Surviving Summer, Part 1: Children's & Youth Ministry

By Raul Rivera

Summer is here! The kids are out of school. The pools will be busy. Backyard barbecues will occur. And vacations will take place. Everything seems to slow down a little bit during the summer months. But for churches, that is not always the case.

For many churches, the summer calendar is full of various activities such as outreach events, family activities, retreats, and other types of church gatherings.

While all of these activities serve a good purpose, how can a church come out of the summer unscathed from potential liability? What can your church do to prepare for the coming summer months? And, how can your church survive summer?

The answers to these questions will be answered in a series of blog posts that I am calling “Surviving Summer”. Within this series, I will be addressing four areas that churches should be extra mindful of as the summer begins:

1. Children’s & Youth Ministry Activities: Host fun and impactful activities while maintaining a safe environment.
2. Giving: How to encourage healthy giving habits during the summer.
3. Guest Speakers: What to consider before paying guest speakers this summer.
4. Outreach: 4 ideas that will amount to powerful results.

I will begin this series by examining how your church can host fun and impactful activities for children and youth while also maintaining a safe environment.

“Train up a child”

Scripture tells us to, “Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6) One of the most common ways churches all across America work at this is through Vacation Bible School (VBS).

VBS is a great time for children to have fun while hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is also a great opportunity for a church to reach children and their families who do not normally attend church.

While VBS is geared more towards elementary-aged children, churches usually have separate summer activities for the youth, or teenagers, of the church. Such activities include church camps, retreats, and even day-trips to theme parks.

How can you ensure that your church’s VBS will be successful while also maintaining the safety of every child in attendance? In addition, what steps can you take to protect the youth and church during various outings?

There are 2 practical steps your church can take to help ensure that the summer activities for the children’s and youth ministry go well: 1) Properly evaluate (vet) your church’s volunteers, and 2) Implement the right policies and forms.

We will look at these next!

2 simple steps for your children’s and youth ministry

I firmly believe that your church’s children’s and youth ministry should be covered in prayer. Additionally, I believe that having the right structure in place for your church is imperative to the success of your ministry and the safety of your church’s children and youth.

Let us look at 2 ways to help establish a solid structure for your church’s children’s and youth ministry.

1) Properly evaluate (vet) your church’s volunteers

Having a solid group of volunteers is a must for every church, but more important is knowing who your volunteers are. It is an unfortunate statistic, but one of the top reasons churches end up in court each year is due to sexual abuse of minors. For this reason, it is imperative that your church properly vet your volunteers (as well as any staff members).

Because churches often find themselves in need of volunteer help, it can be easy to skip the vetting process. This seemingly simple overlook can lead to an unsafe environment for your children.

I recently wrote a blog post on how your church can create a solid volunteer program. Your can click here to read it in full, but I want to give you a snippet about streamlining your church’s volunteer process.

Once an individual has expressed interest in serving at your church, you will want to consider having the following steps in place:

• Volunteer application: Have each person complete a volunteer application. This allows you to keep adequate record of those who are actively serving at your church. Our Document’s Suite contains a template for a volunteer’s application that you can customize to your church’s needs. You can click here for more information.
• Background and reference checks: This step is especially important for any and all children’s and youth workers. Many churches are good about conducting criminal background checks, but it is important not to stop there. You should also conduct a reference check on each individual. The importance of reference checks was highlighted in a case in which the Florida Baptist Convention (FBC) was found liable, and ordered to pay 12.5 million dollars, for the acts of a minister within its organization, even though prior to hiring him, the FBC had conducted a criminal background check. The FBC had failed to conduct a reference check.
• Training: Make sure that any necessary training is available for your volunteers. This will help facilitate a better experience for everyone involved, and it will allow the volunteer(s) to feel more confident when serving.
• Chain-of-command: Although volunteers are not employees of the church, it is, at times, necessary to manage them like employees. When issues arise, it is best practice for there to be a clear chain of command. This allows for any potential issues to be handled efficiently and effectively.

2) Implementing the right policies and forms

Benjamin Franklin once said, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” This is where having in place the proper policies and procedures comes into play. You may think that certain policies and procedures do not apply to your church at this time, but I have always believed that it is better to be safe than sorry.

Below are two policies/procedures I believe every church should implement.

1. Texting and Driving Policy: Texting while driving is illegal in nearly every state. Because it is so dangerous, your church should implement a “Texting and Driving Policy” that prohibits texting at any time while operating a vehicle for church purposes. You could even go as far as to prohibit any cell phone use by the operator of the vehicle. It is important that all staff members and volunteers be aware of this policy once implemented.
2. Liability Release Form: This form should be used whenever the children or youth of your church participate in a church activity. This form is for parents to give consent for their children to participate in activities with the church that may or may not be on the church campus. A liability release form can help protect your church by removing liability from the church. It can also help protect the child by giving the church consent to take that child to an emergency room to receive care, if needed.

A sample liability release form can be found in our Documents Suite, or you can simply give us a call at 770-638-3444 and we will be happy to email it to you.

“Every summer has its own story”

I came across the above-mentioned quote the other day. The author of the quote was unknown, but it got me thinking about my summer and what I hope to make of it with my family. My question to you is, “What do you hope to make of this summer with your church?”

I encourage you to stay tuned over the next several blog posts as I address the areas that will help this to be a great summer for your church.

In the mean time, I invite you to take a look at our conference schedule by clicking here. If you have any questions about the conference, feel free to give us a call at 770-638-3444. It would be our honor to hear from you!

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