I am excited to host this new blog on the YouthCUE website. Each month in this blog we will look at creative ways to interact with students and parents about choirs and their ministry. However, this will always be a dialog, so please feel free to make comments and suggestions about how you have used creative communication to enhance the ministry of your choirs.
So, why do we even have to use creative communications? Back in the 60s and 70s a director just announced that youth choir is rehearsing Sunday at 4:30; then, set up the chairs and get ready for the onslaught of kids. Those days are gone–for all kinds of reasons.
Now, each week directors compete with all sorts of distractions–good ones and bad ones–that attract kid’s attention. It is a bit like the picture of Niagara Falls above. Communication is POURING into the lives of youth today. One of my marketing web pages reports that we receive 17,000 “ads” per week that we have to filter through. So many things seek to attract American teens. The times of kids looking for SOMETHING to do on Sunday afternoon are long past. In most cities there are thousands of things they can chose from, not to mention the ubiquitous entertainment options at their phones.
Another change has occurred is in the attitudes of (many) parents. When I started out “in this business” there were so many parents who said things like this to their children, “you will participate in all of the events of our church first, then, if you have any free time left over you can choose something else to do, but church comes FIRST” I am afraid those days are gone too. Today, many parents view any NON-SCHOOL event as a distraction keeping their children from having good grades. Youth choir is now “on par” with sports, dance, private lessons, parties and on and on.
So, how do we make the youth choir rise to the top of options? That is where creative communications comes in. How can you make youth choir “unmissable” and how can you let them KNOW that it is? That is what we will be about in this blog. We can all help each other find new and innovative ways to get the word out.
At YouthCUE events around the country, we often remember the old adage that “we want to give our students something that they can’t get anywhere else” I remember the first time I heard that phrase, I remember thinking “how can I possibly do THAT?” And “WOW–that just increased the pressure.”
But through the years, through prayer, and, frankly, organizations like YouthCUE, I have discovered that it IS possible to give them something that they can’t get anywhere else. The product that we offer them is unique. It is like a diamond with a thousand facets, I look forward to talking with you about how we celebrate every facet of what God has given us to share.
Remember Rule Number One–The majority of the kids come to choir for reasons OTHER than the music they are singing. Rule Number Two–No director, no matter how talented he or she is, will change Rule Number One!
Thoughts? Comments? I want to hear from you.
