STAGES OF STUDENT LEADERSHIPDEVELOPMENT

A Means of Discipleship

YEAR 1FOCUS: Observing and Building Community

  1. Get to know your students, their personalities and gifts.
  2. Share with your adult volunteers:
  3. Why you are developing leaders
  4. What you are looking for in leaders
  5. What the adult volunteers’ role is in developing student leaders
  6. Asking for their input
  7. Brainstorm with students and volunteers:
  8. Where you might need help in the ministry
  9. Where there will be a place for leadership in the ministry.
  10. Practice frequent group building or community building activities.
  11. Notice which students show potential as leaders.
  12. Enlist your adult volunteers to look for potential leaders.

YEAR 2 FOCUS: Large Group Decision-Making – Introduction to Student Leadership

  1. Offer limited choices and encourage youth to be involved in decision-making re:
  2. How to decorate the youth room
  3. Fun activities (choose from 5-10 choices that you’ve pre-screened)
  4. Lessons offered (9-12 weeks of the 50 that you meet)
  5. Mission events (choose from 2-3 choices that you’ve pre-screened)
  6. Introduce Bible studies,focusing on leadership qualities for all youth & observe the response of youth to the studies.
  7. Teach adult volunteers the principles of student leadership and their role in the development of leaders.

YEAR 3 FOCUS: Task Force for Event Planning

  1. Select or encourage youth to be on a task force to plan something like:
  2. Devotions for events
  3. A retreat for middle school students
  4. A group to promote a culture of friendliness in the ministry
  5. A mission event or trip
  6. Develop a model for student leadership, which could include:
  1. Self-nominated team vs. applications for leadership
  2. Specific vs. non-specific roles
  1. Set a goal date for the next fall of implementing a student leadership team.
  2. Talk with youth about student leadership being implemented next year.
  3. Introduce a retreat that focuses on being a Christian leader.

YEAR 4 FOCUS: Leadership Team

  1. Recruit/choose a group of student leaders for this year.
  2. Write a covenant with the student leaders regarding expectations.
  3. Hold regularly scheduled meetings for the leadership team, emphasizing:
  1. Practical & life lessons
  2. Leadership principles
  3. Biblical lessons
  4. An agenda.
  1. Engage adult volunteers in supporting student leaders.

YEAR 5 FOCUS:If You Breathe, You Lead

  1. Continue to emphasize leadership as disciples for the whole youth group.
  2. Have the leadership team plan an annual event that they alone lead.
  3. Evaluate the annual event with the student leaders and adult volunteers.
  4. Develop an evaluation for student leaders, with their input.