When I think of a welcoming Youth Ministry, the word that comes to mind immediately is inclusivity. How do we build a place everyone wants to be a part of and make them feel heard, seen, and cared about? You can probably think of a student off the top of your head that is an outlier in your group. Whether it’s their choice or maybe a social barrier holds them back, let’s brainstorm some ways to make sure we are modeling how Jesus might approach Youth Ministry.
The first step is to assess your ministry. This is tough because, for most of us, we’ve spent time shaping our groups’ physical environment, social atmosphere, and even reputation. We may be a little biased or perhaps a little overly critical of our ministries. With that in mind, though, think about a typical meeting time for your group. When a new person walks through the door, will they know what to do, where to go, who to talk to, etc? What is the language like when a person walks in? Is it gimmicky so that only those who know know, or does it make sense for the new person? What are your demographics like? Are your leaders representative of your students? These are just some ideas for where to start looking!
After we assess, we have to come up with a game plan! Do you need new signs, more leaders, more smiling faces? Here are a few ideas to get you started.
- Youth leader training: Question one is, are you meeting with your leaders outside of the 5 minutes before kids get there? Question two is are you training them to be well-rounded leaders? It’s easy to focus on the spiritual aspects of leading in Youth Ministry and forget about the social. Yes, we need to train leaders to lead from the Bible, ask good questions, and disciple their students, but we also need to train them to smile, talk to students (not just other adults), meet with students, and engage with students.
- Signage and flow: The next time you have a Youth Group meeting, take a few minutes to walk the space like someone who has never been there. Be honest and see if you can make any improvements to your space that will help someone feel welcome, and like they know what they’re supposed to do. No one likes to enter a new environment and feel out of place or lost.
- Programming and events: We get comfortable with our group, and we can often relax and not think about what our programs feel like from a new perspective. Be aware of the church/Youth Group lingo you use when you talk to your students. Don’t talk to them like they’re dumb, but remember to explain things and not assume everyone knows. A couple of other quick thoughts and considerations would be dietary, cultural, physical, and financial.
There are always going to be areas that we can improve on, but hopefully, we can keep striving to be better for all of the students in our group. If we’re willing to ask ourselves (or even outside opinions) the tough questions about the people and spaces we care about, we should be on track to make those people and spaces what they need to be for the students we care about.
My last thought is for those of you who are a little bit like me and are thinking, WHY?! Why do I need to spend time on this stuff? Aren’t there groups out there for everybody? Whatever your questions/reasons may be, let me just say this. You have been called to serve the Lord in this ministry and that is a very high calling! You now have a responsibility to the students who walk through the doors of your church. If you aren’t doing everything in your power to serve them well, are you taking your calling seriously? That’s a question I had to ask myself about midway through my ministry. It was a tough inward examination and it took time, prayer, and other people to help me get out of the way and put students and their spiritual future back at the forefront.
Kyle Wood
Director of Operations and Communication
Photo by Austin Chan on Unsplash