how to revive a dying youth ministry

Are you interceding on behalf of teenagers? Emphasize two basic goals: growing the youth group to reach more students, and creating a ministry that the students will enjoy. We finally put a stake in the ground and declared that we would focus on reaching middle-income young families with children. The long and short of it is, younger members will be more comfortable if you act like someone your age, rather than trying to pass as a 16-year-old. Never let your group know what's coming next. Ministry is God-given responsibility. Wasnt this Jesus strategy? ", "The things that I have gotten here will help me in my new department in my church. "But about 90 percent of them have no strategy for how they will do it.". Here are six principles to start the student ministry ball rolling. This will not only take the pressure off of you to read their minds, but it will also help them feel like theyre an active part of the youth ministry and its future. Lord, we desire for our friends, families, and neighbors to be open and to seek and find the truth of the. Develop key documents. 4. If your group is not coming to you, go where they are. With that in mind, here are five best practices taken from real church leaders (and me, a former youth group member and leader) to help you build strong relationships with the youth in your ministry and keep them eager to come to church. It worked out pretty well. The only problem was, we didnt know how to do this. Start taking prayer walks or shutting your door for 30 minutes a day or whatever you have to do to start making intercessory prayer a personal priority. We felt like we were drinking from a fire hydrant, but at least the water was refreshing! I didn't want to go to . Humility leads you to a place of asking questions instead of blaming others for your predicament. Transformed world. It is possible to build a lasting youth ministry that has a powerful impact on the lives of many students if you lay down the right foundation first. If not, it might be time for a shakeup. Student discipleship doesn't need to be fancy. Inspire and equip your teenagers to clearly share the gospel. The good news is that when you decide to become laser-focused on your target, you get better at reaching them. Last Updated: October 11, 2022 If the culture of your youth ministry isnt healthy, change it before it changes the people working within it. If a youth ministry is not interesting in growing, by default, it is interested in dying. The gospel advances through on-fire teenagers and youth leaders into classrooms, cliques and school cafeteria tables. Mark DeVries (M.Div., Princeton Theological Seminary) is the founder of Youth Ministry Architects, a consulting team that assists churches in building sustainable youth ministries (www.ymarchitects.com). Identify and recruit the 10%ers to join you. Youth bring hope. In 2006, I accepted the role of senior pastor at Foothill Christian Center, a nominal Pentecostal church running about 140 people. Give yourself enough time to rest, as well. No, their probably not as trust worthy as you, but trust them anyway. Encourage the friend base to grow. Ministry to young people must include ministry to their parents and the family unit as a whole in whatever form it comes (eg. In a revi, the book has been written, approved, codified, and embedded in every structure and system (or lack thereof) for years. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 261,061 times. If yourebehind, you can start HERE. Make one small change after another and trust that, slowly but surely, bigger changes will result. But down deep inside we want to taze their cold hearts into beating hard and hot after God. Drew has more than a decade of experience managing successful integrated marketing programs to build brands, raise awareness, and generate demand. If someone leaves a gay relationship to enter the church, they should find more love and not less. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and went out and spoke the Word of God boldly. The building was shaken with the power of intercessory prayer and then the city was shaken with the power of the gospel message. Hoping to learn more from wikiHow. Get them involve in the planning and execution. Then the city shook with the power of the gospel message. Reviving a dying church will require making some tough decisions. It's risk free. The parable of the Sower reinforces this principle in a powerful way. Yes, there are cycles, ups and downs and seasons, but there are some youth ministries that are just plain dying. Some students leave youth groups because they think the standards are too high but some leave because the standards are not high enough. Get acquainted with the music kids spend their time listening to. He has trained youth workers on five continents and has taught courses or been a guest lecturer at a number of colleges and seminaries. If you're one of these youth pastors whose youth group is in decline, I feel for you. 3. We tried for months to reach the families in the homes surrounding our church. The application for how to revive a dying youth ministry? "Scanning what other churches are doing can be helpful, but it can also derail you from your calling. Every day, decide what your most important priorities will be, and focus on them. So, I am putting my notes, along with some extra commentary, for anyone who would like to use it with Apr 18, 2023 | New Resource, programming, small groups, Youth Worker Training. Do you pray as a staff for them? We are not a megachurch, and we are certainly not the coolest church, but we are a healthy church. 