interlínc works hard to provide youth ministries relevant and up-to-date Christian music resources. After years of service and wonderful interaction with the youth leaders we serve, a youth pastor simply said, “I’m a little tired of giving my grads a book. Can you make a CD that has songs that are tackling the issues that grads face?” It was such a simple idea. And yes, we knew exactly how to pull that kind of album together.
In 1990 interlínc released ConGRADulations! in cassette form and youth leaders embraced it wholeheartedly. The amazing response wasn’t just from the leaders; we had graduates writing notes thanking us for a gift designed with them in mind.
The starting point for the GRAD CD was (and still IS) the songs. We really labor over the right music to put in the ears of your seniors. As we sit down to make the choices we look at numerous aspects. First, we look for songs that are going to impact grads with encouragement, a challenge, or a reminder. Our desire is that these songs will work their way into a grad’s heart and mind, reminding them of how important it is to keep Christ first in their lives. We also think about the many styles of music that students want and choose songs from artists we know have a heart for students.
Here are some of the songs from the past (let’s see how many you can remember):
As we read more and more articles about youth ministry students “graduating from their faith,” we brainstormed about how we could use GRAD to add some additional resources.
It was a time when CD-ROM was in vogue, so we made our disc dual purpose. You could listen to it in your CD player and also put it in a computer and play. The CD-ROM included music videos, a New Testament, grad devotionals as well as other features.
After a couple years producing the CD-ROM we had the idea to let the seniors from around the country do videos we wanted to have seniors talking to seniors. Again, we were amazed at the response. There was something wonderful and personal when a grad popped in the CD and heard words of encouragement from someone just like themselves.
For years, we were pretty proud of our little gift and thought that no youth ministry should give anything except the GRAD CD. We knew that many youth leaders like to give away a Bible as a graduation gift, but wrestled with the concept. You see, a number of folks on our staff grew up in really good youth ministries, and as they grew in their faith, their Bibles became highlighted, underlined and riddled with notes so somehow the thought of getting a new Bible instead of taking their battle-tested one to college just seemed to miss. But youth leaders began sharing with us how their students had responded to The Message. As we thought and prayed, it seemed that a GRAD-Bible bundle would really meet a need. We created the Grad-Pack so that youth leaders could give the GRAD CD and The Message as a double-impact gift.
In 2007, we wrote a new chapter in the GRAD Story. We gathered more video than ever and placed it all on a second disc (DVD). Our video was highlighted by a 50 minute “webisode” hosted by Grad Guy (our overly web-connected host). Grads got to hear from other grads, got “lessons learned” videos from the class of ’06, artist video greetings and wisdom, college ministry weblinks, and even PDF’s from the coolest graduation books ever written.
In 2008, EVERYTHING changed with ConGRADulations! We moved from the standard Two Discs in a Jewel Case to the CD-DVD-Gift Book-Gift Package format. Now most of the great messages that are on the Music CD and Media DVD have elements in the 48 Page Gift Book. All the song lyrics are in the Gift Book. Excerpts from the grad to grad video segments are in the Gift Book. Pieces from the previous grad advice videos are in the Gift Book. Excerpts from the artist and speaker advice on the Media DVD are also included in the Gift Book. All this plus fun graphic design that grabs a grad’s attention. As we say, “If you are looking for a hard-hitting, low-cost grad gift, this one has it all!!”
All of us here at interlínc hope that you’ve been able to see and hear our heart in making ConGRADulations all these years. Our true hope is that this class of graduates holds on steadfast to their relationship with Christ and that some discover Him for the first time as they launch out on their own. Our desire is that ConGRADulations! is more than a gift, we really want it to be a tool to both celebrate an important life milestone and to keep grads encouraged in their faith.
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