In youth ministry, September is always a fresh start.
As we tend to work in the rhythm of the school year some of wonderful 18-year-olds are about to leave and we have a new bunch arriving from the other end. What are some of the very practical things you need to do to get the new year off to a good start?
1. Check that the leavers are going to be linked up somewhere. If it’s further education, UCCF have an excellent system for linking freshers with their university CU’s. If they haven’t joined in four weeks they may well get lost. If they are going away to work try to link them with a church in their new town.
2. Get your leaders together before the start of the new term. Hopefully the term’s programme has already been fixed but it may need some last minute tweaking. Look forward to the new year and all that God is going to do with your group.
3. Pray — not the most radical suggestion but probably the most powerful. Any team that’s about to start the new year should pray together for the team, the ministry and the students. Make sure the church prayer meeting spends time in prayer for youth and children’s ministry.
4. Promote well. Most of us tend to promote children from one group to another in early September. Take children from one group to another — don’t just send them (it has been known). Something in a morning church service is always a good thing. Get the teachers/leaders to stand and get some leaders and/or parents to pray for them as they start their new year of ministry.
5. If you have a weekly bulletin, publish the names of all leaders and teachers who will be working in all groups from 0 to 18.
6. If you have home groups it’s not a bad idea to send each leader an A5 sheet with details of what to pray for. It may even encourage some people to join your teams.
7. Do not fear. We spend many hours singing that ‘Our God is a great big God’ but I’m not sure that we live like it. Go into the new year believing in faith that God will do more than you could ever believe. Our confidence is in the Lord who made heaven and earth.
8. Think about the long term ‘health’ of your team. After the initial burst of a new term what do you have in place to support them? Could some (or all) of them be helped with a person who can mentor and/or support them. How is the church ‘connected’ to the ministry? Could each home group be given a small part of youth/children’s work to support and pray for?
One of the most vivid memories of my life was when I first led a youth ministry. The previous leader was a man of immense vision and energy who died in his 40s. I was amazed when the preacher at Bernard’s funeral service took as his text: ‘Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land’ (Joshua 1.2). Bernard was a wonderful leader from whom I learnt much, but there was a new task different from the old one. This coming year is a great opportunity to start with a new vision and a new passion for gospel ministry.
Joshua — arise!!!!
