Top Ten Tips for Your Youth Ministry
1. Be consistent.
Set a time and place to meet and be there even if only one or two young people show up. Don’t cancel or the young people will never know if it is really going to be happening. Keep at it even if you are few in numbers.
2. Don’t mix age groups.
Have a separate group for younger teens and another group for older teens. The older teens will not want to come out if there are kids a lot young than them there.
3. A catchy name.
Try to come up with an interesting name for your group. This will help to spread the word about the group.
4. Start as you mean to go on.
Therefore begin by including a Biblical teaching part to your evening’s right from the beginning of your program. It doesn’t have to be long, but be consistent about setting aside time in the evening to study God’s Word and to pray together.
5. Be available.
Try to make yourself available to the teens in your community if they need to talk to you. Let them know that you are there to listen to them and then if they approach you try and take the time to listen to them. If you are not able to talk to them at that moment tell them that and set a time when you are able to talk.
6. Fun activities.
There are many youth ministry resource book available which have excellent ideas for programs and games to play with the teens. Order a few books and use the ideas in them. The more you put into the programs the more you will get out of them.
7. Just do it.
Don’t wait until you have enough teens or until you think the timing is just right. You will never have what you think is enough and there will always be one more reason not to start. Just start with what you have today and see how things unfold.
8. Be creative.
Maybe a traditional youth group is not realistic for your community. So why not try an all girls program on Sunday mornings or a sewing group on a weekday after school. Or maybe you have access to the school gym or recreation centre and you can have a sports drop-in with a short ‘God-talk’ at the end. Do whatever works in your community as a way to gather teens together.
9. Those without vision will perish.
Have a sense of vision and purpose for your ministry. Know why you are doing this ministry and always stay focused on that.
10. Have fun.
In all that you do make sure to have fun, laugh a lot and enjoy the young people who have chosen to spend time with you.
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