Hello! Mark Lindsley, here, from the Delivery Services Team. As a Delivery Manager, I’ve met with several churches over the last couple of years. I just love getting to see how God is working in all of the different churches and communities. Of course, it’s always fun to meet with the Student Ministries, also known as the Youth Ministry. These are the pastors that have cool hair styles and dress way cooler than I do. They have to… they are building relationships with the truly cool congregants – the Jr. & Sr. High Students.
We always have great conversations about how they want to stay connected with their youth. They want to keep track of attendance to ensure that they know when someone drops off the radar. Inevitably, the conversation will always come around to name tags. Some are receptive and others react as if I just told them they’d have to wear a three piece suit to the Youth Activities. It’s as if, name tags will never work, be accepted, or serve as a valuable tool in their ministry.
First of all, why should you want to use name tags?
1. They help the Adult Leaders get to know the youth through Name – Face recognition. This is really important for us seasoned types that don’t always remember names. Students feel better when addressed by their name. Actually, everyone likes to be called by their name. It makes them feel special.
2. It creates approachability. To learn more about this cool concept, check out www.hellomynameisscott.com. Scott Ginsberg has dedicated his time educating others about the importance of name tags. Of course, a majority of his teachings are for the business world, but it still applies to our youth. This 27 Year Old, Scott Ginsberg, also known as the Name Tag Guy wears a name tag 24/7. A little too much on the cool side for my taste, he actually had the name tag tattooed on his chest.
3. Wearing name tags ensure close to 100% attendance reporting for your youth activities. It’s as simple as seeing the name tag on the student and knowing that their attendance has been posted. The attendance posting was performed at the time they received the name tag. If a student does not have a name tag on, they should be asked to check in.
Of course, this all sounds simple, but we are talking about teenagers, aren’t we? I know that challenging feeling, I’ve got a 13 year old daughter of my own and at times, I feel like we’re talking two different languages. I’m speaking English and she’s speaking IM. However, when I start talking IM or start texting her, I reach her at her level. We connect! I believe the same thing can be done with name tags.
Next week, we’ll talk about the How… How to make name tags cool!