This four-part series will provide ideas to impact your summer planning and provide unforgettable events your teens will remember forever! These ideas are centered around summer special events and holidays.
Here’s special event #2 in our series: GRADUATION! No more boring Graduation Sunday services! (No wonder many grads leave the church never to return!) Instead, try one of these:
- GRAD PAMPER DAY: Mani-pedis, massages, hair cuts, makeup tips, free robe-ironing service, grad pictures (with the group of course!), cappuccinos, etc. Setup stations around the room to pamper grads and get youth and church members involved in serving.
- GRAD TAILGATE PARTY: Setup snacks and sodas in the school parking lot before and after the ceremony for all the grads. Have your college ministry people available to staff the event with info from about your church and ministries at area colleges.
- GRAD-BREAKFAST-IN-BED: Make their special day really something by sending youth teams around to serve breakfast in bed to each grad. Make sure to take a camera!
- GRAD ROAST: Morph a luau décor with an old-fashioned “roast” (Ask somebody old what a “roast” is or just google a guy named Dean Martin). In keeping with the “roast” theme, your luau meal could include a pig roast, roasted potatoes, marshmallows, etc. Decorate with fire—tiki torches, fire pits and candles. After the meal, have a time where folks tell funny stories about the grads. (That’s where the “Dean Martin Roast” part comes in.)
STEPHANIE CARO is a member of Group’s National Presenting Team and the team leader for their Youth Ministry REAL Ambassadors. She is a regular contributor to several youth and leadership ministry publications, including Group and Rev! magazines and has written/contributed to numerous ministry resources.
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