12 Aug 2024

Setting Spiritual Goals for the New School Year

By Ronald|2024-07-22T13:34:49-07:00August 12th, 2024|Leadership|21 Comments

As the new school year kicks off, it’s a great time to help your students set meaningful spiritual goals. The start of a new year brings fresh opportunities for growth and reflection. Here’s how you can guide your students in setting and achieving their spiritual goals for the year ahead.

Begin by hosting a goal-setting workshop. Gather your students and provide a space for them to reflect on their personal faith journeys. Encourage them to think about what they want to achieve spiritually over the coming year. Whether it’s developing a daily prayer habit, reading through the Bible, or growing in a specific area of their faith, help them articulate clear and achievable goals. Provide resources and tools, like goal-setting worksheets or journals, to support them in this process.

Next, pair students with accountability partners or small groups. Having someone to share their goals with can provide motivation and support. Create a system where students can check in regularly with their partners or small group members to discuss their progress, share challenges, and celebrate successes. This not only helps them stay accountable but also fosters a sense of community and encouragement.

Finally, establish a system for tracking and celebrating progress. Regularly check in on the students’ goals and celebrate their milestones. You could implement a progress tracking system using journals, apps, or a bulletin board where students can mark their achievements. Host milestone celebrations or recognition events to acknowledge their hard work and progress. This will help keep students motivated and focused on their spiritual growth throughout the year.

By guiding your students in setting spiritual goals, providing accountability, and celebrating their progress, you can help them make the most of the new school year and grow in their faith. Here’s to a year filled with spiritual growth and achievements!

Need to set some goals of your own? New to Ministry? We’ve got a great conference for you!

29 Jul 2024

Transitioning from Summer to Fall

By Ronald|2024-07-22T13:17:58-07:00July 29th, 2024|Youth Ministry Ideas|4 Comments

Can you believe summer is already wrapping up? It feels like just yesterday we were gearing up for camp and mission trips. As we bid farewell to those sunny days, it’s time to shift our focus to the fall season. Here are some tips and strategies to help make that transition smooth and successful for your ministry.

Program Planning: Keeping the Momentum Going

First things first, let’s talk about planning. Transitioning from the relaxed vibe of summer to the busier fall schedule can be a bit tricky, but with some thoughtful planning, it doesn’t have to be stressful.

Start Early: Don’t wait until the last minute to plan your fall programs. Start brainstorming and organizing well in advance. This gives you plenty of time to fine-tune details and address any potential hiccups.
Consistency is Key: Keep some of the successful elements from your summer programs. If a particular small group format or event worked well, consider incorporating it into your fall schedule.
Get Input: Involve your team and even your students in the planning process. Fresh ideas and perspectives can lead to innovative programs that resonate well with everyone.

Engaging New Students: Making Them Feel at Home

Fall often brings new faces to our youth groups – new students starting high school, kids moving into the area, or those just curious to check out what we’re all about. Making them feel welcome is crucial.

Warm Welcome: Create a welcoming atmosphere from the moment they walk in. Friendly greeters, a tour of your space, and introducing them to current students can make a big difference.
Icebreakers: Plan some fun icebreaker activities to help new students feel comfortable and start building relationships. Games, small group discussions, or team-building activities are great for this.
Buddy System: Pair new students with a “buddy” from your current group who can show them the ropes and be a friendly face they can turn to.

Parent Involvement: Building a Supportive Community

We all know that parents are key partners in ministry. Keeping them in the loop and encouraging their involvement can enhance your ministry’s impact.

Clear Communication: Send out a detailed calendar of fall events and programs. Consider using newsletters, emails, or even a dedicated app to keep parents informed.
Volunteer Opportunities: Invite parents to get involved in various ways, whether it’s helping with events, leading small groups, or simply providing snacks. Their involvement can enrich the experience for everyone.
Parent Meetings: Host a few parent meetings throughout the fall to discuss your plans, gather feedback, and address any concerns. This shows that you value their input and partnership.

Transitioning from summer to fall doesn’t have to be daunting. With a bit of planning, a focus on welcoming new students, and strong parent involvement, your ministry can smoothly shift into a new season full of growth and excitement. Here’s to an amazing fall!

