Episode 219: Summer Ready with Ryan Frank

Get ready for summer in KidMin with strategic planning tips and practical tools. Hannah Augustine and Ryan Frank discuss how to embrace the unique season of summer, turn challenges into opportunities, and prepare your team and environment for a successful summer outreach.

To sign up for KidzMatter's free Summer Ready micro-course, visit kidzmatter.com/summer-ready. Get your free preschool or elementary lessons from Awana's Brite curriculum at britecurriculum.com. 

Transcript

Hannah Augustine (00:00)

If summer has ever intimidated you: the volunteer call outs, families on vacation, extra events like VBS, we hear you. It's easy to be overwhelmed when we look at summer on the horizon, but Ryan and I believe that summer doesn't have to be dreaded, it can be enjoyed.

I'm excited to have Ryan Frank with us on the podcast as we discuss the importance of forecasting for each season of ministry. We can't treat summer the same way we treat spring or fall because they don't operate the same way. Now the team at Awana knows that as a children's ministry leader, your desire is to help your kids develop biblical literacy so they can follow Jesus for life.

And that's why they developed Brite, gospel-centered curriculum for babies through elementary-age kids. With Brite, kids learn the story of the Bible, creation, fall, redemption, and restoration as they walk through the Bible chronologically every year. Each passage and character, from Old Testament to New, is connected to the Gospel, pointing to Jesus as our Redeemer, Savior and Lord. You can download a free month of preschool and elementary lessons at britecurriculum.com. That's B-R-I-T-E curriculum.com.

Now Ryan, you have had extensive experience in kids' ministry and in training KidMin leaders. Would you agree with me that summer is its own unique season?

Ryan Frank (01:44)

First of all, what do mean I've had extensive experience? Is that a way of saying you're old? “Ryan, you are so old and you've been doing this for so long.” Wow. Hannah, boy, you are laying down the hammer. Yeah, you know, the old man in the room. So yes, I've got all these years of experience. 

Hannah Augustine (01:50)

No, no! Listen, listen, it's meant to be honoring.

Ryan Frank (02:13)

I'm just kidding. Hannah, thanks for having me. I'm excited about this conversation. And yes, summer is its own season. in a lot of ways, it's unlike anything that we experience the rest of the year. During the school year, there's rhythm, right? So families are in routines, attendance is a little more predictable, your volunteers are more consistent. But then that moment that summer hits, you know it all changes, especially those of you who've been doing this for a while.

So you've got vacations, you've got sports schedules, camps, all these trips, families in and out, volunteers traveling. And then on top of that, you do have—and we'll talk more about this in a little bit—you have some guests and visiting families that will come and check out the church during the summer, whether they're visiting the area or they're just looking for something new.

So it does create an interesting tension. On one hand, things feel a little more chaotic and less consistent, but on the other hand, summer is very exciting and energetic, and you've got all these opportunities, and a chance really to break out of that week-to-week routine and try things that you might not normally try during the school year. So for a lot of you, that might be special events, whether it's Vacation Bible School, camp, sports camps, theme Sundays. You've got all these opportunities to create these things that really, kids can talk about for months, and a lot of times, they hold on to them for years.

I think one of the biggest shifts for leaders is this. Instead of trying to fight summer, because it's easy to go into summer as a ministry leader in like this defensive mode: “I've got to fight the lack of inconsistency, and I've got to fight the fact that I'm going to be shorthanded.” Instead of fighting it, just learn to embrace the uniqueness of the summer. And we're going to talk about some practical ways to do that today.

Hannah Augustine (04:06)

That's a great point. I think for some of us who are very structured and who enjoy things being in order, it is difficult to embrace that summer is a little loosey goosey. It's different than the normal weekend. And I think instead of fighting it, like you said, when we just choose to embrace it and accept it for what it is, we're going to have so much less stress. We're going to enjoy it a lot more. And I think when we try to fit summer into the mold of spring or fall, that's where we're going to feel frustrated.

Because we are going to feel like, I can't make things the way they are during spring or fall and you're not you're not going to be able to do that. So release that, and that's some of what we're talking about today. When I was on staff at the church, it was funny, because we'd get to summer, and we'd be in staff meeting…we were at a really large church. We had about 400 staff. And so they'd say, "well y'all, we hope it it's going to slow down this summer. Y'all are going to just have some rest."

