New Students System
Here are a few questions I want you to think about when a new student shows up…
How do you know they’re new?
Who are the first people to talk to them?
How do you get their information?
What information of theirs do you really want?
How do they meet other students in their small group?
How do they meet their small group leader?
What experience do you want them to have?
What do you want them to know based on their first experience?
How do you follow up with them during the week?
Who follows up with them & what should they say?
Do you reach out to their parents? Is it from you or the small group leader?
What changes about your system if it’s a visitor who is alone or someone who comes with a friend?
These are the kinds of questions that should have some sort of system or process connected to them. There are really 2 pieces to this: on site & off.
On-site: you’ve got to figure out what you want a new youth’s experience to be & then design it. Leaders & some students will need to be equipped & informed when it comes to this design so they can help pull it off.
Off-site: how & when are you going to connect with this student who showed up? The ‘how’ here is pretty vast too: texts - phone calls - emails - postcards - social media. There’s no shortage of options in how we can communicate with students, but you probably know there are a couple that are more effective than others.
Here are a few reasons why these systems are important.
Break the fear of the unknown.
Being the new kid is scary. Especially when everyone else knows what’s going on except for you. So, one of the best things you can do as you welcome new students is break the fear of the unknown. Whether you have adults trained in how to do this well or even students, your system should ease the anxiety they feel about being ‘new’ & should prepare them for what happens in your environment.
Get them connected with their group.
I’d argue that one of the top priorities for a visitor is for them to feel like they belong. That should involve meeting their small group leaders & a few of the students in their small groups.
How do we make sure that happens? Who introduces them? How do those people know what group the student is in? Do your small group leaders and at least a few students in each group know what to do in that situation?
Follow up.
This can be a challenging one sometimes. Normally, it’s the youth pastor who follows up with a new kid & sometimes that’s just fine…but where is the biggest win? Sometimes the youth pastor doesn't even meet the person who is new. So, whether that's us, a small group leader or even a student in their small group…who follows up with them? How do they get their info? How do they know what to say?
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These are all things that should be laid out, step by step, & systematized in your ministry. Again, that doesn’t mean you can’t call an audible. That doesn't mean you can’t trust someone in your ministry to change it up when necessary. It just means that it’s important enough to not leave to chance.
I think we all agree that - when we have a new student show up - we want to do everything we can to help them feel welcomed, connected & invited back. The reality is that we can probably do better than we’re doing now & that most of the work to get better at this actually happens before they ever show up.
That’s it for the new student systems. Click here to head back to the main blog. Click here for more on missing student follow-up systems.
Click below to deep dive into another system.
