Archives by: Frank Ranieri

In the beginning of the school year in September we had our second parent/teen night of the year. Here are some things that we did that made it special and enabled us to connect more deeply with the parents and teens. 1) Special homemade invitations were sent to every family in the church that had a teen who comes or could come to the youth nights 2) We involved the Senior Pastor for the night during the challenge/talk time (I spoke to the teens, he spoke to the parents) 3) A theme was attached to the whole night, e.g. “The Treasure Chest” 4) Have a mixed praise and worship time (youth songs and adult church songs) 5) Have a crowdbreaker that involves the parents and teens working together 6) Have freebies to giveaway that a family or a teen could use (cd’s, gift cert to a fancy restaurant, etc.) 7) Include in your fellowship time a warmly decorated area in the church where you can serve up snacks and drinks 8) Call up places like Starbucks Coffee to donate their services (They do it!) This is all worth it in our effort as youth pastors and leaders to minister to the families we come in contact with every week.
God bless!

In the beginning of the school year in September we had our second parent/teen night of the year. Here are some things that we did that made it special and enabled us to connect more deeply with the parents and teens. 1) Special homemade invitations were sent to every family in the church that had a teen who comes or could come to the youth nights. 2) We involved the Senior Pastor for the night during the challenge/talk time (I spoke to the teens, he spoke to the parents). 3) A theme was attached to the whole night, e.g. “The Treasure Chest.” 4) Have a mixed praise and worship time (youth songs and adult church songs). 5) Have a crowdbreaker that involves the parents and teens working together. 6) Have freebies to giveaway that a family or a teen could use (cd’s, gift cert to a fancy restaurant, etc.) 7) Include in your fellowship time a warmly decorated area in the church where you can serve up snacks and drinks. 8) Call up places like Starbucks Coffee to donate their services (They do it!) This is all worth it in our effort as youth pastors and leaders to minister to the families we come in contact with every week.