I feel like everyone’s at the pool. Even people who have full-time jobs, I ask them, “What did you do this week?”
They respond, “I was at the pool with the family?” I’m wondering, “Like the whole freaking day? What didn’t you work or go home? You survived on pool food the entire time?”
Every summer it feels like people are at the pool, on vacation or just avoiding any of their normal routines. It’s a different type of busyness from the rest of the year which can make it challenging if you want to continue to build momentum in your youth ministry.
While the temptation is to just check out and do nothing ourselves we know it’ll only set us up for disaster come the fall. What do you do when everyone else is in summer mode?
MAKE MEETINGS MORE CASUAL
Instead of inviting people to the church for a meeting go somewhere that fits the season. It could be at an ice cream parlor in the evening or for iced coffees in the morning. Make the meeting format casual by breaking the meeting into thirds:
- 1/3 is in prayer
- 1/3 is socializing
- 1/3 is covering content and action steps
It can be broken up. It doesn’t have to be done in any specific order. Also, keep the meetings on the shorter side. If there is a lot of information you want to cover put it in an email before or after the meeting. Give your team podcasts or audiobooks that can serve as additional material.
FOCUS ON EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
Summertime is filled with many different opportunities to go beyond the church walls and help teens continuously grow deeper in their faith. One way most youth ministries already do this by inviting teens on camps, and retreats but there are less complicated and low costs opportunities like:
- Going on a hike and turning it into a mini-pilgrimage
- Heading to the beach and closing the night with praise and worship
- Creating a Biblically themed scavenger hunt in a downtown area
- Meeting teens at a local charity to serve for the day, and talking about social justice issues
You could do most of these during the year, but summertime is a time filled with creativity and flexibility.
TAKE THE TIME TO DREAM
If it’s a challenge to meet up with teens or your adult leaders maximize your time to dream big. Plan out a few days where you take a step out of the busyness of ministry to think about the next year or two.
Think about what you want to do with your budget, where you might want to make changes in program and how you want to form your leaders. Put it down on a calendar and start thinking about what you have to do to hit those mile markers.
Check out the MYM Store for the Youth Ministry Annual Assessment HERE
GIVE YOURSELF SOME TLC
And while I don’t recommend taking the summer off, make sure you do find time to relax. And while we can’t all afford vacations here are a few other options:
- Getting a massage or going away to a day spa with your spouse
- Dropping the kids off at a relative or close friend for a day (or weekend) and having a mini adult staycation
- Sign up for a class at the gym that will
Summer is important and shouldn’t be taken for granted. Don’t just allow it to fly by and definitely do not approach it as time off. Change the strategy, the focus and find yourself more equipped for what comes this Fall.
What do you do to stay productive during summer months?
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