5 Ways you can be Preparing for the Fall Now

It may be the summer still, but guess what? Fall is right around the corner! That is why, if you haven’t started already, it is very important to start preparing for the fall now.

The fall semester is short. It is just 4 months. However, even though it is a short season, it has high impact possibility as it kicks off your school year and can help drive so much about what goes on the rest of the year.

So what can you do and how can you be preparing to make the fall a great start to your year in student ministry? Here are 5 things you can be doing?

1. Plan your kick-off event. Kick-off events are HUGE in setting the tone for a student ministry. If it goes great, it can help lead to some positive momentum and exciting talk about what is happening which could result in more students coming and checking out the student ministry throughout the year. However, if the kick-off event goes poorly, students may become weary and may not want to come back for future events or gatherings. Make sure your kick-off event is getting finalized now so you have time to get everything organized and prepared to kick off your fall as effective as possible!
2. Finalize your curriculum and teachings. Where are your students in their spiritual lives? What do you want them to know as you kick off another year? What curriculum is the best for you to spend money on or create on your own? There are some great curriculums out there so do your research on what best fits you.
3. Make sure you have your leadership team in place. Your leadership team is vital to the success of the fall. If you have the right people on the team, you have tremendous opportunities this fall to make a huge impact in the lives of students. If you have the wrong people, it can end disastrously. Make sure you have great people on board as you finalize your team for the fall.
4. Check off your big events. Fall yields itself to some big events. Whether it is a back-to-school event, Halloween type event, Thanksgiving themed service or Christmas events, there are great events to have that keeps momentum going in your ministry throughout the season and into the rest of the year. Also, if you are thinking about going on a fall retreat of some sort, details need to be worked out starting now.
5. Pray. This isn’t the last thing to do. Rather, this is a daily action to take. Pray that God guides you, your ministry, your leaders, the students and all thing concerning the fall. The more you pray, the more you invite God into directing the ministry.

The fall is a great time of year and a very important season in the year of a student ministry. Start taking action steps now to finalize your plans so you start strong and use this season to really launch with the energy, excitement and momentum that your student ministry needs so you can have an amazing year of ministry.

What do you think? What action steps are you taking right now to get ready for fall?  Share your stories and experiences below or on social media using #ymsidekick when you share.