Touch Points

Our church provides scholarships for college bound graduates. They do not receive a huge amount, but it often covers books and some basic expenses when they first get onto campus. Years ago we used to make them solicit references from the congregation. These days, we skip the references and instead ask applicants to choose two non-staff church members and describe for us how these folks have supported them throughout their life.

Once I receive the applications, I get to go to these members and share with them all of the wonderful things that were written about them. This gives me an opportunity to interact with members of the congregation, thanking them specifically for their support, publicly recognizing their hard work and effort, and creating an opening for future work with our youth.

I recently realized that these touch points are the cornerstone of my ministry. My vocation is not nearly as much about building my own relationships with young people as it is about building relationships between people. The more I facilitate these kinds of interactions, the better my ministry becomes, and the more likely I am to find people who can sustain beyond high school the hard work we do with these young people.