I started LeaderTreks in 1994. In the beginning, I did everything because I was the only person here. Today, I have 18 staff members who run different parts of the ministry. My job has changed many times, and I have gotten to lead every part of the organization at one time or another. Some jobs I have liked and some I have not liked. You may feel the same way about your ministry. As a youth worker, you have led a small group, recruited volunteers, done graphic design, and driven the church bus.

That is one nice thing about youth ministry – you get to wear lots of hats. But no matter what hat you are currently wearing, there is one hat that you should always wear: the Vision Alignment hat. As leaders of ministries, we must always be making sure our ministry activities are aligned with our vision.

I believe that God has called each one of us to lead our ministry based on the gifts he has given us. Along with those gifts comes a vision. (By the way, the gifts always complement the vision.) The struggle for us are the distractions that come from other people’s success. We see the youth group down the street doing some activity, and we think we need to do that. We attend a youth conference or we hear the mega church is doing something new, and we think we need to do that too. Not true. We need to do what God has called us and gifted us to do. When we try and live out someones else’s vision, we will stumble. When we live out the vision God has for us, we too will find success.

I like to do the exercise of Vision Alignment every few months. Write down on a piece of paper all the different activities of your ministry. Then, keeping your vision in mind, ask yourself: do all the activities line up? Can you see how each activity supports the vision? If not, make a change. Alignment will keep frustration away and success close by.