Breaking Tradition

“Well, this is just ridiculous. There’s a reason certain things are a tradition around here. You are ruining senior year! You are ruining everything!”

Maybe you expect that from one of your students. But what if I told you I heard those words coming from the mom of a teenager and that ruining everything meant we were changing where our student ministry attended summer camp? I had expected a few students to struggle with changing the location for camp, but I surely wasn’t prepared to get such heated backlash from parents too!

This mom was right about one thing. There is a reason that certain events become tradition in student ministry—they’re valuable! Changing them just to change something is not helpful. But for most traditions, a day comes when things have to move over or move out in order to make room for something new. Whether it is camp, church model or adding small groups, learning how to change well is important.

It won’t be easy. But there are some great reasons to face the challenge head-on.