students Archives - Blog | Download Youth Ministry Blog

10 Jul 2023

Youth Ministry When Students Are Out of School

By Ronald|2023-07-10T07:46:02-07:00July 10th, 2023|Uncategorized|8 Comments

Ministering to students is easy when there is a natural rhythm and routine for their lives. The fall and spring semesters in school mean we can expect students to be around and present and know when breaks are going to happen.

Youth ministry during the summer, however, is a whole different ballgame!

We don’t know when students are going to arrive or when they’re going to show up. One week we might have half our usual numbers, and then, next week, it seems like everybody’s in town all at once!

How can we minister to students well when summer is in full swing? Here are four suggestions:

Plan smaller gatherings

We can usually assume that students are going to be on vacation in the summer. If you normally have a really large group, this might give you a great opportunity to have a smaller gathering and get to know your students individually. Plan on doing something for 10 that you wouldn’t be able to pull off for 30 or 40! Invite them over to your house or another willing volunteer. Circle up for a Bible study discussion rather than teaching at students. Pile into the church van with a volunteer and go get ice cream.

If your group shrinks during the summer, don’t be down about it, take advantage of it!

Host a community service project

It might be hot, but it also might be an excellent time for you to help a local nonprofit or school!

Take your smaller group and go help clean out classrooms for a teacher in your congregation or just offer to pick up trash on school campus.

Getting together with your students and going to serve is a great way to bond, and to show the community that you care about them. It can also be a lot easier to enter into a non-profit your church partners with if you have a smaller crowd. I’ve found service projects get wild when there isn’t enough work for too many willing hands!

Host a Zoom or YouTube party

Do you remember the coronavirus lockdown? Sorry to bring up that traumatic experience. But we all learned a whole lot about how to host digital youth groups. With our students traveling and away, maybe we can have just one event where it’s all online and brush off our digital group gathering skills!

If digital gatherings was an absolute bust for your group, then ignore this tip and continue meeting in person. But if you know 75% of your students are going to be gone on vacation, maybe you could do a quick 30 minute check in online with a fun screen game.

Personally check in with students

Your students probably fall into one of two categories during the summer: extremely busy or extremely bored.

Either way, they would potentially benefit from a phone call from their youth pastor. It doesn’t have to be long, but a quick check in with your students could mean a lot to them. Especially if they aren’t seeing their friends every day like they do during school. Give them a call and ask them what they’ve been up to during the summer and how you can pray for them. You might get a lot of silence on the phone, but you also might be able to reconnect with a student and remind them that you care about them, even in the craziness of summer.

Just because our students are out of school and out of the regular rhythm routine, it doesn’t mean that we can’t minister to them well! Do you have any suggestions that I missed? I’d love to hear them! Let us know down below.

14 Nov 2022

7 Ways to Engage Students in Worship

By Ronald|2022-11-15T12:34:15-08:00November 14th, 2022|Teaching, Teaching/Programming, Youth Ministry Ideas|12 Comments

We want to draw our students into a closer relationship with God! And one of the ways we can do that is by helping them to worship the God who created them and sent Jesus.

But let’s be real, sometimes it looks like our students are falling asleep in worship.

Or, at least, they are more interested in their phones than in worshipping Jesus.

So how can we help students be more engaged in worship? Here are seven things to think about to help students engage in worship during youth group!

Let Them Be A Part of the Planning

Are students helping to plan the worship experience? If not, give them a seat at the table! Help them to see how the night is put together. Let them choose the songs. Give them the reins to whatever worship experience you would like to happen.

When students take leadership roles, they engage far more than when they are solely participating.

Take a Step Back

Are you up front and leading the moment? Take a step back and let students do it. They are more than capable of praying, singing, teaching, and leading. See how their peers engage when it’s not the “adults” in the room who are in charge, but the others who are on the same page as they are!

Encourage Them to Pray

Remind students that we get to talk to God! Let them pray beforehand as you plan. Let them pray as you set up. Help them lead in prayer during the actual worship service. Lead them in a prayer of thanks afterward. Help them cover the entire worship experience in prayer so they feel more engaged in worship and with their creator!

Worship in a Different Space

Are you in the same room every time you have a worship service? Think about being in a different space! As it gets colder, consider having an outdoor bonfire experience. Or maybe a different room in your building. Get students out of what they are used to to help them focus on what is in front of them.

Keep An Eye on the Clock

I remember a friend of mine was in a band that did a lot of youth retreats. LOTS of youth pastors asked them to do an hour-long worship set. It sounded great. In theory. But the reality was that students checked out a long time before the hour was up. Longer doesn’t mean a more worshipful experience. Plan things on purpose. And remember that a shorter service can be just as engaging.

Help Them Process

Sometimes, students can have a hard time understanding what they feel or think during a worship service. Help them walk through it by making observations and asking questions like, “I see you’re really quiet. Are you trying to think about what we just did?” or, “You were crying during the worship service. Was there any one thought or thing that you really connected with?”

Let Them Journal

I love a journal. Mostly because I can look back on the thoughts I had in a really emotional or connected moment and reflect on them better. Encourage students to write down their thoughts so they can think about them after the moment has passed. It’ll serve as a great reminder when they need it!

What are some other ways you may think to have students worship?

If you’re looking for an idea for your next worship night, check out these resources below!

31 Oct 2016

3 Ways Students Can Encourage Their Youth Pastor

By Josh Griffin|2016-11-01T13:08:39-07:00October 31st, 2016|Youth Pastor Life|0 Comments

Most people think I never have a bad day.

I mean, working for the church must be great, right? All of these perfect people serving a perfect God must equal a perfect job. But you know what? The church isn’t perfect! And the people in the church aren’t perfect and, well … I’m not perfect either. Which means I have bad days. It means I get discouraged. It means things get tough sometimes.

So when someone takes the time to encourage me, it is a BIG deal. When someone says something genuine and kind it makes my day. When I get a note or a pat on the back it fills me right back up. Here are a few SMALL ways you can be a BIG encouragement to the youth pastor or small group leader in your life:

The good old-fashioned “thank you” note
I have a whole drawer filled with thank you notes! I LOVE them! They meant the world to me. Cards … and gift cards (hahahahha) are huge. So meaningful.

A simple but thoughtful gift
It doesn’t have to be big – just a small, thoughtful gift is so encouraging. The other day someone left me a Darth Vader™ mug on my office door – I use it every day and it is so uplifting. Cost isn’t the concern, the thought counts for so much!

Babysit for our family!
If you really want to make my day, watch our kids so we can go catch a movie and catch up. It would be a huge gift to me!

One last thought – words mean far more than you’ll ever know. If I could encourage you to do just one thing – I would say give him or her the gift of your words. Words are so big, a passing comment to you may just fuel them for another season of ministry. There are no perfect people or perfect churches, but your words could come at a perfect time.

Be encouraging to your youth pastor this week!