Tag: planning

Theme Night Ideas: Christmas Parties

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“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!” It’s colder out, Starbucks has debuted their holiday drinks, radio stations are blasting their Christmas selections, and your hoodies and gloves are becoming a common clothing staple.

Don’t look outside thinking you’ve slept away the summer, it’s still July. But Christmas is fast approaching, it’s only 147 days away. Some of you may need to catch your breath because it feels like we just saw our seniors graduate and summer is only halfway over. But before we know it, Christmas will be here and we will be trying to formulate a plan for a Christmas party for our students, our leaders, and maybe even one at your home. So why not get a jump start on things and begin preparing now for Christmastime so you are better prepared when it comes along?

Today, I want to share some helpful tips and ideas for hosting a Christmas party either for your students or your leaders. My goal is to help you make it the best it can be and to help take some of the stress of planning everything off your plate. So what are some key elements that we’d encourage you to include?

Games.

Incorporating various games at a Christmas party is a great way in include excitement, fun, and engagement. Depending on your group dynamics your games may look different. With a smaller group you might want to make it more interactive and maybe include “all play” style games. Some games include the plastic wrap ball game, a Christmas themed “Find Me…” game, a Christmas carol rap competition, or a decorating game where students each have to decorate a person in a specific style.

If your group is larger you may need to look for games that are small group-styled PowerPoint games or ones that invite an individual or two up from each group. You can find a bunch of these games at DYM and many other ones you can utilize for any sized group.

Celebration.

Christmas parties should include an element of celebration and feel different from other youth group gatherings. This can be accomplished by having a themed party like ugly Christmas sweaters or dress up as your favorite Christmas movie character. It can be done through a hot chocolate and Christmas cookie bar, or through the decoration of your youth area.

These events should be celebratory and different so your students get excited about coming and want to bring their friends. That is also true for leaders. If you can add some festive elements and share a theme for the party, it turns a simple gathering into a really special day. Consider doing table decorations and centerpieces, having Christmas music, leveling up your food game, and community.

Stories.

For both student and leader Christmas parties, taking time to share stories of what God had done over the last year is a really cool way to celebrate God and to encourage those in your ministry. These stories should and will look different based on which party you’re hosting, but you could ask people to share how they’ve seen God move or to share their favorite memories from this year.

If you want to have things a little more polished and planned out for the student party, consider asking students to record a brief video sharing their stories that you can edit and show at the party. My encouragement for leaders would be to allow them to share live at the party whether in front of the whole group or at their tables.

Team competition.

One of the things I love to do at our student and leader Christmas parties is to have some sort of team or group competition. In years past we’ve done gingerbread house competitions and they have gone over very well. We broke students up by small groups and our leaders we divided by the table they sat at.

Depending on your group, and their propensity to follow or not follow rules, you can adjust the competition and rules accordingly. You could also do a karaoke-style competition or a group-style trivia game. There’s also Christmas Pictionary or charades. These are easy and fun opportunities to help the whole group participate in a game.

Gifts.

We always try to incorporate gifts into any Christmas party we do. We celebrate and bless our leaders by getting Christmas gifts for them as a way of saying thank you. Putting intentional thought and effort into getting a gift that your leaders will not only enjoy but also use is a great way to make Christmas parties special.

When it comes to our student parties, we do a white elephant gift exchange. We ask students to bring a new or gently used wrapped gift that is no more than $10 to utilize in our gift exchange. However, we know that some students may not be able to provide a gift or a friend may come to our party and didn’t realize they needed a gift. So we provide additional gifts for our students so everyone can leave with a gift at the end of the night. Typically we also tell our students that if they receive a gift they didn’t like they can swap out with one of the gifts we purchased which we make sure are things students will enjoy.

Worship.

Incorporating worship into Christmas parties is a great way to keep everyone focused on the true reason you are gathered together. Now before I go any further, I want to emphasize that I don’t simply mean music when I talk about worship. I mean holistic worship. So think about singing and music, reading and teaching the Christmas story or another passage of Scripture, prayer, and different responses. We don’t always sing Christmas carols at our parties but we do carve out time to talk about Jesus and why He is the reason we are gathering.

When it comes to our student parties we try to keep our lesson time to 15 minutes or less for two reasons: we know we have lots of first time guests who haven’t been to a church setting before and we will be giving them ample small group time to dig deeper into the Christmas story. For leaders, we love to read the Christmas story to remind all of us of how great God’s love is for us and then to spend time in prayer together. Sometimes we also sing Christmas carols together even if it’s a capella. Whatever way you choose to incorporate worship, it is an essential part of keeping the focus of Christmas parties on Christ.

Small group time.

Our student ministry is a discipleship-based program which means we allot ample time for our small groups each week (45–60 minutes). When it comes to events and theme nights, we know that these are highly relational and invitational. Because of that we know that extended small group time can feel awkward for our newcomers, which means we include small group time but only for around 30-35 minutes. That way groups can gather to talk through the reason for Christmas, to talk about their plans for the holiday, to do any gift exchanges for their small group, and to pray together.

For leader parties we take time to pray together at our tables during the party and to celebrate what God has done and to pray for any requests that we may have whether personal or focused on our students. This time of prayer and community is typically how we end our parties as it allows for us to engage in interpersonal relationships and be for one another.

What are some must-have elements for your Christmas parties?

Theme Night Ideas: Nerf Battles

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Last Monday, we kicked off a new series called “Theme Night Ideas.” These posts are intended to help you think creatively about how you can help students invite their friends out to a non-threatening event that will hopefully encourage them to participate in your ministry long term. We shared some commitments we make to our students in order to help them reach out to their peers, and some creative aspects to add to every event like food, students sharing, and shortened small group times.

Today, we’re sharing an event we only recently started hosting at our church: a Nerf night. This was something I never really got behind because I didn’t think Nerf would resonate with our students, especially our high schoolers, and our more reserved students. But we had a couple of small groups meeting at our church one week and they had a blast playing Nerf throughout the building. So much so, they were telling all of their friends and they were begging my team to host a youth group Nerf night.

