Alvin Lau

30 08, 2020

Avalanche and Blizzard Update for 2021

By Alvin|2020-10-23T20:42:18-04:00August 30th, 2020|Alvin Lau, Events|1 Comment

August is about to end, September is just around the corner, and while winter feels far away, some of you are asking what’s happening with Avalanche and Blizzard. Good news! Avalanche and Blizzard are still on! Avalanche is scheduled for January 15-17, 2021 and Blizzard for February 5-7, 2021. How they are carried out may look different from previous years, but the purpose of offering high-quality experiences, musical worship and engaging teaching for youth that focus on the powerful and life-changing love of

24 08, 2020

Back to School in 2020

By Alvin|2020-08-24T09:48:03-04:00August 24th, 2020|Alvin Lau, best practices|0 Comments

Back to school feels more stressful than ever before. Parents, educators and kids are all asking what the best step is to take. More than ever, churches and youth ministries will need to be available to navigate the new few months. So how can you best support your students, your church family and your neighbourhood in the coming months? Here are some considerations and questions. Make room for students to discuss what they’re experiencing. Some

20 07, 2020

Gap Year Options

By Alvin|2020-07-18T16:18:10-04:00July 20th, 2020|Alvin Lau, best practices|0 Comments

High school grads in the 2020 cohort will experience a summer and fall unlike previous generations of grads. Grads who are continuing to post-secondary studies will experience orientation events and the first weeks of classes (if they exist in person at all) in completely new ways. Some grads are deciding to defer their acceptances for a year. (Note: If you are looking to defer but haven’t done so already, you’ll need to check with your respective institution to see if any conditions apply to that deferral.) Other grads made the decision to defer a while ago. If you

15 06, 2020

With Your Grads … From Your Church

By Alvin|2020-06-11T21:51:04-04:00June 15th, 2020|Alvin Lau|0 Comments

For the class of 2020, this will be a transition unlike others in recent history. No prom. The graduation ceremony won’t be until the fall. These students won’t have the chance to say goodbye as a group. The move towards post-secondary life will be just as different for them, although for those taking a gap year or working, the shift may not be as drastic. (Students taking a gap year may find our Gap Year Template helpful.) Life will continue to be different than usual for those going

8 06, 2020

A Summary of Learnings

By Alvin|2020-06-04T23:37:11-04:00June 8th, 2020|Alvin Lau|0 Comments

COVID-19 LEARNINGS SUMMARY Over the last few weeks, I had the privilege of engaging with 16 of our CBOQ youth leaders, uncovering what they’ve been doing and learning since March break when the pandemic lockdown started. Here’s what I took away from each leader: John: Creative outlets like puppets allow students to focus on a project with purpose and can bless the rest of the congregation. William: Managing larger groups online takes multiple

1 06, 2020

Considerations for the Summer Months

By Alvin|2020-05-30T16:28:51-04:00June 1st, 2020|Alvin Lau|0 Comments

This summer will be different from the ones we’re used to. It will unlike anything we’ve experienced before! With the lingering effects of COVID-19 still around, what might the summer hold for you and your team? School is cancelled for this rest of this year. (Enhanced e-learning summer school is available, and although some of your students are itching to get into those programs, likely most will not). Graduations and other celebrations are on hold. There will be no overnight camps. There will be significant restrictions to

22 05, 2020

Next Phase of Youth Ministry

By Alvin|2020-05-22T13:53:06-04:00May 22nd, 2020|Alvin Lau|0 Comments

With governments at different levels thinking through how best to reopen parts of Quebec and Ontario, churches and youth ministries are discussing what the next phase will be. To help guide you, CBOQ launched its latest resource: Preparing Your Church for the Next Phase. Youth leaders have many factors to consider. Youth ministries are usually a smaller segment of the local church family, which provides them with different opportunities and considerations compared to the operations of other ministries and the church at large. Here

4 05, 2020

Student Leaders in Existing and New Places

By Alvin|2020-05-01T17:10:10-04:00May 4th, 2020|Alvin Lau, youth ministry thoughts|0 Comments

Students in the church have a unique opportunity right now. They have access to their peer groups that youth leaders don’t have (and shouldn’t have). Many are creative and out-of-the-box thinkers (because many “don’t know better”). And, best of all, many of these students have shown their ministry opportunity isn’t in the future, it’s now. First of all, we’re referring to youth who are taking leadership in a particular ministry, not necessarily within your youth program. Some of these

17 04, 2020

Ways to Check In with your Youth

By Alvin|2020-04-17T22:22:13-04:00April 17th, 2020|Alvin Lau, youth ministry thoughts|0 Comments

By now, your youth have likely settled into some kind of pattern. The immediate crisis of figuring out “what do we do now?” has subsided. Here are some ways and considerations on how you can continue to check in with your youth both as a group and individually. Some questions you can be asking: When you’re on a chat with youth, ask a rating question e.g. “On a scale between 1-5, how anxious are you feeling right now?”, and ask them to show their rating by

3 04, 2020

Navigating the Next Few Weeks

By Alvin|2020-04-03T15:00:22-04:00April 3rd, 2020|Alvin Lau, best practices|0 Comments

Things keep changing in light of COVID-19. Since March break, youth leaders have been triaging the situation while trying to maintain relational connections with students individually and collectively. What we originally thought would be 3 weeks off is turning into months (at least two since this started) and who knows? Things will look differenteven beyond that. So how do you support your youth at this time? SCHOOL AT HOME There will need to be a resetting of boundaries and expectations, especially with schools initiating more formal online platforms. The average amount of