Starting Right: Starting and Restarting a New Year in Youth Ministry
As the school year begins, the perennial question arises: "Where do we start with a new year of youth ministry?" Here are some practical steps to get you going:
Build a team
Identify people in your community who are interested in youth ministry. Look for two parents, two youth, and two non-parents to start. Pray together, meet regularly, and ask yourselves: "What should we do, and why should we do it?"
Kickoff meeting for parents
Host an introductory event to allow parents to meet the youth team and learn about the plan for the school year. Share the answer to the question above, along with a schedule of events for the year.
Regular meetings with youth
Plan regular, hour-long meetings on a monthly or weekly basis, with intentional activities that are both fun and formative. Try a schedule like this:
10 minutes: Welcome and active check-in
20 minutes: Game or activity
20 minutes: Discussion about the activity
10 minutes: Close with prayer or Compline (allowing youth to lead and offer up their own prayer requests)
Also, regularly schedule nights devoted to fun or service at your regular meeting times.
Find content for your meetings
The Episcopal Curriculum for Youth, available at www.vts.edu/cmt/published/ecy, offers free, theologically sound lessons that can be adapted to any situation. There are many other books and curriculums out there that can help you with content. I am a huge fan of soulpancake which has now merged with Participant at https://participant.com/soulpancake
Join a network of youth ministers
Connect with other youth ministers for support and ideas. Consider joining an organization like Forma at forma.church, or their Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/EpiscoForma.
Communicate with families
Use a monthly email newsletter (Mailchimp.com is a great, free option) to share photos and announcements. Start a Facebook page for your youth group and consider using a safe texting platform like Groupme.com.
Regularly evaluate and celebrate
Meet regularly with your youth team to evaluate the program and celebrate successes. Always ask yourselves: "How are things going? How can we do this better? What do we need to do to make that happen?"
For additional help with any of these steps, contact Randall Curtis at rcurtis@episcopalarkansas.org.
