transitions | More Than Dodgeball

Josh GriffinMore Posts Seniors That Stick Around

Since last week was Kurt’s birthday, we thought this week would be a good week to write about seniors. Not senior citizens….the seniors in your high school ministry.

One of the sweet joys of this time of year is seeing students who “GET IT” really hitting stride as they head toward the home stretch of their senior year. There’s the other side of it, too (we’ll cover that tomorrow) but for today let’s talk about how to get seniors to stick around.

As we processed this topic, we came up with three key areas that seem to help seniors make it to the finish line. What you do with these—how you infuse them into your ministry or create programs around them—is up to you, but we think these will make sense as you process this topic this week.

GROWTH: Challenge them with senior-specific stuff.
What are your seniors getting when they come to youth group, small group, or Sunday School class? For most churches, the answer is simply more of the same. More of the same lessons and stories they’ve heard since they were a kid fidgeting all over and around the pews in the sanctuary. What would it look like if you had a new voice and / or a new focus for your student groups? What if you broke them out for a special youth group night occasionally or had a unique senior-specific curriculum. Give them something to look forward to that they can only get if they stay until the end of their senior year.

INVOLVEMENT: Give them a reason to stay.
Is it possible to help them stay through the end by also reserving special trips and service opportunities until their last year? In our ministry, seniors are the only high school students we allow to be eligible to be small group leaders in our junior high program. We’ve toyed with the idea of a fun senior trip or a missions trip that is super small but super awesome only for seniors. Seniors who have skin in the game are less likely to slowly fade away during their senior year.

EQUIPPING: Give them help for the next step.
The reason many seniors start looking for the door early in their senior year is that they no longer feel is it relevant to the stage they are about to enter. And part of that is true and healthy—but what if you took that last 3-4 months of their last year in high school and offered special field trips to visit other churches so they get a chance to see what it will be like to pick out their own church when they go away to school? What if you took a night of small group and researched churches around their college campus or investigated parachurch ministry presence where they are going to attend? If you are guiding them into their next step instead of “losing” them to it, they’ll likely welcome the support.

This post was written by Josh Griffin and Kurt Johnston and originally appeared as part of Simply Youth Ministry Today free newsletter. Subscribe to SYM Today right here.

2 View Comments January 28, 2013

Josh GriffinMore Posts How to Leave a Youth Ministry With Honesty and Grace

How do you leave a youth ministry role with honesty and grace?

The leading voices in youth ministry have said for a long time that when it is time to go … leave well. To be honest, I think I’ve even said that phrase myself in the not-so-distant past. But the more I process it … I’m not sure its possible.

Leaving well implies that it is possible to finish perfectly and that every relationship will be restored and at peace when you go. That everyone will sing songs in your honor when you leave, laying down palm branches in your driveway as your Hyundai backs out for the last time. In my experience and seeing a ton of other youth workers walk through this: transition is tough.

The good news: I do think there are a few ways to leave without adding to the pain of transition. Want to leave with honesty and grace? Here’s how …

Leave at the right time
It isn’t always possible, but leaving at a natural break is best. The end of summer is ideal but not always possible. But even more than leaving at the right time in the calendar, pray through leaving at the right time in the church culture as well. Stay too long after you know you’re done and it’ll be painfully obvious, leave too soon and blindside people.

Make the transition short
I understand the need for a transition time to help prepare students or ensure a peaceful exchange of leadership – but there’s nothing worse than a “lame duck” who is out but still in. Pray through the timing of your announcement and the timing of your last day – typically I wouldn’t put these more than a month or two apart at the most.

Protect the pastor
Don’t cause division in the church – you will only hurt God’s body and leave students and volunteers hurt in the crossfire of departure. Know that God will use that church for His glory, even if you are no longer a part of the leadership. You can’t leave perfectly, but you can minimize damage by controlling your tongue (and ears for that matter).

Leave better not bitter
Take a long hard look at yourself. Don’t jump right into your next position. Take some time to get alone and debrief with your spouse or mentor and get alone with God. Leaving is tough on a church; know that it will leave some scars on you, too. Leaving better means choosing not to divide the church, to walk away … and to work on what God reveals to you in the process.

It is impossible to leave without hurting someone. Even if you leave in ideal conditions people will be hurt to lose you as part of the church. Leaving is messy. Leaving isn’t easy. I’m not sure you can leave well … but you can leave better.

