Why You Need A Bigger Plan

We think student pastors have the best intentions when it comes to their students. In fact, we’d say every student pastor wants these basic things for every student that graduates from their care:

• To see God for who He is
• To see themselves the way God does
• To love others they way God loves us

You might use different wording or have a few more statutes of faith you want to pack their bags with. But the point is, you love your students and want to equip them as well as you can before you move them on to what’s next. As student leaders the last thing we want to do is run the risk of missing the needs of our students for any number of reasons.

You may have asked the questions of:

• What should I talk about?
• When should I talk about it?
• How do I know if I’m talking about the right things?
• How can I make sure I’m offering a balanced diet of topics?

So what’s your plan for equipping your students with everything they need to know and experience before they leave?

Imagine a new 9th grade student, Austin, who is entering your ministry for the first time and knows little to nothing about the Bible and God. How do we begin to get Austin on the path of knowing God and loving others? The reality is students are a few short years and months away from leaving our care, so we have to think strategically about what to do with the time we have.

You need a multiple year teaching plan.  With a multiple year teaching plan you can:

• Ensure your students learn and experience the truths you want them to know in a way that’s timely and relevant in their lives
• Synchronize important teaching topics with events and camps
• Better partner and equip parents and other ministry leaders
• Now relax and know what you are teaching for the next year and next week.

So what does this mean for you?  Do you need to make your own plan or find one?

If you are creating your own plan and strategy, we would love to hear about it in the comments below.

Or – if you are looking for one, check out what XP3 does here