A guest post from Andrew Cooper, Area Director for YL in Fairbanks, Alaska.
The Dynamic Ministry Pyramid (DMP) is a tool developed to help Young Life areas and leaders seek spiritual and ministry health. Basically it’s about priorities and time use. The base being where you as a Leader should spend most of your time and energy and the top being where you spend the least. Also the base being where the focus and priorities lay and the tip being where the least amount of focus should be.
The Base and the Tip
It might come as a surprise to some that at the base of the DMP is Christ and Church and the tip is Club. The thought behind the DMP is health. The goal being, if you are healthy in your walk, your YL club and the ministry as a whole will be better off… after all this is about Jesus right?!
Here’s a challenge for how this could practically affect your ministry: For every minute you spend on the top part of the DMP you spend at least that same amount of time on the next part down, i.e. 3 hours a week for Club, at least 3 hours a week on Christ and the Church. We encourage our leaders to be a part of a small group outside of Young Life. We want them to have people pouring into their lives who have no stake in them being Leaders. We also can’t have leaders not being a part of a local church and having quality time with Christ personally. If we want to be effective leaders we have to lead ourselves well first.
The Middle
The middle of the DMP works like the base and the tip but focuses on where we seek as a ministry to spend our relational energy. The middle of the DMP goes from YL team up to Campaigners then to Contact Work/ Discipleship. So for every minute you spend at the high school, spend that or more with your Campaigner kids, and then even more so with your teammates. The goal is the same, if you spend time building up each other and ministering to your fellow leaders as a team is will be easier to reach out to and encourage your kids.
The Whole Enchilada
So the overall goal is this, that Leaders stay healthy as they stretch themselves in ministry. Let’s face it, this isn’t easy work. It’s joyous work but it’s not simple or easily done. People are messy and complicated and as we pour out our lives we need to make sure we are putting time into the people and processes that will keep us running during the times when everything goes wrong.
Being effective and preventing burnout can be a reality. Don’t forgot to take care of yourself, your teammates and your core kids before you put energy into club. Do not sacrifice yourself and your ministry at the alter of club. Make club simpler. Plan ahead. Take your personal walk with Christ as paramount. Lead yourself well… so in turn…you can lead others well.
