Leader of Students: Your Orientation Guide

Church Community Builder Proprietary

Table of Contents I. Welcome! 3 II. Document Themes 4 III. Our Support Model 5

a. Onboarding 5 b. Online Resources 5 c. Our Support Team 6

IV. Best Practices 7 a. Communication 7 b. Followup 8 c. Volunteer Management 10 d. Relationships 13 e. Develop a strategic ministry plan 16

V. Strategic Ministry Partners 18 VI. Preferred Service Providers 18 VII. More Church Community Builder Resources 19

a. Tribes 19 b. Implementation Coaching 19 c. Data Migration 20 d. Training 20 e. Equipping Content 21 f. Church Leader Advancement 21

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I. Welcome! Welcome to the Church Community Builder family! To assist you with the onboarding process, we’re providing you with two key documents. First, this document provides a broad overview to help you become oriented with Church Community Builder software and services as the leader of students. Second, we’re providing a Software Setup Guide specially designed to help the leader of students configure and use the software, in collaboration and coordination with your church’s Master Administrator.

As the leader of students, you are in a key leadership role, and we understand your responsibility not only to be led, but also to lead well. We’re here to help you do exactly that! At Church Community Builder, we care about church leaders and want to support the vital work you do. While we are known for our web-based software, helping you do ministry is what fires us up! We are committed to offering objective advice to aid you in your quest to do church better. We will work hard to help you and your church leaders discover what is working, what is not, and how technology can be leveraged to make more disciples. Because you’ve partnered with us, we are committed to walking alongside you to:

• Challenge the status quo to revisit and revitalize strategies, processes, and procedures

• Help you simplify and streamline those processes and procedures

• Assist in combining our software with those processes to enhance your ministry

Effective process will, in large part, be driven by the DNA of your church. To help you, we created a comprehensive support model consisting of 1) an onboarding process for new church partners, 2) online resources available 24/7, and 3) a dynamic support team with Basic and Premier Support. Our experience with churches of all sizes and denominations has identified a number of best practices to enhance your operations and amplify the success of your transition to new church management software. We’ve also established deep and trusted relationships with a number of strategic partners to help you navigate opportunities and challenges that will increase your effectiveness. Furthermore, we collaborate with Preferred Service Providers who provide a tool or service which complements or integrates with our software to increase the impact of your church. Finally, Church Community Builder provides additional resources, such as Tribes, Coaching, Training, and content to round out our tools and services.

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II. Document ThemesThroughout the document, there are two themes to be aware of:

Tasks

You will see these checkmarks (✓) throughout the implementation guide. They denote a task. These may be appropriate next steps or links to Help Desk articles providing you more information regarding the topic at hand.

Hyperlinks

Hyperlinks are easily identified by black italicized text. For example, click on the following hyperlink to take you to the Church Community Builder’s online Help Desk, available 24/7.

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III. Our Support Model At Church Community Builder, you’ll find a comprehensive suite of resources carefully designed to help you not only effectively implement the financial tools in the software, but also become more effective in your leadership role as the leader of students. In fact, our passion is ‘Guiding Church Leaders to a Better How’ in order to assist leaders, such as yourself, in living out the calling God has placed on their lives.

a. Onboarding We know you want to begin using the software and its products to support the work you do every day, so let’s get you started. Our onboarding process is relational, functional, and accessible. It’s relational because our Onboarding Team is your single point of contact throughout the entire process, and if you have purchased any additional services, such as Data Migration or Implementation Coaching, we will connect you with the appropriate teams. It’s functional because we’ll assist you in getting up to speed quickly though a number of resources. It’s accessible because of our dynamic support model.

b. Online Resources Ours is a web-based software, so it only makes sense to offer an online Help Desk available 24/7. Trying to figure out how to create or communicate with a group? Want to use reports for giving to the church, volunteers serving in various capacities and ministries, or attendance at church services, small groups, or special events? Our Help Desk is well organized and easy to use, with over 300 articles and videos on almost any topic you can think up. To access the Help Desk, all logged-in users can click ‘Help’ under the settings gear in the software. In addition, individuals may access the Help Desk without being logged in by visiting support.churchcommunitybuilder.com.

