Our junior high ministry tries to mirror this mindset with the 8th graders. It uses a very similar strategy of “pushing up.” We help 8th graders get excited about high school and familiar with the high school ministry long before promotion Sunday.
Reaching Down
The department above “Reaches Down” to the department below.
Our high school ministry works hard to reach down to the 8th graders every year. Here are some things they do:
- Beginning in April, high school staff and volunteers begin showing up to junior high events to get to know the 8th graders.
- Around the same time, they begin showing up at the junior high church services to give announcements, run games, etc. They’ve learned that a lack of familiarity with the leaders is one of the biggest roadblocks to a smooth transition from JH to HS.
- The high school ministry hosts an 8th grade orientation night for parents a few weeks before youth group promotion Sunday.
- Each year, one week before promotion Sunday, the high school ministry hosts an event called Freshmen Frenzy. It’s a night for 8th graders only.
Our middle school ministry tries to mirror this mindset with the 6th graders. So it uses a very similar strategy of “reaching down.” The goal is to help 6th graders get excited about junior high and familiar with that ministry long before promotion Sunday.
Youth group promotion is right around the corner. So now is a great time to start pushing up and reaching down!
–Kurt Johnston
This article about youth group promotion originally appeared here.
