I get back from Missouri on Sunday. That leaves us with only 2 weeks before the end of summer. The time has zoomed by so quickly that I can’t believe that my first summer in almost over. As I look back over the last few months I have been amazed at how privileged I am. My friends like to razz me by saying that I don’t work everyday (Just Sunday and Wednesday) and that don’t work very hard. It is incredibly hard to explain to your friend why you missed their call when you were out on the river with your teens in the middle of a workday.

Such is the life of a youth minister during the summer.

Speaking of, while interning at some of the greatest churches in America (I’m bias) I got a great education on leading and planning a youth ministry during the summer but in August I left and went back to school.

I know how to get ready for May. It’s September-December that I’m focused on (sweating) right now.

Summer = a beast
Fall = ?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Youth Ministry programs need to include a Fall/Spring internship as well as a Summer one.

Summer internships include:
Travel, late nights, pool parties, pizza, ministry of prescence, relationship building, road trips

Fall internships could be filled with:
Stuffing envelopes, curriculum development, laminating, working with an administrative assistant, Church Sign 101, emptying the trash, filling in on Sunday morning, cleaning the auditoium/classroom, apologizing to the old people for something the teens did or didn’t do, and what to do with your time now that the kids are gone

Summer internships = life changing and fun

Fall internships = a different kind of grown up fun