Videos and articles are arranged in the Help Desk by topic. You can also search by keywords to find any of these resources. To make sure you know exactly what’s going on, we even have an article on how to use the Help Desk.

✓ Read Using the Help Desk

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c. Our Support Team Our Support Team is made up of people who have lived and worked in the local church. We understand your world and are inspired to make it better. Most importantly, our Support Team has dedicated Guides specifically focused on assisting leaders of students ministry with unique issues that extend well beyond ‘how do I do this in the software’. Our Guides are prepared to assist you with updating existing processes and defining new ones to maximize your impact as the leader of students.

Basic Support

Our goal is to give you the best support possible. But what happens if the Help Desk doesn’t answer your question or you need tailored support to help you become more effective as the leader of students? You can submit an email support ticket and we’ll help answer your questions through our email support system. One of our Guides will get back to you within one business day, and many times they’re even faster. Basic Support is available to the Master Admin and one other designated Support Contact; perhaps that will be you. If not, you should direct your questions to the Master Admin or a designated Support Contact who can forward the question to our Support Team if necessary.

✓ Read Support and Using the Help Desk

Premier Support

Church leaders desiring quicker response times can access our Support Team through an upgraded level of support called Premier Support. With Premier Support, you’ll receive an initial response through our normal email support system within one business hour. In addition, Premier Support expands your Support Contacts to three while providing the ability to contact one of our Guides through a phone call or online chat during regular business hours.

No matter what support option you have selected, Basic or Premier, our Guides are prepared to assist you with more than implementing the software, defining new processes, and optimizing existing ones to maximize your impact as the leader of students. We can help identify best practices to more effectively support you, your church leadership, and your church’s members and guests.

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IV. Best Practices Church Community Builder has identified a number of best practices to amplify your success as the leader of students. Of course, best practices will be tempered by your church’s DNA, culture, and size.

a. Communication Church Community Builder offers many ways to communicate — through emails, mail merges, social media, and even text messages. As a youth leader, mastering multiple forms of communication is crucial in keeping people informed and connected to what’s going on and how it effects them. However, it is important to remember that communication is more than announcement slides, handouts, signage, emails, and social media. It’s the big picture message of your youth ministry. The value you place on communication directly impacts how your ministry is perceived by students, parents, and the entire church.

When you think about it like that, everything changes. Communication isn’t another thing your youth ministry does, it’s everything your ministry does. A communication strategy is key, whether you’re communicating to young people or adults, in order to have guidelines to work from. Check out the five ideas below which may help you think through an even better communication strategy:

1. Consistency and repetition

Provide consistent and concise communication to help alleviate worry and stress from both parents and students. Provide a brief list of announcements every month to highlight upcoming events. Remember, while teens may be okay with impulsive decisions and changes, parents are not usually as flexible and understanding. Start communicating announcements sooner than later.

2. Engagement

Design your communication strategy around engagement — not just sending a message out for the world to see, but connecting with your audience. If your goals are based only on making sure your message has been shared, you may fall into a rut of creating noise. So, make engagement a key part of your communication and you will have a good chance of making a meaningful impact on your community.

3. Concise and clutter-free

Speaking of noise, most people don't have the time to read a novel about your youth ministry. While it may seem tempting to include a lot of clip art and stories you think are funny, cute, and inspirational, this often

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becomes noise, which dilutes the most important details of your intended message. Be sure to ask yourself what the goal of your message is and remove anything which may detract from that goal. Keep communication concise and your church members will leave wanting more rather than feeling overwhelmed. The more tailored and specific your message target, the more likely the intended recipient will read it. Over time, this will build trust and help to develop a culture of clarity.

