As I jump into my fifth summer as a Youth Minister, I reflect on my first summer and a question I had asked then, that is also relevant now.

Why not have a summer program?

It seems like such a silly question, and most youth ministers I know usually don’t have an answer.

They have a bunch of excuses, though:

The youth are all at camp or vacation.

The kiddos are playing sports.

It’s our vacation time.

And so on, and so on.

I’ve always thought this silly.

And to mixed reviews, I have found the summer a perfect way to connect with the youth individually and form a deeper bond amongst the group. This surprises people because

“we just don’t do any youth group stuff during the summer,” is the mantra that most people are use to.

This ministry is more than “something else to do during the school year”, it is, as it should always have been, a constant in these youth’s life. They don’t get to take vacation from being an adolescent or teenager, youth ministers don’t, or should I say shouldn’t, get to hang up the “youth minister hat” just because it is a low time of the year.

As you have seen, I follow my own advice, and this year’s first Summer O’Fun has been great so far.

We have started small, so that next summer we can comfortably shoot bigger. I am talking about more than just the fun and silly events that have been doing. I’m talking about foreign mission trips, pilgrimages, more local outreach and summer adventures.
How does the Dominican Republic sound to you?

It sounds great to me, too.

It is my hope that as you plan your sons and daughters’ summers for now on, that you stop and consider what St. Mark’s is also offering.

Because we will be offering a lot.