Ministry Coach: Youth Ministry Tips & Resources

5 Things You Should Do Immediately After Youth Group Ends

• Kristen Lascola • Episode 261

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Now is the time to grow a healthy, thriving youth ministry...if you'd like to work with us, check out GrowYourYouthMinistry.com *** Youth group just ended....now what?  Go home?  No!  Here are 5 things you should do immediately after your youth ministry program night is over.  These tips are deceptively simple but are huge in preventing morning fires, strengthening parent trust, and building a resilient team culture. 

If you lead student ministry, these moves require zero budget and deliver compound results: faster follow-up, fewer surprises, cleaner spaces, and a tighter volunteer community. Try one tonight...Then tell us what you’d add to make the system even better. If this was helpful, follow the show, share it with a fellow leader, and leave a quick review so more youth pastors can find it.

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You may also enjoy these episodes:

(#204) 4 Things I Started Doing Before Youth Group that Changed Everything!

(#213) 3 Things I Stopped Doing Before Youth Group (and Why YOU Should Too!)

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SPEAKER_00:

And that's what's gonna cause this low level of frustration toward you, cost you chips in the bank with people, whether it's the next ministry coming in or your staff or whatever people will start to look down on you because you just aren't responsible with the facility that is shared between all these ministries. Today we're talking about five things to do after youth group is over.

SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to the Ministry Coach Podcast, where we give you weekly tips and tactics to help you fast track the growth and health of your youth ministry. My name is Jeff Lascola, and this is Kristen Lascola.

SPEAKER_00:

And today we're gonna talk about five things that I do all the time, every time after youth group.

SPEAKER_01:

100% of the time, 80% of the time.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. Every Tuesday night when youth group is over, you know, you're tired, you think the night is over, it's like, all right, the last kid got picked up. And do you just get in your car and go home? No, there's still a few things, obviously, none of us can do that that need to be done. So these are the five that I make sure I always do. And if you have some to add to your to the our comment section, especially if you're watching on YouTube, go ahead. I would love, like, oh yeah, a little tip. I never thought I should do that. But some of these I learned the hard way. Some of these just, you know, seem routine for me. But the first one, one that I kind of learned the hard way, is at the end of the night, I always go back and check my email. So the reason for that is sometimes something happened and I didn't know or see, or like some situation between students that I was unaware of and a mom or a parent, you know, who's not doesn't have my cell phone number. Maybe they're kind of new, but they have gotten my emails, they will often reach out. Sometimes it's something as simple as this happens to us all the time. I don't know if this happens to you guys. My kid left their backpack there and they have school tomorrow. When's the earliest someone's gonna be at the church? We need to come get it. Or are you guys still there? Can we come back and pick it up? And as a parent, you would be like, Oh my gosh, your backpack, you like can't sleep on that. We need to go and get it. So little things like that. But then I've had actually some more significant emails where, hey, I don't know if you're aware, but like there was a situation with a kid and someone took their phone and then they were being bullied and it all went on, and I had no idea, but my security guy was still there. So we went back and checked the footage of we have cameras everywhere, you know, which has come in really handy, especially for junior hires, because love you guys, but you lie a lot. Junior liars, junior liars. I love that. Why have I never thought of that?

SPEAKER_01:

And I feel like they're not really junior liars, though. They're very experienced. Junior liars. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Professional liars. So sometimes getting to the bottom of like a situation that happened between students, like, I'll say, Hey, did you take his phone and then throw it and then this and that? No. Oh, okay. Bye. Have a nice day. So then I can go back and look and be like, Yes, you did. There you are. That's oh, well, now what? So little things like that. Like I've had parents reach out and say, Hey, my kid came home really upset. This particular thing happened. And I like knowing as soon as possible so that I can ask any leaders that are still there, like, hey, did you guys see something? Instead of having to send out a text or a Discord or an email, I can start investigating right then and there. So I feel like there's always just some kind of random little thing that I need to make sure. Did something slip through the cracks? Did something happen under my nose or behind my back that I didn't see? Or simply does someone need help? I need to pick up a backpack, or we left something, our guitar there, or whatever, and then I can be of help almost immediately. So I learned that because then I didn't used to check my email, and then the next morning it's Wednesday, and I'm like, all right, 9 a.m. getting in my email, and all of a sudden, like, oh my gosh, what? And then, you know, I just like to know, like go to bed that night knowing, well, I've taken care of everything that happened tonight and or at least made a dent in it.

SPEAKER_01:

So when whenabouts, whenabouts? Is that a phrase? Whenabouts do you do that?

