A smooth transition into junior high ministry is important.  One of the goals of a great preteen ministry is to help prepare preteens for junior high ministry.  For years you’ve poured into the lives of preteens, seeing the grow in their relationship with God and others.  You don’t want to see them slip through the cracks in the transition, so what do you do?

Through trial and error over the years, I’ve discovered some transitional elements that have proven successful.

1.  Here are some ideas:One of the primary functions of a preteen ministry is to bridge the gap between preteen and junior high ministry. All programming, events, small group, etc. should move students along so that when they enter junior high ministry, they’re ready.  Transition happens all year long, not just as promotion approaches.

2.  Build a relationship with the youth/junior high pastor. Get to know him or her on a personal & professional level.  Talk about ways that the two ministries can build bridges with vision, values and practices.  Having those discussions come out of a relationship makes planning easier because you’re on the same page and there is unity between the two of you.

3.  Brainstorm and plan ahead. As far ahead as possible, brainstorm with the junior high pastor about possible ways to make the transition successful. Amazing ideas develop when the two of you brainstorm together.  Get out the calendar and plan some transitional elements together.  Ideally, by spring time you begin to implement transitional elements that progressively take place up until promotion weekend.  However, it’s not too late if you have nothing planned right now.  If that’s the case, then have coffee with the junior pastor now and put some things on the calendar.

4.  Expose preteens to junior high ministry. As promotion day gets closer, schedule a few times for your preteens to meet the junior high team and students.  Invite them to speak to your group during midweek or weekend services.  Either way works.  The first week, the junior high director talks about how exciting the program is and how they will meet new friends and go deeper with God.  He then opens it up for Q&A. The next week, he comes back and brings some volunteer leaders.  They talk more about the junior high program and with Q&A afterwards.  And the next week, he comes back with junior high students.  It’s ideal if you can get students who are only one year into junior high.  Preteens will remember them from last year and have a connection with them.  Do a panel discussion with these students.  Give them a few minutes to each talk about their fears going into junior high ministry, the new friends they’ve made and how they’ve grown in their relationship with God over the past year. Exposing preteens to junior high helps transition both the promoting students and others who will one day be promoted.  Students about to be promoted now know what’s ahead.  It relieves tension.  Other students know that one day they will enter junior high ministry and now know that it seems like a pretty cool place.

5.  Host transitional events. We’ve been most successful planning a few transitional events for promoting preteens & current junior highers. It works best when the preteen pastor (and maybe some familiar volunteers) show up at the event.  These events provide preteens with some fun opportunities to build relationships with the junior high leaders and students.  But it’s still safe for them because the preteen pastor and leaders show up.  It’s also safe because the transitional events happen before they get promoted. See the end of this blog posts for event ideas.

6.  Prepare Parents. Preteens aren’t they only ones who need preparation.  So do parents.  I’ll be honest.  I’ve never done this.  Always wanted to and know it would be effective, just never got around to it.  But I know others who have with success.  I think it would be best having a parent meeting with the preteen pastor introducing the junior high pastor, who leads some time of informational meeting followed by Q&A.

Not sure what events to do?  Here are some that we’ve done:

Canoe Trip – Go on an all day canoe trip. Build teamwork as everyone works together steering a canoe and staying on track with the rest of the group.  It also creates memorable moments when canoes collide and tip over.  You have to try it at least once!

Water Park – Take the group to a local water park for the day.  Nothing like fun in the sun!

Laser Tag Lock-In – Most Laser Tags host lock-ins at the arena.  You pay a flat fee for unlimited laser tag all night long.  Yes, it’s not for the faint of heart.

Swim Party – Host a swim party and have a plain old fun time.

Snow Party – If you look hard enough, you might find a local vendor who hosts snow parties.  They make snow out of shaven ice.  Even in the summer, it stays on the ground for a couple of hours.  Google snow party in your area to see if there is someone in your area.  It’s great to have snow in the summer!

Beach – If you live within an hour or two of a beach, pack up the bus and hit the road for a day at the beach.

Paintball – Older preteens love paintball!  You might not have a high turnout of girls, but some will come.  It will be an unforgettable experience for everyone who attends!

Bread Throwing – You’re warned ahead of time that this is a really messy event.  Divide the group into two teams and provide lots of bread for everyone.  Each team has a line they cannot cross.  Start throwing bread at each other.  I hear it is really fun.

Water Inflatables – Host a water inflatable party.  Rent some water slides, inflatable slip’n slides and other water inflatables.  Check out your local vendors for rental information.  Rent a snowball machine for a tasty treat during the event.

Broom Hockey – Play a game of hockey in the youth room or church parking lot.  Just like real hockey, except you use a broom stick and ball to play.  Set up goals using trash cans or orange cones.

Bigger or Better – A youth group classic.  Break up into small groups.  One driver (over 18 years old) per group.  Each group leaves the church with a leaf.  The idea is to go and find something bigger or better in exchange for that item.  For example, let’s say one group exchanges a leaf for an old microwave on the side of the road.  The group would then look to exchange the microwave for something bigger or better.  Find items to exchange by knocking on homeowners’ doors, finding things on the side of the road or any other way you can imagine.  The groups keep getting bigger and better stuff till time runs out.  At the conclusion of the event, whichever group ends up with the bigger or better item wins.  The first time we did it, the winning group brought a real fire truck to the church!  Have judges available to decide the winning team.  Be prepared to take lots of pictures.