Your Diocesan Youth Team Needs Regular Offsites
Big-picture thinking won't happen unless you make space for it.
On any given day working in diocesan youth ministry, the kinds of thoughts I’m thinking are:
We need to confirm a speaker for that event—soon.
When am I going to get through those 50 emails?
How am I covering for that team member on leave next month?
What I’m not often thinking about is:
What youth ministry trends should we be paying attention to?
How should our ministry evolve over the next year?
How do we strengthen our team culture?
The day-to-day demands of ministry don’t leave much room for big-picture thinking. But if you’re going to make a lasting impact, big picture thinking is essential. That’s why your diocesan youth team needs regular offsites.
What’s an Offsite?
An offsite is a dedicated time together as a team at a location that is NOT your workplace. This allows you to step out of the day-to-day demands your work and focus on the big picture stuff.
An offsite should last for at least a full day, but it can be overnight or longer.
Our approach to offsites draws inspiration from Patrick Lencioni’s book, Death by Meeting, where he recommends:
Pick a venue that’s simple and local – The focus is on the team, not on the location. A 1-2 hour drive is fine, but you don’t want most of a day just getting to the venue.
Keep the agenda minimal – You want free-flowing discussion, not a frantic rush to get through everything.
For a diocesan youth team, I’d add a third recommendation:
Start with prayer – We begin our offsites with Mass, followed by 30–60 minutes of individual prayer. Then we regroup to share anything that stood out to us during our time of prayer before diving into the meeting.
Your First Offsite(s): Laying the Foundation
Your first offsite(s) should focus on the foundations for your ministry. Before evaluating success, you need to define what success looks like. Before assessing culture, you need to articulate the kind of culture you’re striving for.
Your first offsite(s) should cover four key areas:
Vision: Fast-forward 5-10 years into the future. What is your vision for what youth ministry looks like in your diocese? Summarize this in a 1–2 sentence vision statement.
Mission: How will you achieve that vision? Again, distill it into a 1–2 sentence mission statement.
Values: What core values do you want to define your team’s culture? Create a list of 3-5 core values.
Multi-Year Plan: What milestones will move you toward your vision over the next three (or five) years? Outline key objectives and action steps.
This foundational work might take more than one offsite, but aim to complete it within two. Once these foundations are in place, you can move into a rhythm of regular offsites.
Tri-Annual Offsites:
In Death by Meeting, Lencioni recommends quarterly offsites, but we’ve found that a tri-annual structure works well:
1) Start of the Year Offsite
Purpose: Set the strategic direction for the year ahead.
Key topics:
Review vision, mission, and values—do they need updating?
Review your multi-year plan—what adjustments are needed?
Define priorities for the coming year.
2) Mid-Year Offsite
Purpose: A strategic check-in to ensure you’re on track, or to course-correct.
Key topics:
Review the first half of the year—what’s working, what’s not?
Identify opportunities and challenges.
Evaluate team culture—what needs attention?
Set priorities for the second half of the year.
3) End-of-Year Offsite
Purpose: Reflect, celebrate, and prepare for the future.
Key topics:
Celebrate wins - what successes should be recognized?
Extract key lessons—what worked, what didn’t, and why?
Identify how to build on strengths and implement learnings for next year.
Be Flexible
Don’t be rigid with these agendas. Offsites should create space for the most pressing big picture conversations. If the next World Youth Day is on the horizon, your planing for that event may fill an offsite. If team morale is low, a deep dive into culture might take priority. Stay adaptable.
Make the Time
The urgent will always crowd out the important—if you let it. Amid the daily demands of ministry, it will feel like you don’t have time for an offsite. But if you want a diocesan ministry that:
Is proactive rather than reactive,
Stays on course rather than drifting aimlessly, and
Accomplishes big things—
Then regular offsites aren’t optional. They’re essential.
Don’t wait until you “have the time.” Make the time. Book your first offsite.