What If My Student Isn’t Connecting?, Part 1

June 6, 2009 at 9:34 am (Uncategorized)

One of the most common concerns that parents have with their Junior High age children is when they do not easily connect to the Junior High ministry.  Many tears have been shed by both students and parents in an effort to overcome this feeling of disconnection.  With this post, I am going to address one concern that students give for not connecting to the Junior High.  Although there is no 100% way to make a student connect, there are a number of insights I can give.

Concern #1- “I miss the Treehouse and my small group!”
Because we have a jam-packed building for weekend services, the Junior High is not able to offer small groups during weekend services like the Treehouse ministry can.  Since the JH Elevation service is large group oriented, it is natural for students to feel like they don’t know anyone like they used to.
Possible Solutions
•    Paint a positive picture of the Junior High Elevation service.  Different is not better or worse, just different.
•    Spend six months in regular(at least 3 times per month attending) JH Elevation attendance.  Why so long?  Because most kids will resist doing something new if they know they can get out of it with a minimum of effort.
•    Get plugged into a Fusion small group on Sunday nights starting in the Fall.  Although we cannot do small groups during weekend services, on Sunday nights we have the whole building and do really good small groups with adult and High School leaders and apprentices.

Getting your child connected can feel like a never-ending battle, but don’t give up the fight.  Let prayer be your first response.  Using these solutions will also help you win the battle for raising a child to be a life-long follower of Jesus Christ.  Keep fighting the good fight!

Pastor Mark