success – the pressure to “do it again, only better next time.” This can create an unhealthy rhythm of expectation in everyone that takes our eyes off of Jesus and puts it on what following Jesus might get us.
What are some other forms of rhythm you see in ministry?