Want to train your volunteers for the Fall in the best way possible? Let’s go! Check out the National Day of Volunteer Training below!

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20 May 2024

Launching Youth Ministry Seniors

By Ronald|2024-05-20T06:17:19-07:00May 20th, 2024|Leadership|8 Comments

May is a big season for youth ministries! Your seniors are graduating, and it can be a wild ride. These may be the students you’ve ministered to and spent time with over the last six or seven years. And you may be trying to figure out how to honor them and launch them into the next season.

And you’re also figuring out how to do that without making anyone upset or leaving anyone out!

What can you do?

Here are some ideas for honoring your seniors and even having them speak into the lives of the students who are coming behind them.

Have Seniors Speak at Youth Group

While not every senior can deliver a 30-minute message, you might be able to ask a senior to give the group following them some life advice. The high school pastor I worked with would do this regularly. He would schedule 3 to 4 seniors during a youth group program and have them offer advice to the next class. It was usually great to hear what the seniors would come up with and how they would take the lessons they learned in youth group and pass them down to the students following them.

Recognize Them on a Sunday Morning

On a particular Sunday morning, call up students who are graduating and have them stand on stage. It’s always a great moment to recognize them in front of the whole church! You can either hand them a microphone and have them go down the line saying their name, where they are from, and what their next season of life holds for them. Make sure you communicate in advance what this will be so that students and parents are prepared for it!

Get Them a Gift

Try to get students something to mark the occasion. Maybe it’s a Bible where their family and friends have highlighted verses to take them into the next season. Maybe it’s a devotional aimed at seniors so that they can enter this next season walking with God. Maybe it’s exclusive Youth Ministry swag that only graduates get. Whatever you do, think about how a student might look at this gift and remember their time in Youth Ministry fondly.

Set Them Up for What’s Next

Do your new seniors know how to look for a church? Do they know how to ask and get plugged into a new ministry? I know a youth pastor who would take his seniors to a couple of different churches during their summer after high school. He would have them learn everything they could about the new church on one visit and ask how to get plugged in. I love this idea because the youth pastor would go with them and help coach them through it! What a great idea to help students look for a new church since most of our seniors might be moving on to their next chapter in a new city and not know how to find a new community of believers!

How would you help launch seniors into the next season?

Want some help with having seniors tell their stories? Check out this resource!

27 Nov 2023

Take Some Time Off to Plan Your Youth Ministry

By Ronald|2023-11-27T07:43:34-08:00November 27th, 2023|Uncategorized|12 Comments

It’s (almost nearly) Christmas!

I know that means a lot of your ministries are going nuts. There are parties galore and lots of desserts being passed around. But January 1 is coming.

Do you know what next year holds for you and your youth group?

If you’re not yet planned out for the next year, consider taking some time off this month to plan. I don’t mean take a vacation day to plan your youth ministry. I mean, take a day off of what you would normally do and use it to schedule out what next year is going to look like.

Go find a coffee shop or fast food place nearby, put in your headphones, and really focus down on getting the next year planned out. Bring along your team if you’ve got one.

If this isn’t a part of your normal routine, consider adding it in this year. This is what it could look like.

Grab Every Calendar You Can

Take advantage of all the calendars that are available to you. Your church calendar with the men’s retreat and the women’s overnight trip. The local school calendars should be out too, so you can plan around spring break, fall break, when school starts and when it finishes.

If you plan with these calendars in mind, you’ll save yourself a lot of heartache knowing that your weekend trip isn’t the same as homecoming.

Tent Pole Events

You know what these are already. You may even have them on your calendar. Summer camp. Your big Disciple Now in-town retreat. A big conference in the spring.

These are the events that your youth group always does and ones that, frankly, take up a lot of time on your calendar. Plan these out first so you know NOT to plan a massive all-night lock-in in three weeks before you go on a week mission trip. When you start with your big events, you can plan margin in intentionally.

