As a Youth Pastor, I tend to look at the School year in 3 teaching segments.
Fall Season:
September-November is the Fall Kick off, where most of the anticipation is in the air. This is usually our biggest time of year as there is still a freshness and excitement going on. We are high on our relational building time and usually try to do a few teaching series that will really capture the attention of those checking the program out. We do not have any big outside events that happen during this season. I have done a series on…
- Relationships, using the Facebook backdrop and theme.
- Culture, looking at popular movies
- Truth Is… Using the common Facebook status to look at real Truth.
Winter Season:
Usually we have a week off for Thanksgiving, then a short December series that is somewhat Christmas related. Because we follow the school calendar, we typically get 2 weeks off at Christmas and New Years. After the long Christmas break, there is a definite shift in everyone’s mood and attitude. This Season usually only lasts from January-March but is augmented by two of our largest events all year–our Winter Retreat and our All Night Event. I usually try to do at least one series this season that is straight Bible teaching, such as an overview of a book, or a person in Scripture like…
- Jeremiah, Using his teachings today
- Stand, The Armor of God
Spring Season:
This is the “After Easter to the End of the Year” season, typically April-June. This has always been my hardest season to stay on pace. Excitement begins to wane and students are less intentional about inviting friends. Senoritis sets in (for all grade levels!) and spring sports really take a bite out of attendance. This causes me to be a bit more intentional about doing some series pointed at the believer, while trying to also have an intentional time for students to invite friends. No major events happen, but we try to do a Student Led night (high ownership usually causes good attendance!) as well as a specific Invite Night where students are directed to invite friends to hear the Gospel. Being strategic keeps momentum going as best we can. Some series ideas are…
- Transform, For the Christian student, becoming more like Christ
- Invite Night, Usually a series leading up to it teaching about the importance on the invite
- Student Led night, They do everything from tech to the message, worship to leading small groups. High excitement for this night!
Bonus Last Week, Closing Night of the Year:
This has always been one of my favorite nights of the year, not because I know next week I have off, but because of how we end the year! I probably need to write an entire post about this night, but in short, I simply recap each teachings series (usually about 6-8) for the year and sum up each one in a short 2-4 sentences. We reshow a lot of the bumper videos or video segments that worked really well the first time and there is a good feeling of “I remember that!” going on in the room. For the music, we do the best songs of the year and usually redo a special song that worked really well too. It is pretty much the “clip show” of the year, but works very well for the students!
There is so much more that goes into the teaching year, but my final thought is this. Have a Plan! I feel like we can be very strategic when we know how to plan for the year. Plus it helps when those seasons are dragging, to know that there is a new season around the corner!
SO what is you Plan?