Eight Ways to Boost Your Student Ministry In August

August is the perfect time to make lasting connections and build momentum for a new season of student ministry in your church. Here are eight things you can try in August to boost your ministry.

1) Plan Your School Year Calendar

Get the school calendar (or at least the fall calendar) finished:

Start with the big things. What are the big trips, events, and dates you already know about? Include your personal big dates (vacations, trips, and family events) to avoid conflicts. Getting the big blocks on your calendar will really help.
Determine meeting times. What is your regular meeting schedule for the year? Are there any days you won’t meet, such as around Christmas or New Year?
Start publishing your schedules. Keep your group and their parents informed of what is coming.
Plan your sessions. Consider setting up themes for each month.

2) Contact Students

If your contact list is under 50 students, you can easily personally call all of your students over the course of a couple weeks (5 a day for 10 days). If you have more students, get your leaders to contact those students with whom they are connected. Leaving a message for a student/family is a great open line of connection. Texting and emails are also fine. It might be good to do a little of each. You can also pull in a team to help you personally send a handwritten invitation to each student in your group.

Here are ideas for getting the conversation going with students, whether they are highly connected or on the fringe:

Invite them and thank them for being a part of the ministry.
Ask questions to show your interest in them. Find out when they begin school, their schedules, and whether they will be working somewhere this fall.
Let them know about the kick-off and other fall events, and encourage them to attend.
Thank them for talking with you.

While it is easiest to have something to invite people to, the real work of contact is the personal connection. Ask open-ended questions and listen. For further reading, check out this past blog: Ministry is a contact sport.

3) Pray For Students

August is a great time to renew your prayer focus for students. Students experience hurt, hollowness, self-esteem issues, family troubles, depression, and more. We also need prayer for wisdom and resources, and for our churches to become engaged in serving in student ministry.

Psalm 34 says that God’s ears are attentive to the cry of the righteous. We need to cry out to God on behalf of the next generation. Student ministry leaders need to lead the way in praying for the students and the ministry. Develop a personal prayer plan. Invite the church to pray. Print the initials of students on a prayer calendar in the church bulletin. Teach students how to pray and spend time praying in your ministry meetings. Focus on prayer and trust God this fall.

For further reading, check out these past blogs: Develop a Prayer Plan and Watch God Work | 12 Ways To Delegate Prayer | A Great Prayer for Leaders to Pray

4) Brush Up Your Delegation Skills

You need a team to help the ministry grow. You can do only so much on your own. Part of your role as a ministry leader is helping the church use its gifts to reach the next generation. Ministry leaders must become comfortable inviting others to help them and passing off some of the work of ministry. Consider passing off social media updates and connections or delegating the administration for a particular event or trip to a leader in your group or church.

For further reading, check out these past blogs: Volunteer Student Ministry Event Administrator Job Description and 44 Things Youth Workers Might Delegate

5) Try Something New

New ideas can give your ministry a boost. Here are a few ideas:

If you’ve never had a kickoff event, now is a good time to hold one and encourage your students to invite friends ot attend.
Attend a new retreat or conference this year.
Start incorporating worship in your meeting times.
Try a new meeting time slot or new ways to involve adults in the ministry.
Consider having a new t-shirt design or logo for your ministry.

August is a great time to implement something new. For further reading, check out these past blogs: 21 Fall Planning Ideas For Youth Pastors and Ministry Leaders: Do Something “New” This Fall (Here Are 52 Ideas)

6) Share Your Vision

August is a good time to share your vision and make sure people are reminded of the goal of student ministry. Include something about the vision and scope of student ministry in your church publication. Send it in an email to your students and families. Share something concrete and specific on a Sunday morning in August.

August is also a great time to meet with your pastor to engage in debriefing: How was the last year? What would you like to see happen over this year? What is working? How can we improve?

Make sure the vision stays out in the open. For further reading, check out these past blogs: Five Ways Sr. Pastors Make A Difference In Youth Ministry and Get Your Vision from the Clouds to the Calendar

7) Narrow Your Focus

August is a good time to assess and focus on whether you are doing too much in your student ministry. What makes the most impact? What seems to be doing the most good in helping to transform students and grow them in faith? Students need helpful holy teaching, long term loving adults, and meaningful ministry opportunities. If we can narrow our focus to work on the basics, we may actually accomplish more in the long run.

For further reading, check out this past blog: Youth Ministry: Narrow the Focus, Widen the Impact.

8) Recruit and Equip Volunteers

If you are a paid youth worker, you should be spending 25% of your time recruiting and equipping adults. Too often, student ministry leaders think they are supposed to just hang out with the kids. In reality, your job is to help the church raise up the next generation of disciples. If you are a volunteer worker, work with your pastor to build a team. Either way, you must have a team of people to have an effective long-haul ministry.

August is a good time to invite others to participate in ministry with you; and to equip and encourage your student ministry team, your Sunday morning student leadership team, and others who volunteer in your ministry.

Here are a few resources: The most natural way to get volunteers | Practical Ways To Give Away Student Ministry Leadership | 12 Ways To Delegate Prayer

HERE’S A RESOURCE TO HELP YOU…

A few years back, I recorded these youth worker training sessions and they are still available. These short videos are perfect for training and equipping your team. If you’ve been looking for a reason to gather your team and meet together, this could be it. Each of the four ten-minute videos cover a topic to spur discussion. Discussion questions and action steps are included. You will have immediate online access to the videos, bonus videos and discussion questions.

Don’t miss this great opportunity to motivate your ministry and your team with these student ministry topics:

Helping To Stir The Hearts Of Students
Entering The Lives Of Students Like Jesus Did
Partnership With Others To Transform Student’s Lives
Raising The Expectation For Maximum Impact.

For about the cost of taking two or three students out for pizza, you can purchase this series, GETTING AND KEEPING STUDENTS CONNECTED TO YOUR MINISTRY.