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Inconsistent and Few, now what?
I am at a church of 85-90 in attendance. We have had 30 teens come to youth group, not counting activities. We average about 9 each week. Out of the 30 only 3 from 2 families are teens in our church. maybe 4 of the others have any form of consistancy. I'm struggling with it and uncertain where to go from here. I have served here almost 10 years, but this is the fewest churched number I have had. It has made it very difficult. I have tried to include parents to see if that would help, but this is definitely not a priority. I am taking 3 teens- 1 from a churched family, to Dare2Share in Chicago and praying
some ideas and help will come. Prayer and advice from those who have been there is much appreciated.
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- nascarp...
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- 1 year ago
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The specific numbers aren't really an issue here, rather the fact that over 2/3 of the group are inconsistent or not coming at all is the warning sign. Have you tried talking to the kids who haven't been coming to try and understand why? There could be loads of reasons they're not: having choose between youth group & other activities (e.g. sports, drama, etc...), having too much homework, boredom with youth group, family problems, attending a different youth group, losing/lost interest in church in general. Their reasons for not showing up would have a great affect on what you might need to do to help. I'd say it's time to investigate their reasons and then reevaluate the program and see if any changes need to be made. Also try not to think of the youth group in terms of the program only. Just like a church is the people not the building/service, so is the youth group not the event but is the students. If students aren't coming to your scheduled youth group events/activities, then find others times and places to interact with them. See if you can visit their school at lunch. Have hangout times at your house or theirs. Organize get-togethers at a fun public place where they'd feel more comfortable opening up. |
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I have been through that season, where no one showed up or just a few showed up. We are a church about 260-300 and we presently average about 35 or so each week. I am not a numbers guy (focused on numbers) BUT numbers represent souls and when they are not there they are missed. I would often think of canceling when only a few showed up and doing something fun as I was frustrated that I had spent much time in preparation and few showed. I was reminded that Jesus had his greatest impact with the 12, or in smaller groups and away from the crowds. I pushed forward and spent time with the few students that desired to come and wanted to grow. It was a learning time for me and I look at low attendance differently. I am thankful! |
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I agree with rueful that it may be just a season and things may soon pick up and you'll feel really silly for worrying so much. But what if it's not? Last year we had a very hard time with our youth. It ended up pretty much destroying the group, no one was interested in singing worship or listening to us preach. Now we are growing in numbers, and the teens relationship to God is stronger than ever because we decided to scrap the old program and pioneer a new way of doing our friday nights. We pray, listen to music, discuss, read parts of the Bible and have more group devotionals instead of sung worship. And for teaching we do it on a Sunday morning because they wouldn't come to church if we stayed in for a preach. Worked for me... |
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I would say the biggest thing is don't worry about the lack of numbers, which I know you know, but consider it a blessing that for this season you can focus on those 9 kids in depth. Especially if they are younger students, then really focus on growing them into deeper spiritual maturity and fruit will come of that. Tell the kids that you don't want them inviting friends for a few months, you want to do a few in depth studies with them first, get them to fall in love with what your doing to where they can't wait to invite their friends type of a thing. But really pour into these 9 kids, in time, others will be there. This is just a season. |