4. Clean and credible

Keep communication free of errors, typos, and run-on sentences. If you're not a good writer, find someone to proof your church correspondence. This may seem like a minor issue, but poor writing makes a statement about your youth ministry, often presenting an issue of credibility. As youth pastors, credibility is pivotal because we are working with the most important thing to a parent: their children.

5. Why and how

Concentrate on communicating why you are asking someone to do something, and be sure to provide how they can do it. Until people know why the thing you’re sharing makes a difference in their lives, they’ll rarely follow through. The most effective forms of communication are always the most personal, such as a handwritten letter or a phone call.

b. Followup What you do with students after they visit your youth group is more important than getting them to attend. What may seem small or insignificant may speak volumes to the heart of teenagers when they need it most.

It is not uncommon for teens to quickly change their mind about something — this often leads to youth suddenly deciding to stop attending. If you're intentional about following up and connecting with students, you stand a great chance of both identifying the reason they left and bringing them back to the group. Developing a strategic plan for following up with visitors and regular attenders is critical to creating a safe environment teens will want to return to and be discipled in again and again. Below are five tips to help keep your teenagers and parents engaged with your ministry:

1. Welcome and contact

From the moment a teenager arrives to youth group, they begin to form opinions about how your program and process make them feel. On average, only 10 percent of first-time guests become regular attendees. By using real people and providing active hospitality, you can make someone’s first visit a great experience,

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increasing the chance they will want to return the next week. However, if you know anything about teenagers, you know they can have a tendency to forget (and quickly!). This is why it is important to continually collect information from your new guests using a connection card (or even a form on a tablet). By providing a means for new guests to easily share contact information (e.g., parents' names, email, social networks, etc.) as well as information about their interests (e.g., sports, clubs, hobbies), you garner a snapshot into the life of that student. With regular attenders, you can gather information about prayer requests, opinions, surveys, and more in order to have a starting point for followup. This helps pastors and volunteer leaders easily connect with the students outside of the core youth group. Remember to also follow up with parents in order to communicate exactly what their child is doing at youth group, how it is beneficial, that it is a safe environment, and how to get in contact with the youth pastor.

2. Engage and connect

Create opportunities for teens to connect with one another and build meaningful relationships with other like-minded teens. Connect them with a mentor who can stay in touch and encourage them. The more effective you are in engaging with teens, the more likely they will find opportunities to use their gifts while also being discipled. This helps provide a solid youth program which isn’t just about inflated attendance numbers, but about moving teens into deeper relationships with God’s family and the church’s mission. Connection can come through a serving opportunity, a small group, summer camp, missions, a special event, a Bible basics class, or even an invitation to be a part of a fun experience like Tuesday night volleyball. By following up with teens to help them connect with one another, you close the back door and provide a safe environment for them to grow in their relationship with God.

3. Attendance

Attendance needs to be about more than just numbers if it’s going to effectively show teens they are a valued part of the ministry. Building real relationships with students is the key to genuine attendance followup. Maintain a 1 to 5 ratio of leaders to kids, adding more leaders as the youth group grows. Each leader should be responsible for 5 specific kids so they can intentionally look for those students each week and connect. If a teen brings a friend, that friend becomes one more person that the adult leader will get to know and look for in following weeks. If a leader’s group of kids grows too large, then another adult can join and gradually divide into two groups. When a student is missing from youth group, their leader can reach out to them during the week just to say hi, hear about their week, and let them know they were missed.

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4. Significant events

As an adult you may not experience as much joy as you once did when your birthday arrives, but teenagers anticipate the arrival of that day with excitement. Following up with teens can become difficult, especially when you pastor a large group; however, significant events (e.g., birthdays, graduations, rites of passage, etc.) gives you an excuse to make a call, send a card, or even take them out for lunch. The impact you can make in a single conversation with a teen may carry with them for a lifetime, so be on the lookout for these opportunities to connect one on one.

