Well, here we are. Every youth minister’s favorite time of year: Spring – when Proms seem to happen every weekend, Spring Breaks feel like they last for the entire semester, and youth group numbers tend to plummet faster than stock in Facebook.
I always dreaded the Spring Semester, and the same questions seemed to always arise:
How come so many teens stopped showing up?
Have we taken a step back since Fall?
Is this really worth it?
The teens and parents don’t seem to appreciate all my work. Is it time to quit?
And then one year, I heard a quote that fascinated me:
“The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it is the same problem you had last year.” – John Foster Dulles
“Hmmm . . . this is the same problem I had last year. Perhaps the problem . . . is me.”
The truth is, when it came to the Spring Semester, it was easier to make excuses than it was to hustle.
It was easier to roll me eyes when Prom came around and hope I might be able to get half the teens I normally did.
It was easier to get frustrated at another Spring Break that took teens out of town rather than find a creative way to do relational ministry with those who remained.
It was easier to blame poor attendance at Life Night on spring sports rather than plan and prepare Life Nights that were so spectacular that teens just had to tell their friends.
It’s time to stop making excuses.
It’s time to step it up a notch.
It’s time to make this Spring the measure of success rather than another disappointing failure.
It’s a tough problem we have on our hands, but we have a God who loves us so much, and every teen, whether they know it or not, desires Him.
As youth ministers we know this. We are passionate about this. But this passion hides behind our excuses.
We can’t let that happen any more. We need to unleash this passion throughout the year.
Not just in the Fall.
In the Spring.
At Life Nights.
At Freshmen Girls’ Badminton Tournaments.
Anywhere and everywhere that passion must burn.
It’s time to pull it out of the shade of excuses and let it shine for all to see.
Especially now.
Especially this time of year.
Especially this Spring.
Question: What are you going to do different this Spring Semester? (Share below.)
You nailed this one! Thanks for the wake-up call!
Thank you!
Near the start of the spring semester we have a High School “winter” retreat. This serves as a great jump starter for our spring semester because it pulls out youth who’s fervor faded over Christmas break. Upon returning form the retreat we again push our summer events and get a good number committed to attending which means fundraisers, so even if they aren’t coming to youth group we are still getting face to face ministry time with them during summer event preparation.
Great ideas Sarah! I love the idea of having a retreat at the beginning of the semester. Gets everything off to a great start.
We are doing a Bible study at Wendy’s on Wednesday nights for our high school youth. This is our second week. I am really excited about it and so are our youth and their friends, most of whom aren’t Catholic. Also, with the help of Life Teen’s resources and Pinterest, I came up with a ton of new ideas to make this semester new. We are having a retreat too.
That’s so great, Randi! And Wendy’s?!? Your teens are so lucky. Have a delicious Spicy Chicken Sandwich for me.
Thanks Eric! It was actually their idea to have the Bible Study and meet in a public place. Wendy’s was nice enough to let us gather for an hour each week. We buy everyone Frosties each week, and they are welcome to get something on their own. Our Bible Study is called “Torch”, one of the youth designed the logo, I printed up flyers, and we hung them up at church and at their school. I’ve had calls, texts, and kids showing up ready to learn. It’s also allowed our teens who helped put it together take on a leadership role. We are doing small series of topics for 2-3 weeks at a time. The last 6 weeks of the semester will be on Discipleship and we’re using the Life Teen resource “Into the Deep: Discipleship” to help us with it. Our hope is to educate, evangelize, empower, and get them to go further in their relationship with God than they have been. We also want to encourage them to become leaders for the next year and for this summer.
Wow! That is so awesome, and thank you for sharing, Randi! Keep up the great work!
Eric, I’m a fan of the spicy chicken too (and I heard Coach is too). I have some practical things that have worked in the past. On nights when there’s exams coming up, have an exam study. 1) Exams. Use the Core Team as “experts” in each field of study (you’d be surprised at the existing variety of college degrees and trades your Core knows). 2) Prom. Hold a “photo sharing session.” Perhaps this doesn’t work as well is it did pre-FB, but you can use technology and go digital if you want. After teens have had big weekend events, they tend to excuse themselves from Life Nights….don’t let them off the hook! Another prom thing would be the same as exam study to allow the teens to catch up on studies (or combo of two offering, one fun and one study room). 3) Make your Life Nights sing. Hype them up. And mean it. Get what I’m saying? Pull out the kind of punches you do for a kickoff — every week…we should be doing this anyhow. 4) Have teen leaders plan something fun as part of the night and tell their friends about what they’re planning 5) Do a night on Evangelization before the end of first semester and challenge the teens to evangelize by bringing more to Life Night second semester. 6) Challenge the teens to help you keep the group larger. If you think they don’t notice the group cut in half and that it bothers them too, then you’re kidding yourself. Let them take some ownership.
Chris, ever since Chick-Fil-A came out with their Spicy Chicken Sandwich, I’ve been partial to it, but Wendy’s will always have a special place in my heart.
As far as your comment goes, all great ideas. I especially like your first idea. It really taps into some of the unknown gifts of the Core Team Members.
Eric, one thing that made our March for Life experience even better was the fact that we stopped at Chick-Fil-A on the drive there and back. We have none in Michigan, so it’s even more meaningful for us. I got the spicy deluxe, add bacon, dump buffalo sauce on top. Boom. There are two Stuff YMs like: Chick-Fil-A and bacon.
Haha! I’ll add them to the list.
Eric, thanks so much for this post. This really was the wake-up call that I needed right now. I’m a college kid who volunteers leading youth group at the local parish, and I think it’s in God’s plan for me to be a Youth Minister when I graduate. Sometimes I get discouraged when our middle schoolers aren’t all-in or don’t show up every week. But this helped me realize that sometimes it is me who needs to step up and plan ROCKIN’ youth group nights so I give them a reason to want to come back. Thanks so much.
Jordan, thank you for the many ways you serve. May God bless you as you discern your call to youth ministry.
Ahhh! Spring semester is so busy! So busy, that I’m just reading this blog now. haha. Thank you Eric for the blog! It has lifted me up and I will try to be more positive throughout the remaining part of the year! Thanks again.
-Kari Kruser
Kari, you rock! Thank you for all the ways you serve teens!