Everybody in family ministries was rolling their eyes, because they're thinking, “no, we're not.” We're running three kids camps, a middle school camp and a high school camp, and then a fourth and fifth grade retreat. Then we get ready for move up Sunday or level up Sunday, going into August where kids are now going into their new grade. So it really doesn't slow down. 

What we're here to talk about is, how do you navigate the pace? How do you navigate the challenges? And that's actually why we prepared this summer ready course. Do you want to talk a little bit about that Ryan?

Ryan Frank (05:33)

Oh, it's going to be great. This is a F-R-E-E, free, we all like free, three-part micro course that is coming to you from KidzMatter, from KidMin Academy, to really help you prepare for summer. A lot of times we get defensive about summer.

We react, and we're reactionary instead of being proactive. So here's what a micro course is. A micro course means that it's not this long course that you have to devote weeks and weeks and weeks or months to. This micro course is literally three 20 or 25 minute videos. They're going to help you, now that we've gotten through Easter, going to help you prepare for summer and go into summer with confidence.

We're really going to talk about three things in specific. How do you prepare your team when you have volunteers in and out on vacation? How do you adjust your programming? And then, what can you do personally as a leader? Because you're right, Hannah, summer is crazy, and summer is one of the busiest times for children's ministry leaders. 

But that doesn't mean that you can't write some margin into your summer. It doesn't mean that you can't take a vacation yourself. Start doing some things now to help you prepare personally for summer so that you breathe a little bit easier. This is a free course, you're going to love it. It's super, super practical and I think you're going to find a lot of value from it.

Hannah Augustine (07:07)

That's true. If it's free, it's for me. Sometimes I embarrass my husband because he says, "babe, we don't need the free thing, like we can afford to pay for it." I'm like, "no, babe, like if it's free, I want to get it." Like, why wouldn't I go get the free coffee or the free things at Lowe’s? My husband's like, "oh gosh." Like no, babe, it's free. I want it. 

So if you love free things, this one's for you. It's free. It's a free micro course. You can sign up and we'll give you that link at the end. It'll be in the show notes. But what are a few more variables, Ryan, we've mentioned events and things. What are some of the obstacles, challenges, and benefits that make summer feel different?

Ryan Frank (07:49)

We talked about this one, but the biggest one is inconsistent attendance because families are traveling. You've got kids at camp. You know, you might have a packed room one Sunday, and then the next Sunday, you have half the number of kids.

Second, definitely volunteer availability. Some of your most reliable leaders during the school year are often in and out in the summer. So they have their own family vacations, family time. A lot of them just want to take a break in the summer. So you've got to deal with that reality. Third, you do have an increase in guest families.

Now, you may not see this at your church, but I'm seeing more and more of this over the last five years as I talk to kids' pastors and family pastors, and that is summer does tend to bring visitors. People will check out your church when they are in town or as they're preparing for fall. Summer is a good time. A lot of times families feel more comfortable, "let's try to visit a new church this summer." So there's that reality. 

Another one that comes to mind, schedule disruption. In other words, you have your normal rhythm during the school year, whether it's Sunday school, kids church, midweek if you do midweek, but then all that changes in the summer when you throw things like vacation Bible school into the mix, camps into the mix, special events into the mix. Those are all great things, but they interrupt that normal flow of ministry. 

And I would add this too, Hannah. This just came to my mind as something that makes summer unique: I would say there's a different energy level. Kids are out of school, they're staying up later, they might be a little more crazy and wild when they show up on Sunday, or a little more distracted. That affects how you engage them, how you teach, even how long their attention span is.

So when you put all that stuff together: inconsistent attendance, volunteer gaps, new families visiting the church, a different energy level, it creates a season where you really do have to lead differently. But here's the thing, and this is why we're doing this podcast today, this is why Hannah and I have created this Summer Ready micro course. Because if you recognize these variables ahead of time, you can actually plan for them, which is why we want you to do this micro course now.

We want you to plan for them so that you can turn what often feels unpredictable and out of control into something that's actually very intentional and impactful.

Hannah Augustine (10:37)

That's great. The energy concept is so true. Obviously, I've been out of the summer-off school season for many years now. But even I sometimes feel like I can take a deep breath over the summer, just because I know there's families that are just home and on vacation, or because traffic's a little bit less because there's no school pickup/drop-off. I think collectively we can almost feel this sense of relief, even though we're maybe working harder, or our kids are home, or whatever that looks like for you in your home, and family's needs are different during the summer.