5. Youth ministry isn’t over after graduation

As youth workers, we should be making a long-term commitment to someone’s life — not just a short-term sales pitch. Most students value relationships. No one wants to be your project … but they do want to be your friend! So, if you and your volunteer leaders have already built deep relationships with your students, followup should be a natural next step after graduation. In other words, if your own child graduated from high school, would you simply trust the world to take care of them or would you desire to stay connected so you can continue to help nurture their development?

Consider connecting students with an adult in the church who will check in with them through their first year out of youth group and beyond. These check-ins can happen through social media, phone, text, visits, or even care packages. These adults can also meet with one another to support their efforts and pray for these young adults — likely adults will find this responsibility more rewarding than draining. Another way to follow up well after graduation while continuing discipleship is to find out where your students are planning to go after graduation and help connect them to a new community of Christians. Instead of simply hoping they stay connected, help transition them from your ministry to another. You may even visit churches with them during their senior year.

Most importantly, commission them to a mission field instead of graduating them out with kind words and a gift. Let them know they are not alone, but are an extension of the church as you launch them to begin their ministry and reflect the light of the world.

c. Volunteer Management Thriving volunteer teams can propel your youth ministry further and faster than anything else. As a youth pastor, this can be even more important than actually hanging out with students yourself, because you can’t effectively invest in each and every student alone. So, developing a volunteer ministry is the best way to multiply your effectiveness and ensure the long-term health and vitality of your youth ministry. Too often, we

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think of our volunteers like a commodity rather than a person we are called to steward. We have a lot of needs in youth ministry, so we tend to look for any 'warm body’ to help us. This creates burnout rather than a thriving ministry. A youth ministry with a volunteer strategy that has ‘buzz’ and a waiting list of people wanting to get involved is certainly not easy to build, but it’s definitely worthwhile. If you’re looking to transition your volunteers from the mindset of simply filling a role to actually being the ministry of the church, take a look at some of the best practices below:

1. Inviting volunteers

Instead of recruiting volunteers, invite people to be a part of your youth ministry through volunteering. Using a peer-to-peer approach instead of just announcing your needs in the weekly program will yield better results. Also, realize that you don’t have to do all the inviting yourself. The most successful way to get someone to volunteer is through a personal invitation, so share the responsibility by encouraging and empowering your existing volunteers to cast vision and share their personal stories in order to expand your capacity.

When recruiting, you and your leaders will want to make each step of becoming a volunteer clear by making sure potential recruits are aware of the commitment, requirements, and the procedures needed to get involved. The application process should be publicly available, fluid, and easy to complete. Don’t overwhelm people with hundreds of volunteer opportunities. Narrow your options down to the ones that are most critical and be clear about expectations so people fully understand what is expected of them and what isn’t. Lack of clarity breeds confusion and a fear that 'I don’t have what it takes'. And that leaves good people sitting on the sideline.

Make sure you are consistently recruiting volunteers to prevent the need to recruit quickly, avoiding the risk of picking someone who is not a good fit out of desperation. There is no silver bullet when it comes to recruiting volunteers — it takes persistence, patience, and prayer to find the right people for the right roles.

Youth who invite adults to be part of the ministry have a higher success rate than most youth workers. Ask your students to think of one person in the church who would be a great mentor or volunteer, and then challenge them to invite that person. Give youth everything they need to make the invitation successful.

2. Equipping and leading volunteers

Oftentimes we ask people to volunteer simply because we have a need to fill, and we overlook the needs of our volunteers. This may drain them of their talents and lead to burnout. Instead, think of volunteering as a way for your ministry to develop and disciple people. Start equipping your volunteers simply by knowing and valuing them, not just as a cog in the ministry, but as people with personalities, preferences, and

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imperfections. The more deeply you know your volunteers, the more deeply you will value them, and the more likely you are to have a happy, healthy group of leaders who will get to know and value your students in turn.

