My church recently took up prayer requests. A teacher (actually, me) raised his hand to offer a praise that school was about to end in 20 days! My praise was followed up by a prayer request from a grandmother that school was about to end in 20 days. Did you know that one out of five grandparents are taking care of either their grandchildren or adopted kids today? That’s the new reality. Either way, parents/guardians and grandparents all know that . . .
Summer is coming (which means students are returning home). What happened to the Spring? I just flipped on the air conditioning! In the South, nothing beats the heat . . . and a nice cup of lemonade. Swimming pools, fishing holes, water parks, and lakes—give me anything with water, right! And don’t forget to turn on the fans! I know . . . It’s hot!
It’s hot, school’s out, and some things never change. The next generation will still be asking their parents/grandparents what they can do and if they can go to _________________.
Summer time is always a next generation minister’s busiest time of the year. But it is also a time where God often moves powerfully in the lives of students!
Vacation Bible School is still a great tool for reaching children for Christ! Many churches have stopped doing VBS and do their own outreach event or children’s camp. Last I heard, 25% of all church salvations happened at VBS. Statistics have proven youth who go to church camp often have stickier faith, meaning they are more likely to stay in church once they graduate. Students often use the summer to go on mission trips or conduct local mission projects. Backyard Bible studies and one-day summer events using a party trailer are also popular summer church events.
I always liked doing what I called the “1+1” philosophy of summer-time student ministry. Every week of the summer, I would offer a mission activity (nursing home, outreach, yardwork for the elderly, etc.) followed up in the following week by recreational/fun activity (movie, ice cream, ballgame or fun park). Only students who participated in the mission activity could participate in the fun activity. Why did I consider this approach to summer ministry important? Let me share a story with you . . .
Last week, I attended a summer camp informational meeting. I sat next to an older friend (old enough to be a grandpa) who shared with me that when he went to summer youth camp, he had to memorize 300 Bible verses before the camp would accept him. He would literally spend all year memorizing Scripture so he could go to camp. The flip side of this account is that the camp was free. It’s the opposite today. Today, you don’t have to memorize any Scripture, but if you have $300, any camp will take you. We’ve gone from 300 verses to $300. Which camper do you think grew more spiritually? It might not always ring true, but I would say nine out of ten times, it’s the camper with more buy-in.
These students learn life lessons and tend to appreciate the overall experience more. Many students today work church fundraisers so they can afford to go to summer camp. It’s the same principle. I know many churches do not believe in fundraisers and that’s ok. The question I would ask your church is, “what are you doing to prepare your students spiritually for camp?” It’s important you take time to spiritually prepare students for camps/mission trips, but I think it’s equally important that you take time to reflect on what happened once you get back to church from camp.
Camps and mission trips are learning experiences. The more time you spend preparing your students for the impact to come and the more time you spend with students evaluating the impact that happened, the better. In other words, what now? How are you going capitalize at church and in your local community with the transformation that just took place in the lives of your students? Students need to have a plan, but better yet, they need to be the ones to come up with the plan. Next generation pastors, Set your summer events up, Go, and Then break them down! Not only will your students grow from the experience, your mindset on summer ministry will have likely changed forever!