A senior in your high school ministry has seven years at most sitting under your teaching. As youth ministry workers, we all hope that our programming, scope and sequence, and discipleship model have given them a broad exposure to God’s Word, and that they understand the Gospel and its many implications for their lives.
Senior year is a unique time in students’ lives. There are life-changing decisions they need to make. Think about your own life at that age. In many ways, your choices about where you would go and what you would do after high school have marked the trajectory of your life. They know this is the case for them as well. The deluge of choices they need to make can lead to fear and anxiety.
On top of that, students are experiencing so many “lasts.” Their last fall retreat, their last high school basketball game, their last school dance. It’s a unique year. With that unique (and sometimes painful) year comes significant opportunities for youth ministry workers to focus on seniors and offer them gospel encouragement in their decision making and biblical wisdom that equips them for their future.
Along with a unique opportunity, senior year presents some unique problems. You’ve probably seen it in your own ministry. Nobody is busier than a senior in high school. School, jobs, dating, college decisions and scholarship applications, increasing social life—these all take up their time. They also have greater autonomy in their level of involvement in youth group. It is not uncommon for seniors to become less involved as their stress levels and busyness grow over the course of the year.
The question is, how do we take advantage of this unique season while managing the busyness of senior year? For many churches, Graduate Sunday is a single day where students are recognized in front of the congregation. Maybe the senior pastor preaches a sermon that is directed toward them. Perhaps there is a dinner where students are honored and parents are encouraged. This is still worth doing! We want to honor our seniors and send them out knowing that they are loved and supported. But is there anything else we could do?
Finding the Time
For years, my wife and I would have the seniors over to our home in May on Sunday nights to talk about college life and following Jesus. I was always amazed by students that came who had been relatively uninvolved in the youth group during their senior year. The focus on the specifics of post-high school life made them feel seen and heard. It met them in a place where they were feeling deeply at that time. This heightened involvement led me to make a change in the way I thought about our youth ministry, especially seniors.
For the past ten years, we’ve been doing a program called “Senior Sundays.” Rather than one Sunday at the end of senior year, we hold a monthly class just for seniors during their normal Sunday School hour, in which we have biblical discussions around several topics that are relevant to senior year. They already prioritize this time slot on their weekly schedule. We found it to work well for our seniors.
For churches with fewer seniors, find a time that works for them as individuals or in a small group. Meet students for coffee or meet together as a small group in a home. The important element is that you start at the beginning of senior year; don’t wait until the very end.
Filling Them Up
In the fall semester, the topics that our groups discuss revolve around formation. For example, we talk about spiritual disciplines. What role does Bible reading, memorization, and meditation play in the life of a believer? What about prayer? How can I wisely engage in technology and social media? How does the Bible inform my decision making? Can I mess up God’s will for my life? These are all relevant and important questions for seniors in their season of life.
In the spring semester, we look towards what life after high school will look like, and what practices will set them up for spiritual health in that phase of their life. While the focus is more on campus life and college, we also talk about adult life in general, as some of our students will directly enter the workforce. In this semester, we talk about campus ministries, the importance of finding a healthy church, and becoming a healthy church member. We also talk about dating, finances, and other topics related to life after high school.
This series ends with the Senior Sunday church service. Students are presented to and prayed for by the congregation, and we take them out to lunch to celebrate. During that lunch, we express our love for them, our gratitude for the time we spent together, and our availability to them for the rest of their lives.
While our own ministry has taken a very piecemeal approach to the topics we study with our students, there are some great resources that youth ministry workers might find helpful to take seniors through. Apologetics books like Michael Kruger’s Surviving Religion 101 or Rebecca McGlaughlin’s 10 Questions Every Teen Should Ask (and Answer) about Christianity are helpful resources. Mark Dever’s 9 Marks of a Healthy Church is useful for helping students to consider what to look for in a church when they are in a new city. Books on spiritual growth and disciplines are also important resources to go through with students. For smaller groups or one-on-one settings, ministry workers could simply assign one or two of these books and read a chapter before each meeting. Let the reading fuel discussion and see how the Lord works to prepare seniors for the coming season.
Moving Them Out
In addition to having biblical content and helpful discussion during students’ senior year, there are a couple of vital topics that are of the utmost importance. First, we always talk with our seniors about the importance of finding a local church and committing themselves to that church. We want them to know what to look for in a church, including being gospel-centered and preaching biblical theology. We also encourage them to research churches in their area and make a plan for visiting those churches. I believe that an enormous factor in a student’s spiritual growth is dependent on their involvement in a local church. Campus ministries are very helpful as well, but are no substitute for a local church body.
Finally, doing something like Senior Sundays is a great opportunity to help your students see that there are other people in their lives who can help them grow spiritually. I don’t typically teach this study. Instead, I put it in the hands of other godly men and women who meet with these students and lead the discussions. I want our students to know that when they move into this new phase of their lives, there are other people who are praying for them and are available to help them in the coming years. Likewise, for churches with fewer seniors, consider connecting students with older church members who have wisdom and insight to bring as they begin to think about the next chapter of their lives.
This final year of high school provides an incredible chance for youth ministry workers to make an impact in the lives of their students. Take advantage of it and see what the Lord will do!
Do you need more help getting your seniors ready for life after high school? Check out our resources on preparing students for college.