JG

2 View Comments November 12, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts Thoughts About Transitions

Was talking to a youth leader who is in the middle of transition – looks like his youth ministry position is about to evaporate due to lack of funding. I sent him an email and then copy/pasted some of it to share here on the blog. Just a few random thoughts if you are about to walk through transition:

God loves your ministry and those students even more than you do – they is a key thing to remember that when things look bleak or especially when you get frustrated with the leadership of the church.
If the position is going away for lack of funding – is there any way you can help raise funds, promote the ministry to key players or raise your own support?
Transitions are painful but a reality of ministry – God might be using this to move the ministry in a new direction, or move YOU in a new direction.
As a leader, make sure you are also a willing follower of God’s nudge. And always be willing to stay if He is asking that of you as well.

JG

Add Comment October 11, 2012

Josh GriffinMore Posts Youth Ministry Promotion Weekend Basics

I’ve received a few questions this summer about how we do promotion (students moving up from children’s ministry into youth group) in our student ministry and thought I would share a few things we’ve done in the past and a few things I’ve seen or would like to try soon:

Everyone moves up the same weekend every year
Promotion in our church is the same weekend for everyone across the board – there are a lot of changes in the family so we try to consolidate them into one weekend. The transition usually takes a few weeks since people may be gone on vacation or miss church that weekend, but we stack hands that throughout the life development years (birth-college) we all move up at the same time. It has been incredibly effective to be aligned from top to bottom – it may be hard to convince (or concede) to a Sunday School Superintendent or Small Group Director that this is wise, but it is well worth the effort.

We choose to move up at the end of the school year
There are pros and cons to which ever time of year you promote students – we choose the weekend immediately following the end of school or right at the beginning of summer. This makes a clean break fo seniors as well as gives freshman an easy entry point into high school ministry. You may want to make a handout or promotion video for the date you’re choosing – because clear warning of big changes ahead is always a good idea.

Promotion Weekend is a big deal
Each department has a BIG to do that weekend welcoming new students. In our High School Ministry we plan a freshman weekend which has a “get to know us” sort of vibe – lots of relational time, a parent orientation meeting, stories, history, food, giveaways, and fun. We do our best to avoid hazing, but definitely try to have some fun at our own expense – like showing pictures of ourselves when we were freshman which is incredibly embarrassing, too.

Hand over the info!
Passing along family information is critical at this stage – if you have small group information, parent emails and text numbers, get it now. In our specific case we get incoming 7th graders info and we give the contact information of our graduating seniors to our college ministry so they can work to integrate them immediately as well. If your church is tech-savvy, this will be a dream. In some cases where data integrity isn’t a value, be prepared to get handwritten attendance sheets or worse yet, nothing at all!

Plan a big welcome event
If you’ve got a bunch of new students moving up – plan something relational for them where they can get to know some volunteers and upperclassmen. Creating a sense of community and friendship is the key to helping with transitions. Could be as simple as a Scavenger Hunt (with a freshman require in each car, for example) or a giant overnighter to kickoff the summer and welcome the newbies.

Some age groups get a Preview Weekend
In some cases, your church may decide to do a preview weekend – for example letting 6th graders come see a junior high service. Usually it is planned to acknowledge the next level of students and to give them a painless taste of what is to come. If someone is hesitant to transition usually it isn’t a big deal through the summer – but heading into this time of year (fall) the transition should be complete.

Would love any questions you have about the process in the comments – or if you do it a different way please share!

JG

2 View Comments September 11, 2012

Geoff StewartMore Posts Our Role In High School Transitions

Yikes! The summer is nearly over and that means that students are getting ready to go back. They are filling the malls buying skinny jeans, fresh new Toms, loading up on Axe body spray and Hollister perfume.

For some students, there is the excitement and anticipation of seeing friends and being back at school. But for others, it might be a new school, or their first time in high school and that can be really scary. Students for the most part have a deep desire to be accepted and the first few weeks at a new school are pivotal as kids will often make friends with the first person who is willing to befriend them regardless of who they are. The role that friends play in the life of young person is huge, and falling into the wrong crowd early can have disastrous consequences, so that is where we come in.

Here is how it plays out at Journey: We have grades 6-12 meeting on the same night but somewhat separately, but the students do mingle and older students often know many of the younger ones. When the school year starts in a few weeks, we know that our students will likely know some people at their new school and that is where we get involved. During the first week of school we will be visiting every high school in the area at lunch time, visiting, encouraging and most importantly connecting our students. We can do so much to help make the transition into a new school, healthy, fun and life giving as we help to connect students in a new environment.

There is obvious value for us, to connect and shepherd our students, but this is one of the biggest reasons that the schools around us let us visit all the time. The administration at the schools see the value in us helping students make a smooth and healthy transition into their new school.

-Geoff (Twitter)