Because they are on vacation. They do have kids home for days at a time. So maybe it looks different - and we talk about this some in the course - but maybe you're offering a parents' day out during the day. Maybe you're providing supplemental support to families for a half day. Maybe you're doing a moms in the park situation. I think it is really important to focus on things that are low effort over the summer.

Whether that's an easy devotional plan families can do on their own or something else: creating these low-hanging fruit opportunities and recognizing that you as the leader of the ministry need to acknowledge that it's a unique season. Maybe weeknight programming looks different. Maybe you don't have it; maybe you have it once a month; maybe it's during a different time. Maybe it's more outdoor, and you do some water activities.

Figure out what's going to fit the rhythm for families and help kids enjoy it, because they do have different energy levels. It's very easy to live in children's ministry and in church ministry from Sunday to Sunday. “Sunday’s coming. Let's be ready.” And then you wake up to summer, and all of a sudden you've got VBS next week or you've got whatever event, and you're not ready... and on top of that you're preparing for the Sunday before, the Sunday after, and then VBS in between. 

But when, to use the word you used earlier, when you can forecast: I have VBS the third week of June, we've got overnight camp the second week of July, I'm taking some time off for the fourth of July. How are you going to prepare for all those different elements? I think when we can view summer as an opportunity versus a nuisance or something that's just exhausting, it's going to help us approach it differently.

Ryan Frank (12:51)

And preparation is key. I agree with everything you just said. A key is what you said in that last 15 seconds, and that is preparation. Because this is one of the biggest shifts that a leader can make: from reacting to a season to actually preparing for it. Every season has predictable rhythms.

You've got holidays, you've got major events, volunteer cycles, attendance patterns. If you've been at your church very long, you recognize these predictable seasons. These things don't surprise us, but they show up every year. And the impact that they have is directly connected to how well you prepare for them. So if you don't prepare, and we've all been there before, you end up scrambling. You end up reacting instead of leading.

And you're not the only one that feels it. Your volunteers feel it, your environments feel it, and honestly, the experience for the kids and families just isn't as strong as it could be. But when you prepare ahead of time, everything changes. Have we told you that we have this micro course that we want you to go through called Summer Ready? Because this is the point. We want you to prepare. 

By the way, it not only makes a difference with your team. I said that, in the kids and in the program, but it creates margin, which is huge. We all need some margin, especially in the summer. It gives you some space to actually think. It gives you some space to actually pray. It gives you some space to actually spend time with your family. And it gives you some time to think about fall, because fall is coming. 

And if you are reacting all summer, you're going to blink and boom, it's going to be back to school and it's going to be fall. So I think that this is one of the biggest wins, is when you choose, "I'm actually going to plan.” And when your team knows, hey, we've got a plan, it really is a game changer.

Hannah Augustine (14:52)

For some of you this comes so naturally, because you are a planner: you already have Christmas 2027 prepared. But for most of us, we may need to learn to think this way. I’ve seen this in my own life. Every now and then I say, "I'm so glad past Hannah took care of this, because present Hannah is thankful." And what do I mean by that? When I'm looking at a week of camp, when I was at the church, we would do a half day camp and then a full day, 8-10 hour experience.

So we were there long days, from six or seven a.m. until probably nine p.m. at night, four or five days out of the week. I had to forecast, because I knew that during that week, I was not going to have the energy to go in on Saturday and prep my curriculum for Sunday. So that means two weeks before, I needed to have my curriculum prepared, so that all I had to do was go in maybe an hour early Sunday morning to finish final preparations.

In that moment, I was so grateful that past Hannah took the time to prepare, so that present Hannah who was exhausted didn’t have to spend another three hours when I was tired and it was going to take me that much longer because I was exhausted; I would have had to expend even more energy than what I was already expending. Lack of preparation also makes it difficult to be in the moment, whether that's with your kids VBS or with your family at home, because you're ruminating and stressing about what you haven’t prepared.

Ultimately, you know yourself. Some of you would feel so much better to wake up early a couple of days a week and go into church and take care of it then. Some of you have some volunteers you could call in. If you don't have a weekday team, I think that is one of the biggest wins for any children's ministry.