SPEAKER_00:

Like, like right after the last kid leaves, or yeah, I would say like around 8 45, 8 50, which would be 15-20 minutes after our youth group ends. I go out and do pickup, and then when I come in from pickup, I just do a quick check because at that point they're probably home or whatever.

SPEAKER_01:

But that's not like the last thing you do before you leave.

SPEAKER_00:

No, it's you usually, yeah, like that 15-20 to half hour after youth group of like speak now, everyone, or forever hold your peace. No, just kidding. They can email the next day. But yeah, I just and sometimes I don't know if our listeners are kind of thinking, well, what's the point? There's not much I could do that night, but sometimes it is. It is a thing you could solve right then and there.

SPEAKER_01:

And sorry, not to interrupt you, but if it is something like a parent, if there was an issue with another student, if you can get back to them that night, it's so much nicer to be able to know it you were heard and that action is being taken. Yeah, like we're working on that. If you go to bed, you know, like I don't know, you just kind of get that feeling like, do you even care? I woke up the next day, I was mad last night, I woke up and now I'm mad again and no one's written back, or you know, and maybe they probably know, like, okay, they've probably already left uh for the night, you know. But I think being you have that that interaction and knowing, like, oh, they're they're looking into it means a lot. Yeah, especially you can kind of go to bed at peace, at least knowing that something is happening.

SPEAKER_00:

