Hey everyone,
Our current Senior high small group is for grade 11-12 students and has been going really well. At first, we had the group split by gender (I lead the girls and Carlon/Bob lead the guys) but we soon realized they worked much better when we joined our two groups. We have between 10-15 students on any given Monday night and have been discussing a variety of topics (dating, evangelism, things Jesus said...).
As we look ahead to the next school year and also to the more distant future as our church (hopefully) grows, we've been thinking of ways to help bridge the gap between All Star Kids to iConnect, iConnect to youth, and youth to college and career. Any time students begin a new ministry, there is inevitable dropoff - community kids might have been drawn by a certain aspect of their old program, and often church kids are the same. On top of that, sports and homework start to pile up, making regular small group, Sunday, and event attendance a lesser priority for many kids. Of course, without attendance, those kids have trouble making significant connections and relationships within their age group, and by the time they leave the last grade school ministry, they aren't likely to change habits and start regularly attending a new college and career age group now that schoolwork and work hours are even more stressful.
That bothers me. Why does a drop off have to be inevitable? It's a question our staff has asked and discussed, and it's often a topic on ministry blogs and in ministry books. We have all these kids, with all these different skills and gifts and passions - why should there be a drop off?
Often, it's because they've grown up in a church "system" that can start looking an awful lot like a teenage babysitting service. Parents drop their kid off, we feed them with a super funtastic sugary snack, someone cleans up the wrappers and garbage later. We come up with games, the kids play them. We come up with songs, the kids sing them. We give up our Friday nights, kids spend them. We do it because that's the way youth ministry has been done for years. And then, they graduate. Then, nobody drops them off anywhere. Nobody feeds them fun snacks, cleans up their trash, plans their events, runs their worship, gives up their time. And after all those years in the sytem, we leave teens hanging with not a clue of how to do all that themselves. Our teenage "holding tank with pizza" becomes empty, and teens leave.
Cue the Student Leadership Team. I started it this year without a clue of what to do. So far, it's been a really fun year and I'm learning a lot about it. It's not 'leadership' in the strict sense of 'stand up, lead people' kind of leadership (although a few of them are gifted that way). It's servant leadership, the kind that Jesus shows us time and time again. Using gifts to serve others, and therefore falling into a leadership role because it's setting an example to peers and younger grades, all while helping teens practice running a ministry in a place where they can safely fail. My goal is to help students learn to do things for themselves, whether it's planning events, running small group, teaching others, running sound board or concession, cleaning up, you name it. My goal is to get it into the heads of our teenagers that in ministry, 80% of the work being done by 20% of the people is NOT an acceptable standard. My goal is that when they graduate, they'll be confident in their gifts and abilities and will have practiced team work often enough to be able to run and sustain their own college and career ministry. Next year, I'll be expanding this team (provided I'm still on staff!) and instead of picking students (which I did this year since it was new) any student currently in grades 8-11 may apply (applications will be out next week).
However, a student leadership team isn't enough. We need to reach ALL students, even if they aren't on the team for whatever reason. We need a fluid way to transition them into a new ministry so it isn't scary (because walking into a Bible study when you're new and young IS scary - if my mom hadn't made me go, I wouldn't have made so many wonderful memories). Therefore, for the rest of this school year our focus with the senior high students is on college and career. We're studying leadership in small group and will be devoting part of each study to brainstorming for the future. The Student Leaders are planning several events to spike interest in others for next year. On April 13, we're having a junior hihg/senior high night where the senir high students will be challenged to step up to the plate. We're going to talk about it and pray about it essentially every chance we get.
Right now, we have enough students in grade 11-12 to sustain their own ministry. For some of them, joining college and career will be scary if they believe that the ministry is run by mid-twentysomethings. As Farren so lovingly reminded me a few weeks ago, 25 is old (and I'm now dreading my next birthday, thanks girl!). Of course it isn't, but for 18 year olds it is. Of course, our prayer is that all new grads (and all new attendees in this age group) will find a place in college and career ministry regardless of age gaps or existing friendships or interests. Our prayer is that with all this practice and discussion, they can use their gifts in the existing ministry to work with new friends to help c&c grow.
But for our grads, a lot is riding on their shoulders. If they don't get involved, they're forming attendance habits that will be hard to break. They'll be making the age gap between the current regular attendees of c&c and the next year of grads even bigger. They'll be setting an example to their younger peers, who just might be doomed to repeat it. What happens then? If our grads fall off the radar? What happens when their generation become parents? Grandparents? How will steady and sustainable church growth happen? This is what we're challenging our teens with in the coming two months. Please be praying for them as we work with them, study the Bible with them, pray for them, and mentor them.
Please especially be praying for our current senior high small group. Next year, it'll be a college and career small group (hopefully, one of many!). The new grade 12s are always welcome in c&c, and they're all friends with the soon-to-be new grads. So we thought, why not keep this group the same next year? Why not teach them how to run a small group, and participate and serve in ministry? Next year, when this group is a c&c group, they'll choose their topics. They'll choose their meeting place and time. They'll choose who will lead discussions, bring snacks, etc. Of course, we'll still have older adults around to help them out (I'm planning to attend the group, as are a few others) but not to hold their hand, not to babysit. So right now, we're discussing this with them and mentoring them as best as we can. Please pray for a successful transition for the grads. If this group is successful, we know we have a way to continue transitioning grade 12s to post-grad ministry. Right now, we have the usual amount of students graduating. Next year, there will be more. Each gade gets bigger and bigger - it's up to the older generations in our church to pray for them, mentor them, and break the "system" mold that other churches struggle with as well. Imagine if college and career was the largest ministry in our church...
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