Contact Information:

Telephone: (719) 381-1825
FAX: (719) 381-1869

Mailing Address:
PO Box 4478
Englewood CO, 80155-4478

E-mail:
info@yfcmym.org

Webmaster: webmaster@yfcmym.org

90% of military students, ages 12-18, are in the U.S.

Of active duty students (age 12-18) over 270,000 live stateside and about 27,000 live overseas.

The majority of military installations use public schools located in the civilian community.

Para-church organizations (YFC and YL) are currently within 50 miles of over half of the military installations located in the US.

Para-church organizations such as Youth for Christ are primarily located in public schools.

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Primarily chapel youth ministries are led by volunteers.

These ministries tend to be Chapel-focused ministries. The key to making this effort successful is adequate support, training, and guidance.

Some Chapel communities use contracted local hires or organizations to assist in their youth ministry efforts. The key to making this effort successful is adequate vision, investment, personnel mix, and commitment to a long term presence and support.

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1. First, recruit a steering group from your adult circle of influence. This steering group will eventually become a support group to assist you in preparing a community assessment and selecting courses of action.


2. During the process of assessment, as your vision becomes more focused, appeal to command for the resources to adequately support your ministry vision. Resources could include a salary package for staffing (if required), training for adults, and programming needs.


3. Develop a three-year ministry vision giving special attention to key transitions, benchmarks, goals, and evaluations.

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The complexities of ministry in the military do not suit themselves to a single denominational model, nor do the complexities within chapels. As an example, many chaplains and DREs come from a background where the individual who leads the youth ministry is referred to as a youth pastor. Just think about the challenges this mind-set would bring up across the spectrum of chapel communities at your installation. The desire must be to start with as few roadblocks as possible. For that reason, the relational and multi-faceted aspects of Para-Church programming lend themselves more readily to youth ministry within the military. The emphasis on relationships within a faith based, safe and fun environment is the key to ministry within the pluralistic environment of the military. .

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Setting the foundation for a solid youth ministry that has a long-term vision for presence and continuity. It will be much easier to gather 25-30 students and think the task is completed.

Short changing the chaplain/DRE, parent/adult or command process in a way that leaves key support systems behind, uncommitted and uninformed.

Trying to do too much with too little. It is so important that as chaplains and/or DRE's plan they understand larger installations with multiple chapels will look different than smaller "specialized" installations. Installations with several family serving chapels will need to look different than an installation with one chapel.

Trying to get started with the presumption that military families will know how to be involved and support a youth ministry.

Presuming you have trained adults who know what to do because they said they would be leaders.

Maintaining momentum after the launch of the ministry and during key chaplain and DRE transitions.

Not having a ministry plan that lays out reasonable direction and expectations and accounts for the bumps and turns that will come.

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The bottom line is an individual who has already demonstrated success in leading a youth program. The key is not military familiarity. Rather it is the individuals commitment to their own calling that will lead them, as a observer and learner, to embrace the chaplains youth vision for the installation.

Insist upon an interview process and resume with references. Have someone on your steering committee call the references and if warranted offer a personal interview.

If the candidate is a member of an organization you will also need to gather information about how the organization operates. How they envision their role in supporting the staff person and expectations they might have from the community.

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There are three dimensions to break out regarding this this question, costs related to staffing (if applicable), adult training and then programming.

Contracted Staffing: The basic principle involved in "contracting" out for youth ministry services is that the staff person should receive a fair compensation for the services expected. An independent and non-denominational youth magazine publisher, Group bi-annually provides an article with a youth ministry salary survey that could be helpful: 2007 Group Magazine Youth Ministry Salary Survey as a starting place for planning purposes when estimating the cost of contracting these services.

Volunteer Training: Chaplains and DRE's, please allow resources for training volunteers, see Chapel Volunteers. If all you can do is give a book, it's better than nothing. There are so many options each with a different cost level but even if you contract a staff person do not allow this area to become short changed. These volunteer men and women, and the students, will be so much better off with an intentional commitment to training and development. Please insist on a planned out volunteer training program regardless if you go with a contractor or not.

Student Programming: The cost of student ministry is always tied to the experiences you want your students to have. If your going to send your students on mission trips to foreign countries it just costs a lot of money. I realize there must be boundaries but having seen the benefits of seeing military students being invested in by Chaplains, DRE's and parent it is worth the risk.

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This is the untapped opportunity in the United States. These organizations exist for outreach and have the right mind set to do so in a style of ministry that is well adapted for a military chapel situation. Para-church style ministry can reach across most congregations and the emphasis on personal relationships between committed Christian adults and students wherever they are in life will readily lend itself to the most needy student, the one who probably has no chapel or church affiliation.

The real benefit of exploring this course of action is that in the instances where these organizations and military installations are already co-located an office call or lunch is all it would take to look for places where the installation and chapter could work together. Chaplains, DRE's and parents could visit what is already going for evaluation and applicability to their situation.

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Many chaplains and DRE's have experienced youth ministry overseas and then returned to the US and tried to replicate that ministry without the appropriate adjustments. Overseas and US ministry is just different! There are a number of contributing factors.

Overseas Ministry: Installations tend to be smaller, fewer chapels, a concentration of presence and support by the faith community, schools, housing and even the chapel is on the installation. There is usually no competition from other student outreach organizations. Basically your the only show in town. Staff members are often identification (ID) card holders and have a level of visibility in the military not available in CONUS. Contracted staff don't go to the installation commissary, exchange etc...

US Ministry: The complexities of youth ministry in the US are related to students identifying much less with their military identify. Installations just don't have the same feelings of "family." Additionally ministry will be impacted by the on going youth ministry efforts off the installation by churches and student outreach efforts in schools. Usually you will find that several of the families who may have chosen the chapel overseas now return to their own denomination. Also multiple schools and housing off base will be a factor in establishing your own youth ministry efforts.

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