I began to look into what this entailed, and it actually ended up coming together relatively easily and it cost less than I had suspected. So what does a Nerf event look like? Well, we have our Nerf night coming up later this month, and I would like to share with you a variety of tips and things to think through to prepare for and make this event a success.

1. Think about your space.

Knowing what you have and what you can use is key for these games. Sometimes less is more depending on the size of your group. Other times, utilizing bigger and more open spaces may be ideal. But knowing what you have at your disposal and how to best utilize it will allow you to create an event that students will love.

2. Provide eye protection.

Eye protection is key for games with projectiles. Some Nerf blasters, like the Rival line, can fire fast and hard, and even a smaller blaster at close range can do serious damage to someone’s eye. So having some safety glasses or googles is a must. A quick Amazon search brings up multiple varieties or a Google search will bring up sites that have various options as well. Just make sure you look at shipping costs and times when you place an order.

3. Supply extra blasters and darts.

Typically students have their own blasters, but some do not or won’t want to bring their own out of fear of them being broken. So having some extras on hand would be extremely helpful. They don’t need to be super expensive or battery operated; they can be simple one shot style blasters or off brand blasters. I’d also recommend supplying the darts for the game. That way students don’t have to struggle to find their darts after the game and it ensures you’ll have enough.

4. Have ways to delineate teams.

Whether it’s pinnies, bandannas, or hats, having a way for students to know who is on their team and who isn’t is key to the success of most games. In games where teams are necessary, having a visual means of identifying teammates and opposing teams will allow students to have more fun and build a stronger desire to participate. Even if you can’t get pinnies or bandannas, think about having different colored yarns attached to players or using colored paper that is taped to shirts as a means of identifying the teams.

5. Know your game styles.

I’ll be honest: the first time we held a Nerf battle I thought I had everything planned out perfectly. I had a PowerPoint with rules and game play, I made sure there was no way to get around the rules, and I thought I had fun ideas that would work well. It didn’t. After two rounds of the original style, I switched it up and we went to a more flexible style of game play. What I found out was my rules were too strict and the game play to detailed. My students wanted a quicker and less restrictive game play.

We switched to a “capture the flag” style game with jails for those who got hit with a dart. We also incorporated ways to get people out of jail to make it more fun and engaging. We have done free-for-all style games to end the night where no one actually gets out. We’ve done leaders versus students. We have had “protect the president” style games where one team’s goal is to get the president and the other team’s goal is to protect them at all costs. We’ve done games where each person on a team can only use one bullet at a time throughout the game.

Whatever you decide to do, don’t be afraid to switch it up if it isn’t landing with your students. And don’t be afraid to ask them what they would like to do because you might find out that they have really good ideas.

6. Make sure your rules are clear.

One of our big rules is no shooting blasters when we aren’t in a game scenario. If we are going over rules, eating snacks, or simply hanging out, students don’t have to wear their eye protection. We tell students they can’t shoot in these moments because we don’t want someone getting shot in the eyes. It can really hurt and damage parts of the eye so we want to be hyper-vigilant in that area. We also make sure that our game time rules are clear and that we have leaders who help to direct game play.

7. Call audibles when needed.

Sometimes our best laid plans can be blown out of the water. And this can only be exasperated by our inability or unwillingness to shift and change when needed. The first time we hosted our Nerf Night, I should have changed how we did it but I refused to audible.

We hosted it during the summer and were hoping for more students but only a small number of our group came out. We had reserved a large portion of church for the event and rather than slim down the area, we kept it the same size. This meant that students were running around for longer periods and spent much of the playing time simply standing around or looking for people. It still worked out in the long run, but it would have been a lot more fun if we had made the size of the space more appropriate to our numbers.

We learned from this and the next time we played, we narrowed the game play space down and it worked out amazingly. Our students were more excited, they were laughing, games went faster which meant more people could play, and overall our students continued to ask to do it again. Calling audibles isn’t always easy or fun for us, but it can make it more enjoyable and exciting for our students which means they will be more willing to invite their friends to the event.

8. Plan out your barricades and boundaries ahead of time.

I don’t know about your church, but at ours there are certain items and spaces that are off limits. We can’t use our preschool space and we can’t move things around in certain classrooms. That means we need to get creative with where we play and what we use for barricades. It would be helpful to think through this ahead of time so when you explain the rules you can help students know what they are and are not allowed to use. Because, and trust me on this, there is always at least one very creative student who will find a way to incorporate an item you never thought you’d have to have a rule about; like a push cart with a trash can lid.

Have you ever hosted a Nerf event before? What worked well for you?

New Series: Theme Night Ideas

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This week we’re introducing a new series we’ll share periodically called “Theme Night Ideas.” Our ministry hosts different events throughout the year that have a specific theme attached to them that help our students intentionally invite their friends into our ministry. And we want to share those ideas with you.

These nights aren’t all about the theme, but the theme is a big part of helping us draw in new students. We incorporate other elements such as snacks, a brief testimony or share time, and small groups, but not for as long as we normally would. The reason we still have those elements is because it is the DNA of our group; at our core we are a ministry and not just a fun place to hang out. So we want to make sure that these theme nights aren’t just about fun but also about Jesus and why students need Him. In order for these nights to be a success, we have promised our students four keys things:

1. We will never embarrass you or your friends.

In talking to students, they have made it clear that they are worried about inviting their friends to youth group because it will seem “weird” or “off-putting.” We know it can be hard for students to invite their friends so we want to make sure that we have a fun and safe space for them to invite their peers to without worrying that there will be embarrassment or awkwardness from our team and ministry.

2. We won’t force your friends into a commitment.

This means we won’t make students commit to a conversion experience nor will we force them to become a part of our ministry. That doesn’t mean we won’t share the Gospel or invite them back, it just means we won’t force or manipulate them to do so.

