Know Your Audiences

By Adam McLane on September 03 2010

When I think about a time when something didn’t go according to plan, four words come to mind: ski trip epic fail. Four months into my tenure as a director of student ministries at a new church, I booked a slope-side cabin that slept 40 for the annual ski trip. I’d had the privilege of leading and organizing about 6 or 7 other ski trips at the past two churches where I had served, and I’d been told the ski trip was a tradition at this church as well.

I had a lot of confidence. I knew that this ski slope was great. I knew the slope-side house was amazing. I knew the trip would be great for the students! I expected the same experience I’d had in planning the previous trips – students’ friends would be invited, there would be a waiting list or students would have to sleep on the floor, things would flow smoothly and the trip would be the highlight of the year for many. Filling 40 spots in beds would be no problem! I thought my biggest issue would be how to transport those 40 students and chaperones since this church didn’t have a bus.

Things I wish I had known or considered prior to the trip:

• The senior high and mid high groups had never done a joint ski trip before.
• There was an unspoken leader amongst the senior highs and when she dropped out of the trip, so would 5 others (costing the church about $1200.00 in the midst of a budget crisis).
• One of my mid-high leaders would organize and promote a trip to a Christian concert the same weekend as the ski trip (after I asked that it not happen so the students didn’t feel forced to choose between the two). 
• I would have a parent go on the trip as a chaperone, and ask me tons of questions about the trip while we were on the trip, and ultimately report to church council how horrible a leader I was because we didn’t break even on the trip. 

Sadly, being only four months into a new church that had never had a full-time youth director, there was no way I could have predicted some of that!

Regardless of the junk that came from the trip and the repercussions of costing the church a large amount of money during a budget crisis, I can see a lot of good that came from the situation. With a smaller number of people, just under 20, everyone had their own bed and no one had to sleep on the floor! Great fellowship was had by all and no one felt left out! We ate some really great food provided by a parent chaperone! Because the group was small, students who normally would not have hung out together found that they liked each other and bonded. Great worship occurred as we learned about how God calls us to look inward before making decisions – complete with an illustration involving Twinkies filled with mayo! Finally, I learned the importance of knowing the audiences - students, parents, leadership - as I plan and implement events!

As they say, hindsight is 20/20 - know your people, people.

Comments

From Jeff Goins on September 11, 2010

I use this example all the time when it comes to “knowing your audience.”

Let me preface this by saying I’m not a youthworker, nor have I ever really been one. My extent of involvement in youth ministry is limited to helping some of my youth pastor friends out with lock-ins and retreats and occasionally leading worship or something.

Hopefully, that’ll give you some grace for what I’m about to share.

When I was a new Christian in college, a friend asked me to speak at her Wednesday night mega youth gathering. They bussed in students (high school and middle school) from all over the town to play games, hang out, eat pizza, and worship.

My friend and I were the worship band and were asked to share a testimony or a short message. My friend shared a testimony, and I delivered a brief sermonette/testimony/thing.

Since I was really into C.S. Lewis at the time (probably because I was constantly having to defend my faith to academicians), I referenced the section in Mere Christianity where he shares how each person receives a “parcel” called themselves.

While you don’t know what’s in other people’s parcels, you do know what’s in your own, and that gives you some amount of insight into what others my be receiving as well. The whole point (which I realize now was a bit heady for the group) is that there are univeral truths about humanity, one of which is the need for God. Maybe it wasn’t the most powerful thing I could’ve shared, but it wasn’t an altogether irrelevant message, either.

However, that’s not where I failed.

I failed in assuming that the students wouldn’t understand Lewis’ 1940 British vernacular, so I changed “parcel” to “package.”

That’s right. I don’t even need to tell you the rest of the story. You know what happened. I lost my audience.

While I intended to communicate something deep and meaningful to my audience, all this group of teenagers heard was: “Package, package, package…”

Did I mention that I’m not a youthworker?

*SIGH*