Summer is in full swing! For those ministries that take a break during the summer, it may seem like you just held your last meeting back in the spring, but it will not be long until plans need to be made to relaunch in the fall. Oftentimes, that time can move quickly, so one must […]
Summer is in full swing! For those ministries that take a break during the summer, it may seem like you just held your last meeting back in the spring, but it will not be long until plans need to be made to relaunch in the fall. Oftentimes, that time can move quickly, so one must use this off time wisely to plan for what’s to come!
Every ministry is different, and how each ministry is planned can also vary. Some plan out a month at a time, while others plan out the entire year and beyond. Whichever way you choose to lay out your year, there are some key principles to keep in mind as you prepare to relaunch your ministry this fall. We will share three of them with you now:
1. Excitement is Contagious
It may seem like an obvious statement, but students are more likely to be excited about your ministry if you are excited about it too! The scientific community calls this phenomenon “emotional contagion,” where one mimics, usually without conscious effort, the emotions, and expressions, of people around them. We also know the opposite to be true – that if a youth leader seems bored or uninterested about their ministry, chances are students will be disinterested too.
The truth of the matter is, we do not need to act or pretend to be excited about ministry. It truly is the most exciting thing that a student can experience. Why is this? The answer is not the what or the why, or even the where or the when. The answer is in the who. Your ministry is exciting because through Bible study, games, events, and other activities, we get to experience what it is like to walk with God, the Creator of the universe, every week, and share with them the great news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! If that’s not something to get excited about, we don’t know what is! Therefore, your youth leaders should make it a point in the coming weeks to enthusiastically promote the upcoming opportunities to grow in their faith in Jesus and let them know that God is worthy to get excited about!
2. Communication is Key
Planning and preparation are great, and needed, for a ministry to survive, but you can plan all the events in the world, and it will not matter if you are not communicating well with your students’ parents. Utilize every tool you have at your disposal – phone, text, email, social media, smoke signal – anything that will communicate and engage your parents. Create flyers, both in print and digital, to hand out to families. Post them around town. If you have the budget, take out an advertisement in the local newspaper. Let your community know that you are there, and that you have a message worth telling, the greatest message of all, the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
3. Pray with a Purpose
There is a reason this thought was saved for last, because it is the most important thing you can do in ministry. Pray! Even now, in the summer, a youth ministry should be preparing for the fall by covering the ministry in prayer. Here are a few great examples of what you and your fellow leaders can be praying for:
- Pray for the hearts and minds of your students, that they might be opened to the truth of God’s Word as it is taught to them this upcoming year.
- Pray for your students’ spiritual growth, that they might take up the armor of God to protect them from the influences of this dark world and resist the temptation to sin.
- Pray that your students would be bold in inviting their friends and sharing the Gospel with them.
- Pray for your leaders, that they might be good examples of what it means to follow Christ and love others. Pray that they would have wisdom to help lead your students, and energy to balance work, family, and life to dedicate bandwidth to youth ministry.
- Pray for unity between yourself and your fellow leaders, that you might all work together for the glory of God. Pray that any interpersonal issues that arise might be dealt with in love and grace.
- Pray for the parents of your students, that they would share your enthusiasm to disciple their children. Pray for the events you have planned. If there are parents of your students that are unsaved, pray for their salvation!
- Pray for the health and safety of your students throughout the year. Pray for their lives at school, that they would be a light for Jesus and show others His love.
- Pray for the little things. Pray for the facility in which you meet. Pray for the planning itself, that God would be glorified through it.
Pray for it all – and pray for it often! When it feels like you cannot pray any more for it, pray for it some more! One of the biggest mistakes a youth ministry can make is not covering everything they do in prayer. It is the lifeblood of every ministry and should never be neglected. There is no such thing as praying too much for your ministry, so cover it all in prayer!
There are many variables to consider when planning for your fall relaunch, but we pray that however you do it, you remember to stay excited, communicate, and pray that God works mightily in the lives of your leaders and students to add to His kingdom!
