Youth Committee Planning Agenda

 

The Youth Committee must begin here with the help of the pastor and a dedicated Youth Committee Chairman.  If plans are in the making to call a Youth Minister, then Involve the new Youth Minister when He/she is called and get him/her to follow these same steps as he/she begin his/her ministry.  If there are no plans to call a Youth Minister then the Youth Committee Chairman, under the leadership of the Pastor, will serve as the guiding force .

 

THE FIRST STEP is to Develop a Mission Statement and a List of Goals that define the changes that you want to see in the lives of the youth.

1. Schedule a time to get away from all distractions and determine why each committee member is involved in leading young people.  This can be an all-day retreat, a weekend retreat or several discussion and planning meetings.

Write out a mission statement.  What is that?  A mission statement simply states the reasons to be involved in a youth ministry and the objectives that the committee wants to accomplish.  Make the statement clear and concise.

 How to begin?  Take a blank sheet of paper and begin listing every thought that comes to mind on "why we want to work with young people".  Do not consider what, when, where or how.  Just consider WHY!  Throw caution to the wind and list every thought no matter how silly or trivial it may seem.  Look into the heart and ask “Why are we doing this”.  Until each committee member knows WHY they do not need to know WHAT.  When they know WHY they will need to know WHAT

Next, list everything that the committee wants to see accomplished in the lives of the youth.  Again. throw caution to the wind and list every thought no matter how silly or trivial it may seem.  Looking into the heart ask, “What do we want to see happen in the lives of our youth”. 

Now, write out the mission statement that summarizes what you want to see happen in the lives of the youth and why these traits and activities should become a reality.  It is important to be specific and list WHAT and WHY for each thing that the committee wants to see happen.  By this time a correlation between WHY and What and Why should be evolving.?

 Develop a list of Goals and Prioritize the list.  It is important that the committee members know WHAT changes they want to see and WHY they want to see those changes become a reality.   Take the list of things that the committee wants to see happen in the lives of the youth and prioritize it, listing the most important first and continue listing in order of importance.  Spend the time necessary to really understand the changes that are desired in the lives of the youth and be sure that every committee member understands the importance of each.  Then and only then can one choose which should be first, second, third and so on.

 Read the mission and goal statement and make it convey exactly what it should say.  Make it as concise and clear as possible.  Be brief and not wordy.  Choose the words carefully. Share it with some of  the other leaders, not on the committee and ask them if it is clear to them and does it convey what you want it to convey.

Share this Mission Statement and List of Gaols with the Pastor, get him to evaluate it and determine if it Meets his concerns and goals for the Youth of the Church! 

Involve the team of leaders.  After you have the mission and goal statement fine tuned, share it with every leader that is involved in leading youth in the church and get them to agree to adopt it as their own.  Keep a sharp focus on the goals and evaluate the progress on a regular basis.  Discuss these goals with the team on a regular basis.

After you have finished this task, you now are ready to move on to the next step.  Then and only then do you need to consider HOW.   The impulse is to jump to the next step of How and skip the first step of Why, What and Why.  That is the mistake that most leaders and committee members make and the ministry and program never reach  its full potential.  Do you understand why I say WHY, WHAT and WHY?  If not, go back and study the first step and keep asking  'why I put them in that order".  When you fully understand the statement WHY, WHAT and WHY you will be ready to put programs in place that will produce the results that you are seeking.

 

How to Make It Happen - Planning and Goal Setting

 

Now you are ready to develop a plan of action.  Take the list of goals and determine which ones you want to accomplish in next five years!

 

1.    Separate the goals using a five year plan, a three year plan and a one year plan.

2.    List specific programs that you feel will help get the results that you are seeking and would like to see either started or improved.  Some of the programs may already be in place and need tweaking in order to produce the results that you want them to produce.

3.    Select a date and year that you want to begin and then list several goals for each program.  Some programs may have progressions that will need to be organized in steps and will take several years to complete.  Plan in the calendar these progressions.  Again set dates for each goal.

4.    Next plan the calendar for the coming year.  Take twelve sheets of paper, put each month of the year on one of those sheets, begin to list the activities for each month and put them on the calendar.  Many will repeat themselves.

5.    Determine the resources necessary to carry out these plans.  This will include facilities, equipment, finance, personnel and specific ideas on content and activities.

