A Timeline for Establishing a New Anchorsaway Class

Before enlisting any volunteers to be part of the ministry, have them view the promotional video (this can be found under the “About” page on our main website, www.hicot32.sg-host.com), and have them sign the Statement of Faith (including any guest speaker enlisted by the teacher). Though you have been through the training, we recommend class administrators and assistant leaders go through training as well.
A great way to introduce Anchorsaway to your church/community is to teach part of the curriculum to adults in the fall before you plan on teaching classes to high school juniors and seniors in the following January. Tell the adults that they will have the opportunity to help in some way with Anchorsaway as a result of taking the class. The purpose of teaching first to adults is to give you a support group to start spreading the news of the Anchorsaway class, the opportunity to practice teaching and hopefully help meet the spiritual needs of adults who would like to be better grounded in their own faith.
It is much easier to start an Anchorsaway class with a small group of people to help you. That group should include a teacher/facilitator, an administrator to do the detail work, networkers who can contact interested parents and others in the community, potential small group leaders and community leaders. The size of this group will vary from class to class.
Select the teacher, assistant teacher and at least two others who catch the vision and are willing to help after seeing the promotional video. Meet with them to review the ministry profile and the ministry manual. Make copies of the Statement of Faith and have the teacher, assistant teacher and administrator read and sign the copies. Keep these on file. Both the teacher and assistant teacher must agree to teach only the Anchorsaway curriculum, and should indicate this in writing. This protects the integrity of the lessons and allows the students to follow along in their Anchorsaway Worldview Handbooks. There is more than enough material in each lesson.
Students who want to receive college credit must have an Anchorsaway trained teaching leader with a Masters degree.
Talk with friends who share the vision of Anchorsaway and invite them to join you in this effort.
Partner with local churches to build a community program. Identify potential ministries through your friendships and personal contacts. Ask your friends to introduce you to their pastor and youth pastor and join you as you share your vision for Anchorsaway. Explain that the program is designed to complement what they are doing in their youth ministry, not replace it or compete with it. It is targeted for second semester seniors and juniors in high school. Let them know the sessions will be conducted outside of the church, in a home or another meeting place and will be open to students from other churches and high schools in the area. Make sure youth pastors know that you are not asking for any commitments from them other than support through prayer.
Talk with heads of para-church organizations in your community (FCA, YFC, Young Life, CRU and others). Show the promo video (3 minute) and ask them to team up with you in reaching seniors and other high school students. They can tell their students and perhaps you, or someone on your team, could go to speak to students about attending your Anchorsaway class. This can be crucial in getting students to come to your classes!
After the teacher has been trained, determine what type of program you will have the first year. Starting with a smaller group is good and using the lesson videos for most of your lessons the first year can prove to be extremely helpful.
Set up a time to visit churches to speak with the junior and senior high school students.
Secure a place to meet, other than a church or school.

Three months before the beginning of class:

Begin to identify potential small group leaders. Check with pastors and youth ministers in partnering churches to see if there are young adult classes who would like to participate in such a program.
The teacher/facilitator, administrator, and small group leaders should meet to select the elective lessons they are planning to teach.
Select and enlist guest speakers.
Assign small group leaders to specific local high schools to collect the names of potential students through sports, committees, and/or friends. Make copies of the Statement of Faith from the Getting Started page and ask the small group leaders to read and sign a copy.
Meet with small group leaders to go over their responsibilities. The outline for this meeting is found under Getting Started and the sub-tab, Role of the Teacher.

One month before the beginning of class:

Double check to make sure the meeting place is secure.
Visit partner churches and talk to the junior and senior high school students. Invite those who show interest to come to class and bring a friend. Hand out fliers and have students sign up with name and contact information.
Confirm all small group leaders and invite them to your home for dessert to go over the final details of the first night.
Pray that God will protect the hearts and minds of those coming to the program.
Make and print promotional fliers. Ideas for fliers are found under the Extras tab.
Order the correct number of Anchorsaway Worldview Handbooks for students and small group leaders Anchorsaway store, found at http://store.hicot32.sg-host.com/curriculum/. If you do not know how many you need, you can always go to the main Anchorsaway website, download the sample lesson from “Downloads”, and print enough copies for your students. Then you can order what is needed after the first night. We will have your student books to you within a week.

One week before the beginning of class:

Pray
Hold a final preparatory meeting with the small group leaders, teacher and assistant teacher if needed.
Create a box for the “Question Box” questions.
Make nametags for all students. The template is found under the Extras tab.