Working around the parish in the summer may get you down a bit. School is out, people are on vacation and you may even be trying to figure out what it is you should be doing to get ready for the New Year. Well, a new school year is right around the corner and people will start returning from vacations and trips and will get very busy…fast! Don’t get caught playing catch up!

Now is the time to get ready for the next semester of Liturgies and LIFE Nights. Maybe you are one of those people who plan everything week to week. Try to challenge yourself to be a little more pro-active. Find out what your next semester of LIFE TEEN is about, if you don’t know already, and start to think about some new ways of ministering to your teenagers. Maybe there is some new music you’ve wanted to learn. Take the time to sit down and learn it. It used to be that we would have to order the CD and wait a few weeks to get it in the mail. Not any more! With the internet you can listen to virtually any song you want to hear on You Tube or spiritandsong.com. Get to know some new songs you may want to learn and give your teens a fresh new song to start their year off with. Think about a few songs that may work for your upcoming LIFE TEEN or EDGE Retreats and get them together on a CD to play for you Youth Minister or CORE Team. This way when the retreat rolls a round, you’re not scrambling to try to find a song.

Another thing that you can do is to try to get some new talent involved at your Liturgies or LIFE Nights. The bulletin is pretty skim in most churches during the summer so take the time to put in an announcement for some new musicians or sound engineers. New talent in the group can add to the excitement of getting a new year started and give your ministry a boost. Whatever it is you decide to do, make sure you are always thinking ahead and trying to beat the clock so you’re not always burning the candle at both ends all year long. That’s the easiest way to burn yourself out.