Margin is Essential for Your Youth Ministry in COVID

Check out the full interview above, but here are a few key ideas that resonated from Ashley’s conversation:

Experimentation is the new normal for everyone.

When you experiment, you are more likely to fail than to succeed. That should be a part of our expectations in this season. Don’t commit to just one possible solution because if it works one week, it might not end up working the next week.

Margin gives you the creative stamina that is so essential during a season of constant change.

It takes a lot of energy to pivot, to reimagine, and repurpose elements of your ministry. But even after you make those changes, you need to communicate them, get buy-in, and prepare your team for executing on it. All of that together is an enormous task. The only way you’ll have the stamina for it is if you can create margin. Look for little ways to cut back, to trim your responsibilities, and to free up a little more of your schedule, all so that you have the margin for the changes that will come (and they certainly will continue to come!).

Partners can help create that margin.

Building things from scratch takes an enormous amount of energy and resources. That’s why organizations like Orange and YouthWorks exists. We create the ministry elements that youth workers care about and do it in a way that you can customize it properly for you students. Don’t spend your energy re-inventing the COVID-proof version of the wheel, especially in a season when you can lean into external partners to do the heavy lifting.

How can we help you create margin around your mission trip?

That’s why we created YW Extended Care. You have so many questions, concerns, and unique pressures in this season about mission trips. YW Extended Care was created so that you have help and support through it all. Find out more info here: YW Extended Care