Recharging for Children's and Youth Ministry

After last week’s post about sorting out your paperwork from all your ministries, you are now completely caught up and your learning spaces are clean and shiny. Yes, that was a joke! The truth is that children’s and youth ministry seldom has down time.

Regular Sunday school is often merely replaced by a summer open session program run with fewer volunteers because people are away or needing a break and you are still on deck. Regular mid-week programs are often replaced by the lead up to day camps or VBS. Once those are over, planning for the fall begins in earnest, if it hasn’t already, so that you have your team in place for September’s new set of programs and Sunday school.

The fun never stops! But it has to, or we drive ourselves into the ground. And if you are paid staff or the overall coordinator, it’s even more important that you have a real break. It can be very hard to turn off the programming part of your brain and get away from all that planning and management. I remember supposedly being on holidays in Ottawa and visiting a toy store where I bought items for decorating for our VBS. It can take me days to unplug from work and to actually wind down and just relax and have me time.

How do you prepare and plan for your much-needed time away? How do you manage to recharge so that you are ready to come back and lead the troops with renewed energy? Consider the following:

1. Know the rhythms of your own life (spouse/partner’s holidays and work commitments, kids’ lives, your most stressful times) and the church where you serve (busiest seasons when you are most needed, times when others could manage just fine on their own). Communicate and negotiate with all affected directly (family, your minister and possibly other staff) to find a time that works best for you and won’t be a hassle for others.

2. Know yourself and whether a single stretch of two or more weeks will allow you wind down time, relaxation, and a bit of time to ramp back up to the expectations of your ministry. For some people, two or three day getaways reignite their spark and weeks strung together are too long and boring. Do you have any particular personal projects or goals? What kind of schedule will work to accomplish them? Is a balance of quiet at home and time away better? Some people know they need to escape home or they will get sucked back into work with phone calls, e-mail, etc.

3. Do as much advance planning for any programs happening in your absence as you possibly can. Find someone to be the fill-in “go to” person who you feel comfortable giving that responsibility so you won’t obsess about things not being done. Communicate clearly with this person your expectations and all resources available to them. Tell the congregation who this person is and their role. Have as much prep done as possible so this person does not feel overwhelmed.

4. Look ahead to what will be coming up once you are back. Is there any prep you can do ahead of time so you aren’t hit by a tsunami of tasks? Are there some tasks that an eager volunteer could begin work on to lessen the load? Think carefully about the timing of your return. The goal of time away is not to create more stress.  

5. It’s easy to fill holiday time with tourist destinations, catching up on tv shows and social media. Value and be intentional in how you spend your time. Try to allocate time to focus on strengthening partner/family relationships and reconnecting after a busy season. Ensure there is time for slowing down, reflection, reading, prayer, discernment and otherwise listening intently for what God has in mind for you. Enjoy the best of what is around you – good local food, good music, physical activity that invigorates you, places that inspire you. See people and experience things that will feed your soul.

As a worship leader, I can find it hard to worship when someone else is leading, to turn off analyzing what they are doing and saying and how I would have handled the same material. Christian educators can have the same issue – spending so much time planning and leading or watching others lead our learners we can forget our need to sit at the feet of Jesus and, like Mary, just listen and learn from the Master. Find your time this summer to recharge, to remember your need for God and to take a breath. Know that God is with you to guide and cheer you on in the immensely important work that you are doing for the Kingdom.