Building a Presence-based YTH Ministry

In the 2005 book by George Barna entitled Revolution, there is an intriguing research finding that cannot be downplayed. They found that in 2000 70% of people who experienced life transformation in Christ did so in the church. While only 5% of people experienced life transformation in Christ outside of the church. But the study and ensuing research proved that the number would flip dramatically by 2025.

By 2025, only 35% of people who experience life transformation will experience that in the church. While 40% of people who experience life transformation will be experiencing it outside of the church.

That is a remarkable finding. And to be honest, disappointing. That statistic, coupled with the finding that only 4% of Gen Z has a Christian worldview, must cause us to ask the question to ourselves, ‘what is going on in YTH ministry?’

When we look at the statistics, most people are not experiencing life transformation in the church setting. Most people are experiencing life transformation outside of the church – in a camp, at a convention, at a retreat, or a para-church setting. It’s perfectly OK that people are experiencing life transformation in the parachurch setting. But it’s not OK that life transformation is not happening in the church setting.

I’m sure there are many reasons for this. Maybe chief among them is the focus upon program and systems that does not allow for freedom of the Spirit - a setting where we have time restraints that do not allow for pause or response. But we will not talk about this or other reasons in this post. Instead, we are going to look at four ways to build a presence-based YTH ministry in the church.

This is not just a music issue. We will talk about music, but, I understand that worship or presence goes beyond music. However, in this post, a presence-based ministry is more about responding to the presence of God. However you decide to make that happen.

Let me begin by defining each of these terms.

*I realize this is a generalization that will sound negative. It is truly not meant to be that way. This is simply the reality of what I see across America in most YTH settings. Not all, but most. So please understand that I am only trying to help improve our formulas.

A program-based YTH ministry is one where the value is placed on organization and systems. And the organizational win comes when the systems run well. A typical YTH night may look like a pre-event with activities, opening music, announcements, a game, the short lesson, and small groups. In some order or another. There is little time for waiting and response to the systems. It is presentation-based.

I believe that the ultimate goal is positive. But the outcomes are not always positive:

-the leadership are not trained well enough to build relationships with students and move beyond pulling off the evening without incident

-the music is non-participatory

-a short message (if there is one) is entertaining and not very deep

-too often there is little discussion in the small group and what ends up happening is a leader take over (80% leader and 20% student dialogue)

And ultimately the evening has little experiential learning or expression and lacks theological practice or worship. Because the win is a presentation-based evening without incident.

A presence-based YTH ministry is one where the value is placed in response to the organization and systems. It may be that each of the above dynamics move to a specific moment of response. There is ample time planned for waiting and response to the ministry programming. It is presence-based.

I believe that the ultimate goal is positive. And the outcomes generally are:

-the leaders build relationship with the students during the pre-event activities

-the worship is participatory and responsive

-messaging and the series is not just informational but it is also inspirational and leading to a response

-in this setting, the response could be individual or group-based but the goal is encountering and experiencing God

What we mean by building a presence-based YTH ministry is that every program or system has an end goal of encountering God and His presence. In other words, the win is not kids having a blast at the pre-event, or the game going smoothly, or the 20 minute sermonnette is being presented professionally, or splitting up into small groups at the end of the service. What we mean by a presence-based setting, is that all of these things lead to a response to God and His presence.

If we are simply doing programming to be creative or fill a void, programming is empty. The point or the focus of programming should be the presence of God and students responding to this.

Here are four ways to build a presence-based YTH ministry:

1. We must embrace the supernatural.

What we mean by this is to promote signs, wonders, and miracles. The supernatural is a trait characteristic of the millennial and the Gen Z set. If we are going to appeal to young people today we must appeal to them at their felt need level. Aside from other things, I believe the supernatural is one of their felt needs. At this moment, there are no less than 33 supernatural movies and television shows. It is obvious that entertainment merchants are capitalizing on this fascination.

Furthermore, Christianity is nothing if it is not supernatural. The foundation of our faith is supernatural. We must be believing for the demonstration of the Spirit in YTH ministry. YTH leadership must teach students the importance of their faith and the gifts that God has given to them. Those gifts include faith, healing, and the affecting of miracles. And you could even include words of wisdom, words of knowledge, and prophetic words that bring revelation into the YTH ministry.

