You made it through another school year of ministry. Well done! Take a deep breath!

For some youth leaders, the end of a school year means a little bit of a break before summer ministry starts. Others are continuing weekly programming. But I’m sure for all of us, fall seems way down the road. 

However, it’s never too early to start looking ahead, dreaming ahead, and listening for the Holy Spirit as you move towards programming for the next school year. 

3 simple practices to aid your youth ministry planning from spring to fall

For my team, summer ministry used to be a combination of planning camps, summer activities, leading interns, and thinking through the fall launch. Believe me when I tell you, we did not always do a good job of remembering to think about fall. But when we did prepare early and intentionally, focusing on a little work each week, we were much more balanced and felt much more prepared when fall came. 

I tried to stick to three simple principles each spring as I looked ahead towards the next ministry year: appreciate, assess, and activate.

Appreciate

Take time to thank your volunteers, the parents who are involved, and your students. Appreciate your co-staff and celebrate all God did during the year. Keep a list of those you want to recognize at the end of each year (post it somewhere public if you have an office area) and continue adding to it. 

Sometimes throughout a ministry year, we move so quickly that we don’t always pause to acknowledge what happened and how God moved in and through our programs, students, volunteers, and families. We get what we celebrate. So take time to appreciate all that God has done before you move on to thinking about what comes next. 
 

Assess

I really liked whiteboarding with my team. We spent 30 minutes or so identifying a question we wanted to answer (like what our students need most from the church), a topic we’re thinking about (like curriculum), or an event we’re planning (like fall kick-off), and threw every possible idea we came up with on the whiteboard. I’ve recently started using this same practice to assess where we’ve come from, what worked, what didn’t, where there are gaps in our ministry, and where there are opportunities. 

Before you get too far into the weeds of fall planning, take time to assess. Ask big questions like: 

• Is our structure working for our students?
• What’s the deepest need of teens in our community right now?

Then ask medium questions like: 

• What do we want our students to know or feel when they’re done with our program?
• How many volunteer leaders do we need for this next year?
• What space works best for our programming? And is what we have still working?

Finally, move on to more detailed questions: 

• Are there other avenues of engagement to consider with teens?
• How can we be more relationally-minded and make room in our schedules for that?

This assessment stage could take a couple of weeks or even a month. That’s okay! Spend time every week of the summer focusing on a couple of questions regarding the fall. Linger in these areas and mull over ideas so you can truly listen to how and where the Spirit is leading you. 

Activate

I like to start planning with the end in mind. I tried to imagine the end of our next programming year and ask myself these questions: 

• How do I want my students to feel?
• What do I want them to have learned?
• What do I want them to have experienced spiritually and relationally?

This can be done with another whiteboarding exercise, taking some time to journal thoughts, or walking and talking about them with someone else. 

By identifying the answers to those questions, you can then identify pathways to get to them. For instance, if I’d like all students to experience being known and loved by a trusted adult, I need to build up my volunteers—first by finding high-quality volunteers, then by developing, coaching, and equipping them to build relationships with students. When I parcel out each of those components, I can figure out the specific steps I need to take to accomplish them. Working backward helps me identify priorities and figure out where I need to start. 

Or you could divide up your ministry into buckets, such as curriculum & teaching, volunteers, and engagement & relationships. Then, fill those buckets with steps that will help you reach the end you identified. Once those buckets are filled, you can prioritize action in different ways:

• Based on time. Are there certain projects, events, or processes that will take the most time or need the most runway? It’s best to start those early.
• Based on importance. For example, small group curriculum (either finding one or writing one) is very important for the overall flourishing of your ministry, so you might start with that.
• Based on skills. Start with projects that aren’t naturally in your skill set, so you have more time to work on them.
   

The power of pause at the end of a busy youth ministry year

I’ve often said youth ministry is like a Ferris wheel—it’s always moving. It may slow down or even pause for a moment, but it never truly stops. So as you look ahead to another year of ministry, right on the heels of finishing one, ask yourself:

• How can I make space to rest and allow God to refill my soul?
• And from that place of renewal, how can I begin the slow, intentional work of discerning and preparing for fall ministry? 

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