Networks

Why networks are important:

Children and youth workers who are involved in a local network, tend to stay longer in their ministries and have healthier ministries, than workers who are disconnected. The turnover, instability and inexperience of the new workers, contributes to the lowered influence of their ministries and programs. Connecting, encouraging, training and coaching, can help these workers be healthier as servants, and more effective in their ministries.
By connecting these workers through networking and supportive friends and mentors, their efforts, plus the resources of their local church or ministry, can have a much deeper combined impact in their community, or to their group of children or youth.
Networks are also needed to connect needed resources in a community that include more than just the volunteer or paid staff in local churches. Christian teachers, counselors, law enforcement, business leaders, community leaders and others, can all work together, to better reach the children and youth in their area.

“Stakeholders” from NNYM’s
Network Coaching Playbook

What kind of networks?

Note: these are our own type-definitions. Other groups may define “networks” differently.

Fellowship and/or Prayer networks are probably the most common; of course, they usually involve a meal, such as a breakfast or lunch. These networks are typically very small and may exist only for mutual encouragement. In some ways, they may function as a “small group” or “support group”. Hopefully, the fellowship and prayer will lead to the question, “What should we do about ____?” (You can fill in the blank with whatever need you feel is #1, for the sake of the children and youth in your community!) Answering that question, may lead to a new stage in the network’s development.
Geographic networks are defined by a county, a zip-code cluster, a community, etc. These networks can focus on a variety of needs, with diverse input from various stakeholders.
School-focused networks are designed to reaching one or more schools. When enough local Schools are served, a “District” network may form to connect the school-networks within their district. These networks enable a sharper-focus, with a broader variety of concerned groups.
Affinity networks are on-going groups that are formed around a common interest, or reaching an identified group of youth, such as those involved in trafficking, at-risk behaviors, pregnant teens, youth sub-cultures, or ministry models such as mentoring, sports, etc. These networks may also form to help youth workers connect and serve with their peers in an area of shared calling, giftedness or passion. Or, youth workers who want to share (or need to develop) their technical skills in media production, web design, etc. NNYM sponsors a variety of Affinity Networks with a national scope, but local affinity networks are also needed, and will fit well with our efforts to help encourage Leaders.
Event-driven networks have a specific lifespan, based on a shared event. These may be city-wide efforts which have an extended life-span (12-18 months or more), such as the “Right from Wrong” campaign in 1999, “CityFest” in 2008, or more recently “1DayHouston” in 2023. They may also be community-based, such as “See You at the Pole” rallies or multi-church outreach efforts. These events can also serve as a sub-set of an ongoing network, or be the first-steps in ongoing efforts when no network exists, or trust must be rebuilt.

NNYM’s model of a healthy network includes a growing balance of praying together, building relationships, developing strategies, and sharing resources.

Partnership with NNYM:

The National Network of Youth Ministries recognizes TheNet as their local representative. TheNet of Greater Houston is the “network of networks” birthed in the mid-1990’s, which is now sponsored by the Youthworkers Support Network. For more info about NNYM, click their logo, or skim our NNYM page.

Identifying, Connecting and Encouraging … but not Coordinating

We are not coordinating the activities of the different networks, and they are not accountable to us. As NNYM staff like to say, “We don’t own the networks; we champion them!”

TheNet’s local role is to identify the existing networks, help connect them to each other and other resources, then help encourage their leaders and efforts when possible. Where networks do not exist, we hope to encourage start-ups … but that will depend on local leadership and God’s timing.

The key person(s) in the network:

While starting, building and maintaining any network is a team effort, the key person is the network’s coordinator and leadership team. Often this person prefers to serve in the background as a facilitator, but their efforts for the network’s health and survival are indispensable. Most coordinators are employed by a local church or youth ministry, so their time involved in leading the network is in addition to their other responsibilities. A network’s life cycle may take years to reach a level of maturity, but it can die quickly without committed leadership.

Therefore, the network coordinator needs to have a “leadership team” of others, who help provide the basic support needed for a healthy network and can step into the leadership duties when needed.

For this reason, our local ministry is committed to serving, encouraging and supporting these network coordinators and leadership teams, within our limited resources. Our best tools, are NNYM’s materials and resources.

How many Networks are needed?

NNYM’s national goal is to encourage one network for each 80,000 in local population. These will be a variety of networking models; many of these will not be NNYM members. Our goal for our area includes all types of networks, including those serving the various denominational churches in our area. Based on the estimated 2023 populations for our counties, we hope to someday have identified, or help start, at least 100 networks in our area.

As of today, we know of only a handful of active networks in our Greater Houston Area. However, there are many networks in our area that we have not yet identified! Many of these do not want to be identified, because they want to protect their members from marketing efforts, and perhaps to keep their group small and informal. This is understandable, so we must build trust and carefully protect it, while we work to identify, connect and encourage these efforts.

Networks Needed

*U.S. Census Data "co-est 2023-pop-48" as of 07/22/24

wdt_ID	wdt_created_by	wdt_created_at	wdt_last_edited_by	wdt_last_edited_at	County	Population*	% of Total	Needed?	Known?
1	user02175037162979	07/22/2024 08:30 PM	user02175037162979	07/22/2024 08:30 PM	AUSTIN	31,677	0%	1	0
2	user02175037162979	07/22/2024 08:30 PM	user02175037162979	07/22/2024 08:30 PM	BRAZORIA	398,938	5%	5	0
3	user02175037162979	07/22/2024 08:30 PM	user02175037162979	07/22/2024 08:30 PM	CHAMBERS	53,876	1%	1	0
4	user02175037162979	07/22/2024 08:30 PM	user02175037162979	07/22/2024 08:30 PM	FORT BEND	916,778	12%	11	1
5	user02175037162979	07/22/2024 08:30 PM	user02175037162979	07/22/2024 08:30 PM	GALVESTON	361,744	5%	5	1
6	user02175037162979	07/22/2024 08:30 PM	user02175037162979	07/22/2024 08:30 PM	HARRIS	4,835,125	65%	60	2
7	user02175037162979	07/22/2024 08:30 PM	user02175037162979	07/22/2024 08:30 PM	LIBERTY	108,272	1%	1	0
8	user02175037162979	07/22/2024 08:30 PM	user02175037162979	07/22/2024 08:30 PM	MONTGOMERY	711,354	10%	9	2
9	user02175037162979	07/22/2024 08:30 PM	user02175037162979	07/22/2024 08:30 PM	WALLER	63,553	1%	1	0
10	user02175037162979	07/22/2024 08:30 PM	user02175037162979	07/22/2024 08:30 PM	Multi-County & Other	0	-	6	4
						∑ = 7,481,317		∑ = 100	∑ = 10