Totally. Especially like you said, if it's something where they're kind of upset, at least just saying, Oh my goodness, so sorry. You know, I'll look into this more in the morning, I'll be in touch, ASAP or something, just so they know, yeah. And even if they don't see it that night, that's the first thing they'll see in the morning. Yeah, exactly. Okay, so kind of along the same lines, but number two is notify your leadership of any incidents they need to be aware of. So at North Coast Church where I work, we have a policy and it's called no surprises. So if anything happens of significance, like I'm not gonna tell our campus pastor of every tiny little like a kid said a bad word. It's like, well, that was a bummer, but I'm not gonna tell like not that kind of stuff. It's like, hey, this happened recently. This is a true story. You know how junior hires always have to jump and hit the top of the door when they walk into a place. So we had a kid do that. He jumped, hit it, and on his way down, tripped like it looked like over nothing. I went back and watched the footage because I wanted to see did someone push you? Like what happened? And he fell on his arm like it was bent and fell on his arm to like break his fall and broke his arm like severely. Luckily, my security guy is also my medic guy, and he has some other people kind of step in and help. We ended up calling the dad, and the dad came and picked him up early. They had to take him to the hospital. So anytime someone leaves early to go to the hospital, um, I think that should be, you know, you should tell your leadership that. And the reason for that is a couple of things. Like they want to be able to protect you. So, for example, if that dad who came and picked up his son were to call the office and be like, nobody was looking out for my son, blah, blah, blah. And if our campus pastor answers the phone, like, wait, who are you and what happened? It's just we don't look like we've been in communication, we don't have our stuff together, we look very caught off guard, and that's not a good look, right? But if he knows, like, hey, here's exactly what happened. I watched the footage, here's who was involved, here's what we did for him, here's when we called the dad. Then when he answers the phone, if this dad gets upset for some reasons, like, well, you know, I talked to Kristen about it last night. So right then and there, it's like, wow, we took this seriously enough that we had a conversation. You know, she said so-and-so did this, so-and-so did that. And he can vouch for us a little bit more. And it's just good for them to know in general, so that who knows? Like, there's so many things that can come up out of nowhere, even down the line, and including higher leadership in things. If you have to send a kid home, or there's an injury, or there's, you know, a leadership issue or a safety issue, uh, maybe an issue with the building. Like we've had our fire alarm go off randomly for no reason. And, you know, the company called, and so we're on the phone with them. No, everything's fine, but it won't go off. Like he should know those kinds of things. Yeah. So yeah, and this is not like something every single week. I know that's kind of like the direction that this episode is. Like, here's your routine. And so there isn't a phone call to him every single week. But sometimes, you know, I think like, okay, is there anything here he should know about that deserves a phone call? Right. And maybe I don't know, six times out of the whole year there is. But you just need to be thinking along those lines of is this something that requires someone above my pay grade to at least be in the loop on? And then if you ever have like a concerning conversation with a student too, I think that would fall in that category. Like, hey, I had this odd conversation with a student and they mentioned some stuff about their home life that was a little concerning to me. Just wanted you to be in the loop about that. I think for your uh best interest and for their wisdom on the topic, too, of just like, hey, well, here's what we need to do in this kind of situation, you know. Anything that feels like, ooh, like this could be something serious, bring them in on it. Um, okay, number three things to do after youth group is this is one I do actually on the way home, is I pray and thank God for the night. Specifically, I thank him for all of my leaders because they're just they blow me away. And I'm so thankful. Like, I feel like I have been gifted like a treasure box, you know, full of like all these rare, I always call them Pokemon cards, even though I've never played Pokemon in my life, but I know some cards are rare, I think. Um, and so I'll be like, How did I get this one? Like, look at this card. Like, this is the Andy card or the Heidi or the JP, you know, and I'm like, dang, I'm so lucky. And I think it's so easy as a youth pastor to like pray at the beginning of the night and like, please let everything go well. I remember when we were really small, I would just pray that kids would show up. Like I was like, please just let there be kids here tonight. Please, God, please. And I would like beg on the front end for things to go well. And then when things go well, we're just like, oh, that was awesome. Let's go home. But not forgetting to thank God each night, like when things do go well, or you have great leaders, or everyone was safe, or a kid, you know, had some kind of social spiritual breakthrough, like just thinking through the night, start to finish. And if there was nothing to say to your senior pastor, like because everything went well, thank God for that. If every kid went home in a car, not an ambulance, thank God for that. If, you know, all the leaders showed up and got along and had great relationships with students and your game went well and your message went well and worship, like, just thank God. And a lot of times I just thank him like thank you, A, that I have a job, and B, that I love my job and that I get paid to preach the gospel and create an environment that points people toward a relationship with Jesus. So just I think that's just a really good settling practice of just like that drive home at the end of the night, like looking for all the bright spots. And I think for you as the pastor, because sometimes that one kid really got under your skin, or that one leader, or I mean, not for me, my my leaders are all great, but there will be just maybe that conversation with a parent that just you keep looping in your head and it's on repeat, you know, and never the positive ones either. I know. And so you just stop and think, okay, what went really well tonight? Thank you, God. And I'll just run through my small group rooms and I think of every leader that's in there, and I'm like, oh my gosh, thank you for them, thank you for them, thank you for them. And so instead of kind of being in the like, well, this didn't go well, or a game got rained out, or we were gonna do this, or someone forgot to put out that, just like, wow, what went really well tonight, and thanking God for that. And then number four is kind of more like logistical. I used to have this goal, and it was not to get an email Wednesday morning from our like admin that our campus admin that things broken. Yes, because she was kind of white gloving the place. Nothing wrong with that. She had a very high standard of perfection and excellence and cleanliness. And so I would think at the end of the night, wow, like let's just put the dodgeballs away, put the folders away, we're done, right? She'd find something and I would get an email bright, and that would be like the first thing I'd wake up to. Like, again, on the email, um, you guys left this, this, and this out last night. Please make sure that gets put away. And there was nothing wrong with that. I'm not blaming her. We needed to be held accountable, but I felt like, dang it, like, fail, you know, and then that's why youth ministries get a bad reputation because, you know, the church doesn't always feel like we play well in the sandbox with everyone, that we use and abuse the facilities and the kids are so messy. And I sometimes get mad at the students. I'm like, guys, guess who gets in trouble when you kick a hole in the wall or when you leave pizza in the patio furniture wedged in between the cushions? You don't get in trouble because we don't know who you are.

SPEAKER_01:

That's where they stop listening. I know. Oh, I don't. Okay, never mind.

SPEAKER_00:

