There are some strategic times throughout the year to try something new, re-do something or get rid of something. Usually one of those times is in the fall when people are going back to school and the other great time is in the New Year. People want to start off the year strong. The idea of change is usually on their mind personally so it’s a good time to do SOMETHING.
I don’t know if you are like me, but I enjoy blowing stuff up, changing, revamping a few things throughout the year in our ministry because it keeps things fresh. Sometimes it might feel like your volunteers or your students get “used” to things and they are not as passionate about an aspect of your ministry as they used to be.
That’s why this year you should do SOMETHING:
Pour gasoline on “something” – Rich Birch, author of The Church Growth Fly Wheel, says you should find out what students and leaders tell their friends why they should come to whatever it is you have going on and then whatever that thing is, pour gas on it. In the podcast episode of the Youth Ministry Hacks Podcast Rich was on (click HERE to give it a listen) he says if the reason your students tell friends they should come is because of pizza, then you should have the best pizza in town to offer. Pour gas on the fire. So what is the thing in your ministry that has the most momentum? Pour gas on it in the new year.
Break down and rebuild “something”– Most of us have something going on in our ministry that is doing well, it has a purpose, it has potential to be great but right now it’s not running on all cylinders. The new year is a great time to spent blowing it up, breaking it down and begin to rebuild it. For us, we are going to be doing this with our follow up. I think we are doing follow up at a “B” level right now. Our team is in the process of breaking it down, analyzing it, trying to figure out ways to electronically track new people and see how long it takes them (if they do) to get into a community group and how to follow up even after the first call. The new year is a great time to take a step back and look at something that is going okay and trying to make it better.
Kill “something” – Simply put, you might have that thing you have been doing for years but it has no steam anymore and if you are honest with yourself and your ministry, you don’t know why you are doing that thing anymore. The new year is a great time to kill something that has been dead for years but it’s hanging around like the walkers in The Walking Dead. When you kill something, it frees you up with time, energy, resources to either pour gas on something that is working or gives you time to break something down and rebuild something to make it better.
Do SOMETHING this New Year.
Check out Justin on the Youth Ministry Hacks Podcast on the DYM podcast network.
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