3. We will have fun.

Students want to invite their friends into a space that is spiritually encouraging and enriching, but also into a place that is fun and exciting. So we promise our students that their friends will have fun at these events and we look to deliver on that promise by what type of events we hold, the snacks and food we provide, and by how they are structured.

4. We will utilize more students for these events.

At these events, we want our students to be the ones inviting their friends and we want them to be the ones sharing with their friends. So that means we will have students helping to explain the event, getting their friends connected, and even sharing their testimonies on stage.

Join us next week for the first idea we’ll be sharing: Nerf Battles. In the mean time, have you hosted a theme night? What tips would you share from your experience?

Helpful Items for Leaders to Take on Mission Trips

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Mission trip season is upon us. This year we are taking two groups of students to vastly different places. Our scope and sequence for trips is to begin at the local level with middle school students and to build outward to regional and global missions as students move through their middle school and high school careers. This year we are doing an inner city trip nearby for middle and high school students and a disaster recovery trip for our upper classmen to Hazard, Kentucky.

Regardless of the trip you may be taking and where you are going, there are some essential things that all leaders of the trip should have ready to take with them and done before they leave. Today, I want to share some essentials that we take along on our trips and to hear what you take for your trips.

A good first aid kit.

Maybe this is because I have a background in security where we needed to be prepared for any situation and our first aid kits were stocked with everything and anything you could need. But I’ve also been in youth ministry long enough to know that you should prepare for the unexpected. This is why having a well stocked first aid kit is a necessity.

Too often we can default to a pre-made kit from the local mega store or Amazon, but they are usually packaged with very basic first aid items. My advice would be to buy a first aid backpack and stock it with your own items. That way you can switch out items for various trips and keep the consistent items in your bag to be adequately prepared.

Here are some things I would recommend for your kits: medicines like Benadryl, Advil, Tylenol, and Asprin; a good multi-tool; insurance info for you and your team; bandages including bandaids of various sizes, gauze, butterfly bandages, wraps and tape; eye wash; Propel powder or electrolyte pills; candy in case people have low blood sugar; intestinal medicine like Tums, Imodium, and Exlax; scissors; tweezers; splints and slings; cough drops; different ointments, wipes, and anti-itch creams; tissues; and hand sanitizer.

Coffee and tea.

You would think that these would be provided at any mission trip location, but more often than I’d care to admit I’ve found that isn’t the case. There have been multiple times where there isn’t coffee or the coffee is expired. That isn’t the fault of the agency or host because that isn’t their priority. But if coffee and tea are an important element for you and your leaders, it’s helpful for you to take some along as a way to care well for your team. I’d also encourage you to bring along a couple extra bags of coffee for your host as a way of blessing them.

Sunscreen, bug repellent, and remedies.

Many mission trips happen during the summer and require work that takes place outside. So having quality sunscreen and bug repellent appropriate for where you are serving is key. Make sure that you connect with the team or organization you are partnering with to get their recommendations for what to bring. It is also a good idea to have remedies for when they are needed. This could include things like aloe, after burn relief like Alocane, anti-itch cream, Cortizone, Neosporin, and similar products.

Flashlight, extra batteries, power strip, and adapters.

When it comes to being prepared for mission trips, flashlights and extra batteries are a must. Whether they’re being used to help on a project or for a game of manhunt or if you’re roughing it and need to find a bathroom at night, having a good flashlight and extra batteries are a necessity.

To go along with that, bringing a power strip and adapters when needed is also important. Have you ever been on a trip when there’s a limited amount of wall outlets? It can be incredibly difficult to charge everything and sometimes the outlets can get overloaded. So having a quality power strip is one of the best things you could bring along. If you’re traveling outside of the United States it is also important to have the right adapters for your electronics to ensure they will be charged and working abroad.

Travel documents.

Getting ready for a mission trip means having the right documentation for your destination. If you’re traveling nationally, you may not need much, but don’t only think in terms of passports. You may need an EZ-Pass or another electronic toll reader and you might need to have permission forms for various organizations that you’re partnering with. If you are traveling outside of the country you will need passports, immunization records, documentation for minors to travel abroad, and permission slips. These are some helpful things to think through and prepare for before leaving so you are properly equipped for your trip.

Extra money for incidentals.

The reality is that even with all the planning and support raising, incidentals will always occur on mission trips. Whether it’s purchasing extra supplies, taking a vehicle in for repairs, unexpected travel costs, or needing more food, things will happen. So make sure to have additional money for those moments. This can be both actual cash or making sure your credit cards have a proper credit line and. Doing this will help make sure you are adequately prepared. It is also important to make sure to put a travel notice on any credit cards. Some companies will put a fraud alert on your card if expenses are incurred that are outside your normal purchases, which can hamper your ability to use it on trips. So make sure you contact the company ahead of time to be prepared.

Communication.

If you’re traveling internationally or to an area that has poor cell reception, having a plan for communication back home or to needed contacts is important. This may mean purchasing an international phone and data plan, or scoping out if there will be access to WiFi in the area.

Protein bars and easy snacks.

I love to take snacks on any trip, but when you’re going on mission trips snacks aren’t always something we think about taking for a variety of reasons. But having some easy snacks and bars is essential because you may need them if someone is feeling lightheaded or faint from exertion, or for when your own student gets a little hangry. Some easy suggestions include Larabars, peanut butter crackers, protein bars, gummy candies or fruit snacks, and mints.

When you go on a mission trip, what are your must-haves?

Is it Wrong to Seek Advancement?

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When was the last time you thought about advancement in your position? Do you have any idea what that might look like? Does your church have a policy or program in place to help you advance and grow in your position?

How did those questions make you feel? I think that when many people enter into ministry they don’t often think about advancement. Sure, there might be the thought that advancement is “becoming the senior pastor,” but I would assert this is a false sense of advancement because not everyone is called to be a senior pastor.