When you know your volunteers well, you can position them in their area of natural strengths, gifts, and abilities, and give them the opportunity to extend their influence and grow new leaders.

Finally, in order to lead volunteers well, you must invest in them. Obviously they are working for you without getting a paycheck, so you have to find other ways to pay them for their time. The simplest and most universal compensation is appreciation. A specific and personal 'thank you' goes a long way. Also, don’t be afraid to brag about your volunteers and the great work they do to others both inside and outside the church. Compliments passed along to others seem to find their way back to the volunteer, increasing their commitment, satisfaction, and loyalty. Get creative and don’t miss an opportunity to show them how much they mean to you, the students, and the ministry.

3. Evaluate your volunteers

To many youth pastors, the concept of actually evaluating volunteers may seem strange. After all, these folks are freely giving their time and you feel lucky to have them — and probably can’t afford to lose them. Putting them through an evaluation may seem unfair and even unappreciative. The truth is, however, your volunteers will appreciate the time you spend with them, and it offers an opportunity to communicate the value of having a teachable spirit. An evaluation process can show that you do not want to drain them of their talents, but rather continually invest in them so they can continue to provide the ministry value while growing in their faith and competencies.

Online forms can complement the evaluation process so you can request feedback and ask questions before you meet together. This also gives your volunteers time to prepare and know what to expect when you get together. During your time together it will be important to share how their role helps the youth ministry accomplish its vision. People want to be a part of something big! They want to know their time, energy, and commitment are advancing the Kingdom. It’s your job to show them that.

The last important step in the evaluation process is to provide feedback. By quickly following up after your meeting, you once again have an opportunity to communicate how much you appreciate their decision to serve alongside you.

Besides evaluating individual volunteers, it is also critical for you to evaluate the volunteer ministry as a whole. When a volunteer drops out, it is a yellow caution flag; it might be a sign of a behavioral change or a personal

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issue. When teens rarely become regular attendees or members, that too is a caution flag; it might be a sign your front line is lacking in friendliness. In cases like these, additional training or equipping may be in order.

4. Background checks

Youth ministry is a huge responsibility, as we take on the task of caring for teenagers who are not our own. In order to create the safest possible environment for parents to feel comfortable sending their kids to, it is important for volunteers, who will act as role models, to be carefully screened and monitored. Volunteers must understand that part of their responsibility is to help keep children safe. Training and background checks make a huge difference in not only protecting the youth but also providing protection for the volunteer. It is essential to check criminal histories of applicants who wish to work with children, especially since the church has been seen as an easy place to access vulnerable children due to usually having less security measures than other organizations. The statistics cannot be ignored: one in four females and one of eight males will be abused before they are eighteen. Even more compelling is that:

• 10% of abuse is perpetrated by strangers

• 30% is perpetrated by family members

• 60% is perpetrated by others who are known to the child and their family

So, help promote a safe environment for children by making thorough background checks and screening processes a fundamental component of your volunteer recruiting process.

d. Relationships The most important aspect of your ministry isn’t the number of students in your youth group or the quality or quantity of programs and events. The most important part of your ministry is relationships. Well-rehearsed preaching and over-the-top events only go so far if we aren't willing to compassionately and unconditionally love others. Be sure you are keeping a healthy, balanced view of your relationships. Below is a list of important relationship which should be nurtured in every youth ministry.

1. God and family

Your first priority as a youth leader is to continue to grow in your relationship with God and strengthen your faith. This relationship is number one because it will affect all the other relationships you have. When you take the time to nurture your soul and refill your spiritual and emotional well, you are also protecting against the discontentment, comparing, busyness, pride, selfishness, entitlement, and unresolved sin that can harm your

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ministry. With everything youth leaders are responsible for, it’s easy to put spiritual health on the back burner. You must choose to set time aside to do the things which restore you. Take time for retreat, to read the Bible (just for you — not a sermon), worship, pray, and meet with a mentor.

