The Monday Morning Debrief: Letting Leaders Lead

This past Sunday we had a Game Night for the students instead of our normal group.  The purpose of the Game Night was to allow the students to have fun and to provide a safe place for them to bring their friends to group.  Game Night was very simple.  We had a video game area, a board game/quiet social area, a food area and a field game area.  Each area was pretty close together but we needed enough leaders and help to provide a caring, engaging environment for that to happen.

That is when I realized that in order for this to be a success and for students to feel cared for, I had to let the leaders lead.  I went around from time to time checking in on each room making sure things were going well.  But I was only there for a few minutes as I was in 1 main area most of the time (the area I was hanging out with students in).  So the leaders lead and they did a great job.  They took charge and lead the games (and included students along with leading too) and they engaged new students.  It was great to see from afar and to debrief with them afterwards.

When we allow leaders to lead and use their gifts, that is when they really feel apart of what is happening (rather than a spectator to the “youth guy” leading all things).  I needed my leaders and will continue to need them as we move forward.  That is why last night was so encouraging as I got to see my leaders use their gifts and abilities to reach students I wouldn’t be able to do on my own.

So what about you?  What can you do to enable your leaders to spring into action and be more apart of ministry?  TAKE A MINUTE right now and process through how you are utilizing your leaders.  Are you allowing your leaders to lead or are they just mere spectators to your leading?  The more we allow leaders to lead the longer we’ll have them around to invest in students.

Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Experiences?  Post a comment and let the discussion begin so that we can all benefit from it.