Sure thing. We made it clear from the beginning that there wasn’t a “right” version of a leader in terms of skill set. Some might be gifted up front, and others behind the scenes. The goal was to find their “thing” and do it. To help, I drew a map on a whiteboard of our typical student ministry night facility and asked them to write their name in two places they’d most like to make a difference – from greeting, to stage, to tech, and so on. We dignified it as important in any role to simply give your best.

As far as the clique goes, yep – we’ve stayed on that reminding them to be Jesus-centered and outward-focused. So sometimes when they plan a bowling night or hang time for themselves, we say, “Go for it!” Other times we ask, “What if you invited others to this?” And they realize that’s why they got into this in the first place.

Great question. We actually just had a chat on it, and we had the students wrestle with it. What we came down to is sensing that 10% of the student ministry would be the ideal size for Squad at our size. So around 25-30 students max. Beyond that it’ll become a separate youth ministry.

Awesome! Thanks, Joan!