Five Youth and Children’s Ministry Strategies for Lockdown 2021
HERE ARE FIVE YOUTH AND CHILDREN’S MINISTRY STRATEGIES FOR LOCKDOWN 2021
Sydney is back under a full, city-wide lockdown for the second time since we first heard of the novel coronavirus back in the early months of 2020. We’ve watched as Melbourne slid in and out of various states of lockdown, had our own limited Northern Beaches hotspot over the Christmas and New Years break, and prayed for our overseas brothers and sisters in the US, UK, India and many other nations as they endured far more significant and serious effects of the virus. But as of Saturday 26th June, all of Sydney are back in their homes unless exercising, buying essential groceries, or fighting their neighbours over toilet paper supplies.
Understandably, there are a mixture of feelings about our current circumstances. On the one hand, there is a saddening frustration. Businesses that were slowly building up their clientele are back laying off staff and throwing out perishable food items. Families who were set for winter school holidays are now cooped up at home, restricted to books, boardgames, backyards and fights over tech time. There are also those for whom lockdown creates situations of loneliness, heartache, or tension depending on who else is or is not in their households.
On the other hand, I have also sensed a reluctant ambivalence to the familiarity of our fate. We’ve all been here before and, for many of us, we’ve developed rhythms of life such as Zoom meetings, open air walks with friends, hobbies and projects, or digital distractions, that enable us to cope with being constrained to our homes. From what I heard from ministry colleagues over the weekend, it seemed that many church ministries were also able to pivot quickly and smoothly to digital gatherings and streaming services.
For children’s and youth ministers, the fact that our current lockdown coincides with the school holidays comes with particular challenges and benefits. For some, it means the cancellation of Kids Holiday Clubs and Youth Camps. For others, there is the relief of not having to find enough adults volunteers to run holiday Sunday School. While we ride out this latest wave of pandemic in our midst, here are five lessons that we learned from 2020 that we can apply to our church ministries now.
Mourn What Was Lost
Ecclesiastes reminds us that there is “a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance” (Ecc. 3:4). For some of us, this is the time to weep and mourn. A time to mourn the youth camp that was cancelled, the Kids Club that couldn’t go online, the families we won’t see at weekend gatherings, the leaders we won’t be training during the holiday break.
My own church had a whole week away planned, a church-family holiday which is one of the mountain top experiences of our year. Hours and hours of volunteer labour, organising, planning, building of teams and writing of programs, all without anything to show for it.
It is right to weep and mourn. And it is right to help our children and youth weep and mourn too. Don’t feel you have to move too quickly to ‘look on the bright side’. Yes, in all things God works for the good of those who love him, including pandemic lockdowns. But helping your young people sit in lament, talk through their feelings, write out their frustrations, notice the hole in their holiday plans, and respond to God in prayer, are worthwhile discipleship activities for the coming weeks.
Gather Together As You Are Able
Zoom hangouts became a staple of many of our Kids and Youth activities in 2020 and enabled us to continue meeting together for encouragement, discipleship, teaching and joyful frivolity. While our regular termly ministries may be in hiatus, there may be opportunities to gather online with our young people, especially given that many have had family holidays or church camps cancelled over this time. As we gather online, remember all of your Safe Ministry protocols, and refer back to the PSU guidelines for social media to ensure that you and each of your young people are cared for on these digital platforms.
There may also be opportunities to gather in small groups outdoors in safe and appropriate ways. Organising two or three youth leaders to go for a walk in small groups with their crew to talk and pray, or having ten or less get together to kick a soccer ball around in the park may be ways to engage with some of your teenage members particularly, that are safe: both in terms of COVID restrictions and Safe Ministry protocols.
Contact Families
One of the ‘good news stories’ that came out of our last lockdown experience was the number of children’s and youth ministers who were making regular contact with the families and individuals in their ministries. Whether dropping off craft packs or ringing to check in and ask for prayer requests, the intentional investment of ministry teams to ministry families over this time was exceptional.
As families, children and teenagers once again have their lives turned upside down, take the time to check in with each member of your ministry. Where possible, also delegate these calls to others in your ministry team so that they too can share in the joyful responsibility of hearing from our young people and praying with them over the phone. Once again, ensure that you are maintaining Safe Ministry protocols and that your contact with individuals is transparent and known to your ministry leader and the parents of your young people.
Provide Family Discipleship Resources
How will your families grow as disciples over these two weeks, and how are you equipping them to do so?
Thoughtfully consider each of the families in your ministry and what they might need from you to continue growing in their knowledge, love and obedience to Jesus over this period. Provide reading plans for your older primary students and youth, suitable video media for younger children, podcasts for families, or printable resources such as Youthworks Kids Read and Kids Pray.
The greatest discipleship influence for children and youth are their parents. Therefore, the greatest discipleship influence you can have during this time (and the rest of the year) will be equipping these parents to lead their children well. See article , written during our first lockdown, for more creative ideas for families.
Rest Well
While there is much we can do during this time to continue discipling our young people, there is also the freedom that comes from being under lock down during school holidays. For many of us, this provides a natural break in our regular rhythm, a change in pace for our weekly ministries, and perhaps even our own periods of annual leave.
God has given us the command to rest. The theology of Sabbath included not only time to spend with God and his community in worship, but also the faithful recognition that the ancient Israelites agricultural work would continue, even when they weren’t working in their fields for one day in seven. God cared for his people, and he cared for their crops. They could trust him to look after their fields, even when they were taking a break.
I know that you have worked hard in ministry this year. You have discipled, programmed, trained, taught, prayed, administrated, equipped and served faithfully for six months. Perhaps you had holidays booked for this time. Perhaps you were limping towards the holidays, desperate for a break. Perhaps the best thing you can do for yourself, your ministry and those you serve is to take a Sabbath rest.
God cares far more for the young people and families in your ministry than you do. He is the one who tears away the scales from unbelieving eyes (2 Cor. 4:6), he is the one who causes spiritual growth in the believer (1 Cor. 3:6), he is the one who strengthens and upholds his people (Isa. 41:10) and he is the one who brings his people safe into New Creation (Jn. 10:28). You can stop and rest, entrusting the discipleship of your young people into God’s care, knowing that he is good. All the time.
At this stage, our lockdown will be for at least two weeks. Even if lockdown is not extended, it is likely that we will have to readjust to ministry next term with significant restrictions, physical distancing, and ongoing cleaning regulations. Take the time now to be intentional about how you will spend the next few weeks, either through engagement in the continuing discipleship of your children, youth and families, or in the Sabbath rest that God offers—in fact, commands—that we take, entrusting our young people to him.
