Quality

Have you ever walked into a restaurant and been immediately turned off? Maybe you wait for a few minutes to be seated and nobody helps you. Perhaps there is food on the floor or rude wait staff or a funky smell. Whatever it is, the lack of quality automatically sets us up for a bad experience.

The same that is true for a restaurant holds true for the church as well, and even more personally, the student ministry of our church. If I am expecting our student ministry to be "off the chain," it truly must be a quality experience for current and visiting students. In business you can have the best marketing plan in the world, but if the product doesn't deliver, then it is only a matter of time before word spreads and sales drop.

I have been asking myself some questions lately about our environment in student ministry, sort of a self-evaluation...

1.) Is the ministry God has given me to lead done with absolute excellence?
2.) Do I spend plenty of time planning, organizing, and praying for our mid-week service, or do I fly be the seat of my pant?
3.) Do I hear a steady stream of complaints from parents, volunteers, students that our student ministry is disorganized?
4.) Are my messages well prepared, well transitioned, and well illustrated?
5.) Am I unleashing the spiritual gifts and talents of the students and adults in my ministry?
6.) Is our student ministry a setting where our students are comfortable inviting their unchurched friends?

A lot of times it is so easy to get in the mindset of "if you build it they will come." While that is partially true, evaluation is crucial once you build it and with that evaluation we must be intentional about quality and excellence. The world is marketing their stuff to students with excellence and quality why shouldn't we be "marketing" the greatest message ever with the most quality and excellence?