6.    Plan a detailed budget for each activity and incorporate it into an annual program budget.

7.    Outline the recruitment and training of leaders and volunteers.
 

8.    Select idea resources on “how to” activities.

 

Below are suggested Programs and Activities to be considered when planning the "Youth Calendar".

 

Annual Calendar Planning

  1.    Weekly Sunday Morning Bible studies

  2.    Weekly Sunday Evening Youth Activities

  3.    Mid week Bible Studies

  4.    Youth week activities

  5.    Youth led Revival

  6.    Youth Camp

  7.    Youth Retreats 

a)    Christmas break retreat

b)    Summer retreat

c)    Spring break retreat

d)    Spiritual renewal retreat

  8.    Summer Youth Mission Trip

  9.    Youth Snow Skiing Trip

10. Youth Banquet

11. Parties

a)    New Year’s Eve

b)    Christmas

c)    Easter

d)    Back to school

e)    End of school

f)     Halloween substitute on Halloween night.  Do not use Halloween theme.

g)    Valentine

h)   St. Patrick’s Day

12. After Game Fellowships

13. Summer Fellowships

14. Special Programs

a)    Vocal Ensemble

b)     Puppet Teams

c)    Mission Teams

d)    Christian High Adventure Club for older boys

e)    Athletics teams – team sports for Boys and for Girls.

f)     Drama Group

15.  Youth Trips

a)    Spring break camping trip

b)    Summer canoe trip

c)    Fun trip to Disneyworld or Adventure park

d)    Summer backpacking trip

e)    Trip to a baseball game

f)     Beach trip

 

Coordinate The Calendar of Activities

Make a list all church function and activity dates that need to be avoided such as: Revivals, Bible Conference, Age Group Conferences, Special Music Presentations, Sunrise Services, Departmental Socials and Mission Tours and all other activities that involve the youth.

Put these scheduled activities on a reference calendar.  You can put them on a church calendar for reference or use a separate calendar.   You do not have to print them on the church calendar but you do need to have them before the committee when planning the youth activities in order to avoid conflicts in the schedule

You can put them on a church calendar for reference or use a separate calendar. You do not have to print them on the church calendar but you do need to have them before the committee when planning the youth activities in order to avoid conflicts in the schedule

Now, take the list of youth activities that the committee wants to schedule and put them in order of the months.  Make a list for each month.

After listing all the activities for each month, get twelve blank monthly calendar forms and assign specific dates to each activity and record them on the calendar.

 

Coordinate with Pastor and Staff

·       One of the most important things that the committee must do is schedule a meeting with the Pastor to discuss the goals for the coming year and review the calendar with him.  Go over the mission statement, the list of goals, the calendar of activities and the reason why the committee set each individual goal and chose each activity .  Ask for his input on things that he would like to see accomplished and put into the calendar of activities during the coming year.

·        After meeting with the Pastor, schedule a meeting with all other Ministers and then all department heads to go over the schedule of activities and get their input and suggestions Make sure there are no conflicts or omissions that should be included.

 

Specific Program and Activity Planning

 

Once you have the calendar planned you begin planning specific details for each activity whether it is a Bible Study, Camp, Retreat, Fellowship, Trip, Recreational Activity or Youth led Revival. 

 

Make The Plans

      ·         Now that the committee has chosen an activity and determined why they want to use it in the youth program it is time to make specific plans.

      ·          Make a folder for each activity or program and begin making a list of ideas, needs and leadership for each one.

·          Make a list of the benefits that the committee wants  to achieve by using this program.
 

      ·         Next, outline the planning procedure including location, equipment, supplies, decorations, menu, invitations and promotion, personnel and committees.
 

      ·         After listing the needs, develop a planning calendar for each phase of the plan.
 

      ·         Choose the people that will help develop these plans, write job descriptions and make assignments for specific jobs.
 

      ·         Make sure that everyone knows what is expected of them and that they have the materials necessary to fulfill their assignment successfully.

      ·         Meet regularly and review the progress made, the scheduled dates of accomplishment, the things to do list and the materials and supplies that will be needed
.

      ·         Talk with the chairman of each activity committee weekly to determine how you can help with the process.  Remember the leader is not the doer, he/she is the facilitator.  

 

Once the committee has:

·         the list of goals they want to see accomplished,

·         chosen programs that will help reach those goals,

·         set dates for each activity,

·         coordinated the schedule with Pastor and Staff,

·         assigned committees and volunteers to plan and lead those activities

 

the committee members are now ready to lead, direct and supervise "The Youth Ministry of The Church".