Though it May Seem Grim

I've been listening to podcasts for years now and I've really enjoyed getting to hear the thoughts of so many different people, especially from so many who are in the same field I'm in. Lately though, I've grown weary of people claiming the many do's and don't of ministry, often claiming that if you miss any item on their list you'll fail and never be able to recover.

For example, I just listened to a podcast where they talk about how to avoid problems in your first 6 months of ministry. Within the podcast they strongly advise young Youth Pastor's not to change anything about the ministry in the first 6 months. I absolutely agree. Even hold a year if you can. But then another step is taken, telling me that when you're thinking and building a new idea, program, or something you're going to launch, don't tell anybody until you're ready to launch. They sighted some great examples of people who do this in the business world, like Steve Jobs who said something to the effect of "Ships never sink from the top."

Perhaps I'm over simplifying or speaking with an overly naive sensibility, but how exactly am supposed to avoid the following;

1. An over-whelming sense of loneliness towards the goals I have? To put my ministry into context, I have a small group of volunteer staff who have amazing hearts, but also an incredibly packed schedule.

2. How do kids obtain a sense of ownership? Perhaps programing and events aren't something kids are necessarily plugged into in bigger churches, but in smaller ones, without kid involvement they all flop.

I guess in general I'm just sick of feeling like the ministries failure and success is 100% on my shoulders. I always feel like this anyways and too often I feel pressure to quit because I don't have a high enough profit margin cough*** I mean "spiritual growth."

God has called me an others to do an amazing work I'm sure if I'm going to be seeking advise much longer if every body just keeps adding to the list of "1 million ways to ruin ministry... p.s. you've probably already done a thousand of these."

tom