Many people are called to be pastors but in a variety of roles because that is how God designed and gifted them. But if that is true, shouldn’t there be an opportunity to grow and advance in those positions? The answer is and should be “yes,” whether or not that is seen and understood by your superiors.

Before we even get to what your supervisors may think and desire for you, we must begin by looking internally to ascertain if this is the appropriate and needed advancement for ourselves. In order to help determine if you are correctly looking for advancement, it is helpful to ask the following questions.

Ask: Why?

There are a lot of “why” questions we could pose here. Why do I want this? Why am I not advancing? Why is advancement a good thing? Why should I want to advance? Asking “why” is all about authenticity. Are you being honest with yourself and with your employers? Was it your intent when you got hired to move forward? What does that even mean for you…what about for your church?

When we are thinking about advancement, the “why” question should force us to look inward. There are great reasons to move toward advancement, but there can also be selfish reasons that guide our desires. So by asking why, you are forcing yourself to think critically about your reasoning and desires.

Ask: What is my goal?

Often when we think about advancement we are thinking about position, title, and financial status. While none of these are inherently wrong, we should be aware of our true heart motivation for desiring advancement. I’ve worked in ministry circles long enough to watch people treat various ministries like stepping stones to get to the desired position of senior pastor. We can debate for days on why this is, the way churches are structured, how ministry schools train you to think, and the way churches elevate that position over others, but that would be missing the point.

The point is sometimes we value aspects of advancement that shouldn’t be our focus or desire. In ministry, we are called to shepherd and disciple those whom God has entrusted to our care, and to simply look for advancement without consideration of our true calling wouldn’t be honoring of that calling. I am not saying you shouldn’t think about yourself, your family, or your financial status, but we should be discerning our true goal. As we do this, it helps us think critically about how we minister and care for our people and it should also shape the authenticity we show to our church.

Ask: Whose desire is this?

Is it God’s desire or your own? You may have a desire or reason to seek advancement that is completely appropriate. You may need to advance to better support your family or pay off your debt. Those are valid and important reasons. However, there are times our desires aren’t centered properly, and that means we need to wisely discern whose desire we are following.

A metric we need to remember is that while our desires may not be wrong or improper, they aren’t ultimate. If you’re just getting an education to “move up” in your career, you aren’t necessarily listening to what God is saying, nor are you paying attention to the people you have been called to shepherd. Often our desires and God’s can go hand-in-hand, but there will be times that they don’t. A great way to help you discern this would be to bring an honest, trusted friend and mentor into the conversation to help you see whose desire you are following. Allow them to speak truth and help guide you in this process.

Ask: What does advancement mean for me?

Acknowledging what advancement looks like for you is important because it allows you to assess where you want to be and how you’re going to get there. It also gives you a starting point for conversations with your church and ministry. They may see advancement in terms of helping you grow in knowledge and education, but you may define it by title, position, or pay scale. Being able to define what advancement looks like gives you the ability to clearly and concisely communicate it. When you communicate what you see advancement as, it allows you to compare your perspective to that of your church and to see if they are in alignment.

At the end of the day, advancement isn’t wrong, but it is important to discern why we are seeking it, and how we are going about obtaining it. Growing and advancing in a career field is important, but it shouldn’t come at the cost of people. That goes for congregants and for you and your family. You should never see a ministry or church as a stepping stone or a means to an end, and likewise you shouldn’t just stay in a position if it is causing hurt and pain to you and your family. Discernment and wisdom from God and trusted mentors should always be a metric you seek out in this part of your career, and you should always be checking your heart.

My advice: always be a learner, always seek to grow, be honest about your desires and where your heart is, and always remember the calling God has given to you. Advancement isn’t wrong, but how we go about obtaining it is key.

Hosting a Meaningful Senior Commissioning

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It’s that time of year when we see all the graduation pictures, receive grad party announcements, and maybe even get invited to a graduation ceremony or two. We’ve written before about honoring seniors and helping to spiritually prepare them for college. In today’s post I want to focus in on one way to do that and offer some ways to do it well with a senior commissioning. I know for some ministries this time may have passed, but it doesn’t mean you can’t do something during the summer, or think about next year and how to impart new or different ideas into your current context and culture.

Let me first explain what I mean when I say senior commissioning. I grew up in churches that would recognize and celebrate seniors on a “senior Sunday,” and I must admit that this was my practice when I started working in student ministry. It usually comprises parading students onstage and, depending on the number, sharing their next steps. Then there’s usually a short word from the youth pastor followed by a brief prayer and applause from the congregation. There’s nothing wrong with this approach, but as I stepped back and assessed what we were doing and why we were doing it, I realized that there are more intentional, relational, and spiritual approaches we could take.

Out of that thought, and many refining steps along the way, we developed our senior commissioning. This is a multi-step approach to not only honoring seniors but also commissioning, encouraging, and preparing them for their next steps as they move beyond high school and student ministry. So let me explain the details for how this looks and how we strive to make this an intentional approach in our disciple-making process.

Communicate.

Months before we actually host our commissioning we reach out to our seniors and their families and let them know what will be happening. We also ask them to fill out a form that has specific information that we will utilize in a booklet for families and show on our screens during our commissioning in the church services. We ask for a senior photo, their favorite memories from their time in student ministries, what trips they went on with our program, what their plans are after graduation, and how can we pray for them. These pieces are all utilized to create a brochure that we give out to our congregants and families to highlight our students. We also continue to communicate with the seniors and families about what we are doing as we get closer to our commissioning ceremony.

Create gift bags.

We do a lot of gift bags throughout the year. We do leader gift bags for when they go on trips with us. There are gift bags for families when we host respite days. Gifts bags for our large training at the beginning of the school year. Gift bags at Christmas. And I’ll be honest, sometimes when you do a lot of gift bags, they begin to look the same. There may be subtle differences but they all have the same feel.

