If you have an upcoming leader retreat, Vitals for Youth Ministry can be used for your training sessions. Here’s a recommended Coaching Roadmap for a leader retreat:
1 - Divide your group of leaders into cohorts.
Cohorts of 5-8 are ideal.
At times it best to form cohorts based on common factors. For example: leaders that serve at churches in the same area (region, section, etc.). You can always choose to form cohorts based on church size or vocational status (volunteer leaders together, etc.)
2 - Choose a coach for each cohort.
This could be an experienced Youth Pastor or even a former Youth Pastor who has a desire to help develop leaders.
3 - Plan your retreat around four sessions of content from the Vitals for Youth Ministry Library.
If you and your group are new to Vitals for Youth Ministry we recommend the following videos.
Session One: What is Vitals?
Session Two: A Biblical Framework for Vitals.
Session Three: Building Your Youth Ministry by the Vitals.
Session Four: How to use Vitals as an Evaluation Tool.
4 - Each session (1 hour) could be developed to include the following elements:
Watch the video together as a group. (20 minutes)
Spend time in cohorts using the provided discussion questions and notes. (20 minutes)
Come back together as a group for a Q&A session or panel discussion with each cohort coach sitting on the panel. (20 minutes)
(If you commit to four 1-hour sessions for Vitals you will still have plenty of time for additional sessions for worship, prayer, encouragement and relationship building time.)