Over the years I’ve taken countless hours to type these into spreadsheets. Usually these include information like:

• First name
• Last name
• Home phone
• Cell phone
• Email
• Address
• City
• State
• Zip code
• Parents names
• Favorite movie
• School
• Year in school
• Who invited you

Let’s just be honest… that is a lot of information to type! So I’ve, or a helper or two for me, have spent a lot of time while typing thinking… do we really need all this info? So over time I would type in less and less.

On the other hand, these can also be a good physical reminder if you put them somewhere where you see them, from time to time it is good to look through them and be reminded of kids who have come to Christ and think of their first day at club, and others who may have come once and never come back. Other than using them for a database they have been a great tool for prayer, it is well worth it to spend a little time going through them one by one.

In all honesty, in the last year or so, our clubs have been bigger than normal and I know kids have slipped through the cracks. And I have not done a good job with the club cards. Even if I had done a better job, I’m not sure if our team would have time, or the diligence to keep checking in an online document.

So, as this semester starts up I want to experiment with some new ideas for club cards. One of the clubs in my area uses a text message system. At club the kids text a number to join a list and then get an update each week about club on their phones. That works well for them, but I’m trying to think of other options too. At the moment I have this really high tech idea of a club card with way less questions. Maybe just: Name, Cell, Year. I think I could type that in each week. Then I also have a card for prayer and as a reminder. But I’m still trying to think through a streamlined way to keep leaders in the loop of our accumulated list of kids (other than a Googledoc, though we may end up using that).

I’d love to hear your input. What works? What doesn’t work? 

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Here is a worksheet you can download.

Here are the questions:

1. Name the mascot of the school
2. Name the principle of the school
3. How many kids go to the school
4. What is the major intersection near your school
5. Name a student government kid at your school
6. What is the approximate record of the school’s football team
7. When is the next dance at the school
8. What time does school start
9. What time does school end
10. What time is lunch
11. What are the school colors
12. Name 2 hangouts that your kids go to
13. Name 2 teachers at the school
14. What ethnic and racial groups are represented on the campus
15. What other Christian clubs exist
16. What is the name of a security guard on campus

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What I like about this is that is spreads out the planning and puts a few people in place who are always thinking about their specific area. Ideally it should add accountability and make it easier to not forget about a key area of the club team. This is also a way to place leaders who are more gifted with certain things in charge of their specialty.

In case you think this is impossible with your team because it is too small… on their team there is one, or two, “adult” leaders on each team and then about 2 leaders who are still in high school. So this approach could work for a team that only has three leaders.

Disciple Team

As leaders we are not called to make converts to Christianity but Disciples. Our goal is to teach kids more about Christ, help them on their walk with Christ, and train them to be the light to their friends and family.

Responsibilities for the semester

1. Determine teaching plan for the semester (topical, expository)
2. Organize readings for each campaigner meeting (Lesson, Book/Chapter)
3. Give the team a outline of Campaigner lessons/readings for the semester (needed by 9.21.09)
4. Make bookmarks for Campaigner kids
5. Recruit Work Crew Kids for Work Crew Weekend (10.2.09-10.04.09)

Responsibilities for the week

1. Lead campaigner discussions each week
2. Remind kids of the readings each week

Outreach Team

Outreach is going where kids are. Outreach is our opportunity as leaders to show Christ in the world no matter where we are, or what we are doing. Outreach is meeting kids at school, at sporting events, hanging out with kid and inviting them to see who Christ is through our interactions with them.

Responsibilities for the semester

1. Plan out of club outreach events (needed by 9.21.09)
2. Once a month, movie night, In N Out night, Post Homecoming Party, etc.
3. Gather Sports schedules, Plays schedules, and distribute to the team (needed by 9.21.09)

Responsibilities for the week

1. Set up, and organize Ultimate Frisbee each week
2. Be on campus every week

Club Team

Club is the an opportunity to invite kids to be themselves, meet new people, meet leaders, and hear about how Christ has impacted the lives of the leaders that serve in Young Life.

Responsibilities for the semester

1. Organize the themes, games, at club events, and skits for club
2. Create a Camp Sell Skit
3. Give the team leader a summary of what is needed and how games work for each game/mixer at club (needed by 9.21.09)

Responsibilities for the week

1. Print out club line up from the team leader and bring it to club prep
2. Make PowerPoint slides for the songs at club each week

Team Leader

1. Organize and distribute club line up via email each week
2. Support and assist each team, Disciple, Outreach and Club
3. Provide needs and supplies for each team
4. Set an example for other leaders to follow

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My friends who have done this say almost everyone makes a contribution and thinks it is great. It is great contact work with kids and allows them to be a part of the fundraising. You will also get a chance to introduce new people to YL.

Here is a letter you can use…

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BTW… have a great Christmas. Let’s bring our gifts to Him for His birthday.

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I’ve heard him several times, but I finally decided to ask him, “How do you do it?” He said he just gets lucky and remembers it after reading it once. Just kidding, he actually said there are five ancient practices that have been used for thousands of years for oral tradition. I believe he is writing a book or a chapter of a book on this. I’ll let you know when it comes out.

1. Say it aloud. Go somewhere where you can say it. You probably need to be alone so you don’t freak people out.
2. Repetition. I knew this was coming, yes the hard work of going over it over and over.
3. Mnemonic Devices. Since I was an engineer I thought he was going talk about pumps and device controls with differential equations. This is what he actually said.-Write out the verse on paper over and over.
   -Make acronyms. For example if you wanted to remember “love, joy, peace, patience…” in the fruit of the Spirit, this would be L.J.P.P
   -Draw little pictures. He said like hieroglyphics. So for the fruit of the Spirit you could draw a heart (love), a happy face (joy), a peace symbol (peace) and so on. In the deciding what to draw you actually are creating mental memory points that will help you. Another example is the classic One-Verse Evangelism from Navigators

4. Take breaks. Work on it for 20 minutes, then take a 10 minutes break, then work on it again. Taking a break helps clear the mind and actually helps you remember it better than if you worked on it 50 minutes straight. So 20 + 10 + 20 > 50 if you like math talk.
5. Hand motions. Anyone who has done the Walk Through the Bible seminar knows the power of hand motions. This can really help with the subtle words in a verse. For example if it said, “then Jesus went down from Jerusalem”. You could use your hand to motion going down from a high hill into a lower area. This kinesthetic movement will help memory.

There were some other words of advice and I have a bunch of stuff on names from my leader training stuff, but I think this is enough for right now.

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What do you think about this about a stat… Names and contact work trips in a semester (season). So you could be a member of the 10/5 club after you learned 10 new names and went to do contact work five times. Here are a couple details:

Names – They cannot be names that you already know. This would be only new names.

Contact Work Trips – This would be times when you do contact work and encounter kids outside of club or campaigners. There is a value to texting, Myspace and Facebook connection, but for this plan it would not include those. This could include shopping at the mall where kids hang out and intentionally going through the food court where they all hang out (Level 1 Contact Work = Be Seen).

I have a couple questions:

1. How could you keep track of all this? When? Where? How? Before club? Email?

2. It would be fun once a month (Area Leadership) to have awards for certain plateaus. What would be good levels? What would be good awards?

Is this a good idea or too focused on numbers?

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