“All you need is love.” – Lennon/McCartneyI went to two youth groups in high school. One of them should have been an awesome experience. It was the bigger one of the two, met in a better building, had fun games, did retreats, and all the cool kids went there. The other group was small, rural, underfunded, didn’t play games, and was kinda nerdy. Honestly, though, I didn’t connect with the first group and flourished in the other.
Why? Simply because the first group wouldn’t have noticed if I dropped off the face of the earth, but the leaders and kids at the second place cared about me.
(This isn’t a knock on the leadership at the bigger group. The youth pastor was great, loved kids, and loved God. He just was new and was struggling to change the culture of the group.)
In reading this week, I came across two posts about growth in churches and youth ministry:
If you are a church leader, may I suggest a church growth plan? Center your mission on the love [of] God. Center your teaching on the aim of becoming more loving people. Center your outreach on genuinely loving people…People will go to love, and when we stop loving people, we stop representing Christ. – Don Miller, “The Power of Love” (Huey Lewis was right, too!)The truth is, students are smart. They know when they are being used and when you really care…As I lay in bed the night after the [graduation] ceremony, still questioning how exactly we had experienced such strong growth, I found the answers to my questions: The formula is simple, but costly! We must continue to take Jesus as He is to students as they are! We must love them. – Jason Curry, “How to Grow Your Youth Ministry” from youthministry360.com
I’ve been thinking about love more and more this week, especially in the context of youth ministry. One of the things that made me become a youth worker was the love I felt the first time I stepped into the room at GYG (Grace Youth Group–where I work now). It was tangible then, I still feel it now, and it still gets me pumped up every week.
As leaders at GYG, we don’t have goals around increasing numbers. I couldn’t tell you exactly how many kids were at last week’s meeting. But we do have action items focused on loving others.
It starts with the adult leaders. We have to connect with each other, fit into a team, and model love to the kids.
We then ask our group of teen leaders to do the same, include tasking them with welcoming newcomers and checking in on kids who may be having a difficult time.
We make sure that everyone who comes to GYG gets a hug… or three. There’s even a “hug train” of adult leaders as the kids file into the sanctuary to start the weekly service. It might not sound like much, but it’s a way to break down barriers, welcome newcomers (who only think it’s *slightly* weird), and pour love into kids lives.
We all want to be loved. We all crave love. If you want to grow your youth ministry, all you need is love, love, love is all you need…
What do you do in your own youth group to show teens they’re loved? What do you wish you did better?
