10 Ways to Welcome New Leaders
In many Young Life areas, it’s the exciting time of year when new leaders are being placed.
What are some fun ways to welcome, “initiate,” and introduce them?
In the past, leaders from around the country have shared the suggestions below. If you have additional ideas, email us here and we’ll add them to the post.
How To Welcome/Introduce/Initiate New Leaders
@BigDaddyDoel shared this ‘Bad Lip Reading’ video they made to introduce their new leaders at club. It’s quite hilarious!
Lucas Westblade
“Order pizza during club. The “pizza guy/gal” shows up and decides to stay for club… and it’s really your new leader.”
Danny Ouelette
“Syrup or Ketchup chugging contest.”
Elizabeth Cox
“We did “Leaders Choice Awards” and it was great! Leader teams announced the “winners” – it was a hit!”
Brett Eckler
“When we got new leaders my first year we forgot to get them a gift, so we went to Walmart and got them .99 cent fish. On the way to the high school, we stopped by a bridge and threw the fish into a lake. We did that throughout the 3 years I was a leader.”
Chris Schneider
“Walk through a wall of leadership (pictures of previous leaders), pray over them, then surprise with a fun celebration.”
Brad Schmitt
“Go with the classic pie to the face. Always classic.”
Other Ideas
- Have kids roll their car.
- Get baby pictures of them to show at club or on social media.
- Stalk their social media profiles and share embarrassing pics of them on the YL account or at club.
- Set them up to be heroes. Find out if they can do any stupid human tricks or “special skills” and set them up to show it off at club.
- My personal favorite idea is “The Random Bus Passenger.” If you get a new leader at the right time to pull this off, ideally before weekend camp or summer camp. You could also tweak the idea and do it in town, taking kids to Mickey D’s after club one night.