As important as planning the youth ministry calendar is, it is just as important to plan your family calendar. Just like a relationship with God can be neglected, so can the relationship with your own family. If you’re married, you have a great opportunity to lead by example. When you decided to be a youth leader, you also accepted the responsibility to live above reproach, and the condition of your family can often reveal the true health of yourself and your ministry. Your students will be watching you and how you interact with your family. Leading by example means that whatever you’re asking your students to do, they should have some way of seeing it in your own life. If your family is falling apart because of your dedication to your ministry, your teens will see it and question whether what you are teaching really works.

2. Senior leadership

Youth pastors who report healthy relationships with their senior pastors and other senior leadership of their church avoid miscommunication and tension, have realistic expectations, and are able to stay aligned with the vision of the leadership while maintaining the freedom necessary to run their youth ministry without fear. One of the first ways to ensure a healthy relationship with senior leadership is to pursue an active mentoring relationship with the senior pastor. Find a way to invite your senior pastor to give mentoring input into your spiritual and personal life and your ministry. There’s a very good chance they will be pleasantly surprised by your invitation, and more than willing to do it. As the mentoring relationship grows, it’ll be much easier to have real conversations when you disagree on vision or philosophy. You’ll also develop a deeper appreciation for your pastor’s experience and they will more easily be able to defend you when someone challenges what happens during your time with teenagers. Even more often, they will know how to accurately talk about and brag on you with other leadership and the church body.

Prayer can deepen your relationship with not only God but also the people you pray with. Daily prayer with your senior pastor can be one of the most important things you can do, as it will allow for shared empathy and forge a connection that far exceeds anything you could have established by merely hanging out together. Ask if your senior pastor would be willing to pray with you every week or every day. The response will probably be an enthusiastic “yes!”

Finally, play together. Play isn’t just for children. When we play together as adults, we celebrate our relationships. Play helps us lower our barriers and makes it hard to hold a grudge or be upset. The key isn’t what you do together, but that you regularly spend time focusing on non-ministry stuff.

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3. Parents

No one has more potential to influence a teenager’s relationship with God than their parents, and no one has more potential to influence parents than the church — which includes you as a youth pastor. Your potential to influence teenagers in your ministry dramatically increases when you choose to build parent relationships. It’s imperative to seek ways to support, equip, and effectively build relationships with parents. After all, they have been with their kids a lot longer than you have, spend more time with their kids than you do, and they will continue to influence their kids well after they have graduated.

One of the best ways to build parent relationships is to meet them where they are: often, at students’ events! So, when you go to a student’s football game, remember that a huge part of your contact time is not just to show support for your them, but to strategically meet and build trust with their parents. Over-communicate and schedule the time in advance, and you will earn parental support, which also prompts parents to make your ministry a priority for their teenagers.

Another great way to build parent relationships is through parent training events. As a youth worker, you have access to the latest youth culture, data, and trends. Take time each week to find helpful information and pass it on to parents. Consider inviting others from the church to help you train parents — for example, empty nesters who have ‘been there before’ and have a wealth of knowledge and experience to share. Invite the local police department to teach about online safety. Parents are desperate to find answers to issues that seem scary and challenging. Use people around you to teach, train, and guild parents.

Make parents the hero and involve them when students need help. It’s crucial to continue building parents up in front of students and finding ways to build bridges between students and their parents. This is especially significant during times of pain and confusion. You can create these bridges by creating parent-student events, recruiting parents to help in the ministry, and even creating a parent advisory team for your ministry.

While there are many ways to build relationships with parents, remember, it is impossible for you alone to develop authentic relationships with every one. Take the time to train your volunteers to partner with parents and give them the tools to communicate vision, to resource parents, and most importantly care for parents.