1. One of the very first things I did was to gather the core couples together on a weekend retreat. Editor's Note: The following is a report on the practical applications of Mark DeVries'new book,Sustainable Youth Ministry: Why Most Youth Ministry Doesn't Last and What Your Church Can Do About It, (IVP Books, 2008). Jesus didnt call the masses to discipleship, he called whom he wanted one by one and two by two and that is where your youth ministrys come back begins. Youth who are incredibly unstoppable in every aspect of life. We didnt rocket to thousands by dressing cool and throwing in a band. They left Jesus because they didnt want to put the mental or spiritual work to understand. A declining youth ministry is hard on the soul but revival is possible. It was a real fixer-upper if you know what I mean. The joy of our salvation should drive the excitement of our sanctification! Develop a pool of potential recruits including a name of a potential volunteer beside each open position and diligently make phone calls until you find the people you need. Some people will leave. By taking advantage of the best youth group ideas for small churches, it is possible for religious leaders to implement youth development activities that can help make a . In order to get your church moving in the right direction, you need to figure out which direction to go! If this post gets you excited and you want more. 2021 All Rights Reserved. It has generated a whole lot of practical ideas to steer the youth, "Thank you for lessons which improve my knowledge about leading my ministry. (This is why we love the book of Acts by the wayits full of these kinds of stories!!!). the institution and members) and unite the entire church around the goal of alleviating the issue(s). Although we call them spiritual disciplines or habits, we cant let the check list mentality creep into our walk with God by becoming legalistic about it. Hang in there. Churches plateau and decline due to missional drift. Develop an organizational chart for the ministry. Get kids moving. When possible, make plans to travel there to see the culture firsthand and interact with the people you hope to minister to. Think clearly about what your ministry needs. It's easy for us to allow all sorts of things to distract us from our mission of sharing the gospel and making disciples. Or maybe the youth ministry you have just went south for a variety of reasons,none of which are your fault. I remember that Saturday morning as we talked about reaching new people, with tears in my eyes, saying, Guys, I have no idea how we will reach them, but if we will focus on the what, God will show us the how.. 2023 Acts 29. 23052 Alicia PKWY, Suite H #621 Before making any significant change, listen to peoples concerns and adjust your plans as necessary. Every five years or so, bring key stakeholders together to cast a fresh vision for the ministry. Build a master recruiting list by deciding how many volunteers the ministry needs for the coming year and who the most likely prospects are to call. I've been there. Scale brick walls. What God gave me was the grace to persevere. Dream boldly and ask God to breathe new life into the ministry. How to REVIVE Your MinistryIs your ministry dying? Go with the goers and pray for the others. check out my Ministry Minded coaching program. During student leadership meetings, pray for all youth group members and for revival at schools. Set expectations for problems to be solved gradually over the course of years instead of pursuing futile quick fixes. If you want to revive a dying church, narrow the focus around what is essential to your calling. You have to start believing you have a youth program thats worthy of an invitation. Thats why we let you try it free for two weeks. There have always been other choices for kids, even if it was just staying home. Map out the ministrys annual events on a calendar. Encourage them to start meeting. Its time for revival and it starts with you choosing to lead the way! Here's how you can build a youth ministry that's strong enough to last: Don't push the "easy button." It should be the standard operating practice of every believer. All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published. It is important to have a plan in place and to be prepared for the challenges that will come your way. Social time is excellent, and necessary, but don't overdo it to the point where the meetings may as well have taken place at the mall down the street. Translation? Rather than spending time trying to recruit a youth pastor with superstar qualities (like charisma, compassion, and creativity), build the kind of ministry infrastructure that will help any moderately gifted youth pastor thrive in his or her role. [Nine changes dying churches must make immediately]. People are responding to the gospel and getting connected into vital gospel community. 1. All Rights Reserved. Hire wisely. Make prayer for teens the first thing you do as a staff. 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