One major mistake churches make is not engaging the youth. This is one of the reasons college students are leaving the church. They do not feel engaged and involved in the ministry of the entire church. I think we recognize this truth, but we rarely discuss and write about how to change this. If your church is struggling to engage the young people of your church, this blog is for you. I want to share a few tips on how to engage the young people in your church.
1. Create a regular youth service. This worked at a church that I served at several years ago. Once a month, the youth would direct the service. They would lead the music, preach, usher, etc. They completely directed the service. This allows the teens and college students to be engaged in the church.
2. Use them in weekly worship. Create opportunities in the music ministry for the youth to use their gifts. Teens and college students are talented, and many of them are musical. Use that. Find places for them to serve. Add service opportunities for them in the band, the choir, the AV, the usher ministry, etc.
3. Recruit them to serve in the AV. Teens are extremely gifted when it comes to technology. They can pick up AV as quickly as anyone, but are so rarely recruited to be used in the AV department of the church.
4. Ask for their opinions. Church leadership should value the opinion of the youth in their church. Pastor, create an event for the church, and ask the teens and college students for advice on how the event should be run. This will energize the young people of your church.
5. Give leadership away to them. This is the biggest area where church leaders are not willing to budge. Give leadership away to them. Allow them to dream about what they would love to see in their church, and give them the resources to get there.
