I find myself in conversations sometimes where I am trying to explain what Thrive Youth Ministries does. It usually begins with the question “So what do you do?” to which my reply is obviously “I work for Thrive Youth Ministries”. There then comes a momentary pause and a blank face whilst the other person tries to figure out what that means. Some people, most likely with a church background, reply “Oh that’s nice” and assume it is some local youth group that gives teenagers a place to go on a Friday night. Others just nod and change the subject. I guess it’s not as clear cut as “I’m a doctor” or “I teach dance”, even “I’m in finance or computing” gives the person some sort of inkling about what the job involves.
So what does Thrive actually do?
Mentoring has always been at the heart of Thrive, offering to meet up with a leader on a monthly basis to offer a listening ear, support and to help them grow in their leadership ability, as well as enabling them to grapple with the difficult challenges and issues they face.
Training youth leaders has been part of Thrive’s vision since the start. Alongside building confidence in youth work, enabling leaders to have the necessary skills to lead effectively has been essential. Over the years we have offered training in a variety of areas including building an effective youth leadership team, growing a thriving youth group, how to have meaningful conversations with a young person and building a vision and strategy for youth ministry.
Thrive also develops partnerships with local churches. We want to come alongside churches and help them develop and deepen their youth ministry, whilst at the same time always communicating that it remains their responsibility not ours. Give us two or three leaders and we will come alongside a church, show them how to lead well, resource them with whatever materials they might need and coach them as they grow in their roles.
Thrive doesn’t want to do anything which the local church can do itself. We want to complement what is happening, not replace. One way we do this is by offering training in leadership for young people, as well as providing oversight for ecumenical multi-church initiatives such as Thrive Youth. Investing in young leaders is a vital ingredient for Thrive. We want to do all we can to both impact the Church today and increase its potential impact in the future. Investing in young leaders, does both these things.
I find myself now considering a new narrative in my reply to the question “What do you do?” Instead, I begin with “I have the best job ever. I get to support a charity called Thrive that mentors youth leaders, provides training, supports churches and disciples young people; I get to see the Kingdom of God grow.”
Blog Contribution by Emmy Rayment
Emmy is the administrator at Thrive Youth Ministries. She has four school aged children, is married to a GP and has a naughty chocolate Labrador called Charlie. She considers fruitful Youth Ministry to be of the utmost importance in maintaining growth in our churches; young people are literally our church leaders of tomorrow.