Small Events

These are the things that might not take up as much time but are still good to have on the calendar. Maybe you have a big kick-off night for your small group Bible studies. Or maybe you always take a group to go play minigolf on the day after school gets out. Place these on the calendar for your sake and so that you can let parents know as far in advance if something is coming.

Teaching

Now that you know your big and little events, you can plan out your teaching calendar to help supplement what you already have on the calendar. Maybe you know your theme for summer camp, so you can teach with it in mind the month before and help break it down the month afterward. February is probably a good month to do a relationship series, and Christmas will usually be Christmas.

Then you can take a good look at what your teaching calendar has on it and what it’s missing. That way you’re not trying to figure out what to teach next week, because you’ve already got it planned. Or, you could use Co-leader’s Roadmap to help you!

Leader Training

Since you’ve got fantastic leaders helping you along the way, why not go ahead and plan times for you to get together with them and train them? You can make these happen right before a youth group meeting or right after church on Sunday. As long as you include lunch of course! DYM is getting ready for it’s National Day of Volunteer Youth Ministry Training this year. AND, big news, you can have it on whatever day works for you! Check it out here and put it on the calendar now.

Parent Meetings

Sprinkle these in. I usually had three a year: one in the fall, one in January, and one right before summer. That way parents are always a step ahead and know important dates. I would also pitch resources and whatever big student ministry news I had at the moment. If you have these consistently, you’ll develop clout with parents and help them stay on top of youth group!

Everything else!

There are a lot of things you can plan out ahead of time: social media, emails, when volunteers are going to teach for you, your vacation, and a whole lot more. The more you have a plan, the less you’ll have to stress out at the last minute. Save yourself some pressure and take some time to plan now!

Struggle to plan? Check out these great resources from DYM!

6 Nov 2023

Creative Ideas for Indoor Youth Ministry

By Ronald|2023-11-06T06:58:45-08:00November 6th, 2023|Youth Ministry Ideas|10 Comments

As it gets colder outside, you probably are going to start thinking that doing indoor events is the way to go. You’ve had your fun fall festival and annual bonfire, but now it’s just too cold to be outside! Or maybe it’s been snowing in your state for the last two months. I don’t know how snow works; I live in Texas. If you do find yourself retreating indoors because your students complain about the cold, here are some tips on how to have some great indoor events!

Learn to be creative with your space

If you were lucky enough to have a youth room, think of some ways that you can spice up your space for an event. Maybe you can move the orientation of the room. Perhaps you could put a projector on a different wall than normal. You might even ask a couple of adults to come in and decorate the place for you. Whenever you do an event that’s outside your normal programming, it could be a chance to make your space feel really different. Go for it!

Take what you do before youth group and AMP IT UP

Do your students like playing video games before you get started? Do they go play nine square in your church gym? If you’re looking for an idea of an event to host, maybe you could take one of those things that you normally do and really amp it up to make it a big deal. My students were constantly asking to have a Smash Brothers tournament. What a great event to really buy into what students were excited about. Or maybe you could play volleyball if you’re one of those lucky youth pastors who have a gym to meet in. You can think of a whole bunch of different ways to make volleyball crazy and exciting. Use a giant 6-foot-wide beach ball. Make it teams of 20. You’ve got a lot of options!

Meet in a different spot in your building

If the event you’re trying to do can take place in a different space in your building, why not take advantage of that? Instead of meeting in the youth room, consider meeting in the fellowship hall or the gym. Giving your students a chance to switch things up might put them in a different mindset and allow them to think about whatever it is you’re trying to do with your event. Familiarity can be good, but putting students in a different space can also open them up to thinking differently!

Be a good steward of your building; clean up afterwards!

Last, but not least, if you’re meeting inside at your church, be considerate to the people who have to come behind you and clean it up, or to the people whose room you’re borrowing for the evening. Make sure you plan to have people help you clean after the event. I always struggled with that and thought that I would just clean it all up myself. Don’t do this! Ask people specifically to help you clean up so that you don’t come in the next day to a trashed youth room or an angry email from the cleaning crew.

Do you have any other ideas? I’d love to hear them! Comment down below or reach out. You’ve got this!

Also, if you’re looking for a few ideas for indoor events, check out the resources below.