To lead is to follow

Is being a leader more about following God than about being in front? The Ontario MB youth leadership retreat this past fall, held at Camp Crossroads Nov. 5–7, addressed this question.

The annual weekend retreat is centred on all things pertaining to leading youth. Geared for the adult as well as student leaders, the weekend is a source of training, growth and bonding for all the leaders of a youth group. It is also an opportunity to train, grow and bond in unity with youth groups from across the stretch of southern Ontario. There’s nothing like putting your head together with people outside your zone and as you come up for air, realizing yet again that two heads are better than one.

Guest speaker John Neufeld (left) and a youth pastor in conversation.

Our guest speaker, John Neufeld, a certified, and “chillified” Winnipeger, immediately provoked thought from the menagerie of rural and urban youth leadership attendees. Is youth work exhausting solely because one can never afford to become complacent or do we put too much pressure on ourselves to take over the reins and run the show? Student leaders face the daunting pressure of stepping in front of their peers and presenting the gospel. Adult youth leaders wrestle with doubts about what qualifies them to step up to the plate and say “watch me.”

John suggested that leading a youth group is more about following Jesus than grabbing the reins and requiring others to follow us. Many youth and adults wished he could have stayed longer because his philosophy of ministry – following God first – made sense.

Workshops helped leadership teams make sense of each other. They encouraged adult and student leaders to appreciate what other personality styles might offer. One’s personality definitely affects the way one leads and how one relates to others on the team. Sometimes it may seem as if different personalities are working against one another.

“I’m more aware now that our leadership team is reaching for the same goal but from different angles of personality. This helps us, not hurts us,” said one.

The adult leaders rotated through three workshops. One explored initiatives the national MB Conference could provide for youth workers by creating a list of suggestions. Another workshop took advantage of the mix of churches represented and came up with a list of successful youth events. Organizing meaningful and successful youth events can require an abnormal amount of brain cells and creativity. This sharing of ideas allowed 13 far-flung youth groups to easily arrange meaningful youth events and perhaps even invite another youth group to join them.

The final workshop for adult leaders was headed by the Youth Ministries director of the Canadian MB Conference, Sherryl Koop. She talked about issues facing Mennonite Brethren youth groups across Canada, and about resources available from the MB Conference to help youth leadership teams fulfill their purpose of serving the youth of their city.

Participants in workshop.

Team dynamics

An extended workshop directed toward student leaders involved assessing their team dynamics. By completing a task together in a game-like setting, they could observe how they functioned as a whole. What inspired them to work together and what did not?

“We only do something well when we see it as worthy of our attention,” said one student leader. “Then perhaps as a leadership team we ought to take a closer look at what we value, so we put things on our agenda for youth nights that we’ll invest in wholeheartedly,” an adult youth leader added during a discussion time later.

Student leader teams thought about how they communicated with each other. What were their strengths and weaknesses as a team? Discussions continued late into the night. Insights had risen to the surface through the workshop. “We support really well. We’re really good at letting one person lead, but then, no one’s really involved or excited about the thing as much as that one person is,” concluded one student leader.

Curled up in a chair next to her, a fellow student leader chimed in, “Yeah, it helped when we decided in the game who would do what. When people offered what they wanted to do, and when we discussed what we expected of each other, we communicated more.”

Each person who attended the leadership retreat was validated for specific fruits of the Spirit in their lives. All had the chance to meet new people. Different groups, with the common desire to see youth love God, helped each other. And the message crystallized in a simple phrase – to lead is to follow.

—Lisa Regehr

Lisa Regehr is a youth leader at Scott St. MB Church, St. Catharines, Ont.