Taking A Step Back

I have been working in student ministry for about 11 years now... Geez, I am getting old.  As a college sophmore, I got started as a part-time youth director.  Today, I am in a full-time position.  This is actually the third full-time position that I have had the honor of serving in.  I am finding though that I'm at a point that I really need to take a step back.  I've heard it said that we are creatures of habit.  I'm seeing that also speaks to us in ministry.

In my present serving spot, I found that this is a very different situation from what I've been with over the past few years.  In my previous two ministries, I had close to 100 students and about 70 students involved on a weekly basis.  My mindset was going in a direction of how to minister to a "large group."  The ministry that God now has me in is a very "small group" in comparison to previous ministries that I've served in.  We are averaging about 15-20 students weekly.  I have come to realize through the wisdom of some people around me (mainly my wife) that I have been trying to run a "large group" ministry and it is starting to cause some problems.

I have come to see that it is time to step back and go back to the college days.  During my early ministry service, I served in "smaller" ministries where it was mainly about the basics.  It is proving to be more of a struggle than I thought it would be.  I didn't realize that I have been in such a "large group" mindset.  I'm greatly looking forward to the getting back to basics.  Many times as ministry numbers grow, we get more program-driven instead of focusing on the purpose of what we're to do.