Alycia is humoring me by watching Star Trek: The Next Generation with me. TNG is my favorite television show ever and I’m happy that she is watching it with me. I do feel a little bad for her, though, because the first season of TNG isn’t that great. It takes a while for TNG to hit its stride and for the actors to really understand their characters. When they do, though, the chemistry of the crew and their relationships become the bedrock foundation of the show.
I’ve been doing student ministry for 13 years and in that time I’ve never really felt the camaraderie evident in the Enterprise’s bridge crew. I’ve felt that connection with those at my church but I’ve never really felt that connection with other youth pastors.
Thankfully that’s starting to change.
For the past three years our church has partnered with others to put on a winter camp. During this past year we have really upped our interaction with each other. Not only did we do winter camp together but we had a worship night together in anticipation of camp and all of our youth groups kicked off our summer together. Doing camps and events together is great but the relationships we’re building are even better.
We’ve got our own little youth pastor bridge crew going.
In the past I’ve felt like our church was competing with other churches. Instead of coming together as the body of Christ I was trying to be the eye telling the hand I didn’t need it. Spending time with this amazing group of men and women has shown me how much more effective we can be together.
I don’t think we’ll save Earth from the Borg or bring an end to the Klingon Civil War, but hopefully our youth pastor bridge crew can make a difference in our community and in the lives of our students. And even if that doesn’t happen, we really enjoy getting lunch and sharing youth ministry stories.
How have you seen the benefits of coming together with the larger body of Christ?
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