The number of students we have since reopening is different than before.

I bet that’s the same for you too. Whether it’s more or less, you’re probably in a weird “new normal” territory.

My own group is seeing a smaller group than before. Rather than getting defeated by the number of students who are currently coming, I’m trying to count them in a different way. I want to report to my pastor how things are going and that’s what these different ways of counting help me do!

I could spend a long time explaining that we USED to have this many on a Sunday in student ministry, but realistically, the whole church has changed. So the way I count needs to change too.

Find the percentage!

How many people attended your big worship service? Of that group, what percent of that number were students in your weekly program?

If you’ve got 200 people in “big church” and 20 students attending weekly youth ministry, that’s 10% of your attendance. I’ve heard that’s a healthy youth group statistic. You might even run the percent of adults in small groups and kids in kids ministry to have some comparisons.

Counting this way helps you see if your youth ministry is matching your church’s comeback pace or if you’re possibly ahead of it!

What’s your Four Week Average?

Take the amount of students you’ve had for the past four meetings and divide by four. 

Then, next week, take off the last week and add the newest, but keep that running average for your records. This way you can see if you are trending up or down over a month period. Say your attendance numbers were 19, 18, 22, and 20. Then your 4 week average is 19.75. What did you do with 3/4’s of a student!?

What if next week, you had 26! Then your four weeks are 18, 22, 20, and 26. Now your average is 21.5! You found half a student! This way of counting lets you see if you are being consistent with your attendance, but it doesn’t reflect on “the good ole days” four years ago.

Keep it mind, holidays might make this number way high or way low.

Not Just Attendance

Find out how many students are serving your church during the week. Are they greeting at doors? Helping with kids? Setting up the worship center? This number is great because it shows that your student ministry goes beyond your basement room (or wherever you meet!).

Show your pastor that your youth are INVOLVED. This is great.

Is there another way you can help keep track of your students this year rather than looking back at the time before COVID and lockdowns and pandemics?

Let’s hear them!

Ronald