Firetrucks and Backup Plans

So last night was my 1st night back at the helm of a Youth Ministry program in over a year (background: I’ve been the Family Ministry Pastor since I came to New Life.  I still hold that position but now oversee the direct ministry of the Youth).  I had a whole range of emotions being back in charge but mostly I was excited.

About 15 minutes into our program, the fire alarm went off in our building!  That’s right, the 1st night back and the fire alarm pushed us outside for about 30 minutes while the Firemen reset the alarm.  Thankfully, it was a really nice night and I had some very creative leaders.  At first I didn’t know how long we’d be outside but I didn’t want an opportunity wasted so I got the students together for a game.  That went over ok, but then another leader had another game to play and that went over really well.  Finally, after about 30 minutes the Firemen were all done and allowed us to go inside.backup plans

But, before we went inside, we all took a picture with the Firemen as a memorial to the crazy beginning to our night.  After we went inside, the night proceeded as planned.

All this made me think that I need to have backup plans in place just in case anything unexpected happens again.

What about you, do you have a backup plan?  TAKE A MINUTE right now and think through what you will do if a fire alarm happens during your meeting time or if an emergency happens. What will you do?

Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Experiences?  Post a comment and let the discussion begin so that we can all benefit from it.

Tom Pounder

A father of 4, Tom is the Student Minister and Online Campus Pastor at New Life Christian Church in Chantilly, VA. He blogs, vlogs, and podcasts regularly about student and online ministry stuff.

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