Every season has their own distinct feeling, and—maybe it’s because I’ve been a public school teach for nine years—summer seems to be a great time to self-evaluate and make changes.
It’s true for school teachers, and it’s just as true for your pastors and youth workers. Summer can be an incredibly busy time for youth ministries when you think about camps, outings, missions trips, etc., and yet, if we were honest, we’d probably admit that our actually youth meetings are surprisingly low-attended in the summer due to sports camps, vacations, and other frustrating momentum-killers.
While you could get frustrated at the dozens of extra kids who show up for the Friday night pizza party of the Saturday morning water war who never seem to actually make it church, you could also chose to use this time for some serious changes, renovations, innovations, and the inherent risk of failure that all of these bring with them. (I mean, if you’re going to take a misstep, might as well be when they’re are less thirteen-year olds around to mock you.)
So, let’s turn our attention to what needs changed and to what degree.
What to Change
The specifics of “what” needs to be changed are so varied and vast that we could drown in them. Instead, let’s look at three aspects of all youth ministries that we can talk about in a general sense, only dipping into the specifics occasionally.
The Digital
We’re currently living in the most digitally obsessed generation in the history of human civilization…that is until the next one. We need to be taking advantage of this in as many ways as we can handle with some measure of excellence. Social media, mass messaging, podcasting, blogging, and a centralizing website are all major areas that need some serious attention. If I were you, I think I’d build up your social media repertoire before anything else because that’s where the youth are. Which platform should you focus on? That depends on your demographics. In our area, Facebook is still huge, but Snapchat is growing. Should you use Snapchat? I’m not going to touch that.
Now, with regard to those social media platforms, you need to seriously consider weeding them out and focussing on the ones that you’re most likely/willing to use to build community. Why have an Instagram account only for the sake of auto-sharing images? If you’ve got a lot of students on Facebook, then use Facebook. Get a page. Get a group. Use them to build a community.
If you’re already doing that, then maybe it’s time to change up the artwork/logos you’ve been using. You know, some good, old-fashioned rebranding. Then, maybe you’ll want to up your game by doing more with your platforms. For example, this summer, I started using Facebook’s Events function for our church’s Facebook page. We hadn’t used it before because I valued other components of Facebook more highly, but since I’ve got a pretty good handle on those components now, it was time to branch out.
Once you’ve got social media going, it’s time for a website. Why? Youth group websites feel so 2005, don’t they? Well, that’s because they are. However, what’s helpful about them is that parents still use them, and it’s much easier to put a single domain on an invite card of flyer than to list the convoluted URL’s assigned by various social media platforms. If you have a website, then I’d look into updating it with a newer design, and, again, newer artwork. I’d also look into offering a blog or podcast, something that will help you move your teaching beyond the once or maybe twice a week you see your students. And of course, get it set up so that it feeds to all of your social media platforms.
The Physical
I’m no expert at decor or physical space design, but I do recognize how important it is to have an aesthetically pleasing stage and room design. Fortunately, there’s thing your wife uses called “Pinterest.” Seriously though, a quick search on Pinterest pulled up dozens of interesting ideas for freshening up a dynamic worship space. We are living in an age of copious content, an explosion of examples, a deluge of digital wisdom. Use your resources!
Now, if you’d like a more “curated” collection of design ideas, you ought to check out Church Stage Design Ideas from Jonathan Malm. It’s exactly what it sounds like: a blog dedicated to showcasing cool and creative design ideas. Sure, some of them might be a bit involved, but in looking through some of the designs, they wouldn’t take much more than time and desire. It’s amazing how “low budget” these “high budget” ideas really are.
What I would not do, however, is turn this into a discussion or subject it to some sort of democratic/committee process. Nothing slows down a project, blurs a vision, or complicates an issue like an overabundance of conflicting opinions. You’d be better off to get trusted outsiders with experience and insight to give your space a look and let them guide you with their opinions. If you can’t think of someone to bring it, then maybe you should get a bit proactive and call other youth ministers in your town or denomination to see if you can tour their facilities.
You might also want to consider taking some pictures—maybe even a walkthrough video—and throwing them online. There’s nothing wrong with asking for help on social media, especially from other youth pastors/check techs. Oh? You don’t have an online community? Send some stuff our way, and we’ll give you some thoughts.
Well, maybe not me…but somebody smart.
The Personal
This section might be the hardest to communicate, but it’s very important. Relationships get stale, and people get complacent. It might be helpful to mix things up as best you can. Get some new youth workers. Give some youth workers time off. Promote some student leaders. Ask some student leaders to take the a semester off. Change up your small groups. Maybe you should start small groups? Create space for relationships to grow and/or be renewed.
I’m not going to say a lot about this because, honestly, if you don’t understand the importance of relationships in youth ministry, then I don’t know what else to say.
Conclusion
I’ll close out this really long post with a few simple thoughts. There are times when some elements merely need to be refreshed. Consistent—not constant—changes are key to keeping you ministry fresh, but even with this, without intentional evolution of your core elements, you’ll eventually need an overhaul, a complete fresh start from a new base idea.
If you’re new in a ministry or are just considering some of your first major changes, let me suggest that you overhaul what’s impossible to ignore and then refresh the less obvious issues. Going forward, however, I’d try to be consistent in refreshing and evolving your ministry. It’s not a crime to refresh something that’s still popular. Waiting for the popularity to fade is a great way to lose your edge and become stale.
Image isn’t everything. Social media, stage elements, even relational program isn’t everything, but the care, passion, and attention to detail you put into these things should find their source in your passion for the ministry and your deep, pastoral burden to see students discipled.
Have you ever done an overhaul? How did it go? What did you learn?
[Beach image via No Longer Active !! via Compfight cc, iMac image via DeclanTM via Compfight cc, and Stage idea image via Church Stage Design Ideas]
Summer Youth Ministry Overhaul first appeared on ChurchMag and is sponsored by ChurchMag Press.