The reason I bring that up is because we want these bags to be thoughtful, intentional, relational, and student-specific. That means we have special name tags and personalized cards instead of a generic gift bag with a general card. We also add in cards signed by our whole staff team and a personalized letter signed by our student team and senior pastor letting them know we are for them and this is their church that loves them. We put in some candy because you know…student ministry. We put in celebratory items like glow sticks and confetti poppers. We get them either book about following Jesus in college or a devotional. Sometimes we throw in a gift card to a local dessert shop.

Purchase items for a reception.

When we host our senior commissioning, it isn’t just about bringing our students on stage and praying for them. That’s a big piece of what we do, but we also want to have a reception time to celebrate and honor the graduates. When you host a reception, you are highlighting the relational component of your ministry and valuing the personhood of each of your graduates. So think about what your reception could and should look like.

Our reception happens during our 10:30 a.m. service time, so we have light refreshments like mini bagels and small pastries. We also provide coffee and orange juice. At our church, most of our rooms are multipurpose which means they tend to have standard items that don’t necessarily feel inviting unless you’re intentional with the space. So we love to incorporate tablecloths, centerpieces, balloons, music, and even a fun backdrop for photos. The little touches make the reception feel more special and make our graduates feel seen and loved.

So think about what items you could purchase to make the reception a little more inviting and special. You don’t need to blow your budget to make an event special. It’s often little things like a flavored coffee creamer, a photo booth, tablecloths, balloons, or even just a welcoming space that truly make this a special moment for graduates and their families.

Have intentional time for families.

One thing I hear often from parents and students alike is how busy everyone is. I mean think about: when was the last time every one of your students showed up to youth group on time? Students are incredibly busy and running from one event to the next. The same is true for families, so much so that they often don’t get time to simply be together and pour into one another. One of the best parts of our senior commissioning is creating space for families to simply be together.

We carve out 20 minutes from our reception to give parents and families time to speak into their graduate and to encourage them. We don’t just spring this on them at the reception; we email out all the details ahead of time and even give them some prompts on what this time could entail. These are moments that the families can utilize however they want and we always get great feedback from them that this is one of their favorite parts.

Challenge and prayer.

We make sure to conclude the commissioning with a challenge and prayer time for our graduates. We want to challenge and encourage them to continue in their faith journey and to help them know that we are for them. We also take time to encourage and challenge parents. This is a time of change for parents and it is important to help them see these changes but also to show them ways to engage with the changes and still shepherd their graduate. This is not intended to take up a lot of time during the reception but instead is meant to provide guidance and encouragement in a short amount of time.

Connect grads with a college ministry.

I will be fully transparent with you and tell you that I struggled with this for many years. Not because I didn’t believe in it, but we just couldn’t seem to get the transition from high school to college ministry to work. This past year we have finally been able to see this transition start to work.

We begin by connecting our seniors with our college ministry leaders at the beginning of the school year. We also utilize our college leaders’ house as a Home Group location for our seniors once a month. Then our college leaders continue to connect with and invite the seniors to college student gatherings that are highly relational throughout the year. At our senior commissioning we invite our college leaders onstage with other church leaders and families to pray over our graduates, and then give our college ministry ample time to share during the reception. This has already started to reap rewards as many of our graduates are already attending our college ministry.

The Passage Ceremony: Celebrating Students’ Milestones

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Students have a lot of big milestones in their lives. There’s graduation from pre-k, kindergarten, and junior high. There’s turning 16. Becoming an Eagle Scout. Getting their license. Going to prom. Turning 18. Graduation from high school. And many more celebratory moments.

The sad truth is many of these milestones aren’t celebrated or honored for a variety of reasons. People are busy, so family and friends can’t always make it. There are conflicting schedules and events; people don’t always want to go to ceremonies because of the time commitment. And because there are so many moments in students’ lives, it is easy to assume you can skip one and simply show up at another.

The truth is these moments in students’ lives are pivotal and quite important in how they mentally develop and grow, the shaping of their identity, and their understanding of the Gospel. If these milestones are so important, let me pose a question: when was the last time your church celebrated these moments in the lives of your students? I don’t ask this question to shame or make us feel bad, but instead to push us to do some self-reflection. If I’m being honest, until moving to our current church, I never really considered these moments and didn’t do anything to celebrate them other than going to graduation parties.

But is that the best and only option? Or is there something more that we can be doing? The more I’ve thought about the ways we honor, celebrate, commission, and challenge our students, the more I want to share with you something that we have refined and honed over the past six years in order to do just that: The Passage Ceremony. I know, the name needs work, but let me highlight what this is and how we utilize this ceremony to honor and challenge our students. This isn’t a one size fits all approach, but instead is a resource you can adapt and leverage in your ministry setting and refine to make it beneficial for your context.

The Passage Ceremony.

In the course of middle school and high school ministry there are many key milestones that can and should be celebrated. We have chosen three aspects to focus on: transitioning into 6th grade (or middle school), transitioning into 9th grade, and high school graduation. The reason we chose to focus on these moments is because they are shared among students holistically. Not all students go to prom, not all students do extracurricular activities, not all students get their license at the same time. These three moments typically hit the majority of students and allow for the greatest impact. Therefore, the Passage Ceremony centers around these three “rites of passage.”

Our Passage Ceremony has a few key aspects to it. Here is what they include:

1. Food and community. We make sure to provide a lunch for the families who are coming to the ceremony and we utilize round tables to facilitate conversation and community. We also bring in our volunteer leaders to connect them with our students and families.

2. Explanation of the ceremony. We have someone stand up during the meal time to talk to families about why we are hosting the ceremony, what it is for, and to share our commitment to students and families.

3. Intentional time for parents to speak into the lives of students. We know families are busy and life gets crazy, so we carve out 30 minutes for parents and guardians to speak into the lives of their students. We provide some guidance for what this looks like but have found that parents typically come prepared and actually would desire more time because of how impactful it is.

