Why Youth Ministry Is Sales

There are a lot of great ways to advertise for your ministry (Check out my friends at Parishdesigner.com) but that’s only half the battle.  While marketing is important you need to know how to sell what you do.

Courtesy of renaissancechambara/Creative Commons License

I know sales and youth ministry seems wrong, but in reality there is a lot of noise competing for the time and attention of the next generation.  Not only are you trying to sell your teens on coming to church but adults to invest in the next generation.  They way to sell youth ministry and not your soul is by:

CONNECTING WITH PEOPLE

A huge part of sales is building relationships.  You cannot convince someone to serve in a ministry or come to your program if they do not trust you.  As a youth minister you need to make sure you are spending more time on relational building and less time on crafting the perfect curriculum.

BUYING WHAT YOU ARE SELLING

Are you sold out for your ministry?  Do you worship where you work?  If people see that you are not “ALL IN” and fully behind what you do then they won’t be convinced to follow.

If you are not satisfied with your ministry you need to work to improve it.  It does not have to be perfect but you should be in love with what you are doing and where you are working.

KNOWING AND UNDERSTANDING IT’S IMPACT

People are going to want to know why your ministry matters.  The answer is always in the vision.  If you want adults to serve and teens to attend you need to be able to show them why it matters in their lives.

Develop a vision for your ministry that clearly shows a different picture for their lives.  Memorize that vision and share it like crazy.  The more people buy into the vision the more they’ll see how it relates to their lives.

DEVELOPING ADVOCATES

You cannot relate to and reach everyone.  You need adults and teenagers to advocate on your behalf.  Help them learn the vision and encourage them to share their story.

When people see that others are on board they will want to follow.  They’ll see the impact it’s had on others and it could help them see how your ministry can impact their life.

Selling your ministry is really just addressing how you communicate and talk about your ministry.  Selling is not tricking people if you believe what you do matters.  It’s building relationships and inviting people to be a part of something that can change them for the better.