Starting a Youth Group from Scratch...?

Things to keep in mind when starting a youth group

He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, 

so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.

-Colossians 1:28-

Proclaiming Christ risen, teaching faithfully from the Word, in order that we might present young people fully matured in Christ - this must the goal of youth ministry.

Just taken your first role? Buillding a youth ministry from scratch? Here's some general principles to think about - not an extensive list, but significant all the same.

1. Create and set the culture carefully making it Christ centred in how people love & relate to one another and how the Word of God is taught. To read a full article about how to create and sustain culture in youth ministry, click here. Be careful about banter & cliques, not at the expense of great fun but in an attempt to be different from the world. We're called to be set apart.

2. Prioritise church! Weird advice I know... but don’t establish something that will seek to substitute the place of church in the hearts of the young people. Help them to know & love the fact that the local church is where Christ places His people & whilst age specific groups are great for age appropriate discipleship they are not the church. Don’t compete with church; where appropriate, join with the church family for fellowship meals, prayer meetings, weekends away etc.

3. Focus on building really robust relationships with Jesus at the centre. If our young people are going to stand for Jesus in the world, they’ll face persecution, exclusion & even cancellation. It’s going to make a world of difference for them to have really great Christ centred relationships at church. Think about the kind of activities you do - will the young people just play alongside each other or have a chance to really get to know each other. Think about how you’ll use small groups as part of your youth group, enabling them to build relationships. Help the young people to develop a culture of praying with and for each other. Encourage them to strive to present each other mature in Christ & not just rely on the leaders.

4. Continue to prioritise parents as the primary disciplers of their children. That impacts how you communicate with parents, how you speak about parents & the kind of topics you chose to cover in youth group (so as not to usurp the parental responsibility to disciple their kids in specific areas). Can you include parents in every youth group? For ideas on how to include and partner more with parents in youth ministry, click here.

5. Resist activities that are gender stereotyping - like a pamper night for the girls & a footy night for the boys. In today’s confusing world of identity politics we need to be so careful to present a contrasting environment for our young people. Try to do things that are levelling & inclusive.

6. Try to include a good balance of talks & Bible study with discussion. It’s going to be really important to allow the young people to really interact with what’s being taught. Gen Z look like they’re listening really well, but in a relativistic world that simply indicates that they’re scanning for ‘their truth’. Discussion allows us to discover & engage with their worldviews much more effectively. 

7. What you win the young people with you will keep them with! So think carefully about what your USP is. We also know that what’s nurtured in youth ministry often emerges in the adult congregation 15 years later (positively & negatively). What you teach the young people to love they will seek to replicate when they become leaders, elders & pastors etc. 

8. Have the Bible teaching central to what you do. Think about how you’re going to prepare the young people to engage well with the Bible teaching & then how you’re going to help them to apply the Word to their lives. It’s pretty hard to settle down & engage well with a talk if you’ve been playing crazy games for an hour. But if you’ve had some time of crazy games followed by some introductory activities to the theme/topic/passage, you’re going to have a much higher chance of them actually engaging well. Think about the post talk activities then to encourage them to apply the Word to their hearts & pray it into their lives. 

9. Consider a curriculum according to the needs of your young people. If they’re ordinarily in church listening to the sermon what else do they need in their discipleship diet? Bible overview, biblical ethics, apologetics training, epistles, etc. Evalute the landscape of your young people and teach accordingly. I'd strongly suggest always writing your own curriculum material over using something pre-written. It's better training, more specific to your young people, and teaches you before your young people. You give out of what you have - be filled and taught first before you teach others out of the overflow of your heart.

10. Train and equip your teams well. Invest in them personally. Get to know them and run sessions on how to write talks and studies, how to lead small groups, what sort of questions they can be asking young people on a regular basis. Help your leaders to work incredibly hard at illustration & application.
    
    

[Articles below coming soon]
- For training on how to write talks, click here
- For training on how to write Bible studies, click here
- For a list of conversation starters with young people, click here
- For an overview about how to recruit volunteers safely, click here
- For an overview about to invest in and grow your leaders, click here

11. Help the young people to get to know their leaders well & especially in their love for Jesus. Young people are looking for authenticity & want to see that Christianity as a system of belief works. Help your leaders to appropriately & honestly talk about their faith in a way that propels the young people further in their walk with Jesus. Think about having consistent small group leaders so the young people chat with the same leaders every week/month.  

12. Set up a little lending library to encourage them to read great books. Young people read. Honestly. Whether it's actual books or online blogs and social media, they have many voices in their lives. We need to cover as many of those voices we can with healthy literature! Do you have old study books, commentaries, devotionals - can you ask your church family for such books and resources? Find a bookshelf and upcycle it!

13. Have a culture vulture moment regularly, where you teach the young people how to read culture & understand some of the worldviews & philosophies that are coming at them daily. Consider how apologetics fits into your curriculum and equip them to converse with their peers.

A Few Words About Those Who Don’t Engage

With regards to young people not engaging, so much of this comes down to culture. If you pitch, model, invest in, and stick to a Bible centred culture from day 1 then your young people will get used to it and expect it, or at least accept it. Remember, what you win them with, you will keep them with.

For individuals in a Christian setting, you could explore one to one mentoring, or Bible plans etc. You could encourage audio Bible, listening to God’s Word if they struggle to read.

Train your teams to write and produce your own studies, sessions, talks and recourses etc. There are some good reliable Bible centred stuff but few and far between. Anything that the Keswick Convention boast about will be on the money. Good Book Company is normally pretty good too.

For individuals in an outreach setting, perhaps think about a Friday night youth club model. I’d still encourage and be scheduling in 5 min Bible talks, where we give them Bibles if possible. 

Offering fun attractive stuff is great and definitely do this (church is fun, after all!), but it CANNOT compromise your Bible teaching - you have to go big on both. They’ll get used to it.

Evaluate and consider if any of the reasons for lack of engagement are SEN related. Can you address these within your teaching styles and/or environment?

The gospel is offensive. Even Jesus faced disciples who turned away after listening to Him (John 6:60-68). But don't let there be any other reason for non-engagement. Work super hard on relationships, teach faithfully and engaging, adapt the environment and learning styles if necessary, pursue young people wholeheartedly. Only the gospel itself should be allowed to turn people away. And if that happens? Brush the dust off your feet and work with those in front of you.