Don’t be afraid of the silences

Sometimes the best contribution is never heard because a leader is too uncomfortable with a few moments of silence whilst people gather their thoughts; or gather courage to contribute; or assess whether the leader actually wants to hear other peoples opinions.

Do you really give the impression that people want to hear what they have to say? Does their contribution actually shape the conversation? Or are you as a leader just happy that people fill up silences with noise so that there is no silence “to speak of”.

Learn the skill of listening, acknowledging, clarify and then inviting the contributions of others to the conversation.

The places where people usually miss the mark are listening. However, if you get this right, then to acknowledge peoples comments possibly by clarifying, or rehashing the statement or asking the person to say it in another way. Then invite other people to share their thoughts or opinions or learning’s on the matter!

getting going

I’ve decided to put together a little resource that hold all the key gems of learning that I have gathered over my approximately 6 years of involvement and leadership. I have learnt that there are some essential ingredients that will supplement success. I do want to say that implementation of these learnings below will not however guarantee success for a number of reasons. Remember that every church is unique, every leader has different giftings and every ministry has inherent characteristics and is in areas with cultural and economic nuances that will all make for an incredibly special and unique youth ministry.

I would however like to say that although all ministries are in unique circumstances with unique leadership mixes and histories, this is no excuse for fresh and radical thinking that changes the status quo and humbles some traditional thinking and magnifies the beauty of the message of the gospel. It’s my opinion that in general, youth ministries in South Africa need some extreme make-overs at a heart and ministry level which start with lead pastors and extends to youth leaders themselves. Buy in at the highest level is vital for success in any ministry in a church and youth ministry is no different!

I pray that your youth ministry will be as robust, adaptable and versatile as the ancient gospel that it relies upon is, and also as unswerving, stable and timeless as that very same gospel on which we so heavily lean and depend for all grace and wisdom!

This is a focus on youth ministry and so is not a full  teaching on ministry philosophy but rather some learning that has been experienced. 

Watch this space for new chapters in re-youth, a re-think on youth ministry…

teaming to lead the next generation

In an attempt to better the way we team together across the country and possibly the world, I have created a blog for friends to peruse, contribute to, and learn from. If you are a leader and have a passion to lead the next generation into all that God plans for them, then team with me in creating and reading a blog resource that will be superbly relevant and profoundly practical for reaching the next generation for Christ!


What will follow will be various posts that you can enjoy relating to how we can better sharpen our personal and team leadership as we take on the next generation.


Along this journey I will post new chapters in a simple resource I am creating for leaders of youth ministries. Over the next few months a full resource for youth leadership will be published for any who are interested. Your feedback and suggestions are also welcomed along the way!