We all host events and hopefully those events are powered by values not by need. When kids don’t show up for our events we have to ask some questions on why they some or many did not show up.
- Did they just not like the event?
- How much were they in on the planning of that event?
- Did they not show up because the did understand the value of it?
Recently one of our college students planned a art project night. In the planning process most, if not all, of the college students agreed it was a good idea. On the night of the event only, you guessed it, only the kid who came up with that idea showed up and was mildly disappointed that no one else showed up.
I could have chalked this up to a failed event but there was something deeper in play. They didn’t just ditch an event they ditched a person and they ditched a value. I decided that was unacceptable.
The following Wednesday I excused all our college and career to the choir room where I had the art project set up. I did not hammer them or was even upset with them. I had one of our leaders share why it was important to still do this project:
- It honors the person who thought of it
- It communicates that we get behind good ideas
- We honor the value of fellowship
- We believe in expressing our faith through our gifts
I took their paintings and put them in the foyer for our congregation to see.
I don’t care as much about the event as much as I care about the value it represents. if have kids missing event after event, let’s ask the hard questions and then double down on the importance of educating the value instead of getting upset that kids did not attend.
Your Turn
Why do you think your last event fail?
How much was kids not understanding the value of the event part of the reason it failed?
How can you do a better job of communicating the values to your group?