Attendance

[gr1bb]

My wife and I are now volunteering for our Church's youth group and I've noticed that we have a few problems that we and the other youth leaders want to help solve. If anyone has any suggestions that have helped with your youth groups, let me know!

Attendance is always low. I think there are only 2 young men in the and the rest are young ladies (8? maybe 10).

Organization is a problem. Now that we're volunteering, there are 3 married couples and 1 other lady helping with the youth. Any ideas about how to effectively raise communication and order would be a big help!

Thanks and God bless!

~gr1bb

 

[Purposeful_Life]

Attendance - the issue is simply stated but not simply solved.

Young people often don't need to be polite or to follow what adults do [I am not knocking them - I love them!] - but if they don't want to go then they will just stay away and not feel bad about it at all!

So - simply stated - they don't go because they don't want to.

Why don't they want to? Because they don't perceive that there is enough in it for them to do so.

Why is that? - Herein is where it gets a little more difficult. If you want to know why then you need to ask them, but in such a way where they are willing to really tell you.

 

[gr1bb]

Thanks a lot! That will really help us to be able to restructure things so that they really do perceive that they're getting something from it.

 

[heymikey80]

Some of the reasons are very straightforward, but a few make a lot of difference. I've been teasing out a few in our group:

When teens do significant things, they come. Often that significance is simply their taking the initiative, finding and then doing something that involves caring for others in the group. It can also be group recreation or group encouragement. Our group really took off when one member took the initiative to document each birthday and had some innovative, crazy, but still sweet cake or snack for each. The same person also instituted hugging. Everybody. I'm serious. It made a big difference.

When teens are cared-for by the workers, they come. That you can impact firsthand, but you won't be able to do so, immediately. Someone needs to get together individually with teens one on one or with closest friends, talk them through problems that they're having, help them, be their mentor, yet not their commander. Just stopping and listening, not religiously categorizing everything they're saying, but listening, thinking how they're growing in their faith to reach such questions -- that makes a big difference for how I respond to the questions my youth asks.

If there are issues, someone sensitive to the issue needs to address it, and with the approval of the workers. Issues can't be left hanging, no matter how much we want to leave them hanging. It eats away at our relationships.

We're a leadership among equals in the church. Teens need to see that they're being heard -- but not that they're in control just yet. That way we wont point to them as the "reason for failure". They know their naivete. We need to be more-experienced people they can "bounce off" ideas. They need the freedom to mis-state things and have us intercede and understand why they're saying it. And we also need to be people who can offer ideas and let them think about it, when they don't really know.

We've set clear boundaries at different activities. That way a youth group member's invitees don't get sideswiped. We don't preach at recreational outings. (They already know we're Christians.) We have a "get to know us" meeting which is nothing but encountering the kids in the group over games. We have Bible study which opens up the Bible to all questions in a roundtable discussion and relates a short theme straight out of the text. We have cell groups that are more emotional and personal. And we have advance groups that study theological topics in depth. We're not that big either. The advance groups often drop to just one or two members. But that lets us work interpersonally too. So it helps. We also started with the lower level groups, not the advance groups. That made us sure that we weren't creating a "holier than thou" group. I'm actually still struggling over the name of the advance groups, they were initiated "in advance" of major changes like leaving home and college. But they still smack a little too much of hierarchy.
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[stephanieamber]

Don't be discouraged by your attendance, either. "Growth" cannot just be limited to numbers. A thriving church is just as - if not more - important as an expanding one.

 

[ephesus32]

Don't be discouraged by your attendance, either. "Growth" cannot just be limited to numbers. A thriving church is just as - if not more - important as an expanding one.

I agree... if you make a positive change in the people that are there... they will start showing that love to others which might attract others to come. so remember to nurture the people that come and make it fun for them at the same time.

 

[carrythecall]

Here is what i have to say on it. Don't worry about numbers, if you are helping those few people that are in attendance isn't that good enough? To me a sermon that reaches one person and changes that person's life is more powerful then a regular one that reaches millions