How will our students ever learn to walk in the demonstration of the Spirit’s power if they never see it in the YTH setting?

Our students must be comfortable with the supernatural and leadership must be committed to shaping an environment that allows for a demonstration of the Spirit. That could be facilitated by YTH leaders who are sensitive enough to know when to pause moments and when to press students to engage. If the YTH group becomes a lab for the supernatural, our students world will be the place their faith is lived out.

2. We cannot be solely a small group focused YTH ministry

To be honest, look at where that focus has gotten us today. Over the last 15 years multiple organizations have driven the church to small groups. What has happened over that time is that 4% of Gen Z has a Christian worldview. I do not believe that is solely the fault of small group. But if small groups are done poorly and leadership is not trained well, that’s the result. Small group merely becomes a place to build relationships and not disciples.

And please understand this. I am not against small groups. I’ve done small groups for 35 years in YTH ministry. I’m against small groups not being done well.

Week after week small groups take place and there is never any room for students responding in worship or to the presence of God. Where are our students going to learn how to worship? Where will they learn the gifts of the Spirit? When is the last time you prayed for healing or for the supernatural in your small group? If they’re not learning the gifts of the Spirit in the small group, then the small group is replacing a very important element of Christianity – the presence of God.

We must understand that discipleship in YTH ministry is holistic. And there are many ways to spiritual formation. A mono-strategy of poorly run small groups will not work.

Another thought here is that students are in small groups at school 35 hours a week. They’re split up in the classrooms and transition in and out of subjects all week long. Is that really what we want to do when they come back to YTH group? Is there a point when students can only sit so long listening to a leader speaking 80% of the time and students dialoguing 20% of the time in the group? Because that’s what most small groups end up being like.

3. It takes vision from the YTH leader to build a culture of worship

Too many YTH leaders assume that because they are not musical, or they do not have musicians, or they do not have sound systems, lights, and adequate A/V, that they must not attempt the work it takes to grow a worship team in the YTH ministry. Presence is not bound by musicians or equipment. We have to think beyond our limitations.

And yet, it is important to note, that the reason why many YTH ministries do not have musicians is because there is no culture for worship. I believe the musicians will follow vision. If you’re a musician you know what I’m talking about. There’s an underground communication between artisans that goes through a region when musicians are valued. I’ve watched this so many settings.

It may take you putting people around you who are more musical. It may take you as a YTH leader to find the fine arts gifts and talents in your YTH ministry - including art, spoken word, and drama.

Let me give you some creative ways to assist the worship. One of the things that you can use is a playlist that will help you set a flow to the whole evening. That playlist could be beats for transitions and fill, or, worship music for the set. Using apps like Spotify and iTunes and YouTube will help tremendously in settings where there is not adequate teams of musicians.

4. Preaching and teaching on the presence of God

We do not need to teach teenagers how to worship. We need to teach teenagers how to worship God. They already know how to worship - they worship themself, others, their bae or their bestie, materialism, and icons. Getting teenagers to worship will be very easy if we introduce them to God. I believe the only teenagers who are not worshiping God are teenagers who do not know Him.

Remember this in YTH ministry - we are going to get what we celebrate. What do we spend most of our time thinking, teaching, and preaching about? Our YTH ministries have a certain environment because of the culture we set. If God and His presence are valued, The students will respond if they are allowed the time.

Another thing that I think is important is that we realize how important it is to teach students practical principles of worship. We cannot simply tell them to do something. We must teach them and show them. Spending a series on the different ways that we can worship will be a great impact on the YTH culture and the involvement of the students in worship.

I hear leaders say often that they are not preachers. And that preaching is not a priority. Do not underestimate the role of teaching and preaching in YTH ministry. One of the best ways you can set culture and rally students in your YTH ministry is the teaching and preaching of the Word in the corporate setting. I believe biblical preaching and teaching is great discipleship.

Finally

I’ve always felt that if I failed to teach my students how to pray and how to worship that I’ve wasted their time in the YTH group.

In the tension between a program and presence-based YTH ministry, don’t forget that we do not have to make a choice here. We can have both. I believe they could complement each other.