I had the opportunity to spend some time at the Dare 2 Share event in Chicago this weekend, and I had an incredible time. It was so encouraging to see teens get trained and even practice evangelism right there at the event, and to rub shoulders with some amazing youth pastors.

Props to Dare 2 Share and Greg Stier. Overall it was an amazing event. But I believe D2S missed a big opportunity to help youth pastors be even more effective.

The conference was extremely practical. Teens, youth pastors and adult sponsors all walked away encouraged with clear and simple action steps to spur evangelism.

Teens were given simple, to-the-point training in how to share their faith, and then given several opportunities right then and there to practice. They did a canned food drive in local neighborhoods while hoping to strike up spiritual conversations, and before lunch, everyone called at least one of their friends to share their faith.

Sounds awkward right? With his humorous style, Greg did a great job prepping the teens and helping them take the call seriously without weirding out their friends. One youth leader told me that two of their students’ friends gave their lives to Christ just during those phone calls–praise God!

Throughout the weekend, followup was emphasized. Youth leaders were given a simple but strategic plan to keep the momentum from the conference going.

There was even a session for adult sponsors to train and encourage them to be “foyer coahces” for teens. An hour long meeting with a student can be scary, but encouraging a teen after church and praying for them is easy–and it makes a huge difference.

The event staff were all amazing. They were friendly, approachable, and easy to get a hold of if you had a question or just wanted to get to know them better.

Greg is a great communicator. His witty use of humor kept the audience engaged and looking forward to what came next, but his focus and emphasis was teaching spiritual meat and practical application.

The one concern I have with the training given to youth pastors was that it is still idea-driven. The ideas were all great. They gave teens tools and momentum to share their faith with friends in a loving and real way. I’m all about that.

But the challenge for youth pastors is managing the overwhelming number of “good, great, and extremely important” ideas.

One big factor contributing to youth pastor burnout is the lack of a prayerfully coherent driving purpose that determines programs. Every training event, book and website for youth pastors pushes an idea or set of ideas that “must” and “should” play a key role in “your” youth ministry. Even the classic book, Purpose Driven Youth Ministry, is one more ministry philosophy based on Doug Field’s five pillar model.

I believe evangelism and outreach should play a crucial role in every youth ministry. But I also believe that for a youth pastor to be successful, they must have a clear picture of the unique vision, goals and purposes that God has called their church and their youth ministry to pursue.

This issue is a primary factor in youth pastor burnout. Without the filter of a specific and unique calling, the flood of ideas turns into an enormous, endless task list. Everyday many youth pastors struggle to stay alive while only feeling that they fall further and further behind.

I love what D2S is doing and even feel challenged personally to make sure I am taking advantage of opportunities in my own life to share my faith. The event was fun, even funny, and filled with spiritual meat.

I would encourage D2S to adopt a more wholistic approach in their training of youth pastors, one that helps them grapple with the already overwhelming tasks and expectations on their plate instead of just adding more.

The work that D2S is doing to spur personal evangelims in youth ministry is incredible. But my hope and prayer is that they would take it one step further to help youth pastors incorporate evangelism into a unique and coherent set of ministry goals. This set of goals can then help them focus on the “best” programs and forget about the merely “good” ideas, so that they can reduce the stress in their own lives by leading a ministry that is focused and effective.

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