Yes, teenagers should go to church, be in a community of faith, but sitting home and playing video games or doing homework sounds like a more practical idea. If our only answer to the question, “Why should I come?” is “You’ll have fun” there are a dozen other ways that kid can have fun. You may get a kid to come one time with the “You’ll have fun.” but it better be really fun or they are not coming back. What practical things does your youth ministry offer that would get a kid to come through your doors and maybe stay? Here are some practical reasons I offer kids who are in our church but not in our youth group
– We can help you become a leader.
– We can give you opportunities to use your gifts and talents to serve others.
– We can offer you practical world experience on one of our missions trips.
– We can offer community service hours through local missions.
Those are just a few things in the realm of the practical, but you may have other things to offer such as
– Job training
– A drama team
– A fine arts program
– College scholarships
– Tutoring after school
– A killer band that tours in the summer
Yes, there are scriptural reasons to be part of a youth ministry/church. God calls us to be a part of the Body of Christ somewhere. If your town is like mine, there are no shortages of churches to choose from who have similar reasons to be a part of their programs. Parents also look at practicalities such as how close the church is to their house, is the group a good fit for my kid, and is are the economics of the church similar to my own. You could present those practicalities like this:
– We offer camp scholarships to new students
– We have a small group bible study in your neighborhood
– We have several kids who go to your child’s school
Bonus
– We offer free counseling
By all means, be as impractical as you want. Be the Yale of youth ministry where it’s hard to get in, hard to connect, and even harder to stand out, but the reason most kids don’t go to Yale is because not practical. It’s better to be the community college where everyone can get in, find their place, and excel at their own pace. If you have worn out your super spiritual reasons list to come to your youth ministry, try making a practical list instead. The kid(s) who are getting practical help for their problems, practical wisdom from God’s word, will be more likely to share with others who have the same problems.
What problem(s) does your youth ministry solve?
Leave me five practical reasons a kid should come to your youth group in the comments section.
STEPPS 6: Creating a Youth Ministry of Contagious Stories
Here’s Jonah Berger talking about being practical