I was talking to a youth pastor a while back about his need for youth ministry software. At the time he wasn’t using anything to keep up with his kid’s information, but he was having a hard time seeing why he needed software… Whenever I get a response like this I always enjoy it because I get to search for what I call the “click”. I generally ask a few questions and then…. simply…. wait to hear the “click” (now I know what your thinking… your thinking I’m waiting to hear them hang up on me… no, that’s not it… so you can stop laughing inside your head now)
The click I listen for is silent… it happens when I know they just gave themselves the answer they were thinking was going to come from me… I love it… all I do is just sit and watch for it. Sometimes it takes a few questions… in this case it only took one.
I asked, “Mr. Youth Pastor man… tell me about how well you do with remembering your kids birthdays with birthday cards” <simple enough huh> well, the answer I received was, “you know I’ve tried that before but I just have so much to do and stay so busy that I have not been able to do it” (This is the part where I was listening intently!!) After a few seconds it hit him… he just answered himself on why he needed a youth ministry software… he was already so busy that the simple things looked like such big tasks. (At this point, inside myself, I was doing CARTWHEELS and SHOUTING AWH, YESSSSS YOU ANSWERED RIGHT DANIEL’SON)
What’s the point of this short story. Like many other youth ministry pastors and workers, you are busy. Teaching a lesson is just a grain of sand in what your week looks like. But it can seem like the simplest of things (aka. birthday cards, email’s, we missed you letters, postcards, or just simple phone calls) can seem to take a back-seat to “other” ministry items (aka. trying to find out who has not paid for the upcoming event, for example) … seems a little backwards huh? Effectiveness in ministry should not be limited because of a lack of time. Products like youth management software can help to speed up time consuming administrative tasks, even do them better than without software. Effectiveness in ministry happens from being obedient to God and a good steward of the resources you have… time being one of them.
Who’s ready to be more effective???
To demo the leader in youth ministry management software, head over to www.youthassistant.com
Hi,
How does it compare to Youth Trak?
I’m in the market for a Children’s Ministry Database. I have a limited version of Youth Assistant (which may be the source of my frustrations with it).
AK,
Thanks for the comments, it’s great to hear from you. If you have a limited version of the Youth Assistant I would imagine you got it from the back of the Youth Ministry Management Tools book. We refer to that edition of the Youth Assistant as the YA Special Edition. It was a VERY dumbed down version of the Old Youth Assistant, at that time, over 9 years ago. So, needless to say we have done a lot to the product since then.
As far as comparing to Youth Track, I would encourage you to take a look at both products. Of course I’m going to be biased toward my software but I think the best judge will be you. Our software has a ton of great features like automated attendance with advanced search options to find your 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or even 4th time visitors along with missing in action people (those who were coming regularly and then dropped off the map for 2 or 3 weeks in a row). We then give you the ability to do something with that information then like sending them a letter, postcard, email, or even a text message right from the software.
I think if you take a look at the Youth Assistant you will be pleased with what you find. If you would like to contact me I would be happy to go over more of the details of the Youth Assistant or even our Children’s Assistant product with you. You can call 888-297-6495 to reach me, just ask for Brandon and they will send you right over.
Hope to hear from you soon.