Recent research suggests that you will only find provision for under 18s in around 50% of churches in the UK.
If you reduce that to provision for 11s to 18s (youth) your chances are reduced to 25%. Starting up in youth ministry can be hard work and discouraging, but, if the figures are right, then 25% of churches providing something for children have nothing for post-11s. What those children do at 11 is open to speculation, but I suspect it is a mixture of moving on to other churches or staying at home.
Critical mass?
You often hear the idea that young people need a critical mass to feel they are part of something significant. Unless you have at least ten there is no point starting up. My mind goes back to two 15 year-olds who came to Keswick youth meetings — they were from one of the Outer Hebrides islands and were the only two young people in their church. They were led by someone in his 50s and they loved it. They were serving in the church, being well taught and encouraged to engage in discussion and prayer.
It is probably too obvious to state that, once a child gets to 11, he will be 12 the year after and needing to be nurtured as a disciple of Christ. So where would you start with that scenario — only a handful (or less) and no obvious leaders and nowhere to meet. Easy to give up at that point. It may be best for them to move to another church, but don’t despair. I have known people start youth ministry very small. I visited a church in Yorkshire where a leader had opened up his home to the three young people in the church who had reached 11 years old. They ate a lot. They watched movies. They prayed together. They talked about the Bible and the leader encouraged them to ask any questions the passage had raised for them. They just seemed to love being together and it seemed to suit the young people who came.
How to get going
I remain unconvinced that all young people want something that is very cool and social — some find that threatening and would far rather be in a smaller group. So how do you start from scratch? I would start with a one-month plan, probably in a home, with food and a chance to talk together about where the young people are in their walk with God. Talk about what it’s like to be a Christian in their own contexts, like school, sport or their social groupings — wherever they hang out. You may move on to say you would like to help them be 24/7 Christians and how can you help them be just that. At that point I might suggest that we met for a month and do a variety of things. Read the Bible together and talk and pray about their real situations. You may need to help them over the awkwardness of praying by praying yourself first time round, but encourage them to pray as soon as possible.
Never full
At this point (so soon!!!!!) I would be encouraging them to think about somebody they know who isn’t a Christian and whether they might be interested in joining this small group. Maybe the first time a guest comes is a pizza ‘scoffalot’ night or a night at the bowling alley, but with a very clear intention that you will be meeting at your house for a night where you will talk about spiritual things. The small group may be reluctant to invite friends at first and it may be good that they don’t so the group can feel secure, but mentioning it early puts it in their minds — the group is never full. There are always people out there who could join up.
The church I mentioned in Yorkshire then had a mission. It was predominantly an adult event, but we found out about this small group and offered to do an evening with them. A couple of guests came and stayed. The last time I heard that group was running at around 20 most weeks and it had very much grown one at a time with a faithful leader who was in it for the long haul. So don’t be afraid to start small and grow steadily — God’s kingdom grows one at a time.
Dave Fenton is the Training Director of Root 66 which runs training courses for youth ministries across the UK.
