Australian College of Ministries

Student’s Name: Grant Mitchell

Student’s ID: C9901028

Item Of Work: Case Report

Words: 1045

Worth: 40% of subject mark

Date Submitted:

Due Date: 26^th April 2000

Signed:_____________________________ Date:______________

The counsellee is the youth pastor at a local church, and is involved in ministry with myself. At one of our meetings the counsellee revealed a current struggle, and under the supervision of the other member of the ministry team I began to discuss the struggle with the counsellee.

The counsellee is currently feeling very discouraged. Recently the counsellee attended a youth night where many youth attended and very few leaders attended. Consequently, the control of the behaviour of the youth was not at its normal level. One of the youth leaders panicked and immediately reacted towards the youth with disapproval of their behaviour. The counsellee was discouraged that this leader’s reaction was tending to drive away the youth rather than build them up and encourage them. This youth leader also made plans to approach the church begging for more help, since this leader was also frustrated at the lack of help coming from the church. Consequently the counsellee sensed that the youth leader was directing some frustration at the counsellee. The youth leader’s anger at the youth, and frustration with the youth, church, and the counsellee, made the counsellee react with panic and frustration, especially when trying to support and guide this youth leader. The counsellee felt tense concerning the reaction of the youth leader toward the counsellee’s rightful use of authority.

The counsellee is the youth pastor and is responsible for the youth at this church. One of the main issues is that the other leader appeared to show no submission to the counsellee’s authority. Even worse, the counsellee noted that the tension and anger was not disrupted by the existing friendship between the counsellee and the youth leader.

There appears to be a set of conflicting or incompatible goals when it comes to leadership.[1] What set of goals is in conflict is not known at this time, so uncovering the source of the conflict needs to be discussed, and then the possible need for conflict resolution may need to be explored.

The counsellee stated that the youth leader could very well have a different view of youth ministry to that of the counsellee, with a predominant "baby sitting" focus. This may indicate a youth group that is operating in "maintenance" mode.[2] This is one area that can be discussed and actions taken by the counsellee to shift the youth group focus to be more effective.

There is also frustration that the counsellee’s philosophy of youth ministry is possibly misunderstood or not shared by the youth leader. The main tension is that the counsellee does not want to lose this youth leader from leadership, due to an already low number of leaders, despite the possible differences in philosophy.

Upon discussing the lack of leaders at this youth night, the counsellee talked about a progressing number of leaders having to leave the leadership recently. This decrease in the size of the team has increased the concerns and stresses of the counsellee. We discussed whether the departure of the leaders was due to some common problem in the youth ministry, but the counsellee observed that mostly their reasons were personal (eg. business overseas), or due to conflict with someone else in the church.

On a second occasion we discussed whether the counsellee had shared the vision and goals of the youth ministry with the leadership team. Since the counsellee had done this at the start of the year, the counsellee reflected that others might have handled the conflicts of the other leaders in the church with a level of immaturity. The counsellee was frustrated that this could be a problem out of the counsellee’s control.

I made use of a time-line mapping, and mapped out the Past, Present and Future in relation to these situations.

The Past meant that we talked about the possibility that leaders of the past might have struggled with exactly the same things. I encouraged the counsellee to research the past few years of youth ministry at the church, which will also be significant and powerful since the counsellee has been a member of this church for quite a while. I also talked about how some youth ministries in other churches have a high turnover of leaders, and that this may have been a strong possibility at the counsellee’s church in the past.

The Present meant that we not only reflected on the situation with the other youth leader, but made plans for the counsellee to first pray, and then talk with the other leader about what happened on the night, and what they should do together to deal with the present situation with the youth ministry.

The Future meant that we discussed that some longer term plans may have to be made to establish the vision, direction and philosophy of the counsellee’s youth ministry, raising up leaders who share that vision, and establishing accountability with the Senior Minister of the church.

Talk to counsellee more about their history of youth leadership, inc. school, Uni and church. Also talk about the training opportunities the counsellee has had, and what the counsellee’s philosophy of youth ministry is. Explore more the direction of discipling[3] rather than maintaining the youth.

Encourage the counsellee to explore the conflict that is occurring with the other leader, and what resolution the counsellee wants. This may or may not involve discussing conflict resolution strategies. Upon further meeting, the counsellee talked about a meeting with the youth leader, allowing both the counsellee and the youth leader to share their concerns and feelings. The problem was not solved, but positive steps were taken to heal the immediate conflicts from the youth night.

The counsellee is satisfied with most issues that arose from the initial struggle, but is aware of further areas that have an impact, and still to be resolved. My participation in this continuing process will be up to the counsellee, and it is most likely I will only be checking up with what actions and ongoing effects are still occurring. This seems fine to me, as the counsellee is aware of discussing these ongoing issues with the counsellee’s senior pastor. In this sense, these issues have been informally referred to another counsellor.

1 Collins, G., Christian Counselling. (Word, 1988), 233-234.

2 Boshers, Bo. Student Ministry for the 21^st Century. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1997), 81.

3 Hawkins, Tim. Fruit That Will Last. (Australia, 1999), 92.

 

Bibliography

Boshers, Bo. Student Ministry for the 21^st Century. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1997.

Collins, G. Christian Counselling. Word, 1988.

Hawkins, Tim. Fruit That Will Last. Australia, 1999.