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 | Jonathan’s Resource Ezine |
Weekly Resources, Ideas and Articles from The Source for Youth Ministry
Wednesday, May 9, 2001
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| HOW CAN MY YOUTH GROUP GROW? Do Numbers Really Matter? |
May 9, 2001
One of the most frequent questions I am e-mailed is “How can my youth group grow and reach more people?”
In previous newsletters we have talked about group size. We?ve talked about the average youth group size being 12 and how we shouldn?t be discouraged with small numbers. One the other hand . . . are we to look at small youth group sizes that aren?t growing in number and simply shrug our shoulders? Should we justify it by saying “that?s okay- we?re growing spiritually- numbers don?t matter!”
NUMBERS MATTER?
Well, let me tell you, very often, “growth in numbers” is a good measuring stick of God doing something exciting. Look at the early church:
- Acts 2:47
. . .praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Acts 4:4
But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.
Acts 5:14
Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.
Acts 6:7
So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
- 1. Kids grow in their faith.
2. Their faith becomes contagious and they bring friends
3. Friends are reached with the Gospel and they begin to grow
4. Their faith becomes contagious and they bring friends
The process multiplies . . . do the math.
A small town like this usually only has a few students in the youth group. He brought me in and offered a two hour evangelism class for his student leaders . . . 18 students showed up! I?ve trained at churches 10 times that size and had fewer student leaders. How do some churches grow like that?
CUT TO THE CHASE JONATHAN! HOW CAN MY NUMBERS INCREASE?
1. P R A Y I N G: Start by praying- pray hard.
Ask God to increase your group size. Sure we all say we pray . . . but do we really pray? Take a time out each day to specifically pray for individual students and the friends they?ll reach. Pray for God?s direction in your programming and teaching.
2. K E E P I N G the kids you got!
Give the students you have something to bring their friends to. This means coming up with creative programming that students enjoy. Meet the needs of the students attending.
A lot of people take this one for granted. Why? Because it takes a lot of work. It takes a lot more work to arrange a bunch of vehicles for a video scavenger hunt. It takes a lot more work to find a video clip and set up all the media stuff to kick off a video discussion. It takes a lot of work to arrange an all nighter with laser tag, skating, a gym, etc. It takes a lot of work to prepare dynamic talks or put together a budget that brings in dynamic speakers. BUT IT?S WORTH IT!
That?s what I?ve dedicated JONATHAN?S RESOURCES to: providing you cutting edge games, video clips, activities, discussions and programming ideas for free. Can?t beat that with a stick!
Get them excited about what?s going on so they bring their friends to check it out.
So what should be “going on?” Make sure your ministry includes these basic essentials:
* Some event or program with a comfortable format to bring friends to. This might be a weekly program, just a once a month outreach, or this could be just certain events. The key: IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT “THE UNCHURCHED” NEVER FEEL LIKE THEY DON?T BELONG!
- * An opportunity to worship.
* Study of the scripture.
* Fellowship and fun.. Don?t neglect this! Students are going to have it one way or another- it may be up to you who they have it with.
Definition: meeting kids “where they are at” & getting to know them (discovering their physical, emotional, social & spiritual needs)
Guess what- your students aren?t the only ones who should be bringing students to youth group- you can meet students where they are at and build relationships with them. This doesn?t mean walk up to a kid for the first time with a flyer in your hand, this means hanging out with students because you love students. If you like basketball, find where students play basketball and play with them. If you know students like to skateboard, provide a place for them to skateboard. If your ministry reaches a certain campus, go to those sports games and meet students.
Once you contact students and get to know them, then you?ll find opportunities to invite them to youth group or church. A few ideas of where to contact:
- 1. On Campus- during lunch
2. School sports games
3. The local teen hang-out
4. Taco Bell across the street from the school
Contacting doesn?t stop outside of youth group. When students come to your weekly program, studies or events, use this as an opportunity to get to know them better.
- * being on their team during games
* shooting hoops, ping pong, whatever you have in your facility
* learning names, noticing their interests, asking them about their week
Definition: Hanging out with them, now that we know them (meeting their physical, emotional, social & spiritual needs)
Building relationships with students is one of the best time you and your staff can spend. My weekly staff meeting always included my staff reporting about their time with students that week. As we build relationships with them, we?ll find opportunities to share the Gospel, disciple them, and equip them to reach out.
Here?s some great “Building” activities:
- 1. Have them over to your house for movies, spa, games, etc.
