Youth Ministry
Overview
The Youth Ministry module gives your church a dedicated space to track, care for, and engage your young people — from crèche right up to tertiary level and young working adults. It includes educational stages, school tracking, parent links, engagement scores, school visit logs, and youth events.
💡 Plan requirement: Youth tracking requires the Flourishing plan or higher.
Go to Youth Ministry in the sidebar.
📸 [Screenshot: Youth Ministry dashboard showing total youth, at-risk count, and stage breakdown tiles]
Educational Stages
| Stage | Typical Age Range |
|---|---|
| Crèche | 0–2 years |
| Nursery | 3–5 years |
| Primary | 6–11 years (Basic 1–6) |
| JHS | 12–15 years (JHS 1–3) |
| SHS | 16–18 years (SHS 1–3) |
| Tertiary | 18–24 years (University/Polytechnic) |
| Working | Young adults who have entered the workforce |
The Youth Dashboard
| Stat | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Total Youth | Total registered youth members |
| By Stage | Breakdown by Crèche, Primary, JHS, SHS, Tertiary, Working |
| At Risk 🔴 | Youth who haven't attended in 3+ weeks |
| Needs Visit | Youth flagged for a pastoral school/home visit |
At-risk youth are listed prominently at the top so your team can act immediately.
Engagement Score
Shepherd automatically calculates an engagement score (0–100) for each youth based on recent attendance patterns. A youth is automatically flagged At Risk (🔴) when they haven't attended in 3 or more weeks.
Adding a Youth Member
Youth must first exist as a regular member. Then create their youth profile:
- Go to Youth Ministry → click + Add Youth
- Search for the member by name
- Fill in their youth-specific details:
- Educational Stage
- School — select from your registered schools
- Grade/Form Level — e.g. "JHS 2", "Level 200"
- Stream — e.g. "Science", "Business" (for SHS/Tertiary)
- Expected Graduation Year
- Notes
- Click Save
Youth Profile
Each youth has a detailed profile with:
- Overview — educational stage, school, grade, engagement score, at-risk status
- Attendance — full attendance history with engagement trend
- Parent/Guardian — links to parent members in the database
- Visits — school and home visit logs
- Tasks — follow-up tasks related to this youth
School Visit Logs
Track pastoral visits to schools (for JHS/SHS youth especially):
- Open a youth member's profile → click Log School Visit
- Enter: School name, date, notes, outcome
- Save
School visit history appears on the youth profile and in the overall Youth Ministry reports.
Tips
- ✅ Review the At-Risk list weekly — 3 missed services is early enough to reach out before someone drifts away
- ✅ Link parents to their children — it helps when you need to contact the family
- ✅ Record school visits — it demonstrates pastoral commitment and builds trust with families
- ✅ Use Notes for school-specific context — e.g. "Writing WASSCE in May 2026 — needs prayer support"