Well with all of the top 10 lists around I thought I would add my tidbits. This past year was unbelievable for Alive Youth Ministries. We grew to over 250 in attendance on our mid-week environment. Our volunteers stayed on track for the most part. We had 100 at Summer Breakaway and dozens accepted Christ and were baptized. Over the top success by any standard and all the praise goes to God.
However, we did a LOT of things wrong. So rather than brag about all the cool stuff we did, I thought I would with great humility share my top 10 mistakes of 2008.
Number 10 – The inmates took over!
Over a year ago when God gave me the HALF campaign idea, I met with the team and we concluded that we were going to go after the hard kids that no one else wanted to reach. We were going to do anything short of sin (and that was debatable) to reach these kids. We were successful at getting them in the door, we even had a few success stories, but in our effort to be welcoming we fuzzied up ALL of our boundaries and the inmates took over!
It was draining on my volunteers that felt more like bouncers than youth workers. I didn’t clearly communicate what was acceptable and not. I did not hold students accountable for their actions and thus my ministry quickly became a spoiled brat.
Unfortunately if you don’t place boundaries in the beginning of your organization it becomes very difficult to do it later. So, in October I had a (what has now become famous) Holy Temper Tantrum. I had to ask several students to leave. It wasn’t about an incident as so much as a pattern of behavior that was hindering the group from growth. It stung me, the students and my team…but it needed to be done due to my lack of leadership in the beginning.
Now, we have rules posted throughout the campus. We have a process in dealing with disrespect. We have a better plan in utilizing our resource officer. The team now has a better understanding of what is and is not allowed (thus allowing them to flourish).
All in all we probably netted a few kids we normally wouldn’t have reached but if I had it to do again, I would set boundaries up more clearly and had a plan to deal with conflict in place.
Maybe that is why God has blessed us so much because we NEED him so much because we don’t have a stinkin clue what we are doing.
Stay tuned for my 9th biggest mistake.
Sean Rheaume 
Great post, and great insight. I’m looking forward to the rest of these. I really appreciated the honesty and clarity with which you evaluated yourself. I wouldn’t know where to start with all my mistakes…
I agree completely. In fact, I had to set a rule for my jr highers. It’s one word: RESPECT. My explanation: If you can’t be respectful in youth group, then you won’t be in youth group.
As an addition, I gave them 5 areas of respect: 1) God, 2) Each other, 3) The ministry leadership, 4) The facility, & 5) Ourselves. So far, they’ve understood and heeded.