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When participating in a combined trip, the particular responsibilities of each minister must be carefully delineated. Otherwise, some elements of the trip will be either forgotten or ignored. In most cases, one minister must be in charge, for rarely can two people be in charge and coexist. Often, one minister will be in charge for a portion of the event and the other for the remainder of the event. The two ministers should confer about every decision. For instance, one leader tells the students in his van that they may go to any restaurant in the area, the other tells students in her van they must go to a particular restaurant. On long trips small issues can escalate. Otherwise, manipulative youth and sponsors can strategically pit minister against minister without the ministers' realizing they are being manipulated.

Youth ministers must look for ways to support the youth choir by dropping in on rehearsals, going with them to festival, or participating in trips. Music ministers can support youth activities by attending Bible studies, chaperoning a youth event, or leading music for a retreat. Taking advantage of opportunities to show support will not only be affirmed by the youth minister but by the students as well.

Children's Ministry

Music ministry and children's ministry must be carefully coordinated if they are to be effective. The weekly, monthly, semester, and yearly schedule for all children's activities must be viewed as a unit with the overall purpose of the child's spiritual development. These shared goals must be clearly communicated to parents. Scheduling, promotions, and calendaring are ways to start.

The children's ministry and music ministry will be expected to share physical facilities, materials and supplies, instruments, and human resources. Leaders of the two ministries should also work to coordinate curriculum whenever possible. When the child's Christian education is well coordinated, the benefits are immense.

Missions

Many churches have classes for their children to learn about missions and to discover ways for missions involvement. These classes should be coordinated with music activities and other children's activities. Whenever possible, these groups should combine for promotion, missions action, curriculum, and human resources. Music is a valuable way of ministering to others, and it should be utilized whenever missions projects involve children.