Summer time is connection time.  It’s that time of the ministry year when we either take a break from our weekly programming or scale it way back.  And, that should give us more time.  More time for rest for sure, but also more time for relationships.

One of the key summer time relationships to invest in are with your current volunteers.  Sure, you see them every week at youth group during the school year, but how often do you sit down with them over coffee or lunch and have a face-to-face conversation?

If you’re anything like me, those conversations are hard to schedule when the weekly demands of the ministry year start up again in September.  But, summer is a great time to look back and evaluate the previous ministry year, and look ahead and start planning the next one.  And, there’s no better way to do that than with the people who are investing in students with you.

So, now is the time.

Now is the time to sit down with each one of your leaders and…

…encourage them.

…affirm them.

…listen to them.

…challenge them.

…pray with them.

Whatever way that works for you to connect with your leaders one on one, do it now.

• Take them out for coffee or lunch.
• Go to a park and throw a Frisbee around.
• Go on a hike.

And, while you’re at it, ask them good questions.

• Ask them the kind of questions that show them that you care not just about them as volunteers, but about them as people.
• Ask them questions that show that you care not just about the overall health of your ministry, but about their spiritual health as leaders.
• Ask them questions that show that you care not just about how well they are doing as volunteers, but about how well you are doing at leading them.

Not sure where to start?

Here are a handful of the questions I like to ask my leaders when I connect with them one on one in the summer…

• What did you enjoy about being a leader this year?
• What was challenging for you as a leader?
• How would you evaluate yourself as a leader this year…strengths & weaknesses?
• How would you describe your personal relationship with God right now?
• How have you grown as a Christian in the past year?
• What motivates you to serve as a leader to students?  What are you passionate about?
• Tell me about your small group…
  •      How did your discussion times go?
  •      Did your small group take time to pray for each other?
  •      Do you have any ideas/suggestions for small groups this year?
  •      Are there ways that I can better prepare you to lead your group every week?
• Are there things that you’d like to do on our main program night that you’re not doing now?
• Do you have any suggestions/ideas for the way we do our main program night?

These questions are just a start!  No doubt there are other good questions out there that we should be asking our leaders at least once a year.

What are some of the good questions you like to ask your leaders?

Jason Matthews is a youth pastor in Washington state, where he’s been serving students for over 20 years.  When he doesn’t have to be in the office, he loves to be outside with his family, hiking and exploring the Pacific Northwest.  He also loves to write, and you can find more of what he writes about at one of his blogs (WWW.VERSEOTHEWEEK.WORDPRESS.COM & WWW.PJASONMATTHEWS.WORDPRESS.COM).