There are homeschool moms, retired people, and others who are willing to come in and cut out your crafts and set up your chairs and disinfect your toys. Find those people and during summer, kick into overdrive with them. In the month of May, that's your summer prep month: “let's prepare all the summer activities. Let's start thinking through these things.” 

Because then when it comes, all you have to do is pick up a bin of curriculum that's already prepared, and you're not now trying to think through, "what is my sermon? Do I have a craft prepared?" Nope, it's already done, because you took care of it in May, or in the first week of June, or maybe two or three weeks before that week.

Ryan, I would just love to hear from you. How do we practically do some of this? I know we've kind of theorized it. What does it look like for you - when you were in children's ministry, what were some of the step-by-step things? Or even, y'all just got back from vacation - what are some of the things you do before preparing for that time away or that big event? Our conference in October is a huge one. What are some ways to forecast practically?

Ryan Frank (17:16)

That's a great question. And it's a real tension because almost every one of you who are watching or listening to this podcast, you get it. You've lived it or you are living it. And that is, you're just trying to survive from this Sunday to next Sunday. Sunday always rolls around.

The problem is when you only think a week ahead, when you're not able to step back and really look at that big thing that you've got coming, or that fall promotion that you want to build out, when you are just surviving the week to week, you're always reacting. And I kind of feel like a broken record. I feel like I've said that word reacting 20 times on this podcast.

But what happens is, you don't have the space to think strategically. You don't have the time to develop a team or to really create those meaningful experiences that you want to create, because you're just trying to get through it. So let me give a few practical ways how you can break through the cycle of just the week to week survival, and actually start having the margin to plan and think strategically.

First of all, think about zooming out before you zoom in. Here's what I mean by that. Instead of, hey, what am I doing this Sunday? Start with asking, what's this entire season about? Look at the next two or three months and map out your big rocks, whether it's your series, your events, your key moments.

Okay, that alone, if you can just step back, zoom out a little bit and look at the next two or three months, that's going to bring you a ton of clarity. And then from there, you just start building that rhythm. So for example, let's get super practical. Maybe one day a month is dedicated to planning the next month. Maybe you just literally say, I'm going to pick a day of the month and I'm going to plan the next month.

Then each week, you're not starting from scratch because you're refining what you already planned the month before. That shift alone is huge. I think another key in this conversation, Hannah, is team involvement. So if everything depends on you, you're going to always feel behind.

But when you empower a few key leaders, whether it's volunteers or staff, to own different parts or pieces of your ministry, it frees you up. And you're able to actually start leading instead of just producing what you need to produce week after week. And I would say this too, because the whole thought of this planning ahead could overwhelm some of you. You don't have to go from planning week to week to planning six months ahead overnight. Even just getting two weeks ahead is a big win.

For some of you, you could just be thinking two weeks ahead or three weeks ahead. Then think a month ahead. And then maybe you start thinking two months ahead. It's about building margin little by little. Because here's the thing, once you start getting ahead, everything changes. You're less stressed out. Your team is more prepared. You can actually be present on Sunday instead of just trying to hold everything together.

And you know the difference, and I know the difference, because we've all been there. So Hannah, breaking the Sunday to Sunday cycle, I think it really boils down to zooming out, and then as you zoom out, you start building a rhythm of zooming out. And then you involve your team, and you just take those small steps toward getting ahead.

Hannah Augustine (21:24)

My husband likes to say you eat the sandwich one bite at a time, right? So once you have that zoom out, you know what the sandwich looks like. Don't stop there. Don't live there and get overwhelmed. Start breaking that down into chunks. 

Some of you, your brain doesn't work that way. That's okay. Ask someone whose brain does work that way so that you don't get flustered. Put your summer calendar into an AI service - "hey, these are my five or six big events. How do I break this down into a timeline?" That's a great way to figure out where you're going to go.

Ryan, you have a great principle, the big three, and that has to do with asking, "what are my top three priorities every day?" That's easily translatable to your top three every day, every week, every month, and then every season. Maybe you put that on a whiteboard or on a sticky note on your computer so that you can zoom out and say, ‘these are my top three priorities for today. These are my top three priorities for the week. These are my top three priorities for the month.” 

Then these are, like you said, the big rocks or the top three to five priorities for the season. And when you can keep your focus, like a horse with blinders, so all these shiny things don't get your attention and you focus on what's in front of you. 