4. Honoring of students. When families come back from their time of encouragement, we host the formal part of the ceremony. We call up students individually according to their grades and give them a gift. Before we call them up, we explain why we are doing this and the symbolism to our ceremony. It is a time of encouragement, celebration, and intentional discipleship.

We take time in the months leading up to The Passage Ceremony to communicate with families what we are doing and what we are asking of them. At the end of this post, I’ve included that letter for you to utilize if you would like.

How to utilize celebratory moments.

In the letter below, you will see some of the order and flow for this ceremony. Additional things we provide include a light luncheon, facilitating the ceremony, and having a time of celebration and recognition at the end. Here are some key things to highlight in celebratory moments:

1. Make sure to recognize key people. This could include parents, students, volunteer leaders, ministry leaders, and others. Recognizing and pointing to them helps to highlight the focus and who the event is for.

2. Have a good facilitator and communicator. When you are honoring students it is important to have someone who can speak truth and encouragement into their lives with intentionality. You don’t want someone who doesn’t know them or stumbles over what to say because that doesn’t communicate value and worth. But having someone who does communicate well helps your students know they are loved and have a place to call home.

3. Make the environment celebratory. This could be as simple as having food and music, or you could decorate your space with balloons and centerpieces, or you could provide gifts. Whatever you choose make sure to be intentional and seek to create an atmosphere that celebrates your students.

4. Connect them with their leaders. Bringing your leaders into these moments is key because it values them, connects them to their students, and introduces them to parents.

5. Pray over your students. Let them know that they are loved and seen, and that they matter to you and to God. So pray for them and be in their corner.

Letter to Families:

As I have served in student ministries, I have seen a strong desire in parents to lead and guide their children as disciples, but the big question has always been “how?” The Passage Ceremony is one way for us to offer guidance to you and your students by giving you time and space to have needed conversations and by allowing us to support one another in this ongoing discipleship process. Parents, church leadership, and volunteer leaders will be part of this ceremony to signify the student’s desire to live as a disciple of Jesus.

Ceremonies are not a regular part of our culture, but with purpose and direction they can have a powerful impact on the discipleship journey of students. The Passage Ceremony is designed for you, as parents or a significant person in a student’s life, to have the opportunity to personally and privately give spiritual guidance and discipleship to them. The spiritual guidance should focus on:

  1. Affirming your commitment to being faithful parents and supporters of your student(s);
  2. Presenting or reviewing clear and specific guidance and evaluation of your student(s) as they continue to live as disciples of Jesus who are sent to build the kingdom of God.

Our vision for this ceremony is threefold:

  1. To affirm God’s design for parents and supporters as the main disciple-maker of their children;
  2. To affirm our commitment to you as a church and specifically as a student ministry to walk and partner with you in this discipleship process;
  3. To provide a meaningful opportunity for you to partner with the church to mark this significant milestone in their life together and commission them to continue to live as a disciple of Jesus.

Ceremonies typically have a symbol attached to them. We request that you supply a special Bible to use as the symbol of this ceremony. In the past families have purchased a new study Bible or use a special Bible they already have. The NIV Bible is highly suggested since it is the translation we most often use at church. Feel free to supply whatever size or color you would like.

We highly recommend that you use the inside cover to write a special note of vision and blessing to your student. Please drop off your signed Bible to the Receptionist’s Office to allow time for our staff to write in it as well. This Bible will be presented to your student(s) at the ceremony. Should you need any assistance in finding or purchasing a Bible, please contact our team and we will do all we can to assist you.

We will also provide time and space for you as parents to speak encouragement, affirmation, and Biblical truth into the life of your student. I would encourage you to think through this ahead of time so you can share this with them on Sunday. You could share why you are proud of them, what you are looking forward to experiencing with them, your desire to walk with them through this next phase of life, the truth of what you have seen God do in their lives, a life verse that you chose for them and why you chose it, and your prayer for them going forward.

7 Keys to a Successful Fundraiser

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We just wrapped up our fundraiser for this year and it was one of the best ones yet! Not because of the money we raised–we won’t even total that up until later this week–but because of what the fundraiser accomplished and did for our students and our church.

It’s moments like these where I swell with pride as I watch my students serve, give, and live missionally. They were given a challenge and they rose to meet it! Don’t get me wrong, I was exhausted after the fundraiser and I napped hard when I got home, but this fundraiser was a true success for us.

I often ponder why the metrics we use to weigh the success of a fundraiser typically center on finances or on how many people show up. For our group, success isn’t focused on the money raised or the numbers but on how our students are able to serve and love others, and by how the fundraiser helps our church live out our mission. Looking at what occurred at our fundraiser, that’s why I believe we succeeded and will see huge benefits because of what happened.

Today, I want to highlight seven keys to a successful fundraiser and why these are important not just to your ministry but to your church overall.

1. Over-communicate.

This is something we need to do for our leaders, students, families, and our church community. Over-communicate what you’re doing, when you’re training, what roles students will have. The clearer and more concise the directions the better but remember that over-communication isn’t about inundating people’s inboxes with information. It’s about finding a balance: clearly sharing the information that’s needed and in the right methods.

Send emails or letters no more than once a week. Communicate all necessary information at training sessions and give handouts. Make sure you have leader meetings to be clear on what they need to know. When it comes to sharing with the church, think about the different ways you have to share information: mailers, emails, newsletters, bulletins, slides, announcements on stage, yard signs, knocking on doors, or whatever other ways there are to dispurse information. The ability to leverage multiple opportunities will help ensure that your message is heard and received.

2. Set clear expectations.

Working with students has taught me a lot but something I learned very quickly is the importance of clear expectations and rules. I was running a game one time and I thought I had all the rules figured out, when halfway through one of the junior guys let me and the whole group know I was wrong because he googled the answer. Well I very quickly instituted a no phones rule for our games to make sure that didn’t happen again. What I learned is that expectations are highly important and even when we think students aren’t listening, they actually are. Setting clear expectations and guidelines will help not only your fundraiser succeed but your students as well. You are setting them up for success and giving them the parameters in order to do so.

