The magical secret to getting youth involved at church
A discussion that sometimes crops up in youth ministry circles are questions around how to get youth involved in church. How do we make them feel included and that they matter? I’ve heard of Youth Sundays, Youth bands, and the like. Those are not bad things necessarily… But sometimes I think we over complicate things.
Why do youth need a special group or weekend in order to serve? Why can’t they just… serve?
To the left is a (really bad iPad) picture of our sound booth on Saturday night. Our booth requires 3 people to operate, generally. Here we have our lights guy (10 years old), our sound tech (16 years old), and hidden behind the screens is our projection person (12 years old). On Sunday morning we had an 11 year old on bass at one site, and a 15 year old on keys at another site. Of our 20 children’s volunteers, 1 was a high schooler, 3 were middle schoolers, and 2 were grade 5 kids. I am sure kids and youth were also a part of our hospitality teams (I don’t have that in front of me right now).
I honestly don’t even notice this usually, as it’s so commonplace to have youth involved in ministry on the weekends. All generations are equally a part of our church family, so we all work together. But after talking with other church leaders, I realize we are somewhat unique. As I watched the teams this weekend I thought “I should blog about this”.
Why should youth be serving at church?
Pretty much all the same reasons why everyone should be serving. 1 Corinthians 12 talks about spiritual gifts, and how each of us have a role to play in the body of Christ. I don’t see anything about an age limit. As youth begin to grow in their understanding of what it means to follow Jesus, the church should be discipling them through teaching, small groups, and serving opportunities. What better place for kids to learn what serving is than within the loving community of their church family!
How do I get youth involved in our serving teams?
Get them on the schedule! ;) Here are 5 things I’ve learned as we’ve gotten even more intentional about youth being involved:
1) Schedule families together if you can
We know parents are the #1 faith influencers on their children. So let’s put families in a position to live out their faith together. Many parents who serve in hospitality bring their kids to be greeters. The 3 gentleman in the sound booth last Saturday each had a parent on stage in the worship team. As soon as kids graduate elementary, I am on them and their parents to see if they’d like to serve together in Nursery or Pre-K. We have seen incredible strengthening of faith@home and family relationships through these serve opportunities!
2) Keep an age gap between the ministry leaders/helpers and kids in the ministry
I think this is important so you don’t have friendships/peer pressure coming in the way of leadership. There needs to be enough of a divide that the younger can see the older as truly a leader. At TJC, Middle Schoolers can serve in Nursery or Pre-K. You have to be at least Gr 9 to serve in elementary, at least Gr 12 to serve in Middle School, and at least 20 years old to serve in High School. Figure out what works in your context… but I don’t think a Gr. 6 would do well in an Elementary class.
3) Hold youth accountable (just like you would adults)
We have ministry descriptions for all volunteer positions at our church. A grade 6 has the same obligation as an adult in their serving space. If they can’t come on their week, they have to find a replacement. They are expected to do the job as outlined in the ministry description. Offer them encouragement, feedback, training… the whole deal. Which leads to…
4) Help youth find the right fit
Youth are still figuring themselves out… they may have no idea what their spiritual gifts are, or what they even like to do. Occasionally I’ve had a Middle Schooler serving in the Nursery, only to find out they can’t stand crying babies. Or a High Schooler helping with Bible at VBS who gets super bored doing the same station 3 times in a row. Let kids try out a ministry, and if they don’t excel (or sometimes, aren’t mature enough to be in that role) then let them try another area. And finally (but probably most importantly)…
5) Ensure they have a mentor
Youth serving alone is not a good idea. The best way to learn a ministry is to be working alongside someone else. All of the youth who served on Sunday had at least one adult with them. The youth help, and are given leadership of a portion as they are ready, so eventually they can be the main leader when they’re older. Throwing 4 Middle Schoolers into your nursery and calling it a day is not the way to do it! Encourage your adult leaders to see their relationship with their team members (including the youth leaders) as just as critical a ministry as the area they’re serving in. These relationships will help the youth get more confident in their role, while also providing other adult Christian voices in their life (which helps youth stay connected to church!).
The more youth feel like they play a role in what’s happening at your church, the more vibrant their faith will become. Who knows — your next Lead Pastor could be a Gr. 6 lights operator!
Why do youth need a special group or weekend in order to serve? Why can’t they just… serve?
Why should youth be serving at church?
Pretty much all the same reasons why everyone should be serving. 1 Corinthians 12 talks about spiritual gifts, and how each of us have a role to play in the body of Christ. I don’t see anything about an age limit. As youth begin to grow in their understanding of what it means to follow Jesus, the church should be discipling them through teaching, small groups, and serving opportunities. What better place for kids to learn what serving is than within the loving community of their church family!
How do I get youth involved in our serving teams?
Get them on the schedule! ;) Here are 5 things I’ve learned as we’ve gotten even more intentional about youth being involved:
1) Schedule families together if you can
We know parents are the #1 faith influencers on their children. So let’s put families in a position to live out their faith together. Many parents who serve in hospitality bring their kids to be greeters. The 3 gentleman in the sound booth last Saturday each had a parent on stage in the worship team. As soon as kids graduate elementary, I am on them and their parents to see if they’d like to serve together in Nursery or Pre-K. We have seen incredible strengthening of faith@home and family relationships through these serve opportunities!
2) Keep an age gap between the ministry leaders/helpers and kids in the ministry
I think this is important so you don’t have friendships/peer pressure coming in the way of leadership. There needs to be enough of a divide that the younger can see the older as truly a leader. At TJC, Middle Schoolers can serve in Nursery or Pre-K. You have to be at least Gr 9 to serve in elementary, at least Gr 12 to serve in Middle School, and at least 20 years old to serve in High School. Figure out what works in your context… but I don’t think a Gr. 6 would do well in an Elementary class.
3) Hold youth accountable (just like you would adults)
We have ministry descriptions for all volunteer positions at our church. A grade 6 has the same obligation as an adult in their serving space. If they can’t come on their week, they have to find a replacement. They are expected to do the job as outlined in the ministry description. Offer them encouragement, feedback, training… the whole deal. Which leads to…
4) Help youth find the right fit
Youth are still figuring themselves out… they may have no idea what their spiritual gifts are, or what they even like to do. Occasionally I’ve had a Middle Schooler serving in the Nursery, only to find out they can’t stand crying babies. Or a High Schooler helping with Bible at VBS who gets super bored doing the same station 3 times in a row. Let kids try out a ministry, and if they don’t excel (or sometimes, aren’t mature enough to be in that role) then let them try another area. And finally (but probably most importantly)…
5) Ensure they have a mentor
Youth serving alone is not a good idea. The best way to learn a ministry is to be working alongside someone else. All of the youth who served on Sunday had at least one adult with them. The youth help, and are given leadership of a portion as they are ready, so eventually they can be the main leader when they’re older. Throwing 4 Middle Schoolers into your nursery and calling it a day is not the way to do it! Encourage your adult leaders to see their relationship with their team members (including the youth leaders) as just as critical a ministry as the area they’re serving in. These relationships will help the youth get more confident in their role, while also providing other adult Christian voices in their life (which helps youth stay connected to church!).
The more youth feel like they play a role in what’s happening at your church, the more vibrant their faith will become. Who knows — your next Lead Pastor could be a Gr. 6 lights operator!
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