Numbers

You're right... our youth group is like on a number extravaganza, if we get 35 people we get a pizza party, and if we get 50 then the director will dye his hair pink!!! Wow!!! So it might be fun to see Mike with pink hair... but that shouldn't be the point. Just last wednesday he said that you should invite people and count them and that their names don't even matter!?! He said "We will count them and get their names later"... Now this might be painting a bad picture of Mike, when he is actually a great guy. He is like 23 and loves God and really cares about the youth but we already have a great youth as it is and I don't know why he cares about the numbers... My church is great, so I really don't understand it, the pastor is nice and I don't think that Mike might be getting pressure from him to get more youth to join... I really don't understand. I love the youth as it is and I think we need to spend more time with just us, the amount of worldlyness is kinda high as it is and getting some non christian worldy kids to join up isn't going to help us... Just my thoughts about my youth group.


~Abyss

Some ppl really do believe in numbers, and sadly sometimes that's the only some ppl know that there are teens missing from the youth group at any given time. For me, I've really learned the vaule of each of the kids/teens and now when someone ask me how many we had or how many were missing, I say "I don't know, but I could tell you who wasn't gone or wasn't here" cuz I really do truely miss the kids when they're not there. I don't even know numbers mean a whole lot to me any more, expect for the fact that they're a nice side effect.

It is an awesome thing to have your focus changed from numbers to names & people, becuz that right there is a reflection of God's heart. I mean, God's even got all the stars named, let alone his childern and all the ppl He loves. But even at that, it really is a change in the heart, not so much in thinking. and It's just sad that ppl don't take the time to get to know names, faces, characteristics.

I think we ppl get so focused on numbers, then they start just borrowing kids from one to church to the next. You're not really reaching anybody, becuz you're not really taking the time to do it, let alone taking the time to get to know the kids and give them a place to belong. It's really sad situation, and one that I wish was addressed more and dealt with more care-full-ly.

I think this kind of thing also happens when the youth group gets divided into its own little cell apart from the church. If the ppl within the church aren't taking time to invest in these teens, who are part of their church, and if they don't take time to care about them, then they just become "those kids" ...like strangers to the church family ...and it shouldn't be that way at all. The youth group is part of the church and a very importain part. They're not there to prove themselves to the church, becuz they are part of the church family and should be loved & cared for same as everyone else who attends ...and maybe even more becuz they're young and they'll need the extra guidance. ...I may have gotten off track here, I'm sorry. But my point being, a healthy church can't just number it's ppl and expect that it's doing something great or growing really great becuz it won't last if it doesn't go deeper than that, and in the end it just creates more damage and more of bad name for the church than would have been neccessary if we just took the time to do it right in the first place.

I agree that bragging about how many youths a church has is definetly not a good trait and you answer to the question should really be "who cares." However, in cases like when someone says, "Our youth grew from x to X when" when put in these words could have a double meaning so it is important to understand the intent of the person who is saying this. They could just be being thankful for how God has blessed them with many youths to effect their lives and so. However, in the initial example where you said, "I made our youths grow from x to X," is bragging in my opinion and that shouldn't be tolerated. However, this is my opinion. God Bless you all.

I went through a time years ago when numbers meant something, but actually, when I stopped worrying and the quality of what I taught and what we did got better...miraculously my numbers went up. Now, it is different though for me, I get excited if I have five show up for youth group...we are a really, really small parish, so you can do more with five as apposed to one, or even none. But I agree and again, if it is true, quality Christianity you are teaching, they will come! And it will be the ones that God chooses, not the leader.

Yeah, I have been involved in groups where my co-leaders were purely concerned with numbers. It is frustrating. I recently led a retreat, 3 days 2 nights, on the Awesomeness of God. They were hoping for 50 youths. I was not concerned with how many, but mostly that God would use me and the others to really reach those that did come. We ended up with 13, 5 boys and 8 girls. It went extremely well. We had very interesting Bible Study's, great worship and i think the youth who went were truly blessed for being there. It was an intimate experience that would have been hard to achieve with a larger group. We also had some great discussions and Bible Study and learning about how to become men of God and what the role God has called men to serve in our cabin time. This worked well with 5 boys and 2 male counselors and the kids each felt that they were special and God really used that retreat for awesome things. So, numbers can be good and encouraging but it is best to lt God work for the best with the numbers that He provides.

numbers are relative. if a 5000 member church has 100 teenagers, thats like 0.02%, whereas if a 200 member church has 100 teenagers, thats 50%. numbers prove nothing, especially with teenagers, the most fluxuating age group.

Personally I am fortunate enough to currently work with a group of fantastic people who dont feel that numbers counts, although we have had to cap a certain OYC and produce a waiting list, for pure health and safety reasons, and YP : adults ratio's.

However I would just like to point out, that although, yes in ministry there can be those out there who count the numbers and feel that they are important, maybe sometimes more important than engaging with young people, sometimes the community in which we work builds it into our system.

The point I am making is that some communities dont see a group of young people meeting together a "youth group" until they see a "number" of young people. Some think its 5, some 10 and so on ... and also in the church you will see this alot, the very people praying and supporting a youth worker will be the ones who want to know about the numbers.

How many times do youth workers/leaders get asked "how many did you have x day?"

even tonight, after an event, the first person i spoke to from the church and gave a mini report to said was, how many came, not how did it go, what did they do, but how many!!

its a breeding issue personally and i dont think it is just with youth workers/leaders, I think its a culture that surrounds us

Starr