the break up... the break down

It is difficult to know what to do at times when your youth group is smaller and you are committed to growing students deeper in their devotion to Jesus. In answer to the question that has been posted about groups and how to break them up, I have some solutions... some have worked and others have been tested.

First, I am working from the perspective that the following are true for your ministry... and two myths need to be broken. I really hope in some strange way, this answers the questions. Hold on! And I apologize for the length of this entry up front, but please keep reading.

First the perspective!

the breakdown: All your leaders have gone through some type of criminal background check/child abuse check. If this is not true, do you know the times we are living in and what is holding you back from keeping your leaders and students safe? Also, you are committed to reaching students through small group discussion with middle school and high school groups meeting separately. The "large group of all the students together all the time for every thing" mentality did not work when I was in youth group in 1980. Why would we believe it works today! This isn't how we educate our kids in school and it's not effective for our students in a ministry setting.

Second, the myths.

the breakup:

Myth #1: "Small groups shouldn't be too small. If we don't have 10 kids for a group we should keep all the kids together." In my experience this myth is created by adults who are scared to meet with students. Some of my best youth group moments have been with mentoring two or three guys in a group. If you have two kids to a group with one leader. This is a great way to begin small group discussion. If you want the small group discussion to be more meaningful, break your kids into same-sex groups by grade (middle school students in their groups; high school students in their groups). In our ministry, we have 6th grade girls in one group, 7/8 grade girls in another group, middle school guys in a group, etc.

Myth #2: "Because we have such a small youth group, we can get by with one or two leaders who rotate in a schedule." I think you need one leader for every 5 students who you have, and if you have wide age ranges to cover, find committed leaders for each age group. I think sometime we get non-committed leaders because we don't require enough from them; we don't want to trouble them and so we set our vision and expectations too low. I thank my leaders all the time for their time in changing kids lives and making a "kingdom" impact on them. If you "pitch" your need with positive conviction and a powerful vision, people will want to join you in your efforts to change lives. I actually believe that you may need more volunteers than what you currently have no matter how big of small your ministry is...

Bonus myth: "I don't have any student leaders who can lead the lesson. They can lead the game time but I really don't have any "spiritual giants" in my ministry." Generally, I think we are afraid to let students lead because we don't want them to spew any incorrect theology or information to other students. Or, they may get kids too excited and out of control which will bother the "Willing Workers" class that meets next door. If you have a wide range of ages, what about taking a risk and letting a senior lead a few freshman in a discussion... with an adult consultant somewhere close by if not right there. Or, what about an 8th grader leading a middle school group? What about letting two 6th graders leading a 5th grade class? When did we lose confidence in our students? When did we stop being the risk takers that all of Christendom believes every youth worker is any way? I say, let the students lead and you mentor and coach them in a small group meeting time before the Sunday lesson time.

Too long to share an experience I had this summer at another church out of the state... suffice it to say that they made a bold decision to invest in a few student leaders and their youth ministry exploded in growth and spiritual awakening. And, as scary as it sounds, not many adults were hanging around. 400 students and 3 youth pastors; the rest were student leaders.

the breakdown? learn to "break up" your group into the body of Christ and watch what the Holy Spirit does in your midst. Take some risks this year and find peace!

Question for Tim about Mixed Age Groups

Hi Tim!    Jane and I have collaborated on a question for you:

What advice do you have for those youth workers who have a mixed age group?  7th to 12th or even 6th to 12th!!

We receive many requests here at the PRC about small groups of  wide age span.  For instance -- 1 sixth grader, 2 eighth graders, a freshman and a senior.  What do I do?  How do I make things relevant?  How do I minister to them? 

Any ideas?  Words of encouragement? 

Welcome Jane!

Welcome back to Jane Kintzi!  Jane returns to the Parish Resource Center as a consultant and we are delighted.  Jane served as a consultant here at the PRC from 1993 to 2007, and tended our Youth Ministry area.  Jane joins our online blogging discussion! 

the beginning of a new school year!

The question has been asked about my experiences with hot to transition or welcome the incoming students in an effective and impactful way. To be honest, this is one of the areas of student ministry that I have struggled with over the years, especially as it relates to the size of your student ministry. I have worked in healthy growing churches where our student ministry was thriving... the challenge was always to make a smaller group of students fit into and feel accepted by the larger crowd; a tough challenge in any organization. I have worked in smaller churches which struggled to draw a crowd of any sizable amount and the lack of enthusiasm for the incoming students was palpable. What to do as we approach another new school year and another season to welcome the new incoming class into our ministries?

Of one thing I am sure of... and Doug Fields has always been right on target with this nugget of truth. Find adults and older students to be in relationship/friendship with your new "class" who absolutely "love Jesus and like students"! Our kids deserve adults in their lives who like them for who they are and are not always feeling the need to change them over to mature Christian leaders from the very first moment in the very first meeting. You know when your team of adult leaders are connecting with students... they are talking with and laughing with the students rather than standing around at the edge of the room talking with each other. If adults volunteers show up to your meetings and talk with each other and only talk with the kids when it is time for the "lesson" you need to find some new adult leaders!

On the program side of things, I have always designated a "special Sunday" where we welcome the new students and their parents to the ministry. I have tried to put a fresh spin on the classic idea of "promotion Sunday". Usually, I designate the time slot when the youth group usually meets and we take the kids for the morning and help them get to know their new friends at church through a variety of mixer games and teachable moments involving our scripture focus that drives our ministry. (Do you have a scripture passage that your student ministry claims as its guiding force? Do you have a mission, vision and value statements which drive the direction of your ministry? More on that later!) I usually spend the morning with parents sharing the "nuts and bolts" of the ministry and I try to cast vision so that they will "buy into" the direction we are going and they will want to jump in and help! Usually late that same Sunday, we have a big event for Middle school students and High school students, separately. In the off chance that people are really busy on the "kick-off" Sunday, then we spend the afternoon together... usually outside and some cool park, etc. playing games, eating food, and learning to make new friends. I want the whole day/time together to be a celebration of community and what God is doing in our lives!

It hasn't always gone smoothly but I hope over the years kids have felt welcomed and loved. That is all I really want out of the first couple months as new kids assimilate into our ministry... they will learn to love God, feel that love and be accepted by others on the journey. I would love to hear what you all do to welcome the incoming students into your ministry... let me know! Great ideas in youth ministry are always "borrowed" and tweaked! Celebrate the new beginning of another new school year. Peace