Practical tips for Youth ministry

The following ideas are for churches looking for ideas on how to start a youth ministry or just get some new ideas for an existing youth ministry.

We, here at Timberlake UMC are always looking for new ideas as well so if after looking at our program and you have some cool, new ideas please share them with us by emailing me at dsmith@timberlakeumc.org. We would appreciate any comments or info you can give us.

Youth Praise and Worship

One of the most important things that we do with our youth is Sunday Evening Praise and Worship. We recognized the fact that youth need a time of worship that is geared towards them. We looked over our youth and parents and found a few who could play an instrument and started to include a short (no longer than 30 min.) praise and worship session that all our young people can attend. The format is such, that we have youth lead motions for the songs and occasionally have youth lead prayer and testimony.

If you do not have live music you can use CD’s or DVD's to lead your youth in song. The testimonies a lot of time can be nothing more than a short devotion that you can find in a book. The point is to teach the youth that worshiping God can be fun and that His word is relevant to their everyday lives.

Sports

We engage in a variety of co-ed sports that involve all youth 6th grade and up. We play co-ed softball with several other churches in our area. We also play team sports like volleyball, basketball and kick-ball. We do not limit our team sports to just youth we invite all members of the congregation to play and it is a great mixer for the young and old of our church. The focus on our sports is the community that it builds, we do not make a big deal about win-loss records and your participation is not based on whether you can play or not. In the future we are looking to expand our sports not only to the members of the congregation but to the community as well.

To get started simply organize a church kick-ball game or partner with other churches in your area to play volleyball on a certain night. Or maybe you can get enough interest in your church to join a softball or volleyball league and play there. There are many ways to get your youth and church to get together and enjoy the fellowship of each other on the playing field.

Sunday Evening Program

Our Sunday Evening program is the starting point for all youth entering our Youth Ministry. The programs are designed to be age appropriate for each grade. We recommend that even if you only have a few that you separate the middle school youth from the high school youth. These two age groups are on different levels and most of the time it is counter-productive to do the same program with these two groups.

We begin our evenings with a light snack, (which is covered by a fee that all the youth pay at the beginning of the year, ours is $25.00 or you could ask for a couple of dollars each week) nothing fancy usually hot dogs and chips will do. After we eat together we divide into our small groups which are divided by grade level. We usually meet for about an hour and then end our evening with a praise and worship session (you can learn more about this in the praise and worship section)

S.A.Y. Christ

S.A.Y Christ stands for Seat a Youth in Christ. It is a mentor program designed to connect a youth with a member of the congregation. The youth are expected to complete one year of youth ministry activities to receive a chair. They must attend at least 75% of Sunday evening meetings & participate in a mission of their choice. Once these are accomplished they receive a chair and are paired up with a member of the church who agrees to be their S.A.Y. Christ sponsor and pays for their S.A.Y. Christ Chair. The youth and the adult agree to pray for each other and encourage each other in their walk with Christ. This program is designed mix the Youth and Older members of our church.

Youth Missions

We offer a variety of youth missions throughout the year. These can range from week long trips to day trips and can be anything from folding clothes for a clothes closet to putting a new roof on a house. There are numerous organizations that can assist you in planning and participating in a youth mission. If you have a small group you can go to a mission that is already established and all you have to do is show up. This works well for large groups as well. We have participated in such organized trips as Harvest of Hope, Appalachia Service Project. But there are others out there like Red Bird Mission, Teens Opposing Poverty and many, many others. If you would like to do your own mission you may want to contact other churches that have done that type of mission and see who they contacted.

There are so many different ways to do your own mission that really you just have to look around and see what you are interested in doing.

Roast-n-Toast

Every year we honor our graduating seniors with a banquet in their honor. We have a fancy meal and then a time of celebration where we show old youth photos and share fond memories of each senior and their past youth exploits. This is a time to honor those youth who have remained active throughout their school years. It also gives the younger youth something to works towards. This is a great way to show your appreciation to the youth who have stuck with you throughout the years.

Youth Sunday Service

Every year we have a Sunday that is led by the youth of our church. We lead the entire service from doing the music to giving the message. This is a great time to show what our youth group is doing and thanking the congregation for supporting us.

This is one of the most important things you can do for your church and youth ministry. At least once a year get your Senior Pastor to turn a Sunday Morning service over to your youth ministry. Use this time as an example that your church is nurturing and growing young disciples of Christ. Highlight some of the ministry that your youth do and thank the church for supporting them.

If you only have a few youth and feel that you cannot do an entire service ask to have a part of Sunday morning worship, do a children’s moment, usher or even give the message. There are so many ways that youth can participate in Sunday Morning.

Fundraising

In youth ministry it is important to do some fundraising to help offset the cost of doing youth ministry. We do several at Timberlake ranging form washing cars to fixing meals. All of these help to give the youth a sense of ownership and responsibility to the mission they are raising money for. You will find that the youth who help in these fundraisers will be committed to the cause that you are raising money for. This will help in achieving the ultimate goal of reaching youth for Christ.

You can do a variety of different things to help raise funds, you can “rent” out your youth to do yard work, you can cook a meal after church, you can wash cars. There are lots of different ways you can raise money. You can also enlist the aid of fundraising agencies to help such as the “Pumpkin Patch” fundraiser.

The point is raising money for ministry will help your church finances and help get your youth committed to the project.