10.03.08
Do you know who was there?
I was wondering how you manage and track who is there and who is not? Do you follow up on students when they miss several weeks? Do you let them know they were missed? In a culture that is impacted so much by relationships students simply want to be known. Do they know that we KNOW they were not there?
I struggle with this. Tim shares some good thoughts on his blog. What do you think?
Darryl Hogue said,
November 13, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Just wanted to respond to the question of knowing who’s attending youth group meetings and who has missed a service.
My wife and I lead our youth ministry together and together we have formed relationships with all of our kids. That’s the important thing I think, having a relationship with each student. Youth ministry is about forming and maintaining relationships with our students and leading them into and helping them grow in their relationship with Christ.
When we have a student or students who’ve missed a service, we’re calling them, texting them, e-mailing them or mailing a card to them within the next day or two to let them know we missed them and without being too nosy, to find out what’s going on and why they missed. If there’s a concern (illness, family emergency, etc.), we want to be aware of it so we can visit, pray, or do whatever’s necessary to let them know we care.
In our ministry experience, it’s not necessarily about knowing how many were in our last service. Kids are way more than a number or a check mark on a piece of paper. Instead it’s about knowing that our kids know that we know them, love them, care about them and will be there for them if they ever need us. It’s about relationships.
God’s blessings,
Pastor Darryl