When I started out in ministry I outsourced a lot of my messages. What that meant is that I would purchase message series and adapt them for my program. As the years moved on I became more comfortable with message development. Our message series were powerful, the students engaged in the topics and conversations thrived in small groups. There was nothing apparently wrong with how we were developing messages; however, it wasn’t until we adopted the value of one church one message that our student ministries really started to go deeper.
As a youth minister you are always looking ways to partner up with parents and go deeper with students. While communicating what is happening in your student ministry is important one of the best ways to bring the family together is through a one church one message approach. This approach basically allows:
- Intergenerational Discipleship
- The Conversation To Continue On The Ride Home
- Gives Parents An Awareness Of What Their Children Are Hearing
- Unites The Church Together
To get started on this strategy in your youth ministry you need to:
- Know Your Target Audience: Who are you trying to reach? And be specific about it. Identify one person or a specific group that will naturally lead the others that surround them. In our high school ministry that’s a senior guy. Once you understand your audience you’ll be able to adapt any message themes or topics your church decides to explore.
- Work With Big Church And Little Church: To be one church one message you need to be able to work with the adult community (Big Church) and the children’s ministry (Little Church). You do this by understanding their target audience, vision, mission and strategy. In student ministry you need to build off of what kids are learning and translate what adults are hearing. This way you are crafting the message for each age group.
- Make Your Message Available: While your message is targeted for teenagers, make sure adults (Especially parents) are able to access it. The more people who get to hear it, the more it will become a part of the conversations. If parents listen to what their teens are hearing you’ve given them an open door into a conversation. If adults know what you are saying to the next generation they’ll see how you are investing in them.
To be one church with the same message takes teamwork, cooperation and collaboration. It’s not something you can easily accomplish overnight; however, the more you do it the more you build momentum in your church.
Do you agree with the one church one message approach? Share your thoughts.