Whether you're a parent of a school-aged child in Chesterfield County or not, you've undoubtedly heard the news by now: The fall semester for all CCPS students will be completely online/virtual. And as we all could have predicted, the responses that were triggered by that announcement were varied and fever pitch.
When I got that email from Dr. Merv Daughterty (our CCPS Superintendent), I immediately wrote a reply to share my thoughts, observations, concerns, support, and promise of prayer for him and his team. His task is not an enviable one, to be sure.
So with all education options being online (unless you opt for home school, private school or home school co-ops; all options I have a vested interest in), you're likely in the throes of planning for as successful a school year as you possible can make it. But you might be feeling a bit of that uncertain and/or overwhelmed feeling we've come to know so well. Am I right?
So how can this student ministry position itself in such a way that it alleviates some of the most common concerns parents of middle school and high school students might be facing? That's the big question before us. I've got some thoughts that I'll share, but I want to kick the door open and invite your input as well. We really do welcome it.
First of all, I believe we need to reinforce our dependence on spiritual community. All sense of isolation, independence, and pride needs to fall by the wayside in order for us to join together to walk through these months ahead. I've said it a million times and I'll say it one more: You cannot disconnect from spiritual community and stay spiritually strong. I've been in full-time ministry for 25 years and I've never seen it happen. God made us to need Him, but He also made us to need us. So at every turn, take full advantage of those around you; lean on them, call on them, ask for help, offer help, and in every way possible fortify the community God has blessed us all with. If you're not a part of it or don't feel like a part of it, call me. I want to talk to you and find out how I can help.
Next, leverage the resources that already exist. From online learning tools, to YouTube How-Tos, to Kahn Academy, to the system(s) your student's school has in place...squeeze every ounce of usefulness out of all of it. If you don't know where to start, let me introduce you to Google.
Related to that, now is a great time to unsubscribe from email subscriptions. It'll take a bit of time to do this, but what you'll have is a far less cluttered email inbox. And that's a big deal because when school hits, you're going to need to stay keenly in tune with communications coming in that you actually need to see. The more clutter you have in your inbox, the less likely you'll see the important information coming through. Simply scroll to the very bottom of most any business/promotional email and click the "Unsubscribe" link. (They always make it teeny tiny for obvious reasons.)
Also, be sure to add "[email protected]" to your email address book, that way it won't accidentally go to your junk/spam folder. And while you're at it, add "[email protected]" and "[email protected]" to your address book. Ally and I (Jerry) have always said we're here for you, not the other way around.
This next one is a bit more undefined as of yet, but not completely. I believe it's imperative that as a student ministry (and as a local church for that matter) that we hoist all sacred cows up onto the butcher table. What I mean is that we must continually be willing to embrace agility and morphing as a way of doing ministry. As one of your student's pastors, I want to tell you as parents that I hold nothing as non-negotiable aside from what God's Word has said is non-negotiable. If our student ministry best serves your family by adopting a new complexion or practice then we say "bring it on." If your son/daughter is going to need more of this and less of that, then we rely on you to keep us informed on what those needs are. We simply cannot tolerate a "laissez-faire" or status quo approach. Those just won't do. We don't know if we'll be called to return to a stricter lockdown, we don't know how long the current phase will last, we don't know what the COVID numbers in our area are going to do; we just don't know so much. So it becomes imperative that we stay in communication, that we fight the urge to pick sides, that if we feel wronged we do not ascribe intent when none exists, and that we consistently remember that how we live these days will be etched in history. Am I overstating the situation? I don't think so.
Lastly, I want to dream with you about how this student ministry becomes even more of an asset to you, to our church, and to our community. When quarantine hit, I saw lots of people in student ministries across the country grasping for action and trying all manner of new things. There was a sea of online options that sprang up out of nowhere. But over the months those novel and new approaches became wallpaper and less effective. So with that in mind I want to operate our student ministry on a level that isn't focused so much on entertainment as it is on edification. Here are some ideas/thoughts/questions:
Could we establish a way to connect younger students with older students for the purpose of homework help or mentoring?
Could we increase the level of support we give to you as parents so that you can engage in even more meaningful spiritual conversations? What if our small group content morphed into family discipleship content? I (Jerry) create 99% of our all our small group curriculum and it wouldn't be a stretch to tweak it so that you as parents are even more equipped to disciple your own students.
Could we establish a more effective online option that hits the mark but is less frequent? (From the outset of quarantine in March 2020, we consistently "produced" 3 weekly online options via YouTube in addition to small groups on Wednesdays and Thursdays. This meant that we were putting out content on an almost daily basis. Based on analytics, most of you never engaged with it.)
Would a regularly planned (monthly?) family-focused event be beneficial to you? Something that simply circles the wagons and allows you connection time? What about a monthly online open forum for parents to drop-in virtually and share concerns, frustrations, questions, and victories in a safe, supportive environment? If there's one thing we will all need its as much support as we can create for one another!
As you can see, there are lots of thoughts/plans/ideas/opportunities ahead of us as we face this school year together! We don't have trepidation, we have anticipation of great strides moving forward! I want to offer you a virtual ice cream sandwich if you've read this far, and I will wrap this section up with something I mentioned earlier. I really do want to continually invite and encourage input and interaction.
So again, here are ways you can reach out:
Email: [email protected]
Call the church office: (804) 778-7800
Text us (confidential/anonymous): (804) 464-7077
Use any of these ways to set up a face to face meeting with Jerry and/or Ally
