Jill started coming to youth group in year 7. She loves hanging out with her friends but sometimes the games are lame and the Bible teaching can be a bit boring. What’s it going to take to get someone like Jill from a current youth group attendee to a future youth group leader? If we want deep, lasting fruit then we need to realise that youth ministry is much larger than what happens on a Friday night.
Friday Night Is More Than Just the Bible Teaching
Youth ministry is more than just running a Friday night youth group. And it’s even about more than the Bible talk. Bible teaching is an indispensable part of a gospel-centred youth program. God grows his people through the Word of God brought to bear on hearts and lives by the power of the Spirit and in answer to our prayers. A healthy youth group has solid Bible teaching as a central part of its main meetings.
However, Bible teaching is necessary but not sufficient. If we focus all of our attention just on the Bible teaching we are neglecting the other parts of the evening that contribute towards deep discipleship. Discipleship happens during games as you teach youth to win humbly and lose graciously. Discipleship happens around the snacks and in the carpark waiting with them for their parents to arrive, as you listen to their struggles at home and school. The talk may not be the thing that will have the most spiritual impact on some of our youth this coming Friday night. If we focus all of our attention on the talk or Bible study, as important as that is, we’re going to miss that important conversation that we should have had.
Youth Ministry Leadership Is About More Than Just the Youth
We can’t expect our leaders to effectively disciple the youth if no one is deepening their discipleship, too. Where do your leaders have an opportunity to apply the Bible to their lives before they think about applying it to others? Do they regularly come to church? Is there a devotion or teaching time for the leaders? Is there any time for encouragement and prayer together? Are they involved in a church small group or a one-to-one discipling relationship?
Youth Ministry Is More Than Just Friday Nights
We have to think beyond just those two hours on a Friday night. Do you need to do some 1-to-1s or shoot some hoops with the youth? You should think about what you do on a Sunday and at other times during the week and how they contribute to the discipleship of your youth. Is there a Sunday program for youth or a youth Bible study for year 7–9s or a growth group for the year 10–12s? Do you need to start a monthly worship night? Can the youth leaders provide resources to help parents, relatives and carers to minister to their teens at home? It’s worth asking the question. If you think that youth ministry begins and ends on a Friday night then you’re missing out on pretty big opportunities to disciple your youth and potentially hindering the growth that could happen.
Youth Ministry Is More Than Just a Term
How does a kid in year 1 grow in their maturity in Christ so that when they are in their twenties they are a faithful committed Christian who can be trusted to lead and serve in formal or informal ministry?
Initially parents, and close family and friends will be doing much of the discipling. This will be supplemented by the children’s program and possibly input during the week if they go to a Christian school. But what happens to them as they get older? And if they become regulars at youth group what happens when they leave school and turn eighteen? Is there anything for them to make these transitions? Thinking about this pathway helps us ensure continuity and proactive discipleship throughout a child’s entire school life. It works towards them becoming an adult member of the church community.
Our leadership planning meetings should therefore think bigger. Don’t just make the meeting about planning the next term—take time to think about this larger pathway. Further, use the meeting itself to invest in the future: use that meeting to train your leaders.
Youth Ministry Leadership Is About More Than Just the Current Leaders
You could consider inviting some of your year 10–12s to join your team meetings. It doesn’t matter that they’re not leaders—what you’re doing is investing money in the bank to be used later. Meanwhile, they will be your sleeper agents at youth group. They will begin to grasp the vision of youth ministry, some will begin to disciple the younger youth. They might not even realise they’re doing it but, bit by bit, by God’s grace, that unconscious activity will turn into a deliberate choice as they choose to disciple those around them.
Let’s return to Jill, now in year 11. Last year she started going along to the youth Bible study and she really loves it. She’s built strong friendships with others in the group and she has never studied the Bible like this before. They don’t avoid difficult passages and it’s helped her to see that she can read the Bible for herself. She’s also started coming along to the leaders meetings. She enjoys hanging out with the young adult leaders. She finds the training really interesting and she’s starting to see that being a Christian is about growing in maturity in Christ and helping others to do that too. Now, when she attends on Friday night she doesn’t go just to hang out with her friends, she goes to help others know and love Jesus. The games are still lame and the Bible teaching is still sometimes boring but she knows that youth ministry is about much more than that—it’s about Jesus.
