Raising Up the Next Generation of United Methodist Leaders
Jason Gant is the Director of Student Ministies. Julie Peters is the Associate Director of Student Ministries.
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection is committed to the renewal of The United Methodist Church and the mainline church. Resurrection’s Student Ministries has developed and implemented an exciting ministry to identify and raise up the next generation of church leaders. This ministry, called MAC Track short for Ministry as a Career Track, is having great impact at Resurrection and has been shared with churches around the country.
MAC Track is a ministry designed to provide avenues for students in the 6th -12th grade, who have expressed an interest or possible calling to explore vocational ministry, ordained or lay ministry, as a career option. The components of this ministry include gatherings, mentorship, serving inside and outside the walls of the church, leadership development, spiritual formation and other activities designed to encourage and develop the next generation of leaders as they discern a call to vocational ministry.
The model for MAC Track is simple to use in any church setting and of any size. The process for developing MAC Track or a similar ministry centers on identifying students, developing a process for mentorship and spiritual development, and carving out leadership opportunities.
The first initiative in developing MAC Track was finding ways to create a culture of call within RezLife, Resurrection’s Student Ministry, and eventually the congregation as a whole. We looked at ways to naturally incorporate the invitation of call into existing programs. During confirmation retreats, students were already being invited by Senior Pastor Adam Hamilton to stand up if they sensed a possible call to vocational ministry. Simply collecting the names of these students was a natural place to begin. We also implemented other ways to identify students including lifting up MAC Track during weekly Rezlife worship services, focusing time during retreats and camps on the calling to vocational ministry, offering informational meetings for students and parents, and training volunteer leaders to identify students for referral to MAC Track. One year into this ministry, we have many avenues for students to hear about and enter MAC Track. MAC Track has also been highlighted in articles geared toward the entire congregation. We are very encouraged that our congregation adopted the task of raising up a new generation of ordained ministers as a strategic objective for 2009.
The next step was developing a plan for mentorship and spiritual development. For the first year, we met with groups of interested students to get their input, researched resources available within our denomination and throughout the Christian community, and developed an outline for monthly gatherings as well as a plan for mentorship within our setting. The resources for MAC Track are available to anyone who wishes to use them as a starting point. Each year, the resources are evaluated and updated.
Another key component, carving out leadership opportunities, varies from setting to setting. We always look for new ways to involve students as leaders in RezLife, our congregation, and our community. Some examples include: students leading beside adults in Sunday school, making hospital visits with pastors, leading puppet ministry for children, developing a student prayer team, leading a conference for student leaders from the Navajo Nation, serving the homeless and attending leadership events offered at Resurrection. These are just a few of the things students can be included in. Every setting offers its own unique opportunities to develop leadership in students.
As the first year of MAC Track concluded, we asked students to share what it meant to them. Kayla is excited that she now has a community of young people just like her who understand her desire to follow Christ in the context of serving in ministry. Hannah found a place to share her dreams with people who do not judge her by her past and also a chance to learn from adults who have gone through the process and can guide and encourage her as she discerns her call. Matt refers to MAC Track as being like family, a place where he can connect to people who share the same goals and the same desire to seek God’s plans for a future serving in ministry.
In the second year of MAC Track, we plan to update our resources, implement additional components, begin an interactive forum for youth ministries around the country interested in developing and implementing similar ministries, share what we have learned with others as we also learn from them, and celebrate being a part of the work God is doing in the lives of these young leaders who are answering God’s call to reach generations to come by devoting their lives to ministry as a vocation.
At this year’s Leadership Institute, we will lead a 90-minute workshop on the MAC track in Session 2. We will also be sharing MAC Track resources in the Student Ministries Forum: Pressing issues facing ministry with the next generation Pre-Institute. You can register at www.cor.org/li2009.
The student ministries staff will be hosting a series of workshops at this years Leadership Instittue. For registration information visit www.cor.org/li2009 Jason is the author of Youth Ministry.