In their book With Head, Heart and Hand, Kelly and Sewell write, “Knowing, feeling and doing describe three human capacities, each one important in itself. No one of these, by itself and without the addition of the other two, is enough.” While they weren’t talking about ministry per se, I think the point is indeed valid for what we are trying to do.
Think about your ministry and its various components – including curricula, programs, activities, volunteers and staff. What are the young people you serve seeing in your ministry? How would they describe the strength of the head, heart and hands of it when asked? Is your program strong in the educational aspects of it, but perhaps students don’t feel loved or served? Or do your students feel loved and served, but aren’t really learning much? What exactly is encompassed by each area?
Let’s start with the head. Is the educational aspect of your ministry strong? Do young people leave with a thorough and deep knowledge of scripture? Do they comprehend what they have been taught? Do they know how to apply it to their lives in the choices they make and how they interact with the world around them? Or do they leave with a shallow knowledge of a handful of basic Bible stories, not comprehending the basic biblical principles of God’s commands or Christianity in general? Do they walk away without the ability to apply scripture to their lives either because they don’t know enough or don’t have the skill sets to make it easier to obey God?
What about the heart of your ministry? I’m sure every ministry would say they love their children or teens, but do the young people you serve actually feel loved? Are you fully reflecting God’s love to them by using the five love languages, going the extra mile in spending time with them outside of the classroom environment, showing a real interest in their lives outside of church and having eyes that light up because you are so excited to see each one of them when they walk in the room? What about your volunteers? How are they treating students when the classroom door is closed? Have you observed interactions and trained your volunteers in how to be truly loving of the young people they serve?
Hands, in some ways, will overlap the other two areas. People in ministry will often say they try to be the “hands and feet of Jesus”. They attend school functions of their students, take them out for ice cream and coffee to just listen, drive them home after activities and dozens of other active “hands and feet” types of ministry. Don’t forget to look around your facility for things that could use a “hand”. You don’t have to go overboard, but are your learning environments attractive, warm and inviting? Do you make sure bulletin boards and decorations are changed periodically to keep things looking fresh? Is your environment kept clean and relatively neat? You don’t need a “show house” environment, but you do want your students to feel comfortable and safe – unrestricted by clutter and trash. You also want to create a space that is interesting and inviting – that draws them into the room quickly to give you every possible minute with them.
Not sure how well you are really doing in some of these areas? We have free resources to help you evaluate your Bible classes and curricula. You can find them under volunteer training resources on our website (www.teachonereachone.org). If you want your ministry to truly serve the young people entrusted to you, regularly evaluate your ministry to make sure it is strong in head, heart and hands. When it is, it will be reflective of the ministry of Jesus.