3. Focus on creating community and fostering relationships.

One of the things I love to do with student fundraisers is find ways for them to engage in inter-generational moments with the larger church body. Whether it’s having them serve together, finding ways to engage in conversations, or having older generations pray over students, these are opportunities that will help relationships and community flourish in your church. The more intentional we are at helping to develop relationships and community, the more we will see buy-in to the mission and vision of the church as well as student ministry. When people are able to grow together as a community it fosters unity and a desire to see the Gospel go forth.

4. Tell stories.

This is something I love to do. Most people know that I love to tell stories and incorporate them into teaching opportunities. I think there is an inherent beauty and strength to sharing stories because they bring people in, showcase the needs of others, and highlight the work of God in people’s lives. I think that’s partly why Jesus used stories throughout His ministry.

When we tell stories of lives that have been changed (think about your students’ lives and the lives of those you served) it allows you to show people the power of the Gospel and the necessity of student mission trips. Telling stories also provides a creative way to ask for support. Rather than simply asking people to give, you are painting a picture about why they should give because you’re showing what their giving has accomplished.

5. Utilize training sessions.

Before any fundraiser it is imperative that you take your team through training. These trainings aren’t meant to just be informational, but should also focus on team building and unity. When you can approach training with a desire to see your students succeed and to help them grow in their relationship with Jesus, it helps to shift the focus of the time. Sessions aren’t simply focused on telling students what to do or not to do. Instead, they’re focused on helping your students to mature in their relationship with Jesus as they care about and serve others.

6. Foster discipleship opportunities.

I love watching leaders pour into the lives of students, especially when the relationships are inter-generational. But even more encouraging has been watching our church community love, support, and intentionally invest in the lives of students. I’ve witnessed older adults engage with our students and build ongoing relationships where they continue to pour into their lives and support them even beyond high school. These are moments that are pivotal for students and will help them grow in their relationship with Jesus. Thinking about how you can foster these relationships will help to strengthen your group as a whole.

7. Incorporate prayer.

One of the things we highlight in our fundraising efforts is that the fundraiser isn’t just about financial support. Prayer support is vital to our mission succeeding and because of that we must be intentional in garnering the prayer support necessary for our trips. You can incorporate prayer in other ways as well. Ask students to pray at meetings and training sessions, hand out prayer cards at fundraisers, have leaders or staff or elders pray over your students at fundraisers, or even have your students pray for the church. These moments will help your students not only grow in their faith journey but will also help them to see the power and necessity of prayer in each of our lives.

Why Staff Reviews are Important

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What comes to mind when you hear the words “staff review”? I know I tend to cringe a little and start thinking about my review and if I have met the expectations of my job. I am my own worst critic and tend to hold myself to higher standards than are expected.

But what if you have staff reporting to you? What comes to your mind when you think of conducting staff reviews? Do you have a methodology? Does your staff know how reviews are conducted? How often are they done?

Reviews tend to get a bad rap as many of us have either experienced an unhealthy or unhelpful review and many others have potentially never had a review. And it seems that this is only compounded within church circles. Many friends of mine have said that their reviews are not helpful or have caught them off guard. They haven’t been guided in how to give reviews, or reviews have never happened.

In this post my intent is twofold: to help you understand how reviews are helpful and beneficial for you, and how to conduct reviews for those who report to you. Reviews don’t need to be scary, uneasy, or difficult to conduct. They should be beneficial, encouraging and shaping, and strengthening for all involved.

Be honest.

Whether you are conducting the review or receiving one, honesty is paramount. If you disagree with something that is said, share it. If you’re providing feedback, be clear and transparent. These moments don’t need to be combative or critical, but by providing honest and clear insight and critiques you and your staff will grow and flourish. When we aren’t honest or beat around the bush, it causes a lack of clarity and leads to tensions, frustrations, and unmet expectations.

Have clear expectations.

Expectations are a must for anyone conducting or receiving a review. Clearly articulating what is expected and needed from the person receiving the review allows them to know how to best perform and excel at their job and in its functions. When the person receives those expectations, they know how to grow and mature in their role and they clearly know what their next review will focus on. If you are the one administering the review this allows you to lead well and hold your team accountable for the expectations you have set. This also helps there to be clarity and no unmet expectations for the reviewer or the reviewed.

Set up a timeline for reviews.

When it comes to holding reviews for your team, communicate your rhythm for conducting them. A good metric for new staff is to do a 90-day review, a six-month review, and then an annual one. For staff that has been with you for more than a year, conducting annual reviews is a great way to continually walk with your team. However, you may find it better to host six-month reviews because it allows you and your team to focus on or reset expectations. Whatever your rhythm looks like, let me encourage you to honor it and be consistent. Nothing tells a staff member that they don’t matter like not giving them a review. While they can be intimidating, not getting a review devalues someone and takes away their dignity and worth. So be consistent with offering reviews and keeping to your rhythm.

Communicate clearly.

Whether you are receiving a review or conducting the review, be sure to communicate clearly and concisely. A productive review process should allow both parties to be honest and clear with what they are saying, hearing, and acknowledging. Being clear and concise means that everyone is on the same page with what is being shared. It doesn’t mean everyone agrees but it does mean everyone is heard and their words are valued and received.

Highlight strengths and areas for improvement.

A good review highlights both strengths and growth areas. Everyone always has areas in which to grow, and a good review will not only indicate those areas, it will provide opportunities to take action steps and develop those areas. A good reviewer will also be kindly honest about growth areas rather than trying to sugarcoat them or act like everything is perfect. When you highlight the strengths of the person being reviewed, make sure to celebrate the wins and ways in which they used their strengths well.

Listen well.