2. Take them shopping.
( Use Small groups as part of your program to get to know student?s better and open doors to deeper conversation (read more in Jonathan?s article about small groups:
https://thesource4ym.com/howdoi/staffhtrasg.asp )
3. Take them to a “Kings” basketball game (I?m from Sacramento- give me a break!)
4. Laser Tag
5. Local mini-golf/video game places
6. Go to their house- meet parents/siblings
Notice the definition: “Creating a momentum of growth in your group.” Many of us don?t even talk about this- we talk about “advertising.” We make the mistake of thinking that advertising is simply handing out flyers or putting up posters. Cool fliers and posters and a big draw (food, activities, etc.) will not guarantee a good event. I saw a local church publish professional fliers and posters for an event that Ken Davis was going to speak at. Ken Davis is incredible . . . and not the cheapest speaker either. The church targeted all the churches in the city, hoping to bring thousands out. About 70 people showed up.
This kind of advertising is futile alone. We need to strategically plan our year with programs or events that give opportunities for your group to build up.
For example: if you?re going to do a big pizza event to bring out a bunch of kids to your Tuesday night program . . . don?t just start the year off with that event. Some of us start the year out cold turkey with our big event, putting everything we?ve got into that event like a baby rattlesnake injecting all his venom in one bite. Build a momentum. Start the year off bringing out as many students as you can, maybe that?s only eight students. Have them start bringing their friends. Build up the group?s size using events like “Manhunts” (see Jonathan?s Special Events and Activities:
https://thesource4ym.com/events ) and let them know the “pizza bash” is coming. Finally use the students, your most effective marketing tool, to bring back as many of their friends for that event. You can always offer incentives, like prizes for the person that brings the most friends, etc.
Once the momentum is built, you can feel free to advertise. Decide where the best place to do this is. If your purpose is to “reach unchurched kids for Christ,” then you don?t want to just announce it at youth group. You need to find a way to advertise on campus, or places that teens hang out in your area. Effectively communicate the draw (e.g. free pizza). Posters and flyers can work more effectively now that you?ve established a momentum. Offer incentives for students that bring the most friends.
DOES THIS REALLY WORK?
In 1993 I started a jr. high campus outreach with the following resources at my fingertips: no students, no staff, no facility and a lot of prayer.
God provided one kid- a girl named Tonya who had visited her cousin?s youth group where my friend happened to be speaking.
I called her up and told her about the fun stuff we were going to be doing. “Do you like the snow? We go on a snow trip every year. Do you like to water ski? We go on a water ski trip every year. Do you like pizza? We?re going to have a pizza feed for your school, all you can eat pizza for a buck?”
She was interested right away and she brought her brother and five friends to meet me in a pizza place- my treat! I asked all her friends the same questions, finding out what they like to do for fun. At the end of pizza- I handed them a flyer with a map to my house. I told them next week was our first meeting- free root beer floats.
The next week 12 kids came to my house. The original seven, minus one, plus six new friends who came for root beer floats. When they all got there I told them, we?re going to have root beer floats, but first, everyone get in a line and we started this game where you reach your hand in a bucket and try to pull out a bar of soap. Soapy water splashed everywhere- the students laughed and had a great time. We played three or four games and then broke out the root beer floats before they had a chance to complain. During root beer floats we again talked about all the activities we were going to be doing that year, including a PIZZA BASH in a few weeks. I told them that the next week we were going to have a great time as always and to try to bring friends.
The next week we had 22. The games got crazy, lamps got knocked over and my wife got nervous. Needless to say the next week we were in the garage . . . with 35 students. It was then that I announced the pizza bash was in only two weeks. The next week we had a few more. I announced that they should bring friends- and the person who brought the most friends would get a prize.
We had 45 students in my garage for the pizza feed. By this time I had several staff, people from my church who had heard about the exciting ministry in the garage.
Ministry continued in the garage for years. I tried talking to the school about running the program there (through Campus Life, who are on numerous campuses across the U.S.), but they always had an excuse why not. A few years later there was a change of a principal about the same time that some violence had broken out on campus. We had a positive reputation in the community- so the school board approached us about helping out with their situation. I told them that I could help if I had access to the campus.
Within a year we were in the cafeteria on Wednesday nights with 200 students showing up. We came on at lunch, visited with kids, played ball, etc. God opened the doors and ministry took off.
So go for it. Start with prayer . . . and get ready to see what God will do!
If you have youth ministry ideas you want to share, please email me at jon@thesource4ym.com
God Bless!
Jonathan R. McKee
Jonathan McKee
Jonathan McKee is the author of over twenty books including the brand new The Guy's Guide to FOUR BATTLES Every Young Man Must Face; The Teen’s Guide to Social Media & Mobile Devices; If I Had a Parenting Do Over; and the Amazon Best Seller - The Guy's Guide to God, Girls and the Phone in Your Pocket. He speaks to parents and leaders worldwide, all while providing free resources for youth workers on TheSource4YM.com. Jonathan, his wife Lori, and their three kids live in California.