4. Congregation

The saying 'out of sight, out of mind' is especially true in regards to youth ministry.  If your regular meeting space is hidden somewhere down in the basement (or in a separate building altogether) or you meet at a completely different time, and the only time your church members see you is on a youth Sunday where you try and show off the teens, there is no way the congregation will be thinking of you when making important

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decisions or planning activities. Make sure your youth have a consistent presence in the congregation through service, worship, fellowship opportunities, and all of your church’s communication methods.

Intentionally build in ways to partner with other ministries. If you are planning a mission trip, consider working with the missions team in your church to create a joint mission trip which emphasizes building relationships while serving. See if it would be ok to have teenagers serve as ushers or greeters, or any serving opportunity that isn’t youth specific. Plan events that teens will love, but also include the entire church.

Remember to include the congregation not just when you want something like donations or volunteer help. Invite them to simply come and be part of the ministry. Host an open house so they can tour your space, learn about what the youth have been studying, see pictures of the summer mission trip, and ask questions. Invite key leaders to drop in on an activity or Bible study. Let them know you just want them to see what you’re up to. This will help your church see a bigger picture of your youth ministry.

e. Develop a strategic ministry plan Many youth leaders have very little training when they first start out in the ministry, and oftentimes find themselves building their ministry almost completely from scratch. To avoid babysitting and entertaining teenagers once a week, you must ask yourself what you want teens to have gained by graduation from having been a part of your ministry. Below are three steps to help create a strategic plan for your ministry:

1. Develop guiding statements

What is your philosophy of ministry? How does that philosophy align with your church’s purpose or mission statement? Before assessing the present condition of your ministry, you must have a standard to measure by. Guiding statements should be limiting enough to weed out unnecessary events and activities, but flexible enough to allow new things to be tried so that learning can take place. Guiding statements should be short and easy to remember. Finally, guiding statements should answer how your ministry is going to impact the world.

Another important tool to use when developing guiding statements is a SWOT evaluation. What are the present Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats to ministry in your church and community?

Now that you know where you want to go and possess an awareness of current conditions in your ministry, you can determine what needs to happen in order to move your group from where it is now to where your guiding statement says you should be.

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2. Develop a process plan

Now that you know what you want from your ministry and for your students, it’s time to put a strategic plan in place. This plan may describe a certain level of spiritual growth or discipleship, which could include Bible basics classes, local and international missions, serving in the church, evangelism, apologetics, and other disciplines you feel are necessary.

3. Review and optimize

Now that your plan is in place, it’s time to review how things are going. Your youth ministry can quickly become stagnant and stale unless you take the time to evaluate whether you are meeting your goals and pushing the ministry forward. It is helpful to constantly review how you are meeting your goals, then adapt, adjust, and even ditch some plans. While annual reviews are easy to plan, you may need to assess more frequently if plans are completely and totally failing. Though, it is not always easy to know when to stop or continue a program, even when the results are not desired. While a strategic plan won’t help solve all the riddles in youth ministry, it may certainly help you shape a process which keeps your youth ministry on track and in line with the calling God has placed on your church.

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V. Strategic Ministry Partners Our Strategic Ministry Partners represent deep and trusted relationships for us. They have huge hearts for ministry and have made a significant impact on churches we serve. Church Community Builder desires to be a resource to the churches we serve in a variety of ways. Because of our unique approach, we get to do this a lot! As we explore the processes that support your church, we often discover needs we do not address. We are not satisfied just telling you, “Figure it out and let us know how it goes.” We would much rather introduce you to a partner we trust and admire, who can help you navigate opportunities and challenges that will increase your effectiveness.

VI. Preferred Service Providers Church Community Builder collaborates with other companies, our Preferred Service Providers, to help you do ministry even better. Each one of them provides a tool or service which complements or integrates with our software to increase the impact for your church. All of these Preferred Service Providers are approved, trusted partners in ministry with us, so you can count on a good experience and a high level of support and care.

