Easter Is Over, Now What? – Part 1

If you’re like most churches, Easter is one of your biggest weekend attendances all year long.  Something magical happens at Easter!  Families who don’t normally give God much attention, show up for Easter.  With the right follow-up, you have an awesome opportunity to reach them.

Over the next couple of days, I am going to talk about ways to build momentum in your children’s/preteen ministry after Easter.

At Easter, excitement was in the air and many preteens made decisions to go deeper with God. You may have even given students an opportunity to follow Jesus.  Whatever happened, odds are momentum was built.

Here are a few ways to continue the momentum with preteens:

1. Tune In to What God Is Doing.
Spend some time praying for your preteen ministry.  Individually and with team members.  Ask God what He wants to do with the group next.  How can you take the group to the next level in their relationship with God?  What’s your next teaching series?  The next event or new small group?  How can you capitalize on the momentum of Easter?  Then brainstorm as a team a plan of action and implement it. I know this all sounds like a no brainer.  Leadership 101, right?  But how often, do we just let Easter slide by without pausing to tune into what God is doing?  Take time this week for a “time out”  and ask God what he wants to do next with your group.  Be  open to a slight detour. Maybe God wants to make a small change (or maybe even something big).

2. Challenge preteens who are ready for more.
Consider doing some type of program for preteens who are ready for more. After Easter, maybe you have some students who are ready to be trained as a leader or to take their first steps in their relationship with God.

Here are some resources to use for preteens who are ready for more:

Baptism Class: The best baptism resource I’ve found for preteens is The Baptism Books. I absolutely love what Chris has done creating them. Very preteen targeted, theologically sound and cool looking. Maybe you have some preteens who are ready to get baptized but need a course or book to go through.  This is it!

Preteen Alpha: Alpha is a ten week introductory course on Christianity.  My previous church went from a weekend attendance of 200 to 2,000 in a few years because of the Alpha Course.  Most of that growth was with new Christians.  From day one, we had a preteen Alpha course that went alongside of the adult course.  Alpha has a youth manuel, which has a section for preteens in it.  Whether or not your church runs Alpha, use it as a tool to reach preteens in your community.  Learn more about the alpha course at www.alpharesources.org and get the youth leaders guide by clicking here.

J12: Check out www.j12.com for some fantastic preteen resources.  They’ve got a great program that a lot of great resources for preteens and those leading preteens. J12 is more of a “style” or “way” of doing preteen ministry rather than a specific program (like the other ones I’ve listed).

Leaders In Training: Clint May, a veteran preteen pastor, has created a fantastic leadership program for preteens. Check them out at www.preteenmin.com and see if it’s right for your group.

KidLead: KidLead is a top-notch leadership program specifically for preteens. If you are looking to train preteens to take on leadership roles in the church, school or community, then this is a great resource to check out.  Go to www.kidlead.com for more information.