What We Don’t Always Factor When Building A Youth Ministry

As Labor Day approaches I’ll be starting my second full year of youth ministry at my current church. Starting over is an interesting process, it’s reminded me:

• Communication is key to get anything moving
• You need a team to reach the next generation
• To make any changes you need to stay connected with God

It doesn’t matter if you are new to youth ministry or have been in the trenches for years, a leader should always be learning or else they’ll grow ineffective quickly. As I mentioned, I’ve been learning a lot over the years and as I go into year 14 these three truths have made themselves evident:

TRUTH #1: Building a youth ministry happens in phases

We’re constantly looking for that silver bullet to change things around. The truth is change takes time and not only does it takes time, but it takes intentional planning. If you want a healthy youth ministry you need to break it into phases, for example:

• Identifying your ultimate outcome – What is it God is calling you to do?
• Knowing your congregation and community – What obstacles stand in the way of reaching them for Christ?
• Developing a core team and putting together a process of recruiting volunteers
• Implementing BETA test programs that you can adapt and evaluate

Give each phase a timeline, and evaluate it like crazy. Don’t be afraid to make changes, but remember this all can take time.

TRUTH #2: We should recruit and delegate like we are leaving next week

You might not have any intentions of leaving your church soon, but you should still approach it like you are leaving next week. You never know what life will bring and there will be seasons when you need to step back. When my wife and I were expecting our first child I wanted to be able to take time to be home with family. I had to make sure the program could run on it’s own. Even if you don’t have a family you should feel like you can take a step back for vacation or just to look at the ministry in a different light.

To replace yourself start asking your leaders to own parts of the ministry that fall on your plate. Focus on coaching them to perform those roles, provide feedback and empower them to take it to the next level. As a leader you should be apprenticing your team, it not only builds bench strength but makes sure the youth ministry continues to grow even in your absence.

TRUTH #3: Youth ministry goes beyond the youth group

I think too much of our energy goes towards a weekly youth gathering. Our purpose as youth ministers is to prepare the next generation to be the church. That not only means teaching them how to navigate through life, but be a part of the local church.

To do that we need to focus on getting teens serving inside the local church and the community that surrounds it. We need to give them a seat at the table when it comes to our councils, and committees. Teens should have access to making certain decisions and leading initiatives outside the youth ministry. To get that rolling sit down with your pastor and staff leadership to:

• Identify teens that could serve in a leadership role
• Find adults who could mentor them along the way
• Look at different resources and experiences that would help these teens grow as leaders

A youth ministry that goes beyond the youth group is one that is not only investing in the future but the current church as well.

Youth ministry is a process that never ends. If you expect to reach a point where you can put it into auto pilot you’ll only find yourself burning out or growing more ineffective. Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box, to challenge yourself to grow and to learn something new.

What is something you’ve recently learned about growing a healthy youth ministry?

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