Then I said, I get in trouble, guys. Please help me. So my goal was always like, don't get an email from her about the facilities. So again, this one I kind of learned the hard way is doing a very thorough walkthrough at the end of the night. So any place that students were, look in those areas could potentially have been. Crawl through the air conditioning ducts once in a while. Okay. Get on the roof. Nothing is off limits for them. Yeah, I mean, there's some things they the we're these are professionals, is what I'm trying to say. So you're never gonna catch everything. It's a professional job, and it's very, very hard to. I always give the example of they would eat Starburst and then roll up the wrappers and stuff them into the succulent pots. I'm like, I'm not checking the succulent pots on the way out, like you people. But then next day I'd see this little pink piece of paper. I'm like, Starburst wrappers, like what? How did these get here? So, anyways, I try to do a walkthrough of every place the students would have been, or oh my gosh, we forgot to clean this up. Like just about a month ago, we got another email because we left some how do you leave ice cream out? Well, we did. We left ice cream and soda because we did root beer floats and someone put it in the kitchen, but never actually put it away. And the thing with you being the youth pastor or the lead our lead youth leader, whatever you are, listening to this podcast, it doesn't matter who left it out, it's your fault.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So, you know, you write back and it's like, oh well, Johnny was supposed to put that away. Well, who's in charge of Johnny? You are so I I'm not perfect at this, clearly, because I should have caught the root beer float stuff. I had to apologize for it, but it's like if it happened on your watch, it's your fault and you need to make sure everything was put away. Game supplies. And then if there's something that sometimes we rinse out coolers, but they're so wet we leave them out to dry. So just we leave a little note like, hey, we are gonna let this get out to dry, we will put it away in the morning or something like that, because there's a little instances instances where you can't put every single little thing away. But I've noticed youth pastors are really bad at leaving stuff. So it's like they say they're gonna go back for the cooler and then never do. And that's what's gonna cause this low level of frustration toward you, cost you chips in the bank with people, whether it's the next ministry coming in or your staff or whatever people will start to look down on you because you just aren't responsible with the facility that is shared between all these ministries, which totally makes sense. And the last one is just hanging out after and having conversations. I feel like in the heat of the night, it's so hard for me to like catch up with the leaders. We're in the middle of program, like it's go, go, go. So I try to stay after and like, hey, how was your small group? How are things going? Like, do you need any help? Or, you know, just catching up with as much life as possible and try sometimes they stay longer than I can. I want to be the last person to leave, but I also have to get up super early because some some of them don't have kids. So it's like school starts, I gotta be up. And so I hate leaving when I still have leaders there, but I try to stay as long as possible to hang out or socialize or, you know, eat snacks and just be silly together and have a good time. I kind of feel again like that's that decompression time. And I always want to take advantage of as much time with my leaders as possible. So yeah, just that hangout. Like don't be in a hurry to get out the door if people are still kind of lingering and hanging out, or if you want to create the environment like that where you want to have people that just kind of linger and meander for a bit, like have some dessert out and you know, music or like we used to have a dance party every Tuesday night afterwards, and it was so much fun. Our facility is different now, so people aren't really in the auditorium where the music is anymore. But little things like that, just having some fun 15-20 minutes doesn't have to be all night, but kind of debriefing the night and just people know, like you don't have to make it so official, but just getting in a routine of people know, people hang out after, and we're gonna be here and we're gonna stick around for it. So those are my five. There's probably more. And like I said, if you have some ideas of like those routine things, this is what I have to do every night after youth group, put it in the comments because I think everyone would learn from that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, you can also, if your staff is small enough or maybe willing to, and you have uh restaurants nearby that are open late, you can either like a once a month or you know, whatever. Everyone, hey, we're all going to work.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, our high school leaders. Okay, oh, I love that you brought that up. I forgot about that era of my life. So when I was really young, I think I was still an intern at our other campus. We would all go to In N Out, the one in Vista after youth group, every single Tuesday night. Everyone would head over and all the leaders would hang out late. I was in college, so I didn't care. It was so fun. And then our high school ministry, I think they the leaders would go to Denny's after Wednesday night and all just hang out there for a while. I mean, I think being a parent has made me a better youth pastor in most ways, but hanging out late on a school night now is just a lot harder because that 6:30 alarm clock clock comes very quickly.

SPEAKER_01:

I always joke with you because when you come home late, I'm always like, well, things either went really well or really bad.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, you always say that. Really well. Like we were having so much fun hanging out and had great conversation, or there was a big issue I had to deal with.

SPEAKER_01:

I had to talk to the police for a few hours afterwards and figure out what went down. Yeah. Now make sure you put in the comment section below something that you feel is a good practical thing or maybe fun that you guys do after youth group is over. All right, this is the community comment of the day. This comes from Mr. Michael Torres, who says, such an awesome video. Thank you very much. I literally have a meeting next week to start planning a night of worship for our local church youth groups. This video was amazingly timely. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00:

It's amazing how many people say that. I know.

SPEAKER_01:

This was um for the how to plan a worship night um episode that we did. Cool. So thank you for the time.

SPEAKER_00:

Ours is coming up in a four week, in a in a four-week.

SPEAKER_01:

Four night, fortnight and uh with a four-score and seven years from now we're having a worship night.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, Michael Torres, if you're listening, please comment and tell us how your worship night went. Uh, because we have ours coming up on October 26th. So yeah, I want to hear if you had any twists that you made to it that made it better or what you learned.

SPEAKER_01:

So all right, thank you guys for watching and listening, and we'll see you next time.

SPEAKER_00:

Today we're talking about five ways to inject more energy in your today.