Mastering Your Summer

Pizza. Lock-Ins. Trampoline Parks. Camp. Pool Parties. Pizza. Dodgeball. Movie Nights. Video Games. Pizza. Church Vans. Chaperones. And more…

These are some of the things that might come to mind when you think about a summer in student ministry. Some student ministries take a break from midweek programming in the summer, while some continue through the summer and the whole year. Whatever your church does, it’s important to get a good grasp on how you define a successful summer in student ministry. You might find that your answer differs from your youth pastor buddy down the street, and that’s ok. Here are a couple of helpful things to think through as you plan a summer for the student ministry you lead.

Decide on your weekly rhythms.

If you haven’t already, decide what every week is going to look like for the student ministry you lead. Will you continue midweek programming? Will you take midweek off and do events? Will you do a combination of both?

Ask yourself, what do I want to accomplish each week? It’s important to have a consistent touchpoint with your students, but you must decide what that’s going to look like.

Offer activities for everyone and for some.

Remember, the point of any summer activity is connection, fun, and relationships. Nerf wars are fun, but they don’t reach every student in your ministry. When you’re planning summer activities, make sure to have an activity for everyone. Think video game tournaments, arts and crafts night, movie night, nerf wars, and lock-ins. You want to make sure every student has something to look forward to and that you’re not catering to only a certain group of students.

Utilize key volunteers.

When I first started in youth ministry, I thought I had to host everything at my house or that I had to be the one to plan and execute every detail of an event. While we want to make sure we work hard, it’s very helpful to have volunteers execute the vision! For example, you may have a volunteer with an awesome house with a pool, or a volunteer with connections at a water park. Most of the time, volunteers love to be a blessing in this way – so keep your eyes out and don’t be afraid to ask!

Be intentional with your workday.

In the summer, ministry might look a little different depending on what your schedule is. Obviously, you’ll want to figure out your weekly rhythms before you know what it looks like to be intentional with your time. For example, if you have midweek programming, you’ll want to make sure you are prepped and ready to receive students and volunteers. However, if you don’t have midweek programming, you might want to spend it prepping events. Either way, the summer is a great time to connect with students because they are out of school and probably bored! Take them for coffee, do an “open gym” if you have a gym, or do a video game morning and provide donuts.

Bigger doesn’t mean better. Don’t be afraid to think small and simple.

Have you ever planned and done an event and thought, “That was not worth it?” Yeah, me too. Sure – it’s fun to hang out with students, and maybe they had fun, but there are easier ways to accomplish that without so much of your time being taken away. One of the things we’ve done each summer at our church that's easy is plan a weekly lunch with students. Sometimes, we have a lot of students there; other times, not so many. The point isn’t big and flashy, but consistent and intentional. When you’re planning something, it’s okay to think “what takes low energy and has high impact?”

Summer might be a break from school, but not God.

I say this on two fronts: for students and for you. Students (like all of us) need consistent accountability. They may be off from school, but you don’t want students thinking their summer is a time to coast spiritually. What would it look like to help students think that the summer is a time to spend MORE time with God, not less? It can look a lot of different ways, but make sure you are prioritizing the work to help students connect with God over the summer.

For you: make sure you carve out time to spend with God and family. This might be a downtime for you in some ways, and if it is, capitalize on connecting with the Lord, your spouse, and your kids!

Plan around your camp.

Figure out those camp dates (should probably already be done if you’re planning your summer), and plan around them! Make sure you give yourself time to prep and recover. It’s also wise to use camp as a catalyst for students to find connections locally. We do a worship night after camp every year to give students an easy on-ramp to the local church.

Be aware of key dates.

One summer, I planned an event on the Fourth of July weekend, and no one showed up. I had a lot of hot dogs and watermelon that night. Don’t be like me. Plan and identify key dates and plan around them! By this point, you’re catching this theme, but plan and plan some more! It’s helpful to give families a summer calendar to identify what the summer will look like.

Summers are an amazing time to plan, connect, and prepare. Use it wisely!

Share your thoughts with others in our YM360 community:

1. What do you love the most about summer ministry?
2. Is there a summer calendar event you’d like to plan after reading this?