I think protecting your yes is so important in this season. Because it is so easy for many of us in ministry, whose hearts are so compassionate and our desire is to serve and to help: we want to dive into all these different projects and opportunities. I know when I was young in ministry, it was very easy to overcommit. I wanted to say yes to the opportunity to lead worship in another ministry, or maybe speak in the student ministry, or help at the event. And I had to learn, I've got to stay in my lane.

There are seasons where I can do those things, but there are seasons like summer where I have to keep my yes very narrow, because the important things that I need to say my yes to are obviously my priorities - those big three - and my family, friendships, and health. Are you taking care of yourself? Which you talk about, Ryan, in the third session of the Summer Ready. 

Protect your yes over the summer. Maybe that means you and your family, whether that's your spouse, your kids, your roommates - whatever your situation - that you sit down and say, “these are our summer values. This is what we're going to focus on so that we prioritize what matters over the summer.”

Choose your big three as a family. Listen to your kids. Don't let your kids become a casualty of you being busy over the summer. What does it look like to take them to the neighborhood pool or the splash pad so that there's some special moments over the summer? Then you're not just taking them from VBS to VBS. And that's okay, send them to VBS, that's fine. But have space for your family to develop those memories and those moments. 

If you're single, find space for community. Don't let yourself just be at the church 100 hours a week every week. Sure, VBS might be that week, summer camp might be that week, but where are you going to build in some memories whether that's a tiny trip or a nice dinner, find those things that are going to refill your tank at the end of the summer.

I don't want to give any more away, Ryan, because we're starting to brush into the Summer Ready course. If you want more, you're going to have to watch the course. Like Ryan mentioned, the first session is with Ryan. It's about stabilizing your volunteers.

The second session is with me. We're talking about simplifying your programming. And then that third session, we're going to talk with Ryan about how to save your energy, how to steward your soul, your energy, the things you have to offer through the summer season. There's some downloads you're going to get with this.

You're kind of getting a sample of KidMin Academy - Ryan mentioned that - a very small peek at what you would get if you wanted to pursue an academy program. You're going to have the opportunity to comment on the videos and interact with people who are taking the course with you.

We're going to give you this link - it's kidzmatter.com/summer-ready. Send that to someone. Don't do it by yourself. This is a great opportunity, because it's free, to invite one of your key volunteers that you've wanted to invest in. Invite them to do this with you and then have them help you answer the questions and apply this. 

So invite them. Whether you do this together on the phone, or via text, or in person, you can break down the practical takeaways that you’re actually going to do. You’re not just listening. You’re actually going to take these things and use them.

If it's not a volunteer in your ministry, invite a fellow kids' pastor from another church or a KidMin leader down the street and have them do this with you. Because again, if it's free it's for me, so get in there and do it.

I feel like I need to address my Hawaiian shirt. I don't normally dress like this, but we're prepared for Summer Ready. I'm trying to get in the spirit, and we want you to get in the spirit too.

Ryan Frank (26:04)

I love it. Yeah, you dressed in this and I've still got on a winter sweater. So hey, whether you are in the cold or you're just getting old like me and you like to wear sweaters, or you're dressed in your Hawaiian like Hannah, it's going to be great.

This course is not going to take you long to go through. We want to help you create a simple, clear plan for the summer so that you feel confident, your team feels supported and ready, and your ministry stays strong. I can't wait to get your feedback. I think you're all going to love it.

Hannah Augustine (26:37)

I agree, I think this is going to be something we may try to offer even more down the road, maybe with a couple different topics. So let us know what you think. If you sign up, we want to hear from you. 

But Ryan, we just want to thank you for your heart for leaders and your desire to equip them with free resources. If y'all know Ryan, he's constantly telling me, just give it away, give it away, give it away. Like, well, we can't give it away every time sometimes, you know, but his heart is to resource you and equip you however he can. And this was a fun project for us to do together. I'm looking forward to seeing how it helps our community. 

Again, if you'd like to register, the link will be in the show notes, but you can get your free Summer Ready micro course at kidzmatter.com/summer-ready ready or you can click that link in the show notes. As a reminder you can download your free month of preschool and elementary lessons at britecurriculum.com. That is b-r-i-t-e curriculum.com and that link will be in the show notes as well. Don't forget to like, subscribe and share this episode with a friend who needs to get summer ready.