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VII. More Church Community Builder Resources Church Community Builder believes that the church is called to equip people as they fulfill the mission of the Gospel. We are called to offer you a better how, and that is why we offer a variety of other services to support church leaders.

a. Tribes Ministry is about transformation, but too many of us are locked into old patterns. Looking to the newest book or conference may provide helpful information, but we know that information alone is not enough. That is why we created Tribes. A tribe is a group of peers serving in similar ministry capacities at similar-sized churches, journeying together. These relationships help tribe members discover new and better ways to thrive in their role.

As a leader of students ministry, you face unique challenges and opportunities. By connecting with others who can relate, you can explore, innovate, and implement new strategies to help you be more effective. Without a place to take your questions and people who can relate to the specifics of your role, ministry can feel isolating. It doesn't have to. The relationships you will build in your tribe will help you discover the answers to the questions you are asking and shape the impact you are making.

Interested?

✓ Read more about Tribes!

b. Implementation Coaching Implementation Coaching starts you off on the right foot for using our software and improving your ministry processes for how you do church. The critical thinking required for effective change management can be overwhelming. The good news is our coaches will help you adjust your strategy, build leadership consensus, and create or refine your processes to support your overall vision. We understand the local church because many of us were previously, or are currently, in church leadership — and our coaches will guide you along your journey as we share the wisdom and experience of thousands of churches who have been through what you’re going through now. Coaching streamlines the rollout of Church Community Builder, helps you get the right people using the software, and increases long-term impact. Coaching gets you up to speed faster and with less stress!

Interested?

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✓ Read more about Coaching!

c. Data Migration Hit the ground running! Our Data Migration Team can help speed up the process of transitioning from another ChMS platform so you can start using the software to support your real ministry goals. Our one-time, cost-effective services are priced based on a tiered system with several migration options, including individual profiles, contributions, groups, pledges, pictures, events, attendance, and more. We’ll take care of the data so you can take care of your people.

Interested?

✓ Read more about Data Migration!

d. Training Virtual Training

We offer web-based sessions where a training specialist teaches your staff, key leaders, and volunteers the ‘how-tos’ of the software. Learn best practices for using the available features as your trainer guides you through the concepts of each topic and provides your staff with quality question and answer time.

Interested?

✓ Read more about Virtual Training!

On-site Training

You set the schedule and let us come to you! We’ll send a trainer to your location to work in a group setting or one-on-one with your staff and/or lay leadership. We’ll work with you to determine the type of training and how much time you’ll need, schedule a date, and prepare for the event. You can schedule two or three days of On-site Training, based on your unique needs.

Interested?

✓ Check out On-site Training!

If you have already purchased on-site or virtual training, our training team will contact you about 30 days after your purchase. To schedule or to reach our training team, click on Help in your Church Community Builder site and then Support on the top right corner of the Help Desk. We recommend scheduling your training during the first three months of purchase so we can help you implement your software.

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e. Equipping Content At Church Community Builder, our journey will always be about assisting you in multiplying your ministry by helping church leaders be more effective in their roles. We are so much more than a software company! We are committed to providing top-notch content that will inspire, encourage, and enhance your ministry. In addition to our content, we’ve built a library full of great content from thought leaders like Chris Mavity, Alex Absolom, Aaron Fortner, and Brad Leeper. We also want to hear and learn from you. Connect with us on social media to share your insights and best practices.

Interested?

✓ See our Blog!

✓ Connect with us on Facebook!

✓ Follow us on Twitter!

f. Church Leader Advancement We know that implementing a church management software can be overwhelming, so we strive to make it as easy as possible. If you aren’t sure that you’re getting the most from your partnership with Church Community Builder, or if you’re feeling stalled, we want to help. Our Church Leader Advancement Team can point you in the right direction. That direction might be Training, Coaching, Tribes, Support Options, a Preferred Service Provider, upgrading or downgrading your software, free resources — or something else entirely. We would love to schedule a call to see how we can serve you better.

Interested?

✓ Schedule a video call with Church Leader Advancement!

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