Small Youth Group

 

I became the volunteer youth minister at the People's Church at Oak Mountain about three years ago. When I started we were working with about 8 teenagers, mostly younger. I have spent a lot of time in youth ministry in larger churches, but discovered that youth ministry in a small church plant is different. We have learned a lot about youth ministry in a small church. The need for encouragement, suggestions, and resources is significant.

Everything we do at smallyouthgroup.com is designed to meet the needs of volunteer youth leaders in smaller churches. Most of the resources and ideas grow directly out of our experiences at the People's Church.

The advantage of being in a small church is the opportunity for students to feel like a family. Older students are like older brothers and sisters. Younger students tend to look up to them. Students also have unique opportunities to get involved in the ministries of the church. Last Sunday, we had one student playing in the praise band, another running media shout, and a third was interviewed on stage about a friend he has been sharing Christ with.

However, fewer people also presents some unique problems. In many small churches, all youth from sixth grade to twelfth grade meet in one class. Older students can get tired of hanging with junior highers. Finding ways to offer older students new challenges to grow in their faith can be tough when you are trying to meet needs of thirteen-year-olds at the same time.

Most small church youth leaders are volunteers like me. Unfortunately, most of them don't have much training or experience. They can really feel intimidated by the spiritual needs of the teenagers in their care. They can also become frustrated with the demand youth ministry makes on their time.

We are developing Bible study that is designed to help older students take leadership responsibilities in their youth groups. Older students don't just sit and soak in the material we are developing. One of them prepares and teaches part of the lesson each week.

We are also providing articles on the website and in our e-newsletter that give youth leaders insight into doing youth ministry in a small church. The plan for youth ministry found on our website is designed to be solid, biblical youth ministry, but is also designed to be do-able by volunteer leaders who are already busy.

The biggest news will be the release of Small Youth Group Bible Studies that will be available on-line soon. The studies have been developed at the People's Church and field tested with our kids. I think volunteer leaders will love them. The first titles will be "On Campus for Christ" (4 sessions) and "The Gospel of Mark: Who Is Jesus?" (8 sessions) in addition to a Christmas lesson we are working on.

An on-line training video for volunteer youth ministers will be ready soon. It will show youth leaders a simple plan to put the pieces of youth ministry together.

We are also building an Advisory Board. We are talking with several leaders who are already offering incredible help to small church youth leaders. The first of these is Dr. Tom Wilks who just retired as the youth ministry prof at Oklahoma Baptist University. Tom has been a mentor to thousands of youth leaders. His wisdom (and that of people like him) will be a huge benefit to leaders in small churches in coming years.