Planning Youth Programs

As summer is in full swing, now is the time to think about planning for next year’s programs and activities. The farther you plan and get activities and programs on the calendar, the more success you will have with those activities. For a lot of youth leaders, planning in advance is very difficult. We like to spend our time forming relationships with our students, rather than work on administrative planning. The truth of the matter is however, that if you don't have good plans in place it won’t really matter the types of relationships that you form.  

If you're lucky enough to have good volunteers who are skilled at this, you can turn the planning over to them. However, as I discovered early on in my youth ministry, I had to do this task myself.  So I came up with an easy way to help in my planning out the year’s activities, discussion programs and mission opportunities, as well as, a way to get student’s input. In order to do this you simply need a pack of 3 x 5 cards and pens or pencils for all your adult leaders and students. (If you can find different color cards to give the adult leaders, this will help you keep their ideas separated from the students.)

Then at one of our largest activities (usually during the summer) I would gather them together and have them do this: on 1 side of the 3 x 5 card have them write down three questions of faith that they would like to discuss or learn more about. Examples could be, "What does the Bible say about suicide?" Or "How can I share my faith?" They could also list books of the Bible that they would like to study. The point was to get them thinking about what they would like to talk about over the next year. Once they had done that, on the other side of the card they were to write 2 fun activities that they would like to do and 2 mission opportunities that they would like to do. Give them 5 or 10 minutes to complete this. Now you have a whole stack of ideas to work with and begin your planning for the next year.

Note: Sometimes you will get some real duds, but by in large you will have a wealth of ideas to work with for the next year. It goes without saying that if multiple people ask for the same thing, then you definitely want to make sure that you do that sometime during the year.

Good luck with your planning and have a great year getting to know your student’s by drawing them deeper in their faith.

Youth Leadership

Last week I participated in my Conference’s Annual Conference Session. This is our annual meeting of all of pastors and church, usually held in late May or early June.

As is our custom, we invite youth and young adults to participate in these sessions as voting members. We have done this for a number of years and see it as important because it allows the youth and young adults within our churches to express their opinion about the issues that we face as  a church.

Having their opinion and presence at these gathering is incredibly important for a number of reasons. First and foremost, their involvement is critical in making decisions for our church because they are full members of our church. Youth and young adults are not just part members or affiliate members, they are full members with all rights and privileges that any other adult member of our church has. If we treat them as less than full members, then we are essentially telling them that they don't matter.

Secondly, having youth and young adults be a part of the decision-making process of our church is necessary so that we get everyone's opinions into the decision. No one would ever consider not allowing women to speak at meetings or not allowing anyone over the age of 65 to speak and share their opinion. However, I have heard it suggested and modeled that young people should be seen and not heard; they are pushed to the sidelines because they do not have the capability of making the right decision. When we do this in the church we send a very strong message to the young people of our churches that we don't want them or need them.

Finally, their involvement and participation in these gatherings and meetings is important so that they will learn how these meetings and gatherings work. Adults have the responsibility to mentor young people. When we ignore those responsibilities, we set up a system by which the church loses its future leadership. If we do this long enough, there will be no church in the future.

The piece of advice that I would have for you in the local church would be this: make it a high priority to have youth and young adults serve on decision-making committees or ministry teams. Don't use excuses like their opinion doesn't matter or that they should be seen and not heard. Instead, value their opinion and help them learn in the best ways possible. 

25 Great Graduation Gifts that Graduates Will Actually Use

I received this message via e-mail from one of my followers on my blog and I have had a chance to check out website in reference to my last blog posting. There are a lot of really great gift ideas that she has and I would encourage you to check it out. Below is what she sent me and a web link to her site.

Her name is Katina Solomon. thanks Katina reading my blog and I hope people will visit your site!

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Hi,

I’m a frequent reader of your blog and wanted to let you know that I just posted an article on my site that I thought you might find interesting “25 Great Graduation Gifts That Graduates WillActually Use” If you think your readers might like it, too, would you consider sharing or mentioning it on your blog? I’d appreciate it if you have time to check it out.

http://www.collegedegree.com/library/college-life/25-Great-Graduation-Gifts-That-Graduates-Will-Actually-Use/

Saying Goodbye - Graduation Gifts

It's that time of year when young people in both college and high school are graduating. As people who work with young people on a regular basis, we have spent a lot of time mentoring and loving these students and developing long-lasting relationships with them. As we began to say our goodbyes and wish them well on to the next stage of their life, we often think about getting them the gift to help them remember their time with us. But too often we choose cheesy things that don't properly express the magnitude of the life-changing experiences that we have had with the students over the years.

I am not a very good gift giver (just ask my wife). There are certain people who are gifted with the gene or some 6th sence whereby they know exactly the type of gift to get someone. Well, I'm sorry to report, I just simply don't have it and so it frustrates me at this time of year when I want to acknowledge the relationship that I have built up with these young people that I've worked with and the magnitude of what they have meant in my life. I have caught myself in Christian bookstores looking at picture frames with Scriptures on it or bookends or other trinkets that in a matter of years will mean absolutely nothing to these young people. And so I go to the person who is a Zen master at gift giving, my wife and beg and plead for her help.

The one thing she has taught me over the years is this-be authentic. Find a gift that expresses the authentic relationship that you have between you and the other person. It doesn't have to cost a lot nor does it have to be the latest and greatest thing that's out that everyone else is getting. When I think back to my own graduation, a friend of the family bought me an NIV study Bible when I graduated high school. This many years later I still have that Bible and use it for my daily devotions. I guess he saw something in me that he knew that I would need a good study Bible. And he was right! That study Bible has gotten me through many a good sermon, devotion and Bible study over the years.

So as you say goodbye to your seniors whether they be in high school or college be authentic with them. Express the emotions that you were feeling. And try to finding gift that they will remember 15 to 20 years from now that they might be able to share with others.

Relational Investment Vs. Relational Engagement

This is always a tough problem for people in ministry to wrestle with; especially those who work with young people. We want to personally investe in the lives of every student or young person that we come in contact with, however that is physically and emotionally impossible. I know a number of pastors who try to do ministry in this way, thinking that this is how ministry is done. But what ends up happening is that they burnout very early in their ministry and they are no good later in their ministry to anyone.

However, there is a way that we can be in ministry with young people and have a very meaningful impact on their lives. This way is relational engagement. I got this idea by attending a youth worker training event this past spring and it was one of those things that I had been doing for years but I never really put words to it. What the presenter tried to argue was this: it is virtually impossible to give 100% of ourselves to 100% of the students and young people that we are in ministry with. However, we can engage 100% of our young people in short, but meaningful ways.

The example he gave was attending sporting events, school concerts or school plays. While you won't be able to spend a whole lot of time with the young person, if you make a concerted effort to see the young person after the event letting them know that you were there and that they did a good job or made a good play, they will remember that forever. In my own ministry this rang true with a young girl who was bounded determined to hate me. I had followed a pastor who had been appointed to that church for over 20 years. It was the only pastor she had ever known, and she wasn't about to let me into her life. She was a field hockey player, so I found out her field hockey schedule and went to one of her home games. At the end of the game I made sure to say hello to her and her parents. After that encounter, her whole demeanor changed. It was as though I was could do nothing wrong and I instantly became her favorite pastor.

In ministry we are not going to have all of the time or the energy to invest in the people we want to. We could quite literally kill ourselves trying to do that. However, strategically engaging people in simple ways can make the world of difference to those youth and young people who so desperately need to be loved. Try it sometime!