One of the best things you can do in a review, regardless of whether you are receiving or administering it, is to listen to what is being said. The key to listening well is not to listen for faults or issues, but to listen for what is truly being said. Engaging in active listening helps you to truly understand what is being said as you look for key things and ask follow-up questions to gain clarity. If you are told you need to show up on time, a good response would be to ask if you had not already been doing so or to clarify what on time means for your supervisor as it may look different.

Another aspect of listening well is that it highlights the value and worth of the other person. It shows intentionality, care, and a desire for authentic community which are all hallmarks to a successful ministry.

Ask questions.

A good review allows for both the reviewer and the person being reviewed to ask questions. A reviewer will ask follow up questions, questions to guide reflection and perspective, and questions to clarify that both parties are on the same page. When someone is being reviewed, they should ask questions to clarify what is being shared and also to find ways to improve based on critiques and guidance.

Be relational and show care.

This is a fine line when it comes to a review because you must balance the professional relationship and the personal relationship. There is a professional responsibility for a supervisor to supervise, but due to working in a church environment, we should also care about the individual at a deeper, more relational level. You shouldn’t sacrifice one for the other, but instead seek to balance them well. This means not just indicating areas of improvement but also helping them to grow and walking with them in it. This approach also allows you to speak truth but in a loving and honest way that highlights how you are for the person. This will also help the person receiving the review to feel the permission to speak honestly and directly with their supervisor in an effort to gain clarity and direction.

Pray for them.

I think prayer is something we should incorporate into our daily rhythms and into the review process. When we pour into our team and are relational, we get to know more about them beyond simple job performance or functionality. We get to know them on a personal level which means we have an opportunity to be for them, and a great way to embrace that is through prayer.

Pray for them during the review process, but don’t make it a holier-than-thou type of prayer. Make it authentic and relational. Don’t focus simply on the job, but ask how you can pray for them now and over the next period of time. Doing this will not only help to strengthen relational rapport, it will allow you to embrace the leadership God has given to you as you truly shepherd those He has placed under your care.

5 Keys to Crafting Intentional Summer Programming

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Summer programming is just around the corner! In fact we will be wrapping up our regular programming in May and switching things up as our students and families change their rhythms and habits. I have served in enough student ministries to experience different rhythms and structures during the summer, but our current ministry context presents some unique opportunities and hurdles.

Living in a tourist community means our town sees an uptick in people but tourists don’t always come on vacation looking for a church or youth program. And while tourists come in to visit the town, the locals head out on vacations to relax and get away from the craziness in town. That means we experience a significant drop in attendance and in the number of volunteers that we have.

For each ministry and ministry leader, summer programming will look different. Some ministries don’t have any changes and run full programming all year long. Others scale back their programming and focus on intentional meet ups and trips. And still others have no programming. Regardless of where you are and how you run your ministry during the summer, intentional programming can help you create buy-in and cultivate a consistent vision that everyone knows and can be onboard with.

1. Understand your community rhythms.

When you know the rhythms and habits of your community, it allows you to think critically about the type of programming you will host. Some student ministry programs will continue running normally because students and leaders will be present. Others may need to think more creatively about what do as much of their community goes on vacation. But as you know and understand these rhythms, you will be able to offer options that best suit your people and meet their needs.

2. Know your volunteer strength.

Volunteers are the key to success for our ministry based on our program model. Regardless of the size of your ministry, you are probably in the same place. Even having two volunteers in a small ministry can make a huge impact for the students you’re ministering to. You may also need a certain ratio of leaders to students or may be required to have a certain number of leaders present due to working with minors.

With that being said, knowing your volunteer strength during the summer allows you to plan events and gatherings accordingly. If you don’t have your normal number of leaders, you will need to think practically and creatively about when to host gatherings and what they will look like. Another thing to consider is whether your volunteers are able to serve year round. Your volunteers–while they may never say this due to their love of the ministry–may need a break periodically. So consider their health and well-being as that is key to their effectiveness and to truly having the full strength of your volunteers.

3. Choose ideas, events, and focuses that highlight your vision.

Whatever your programming looks like this summer, let me encourage you to be intentional in highlighting your vision. Even if your programming looks different than during the school year, you can still make sure that whatever you’re doing is intentionally focused on growing and pouring into your students. The more intentional you are with highlighting your vision, the more buy-in you will generate with leaders, students, and parents.

4. Focus on relationships, community, and outreach.

Summertime presents us with a unique opportunity to reach and engage with our community, especially with those who may not have attended our church or ministry during the school year. Since school and extracurriculars associated with it have ended, students may be more inclined to attend your ministry and the events that you host. Because you may reach people who haven’t come before, I want to encourage you to make the most of these moments by focusing on relationship-building and fostering new interactions as you share about Jesus.

It is important to curate venues and opportunities that allow and encourage your students to invite their friends and interact with new people. Then, as new students are coming, be intentional with what you share and focus on clearly explaining the Gospel. These don’t need to be hours-long tent gatherings, but instead could include carving out 10-15 minutes to share about Jesus and then allow for further community and time for people to fellowship and ask questions as needed. Hopefully the summertime affords you a new opportunity to reach people you haven’t been reaching.

5. Plan ahead and communicate.

This is a big deal for me, probably because I am a planner at heart and love to know what is happening and when so I can prepare for everything. For families and leaders, having a plan for summer and communicating it will allow them to plan their schedules accordingly. It is also important to clearly communicate your plan and expectations to your leaders for the summertime. Doing this will help you know your volunteers’ level of commitment and ability to serve which will allow you to best plan your summer schedule.

In planning and communicating your programming, you should start first with your leaders to make sure you can actually do what you’re envisioning and that you will have enough leaders. Then you should communicate the plan to parents and students through multiple venues (online, emails, newsletters, in print, in person, etc.) and multiple times. I would also encourage you to have your plan ready and communicated at least a month before your summer programming starts. Many people are building their summer schedules earlier in the year and so the sooner you have a plan, the more likely families are to incorporate it into their summer schedules.