Growing Your Youth Ministry Through See You At The Pole
If we do not take the freedom to pray, the freedom to pray will be taken from us.
One of the largest prayer meetings in the history of the world took place this past week. and I’m not being demonstrative or sensational. It is called See You At The Pole. Last year there were over 4 million students who participated. The anticipation is that there will be much more this year.
As the reports come in, I want to share with you two of the easiest ways to grow your youth ministry. That’s right. Zero expense and major return on investment.
The first way to grow your YTH Ministry will grow your youth ministry spiritually. And the second way will take that spiritual growth and expand the numbers in your youth ministry. They are a symbiotic relationship.
Here are 2 easy ways to grow your youth ministry:
1. If there’s one sure way to grow your youth ministry spiritually it is through private & public prayer.
I’m talking about all of the spiritual disciplines. But let’s focus on this podcast on prayer. Millions of students prayed on their school campuses this week all over America. Of course, Christ calls us to intimacy and prayer when no one is watching. But there are also important public times of prayer that become powerful in many ways.
Every year I attend See You At The Pole I love to watch students and staff walk by the flagpole with students and staff and community leaders praying around the pole. The responses are always entertaining. Some people stop and stare. Some people walk over and listen. Some people interrupt and mock. But everyone has taken notice.
Praying publicly is not just an impact upon the witnesses who walk by and see our students praying around the flagpole. Praying publicly is an enormous impact on those who are praying.
Public prayer shows students that they are not alone, it shows them that there are other people who value prayer, and it brings great confidence and courage.
After all, Jesus Christ did not die on the cross publicly for me to serve him privately.
I believe every public use of our faith grows us stronger spiritually. There will be millions of students who walk through the halls of high schools, sit in classrooms , eat in cafeterias, and play on sports teams who will be asked why they were praying around the flagpole. What a faith builder.
The other important part of public prayer is the impact that it has on society. Prayer is supernatural. And it changes things. I can’t imagine the kind of things that were aborted in the spiritual realm because of the prayers of millions of students … Bullying, racism, addictions, and violence.
Prayer does not only change us. It changes everything.
2. Another sure way to grow your YTH Ministry is through campus access.
This is what I call youth ministry missiology. Doing YTH ministry in the context of teenagers. This goes without saying. However, very few youth ministries have a presence on the school campus.
In my travels, in a room full of youth leaders, I rarely see a third of the room that is participating regularly on the school campus. That might include visitation, sub-teaching, coaching, counseling, or simply attending extracurricular events. It really is easy to have a footprint on campus.
I believe one of the fastest ways to grow your YTH Ministry numerically is to be in the setting of teenagers. Campus access gives us a direct avenue back to the church. But we must build that road intentionally.
A couple of weeks ago we gave you 25 ways to get on campus. Please check out that podcast. However, let me give you one more practical way to be on the campus and to build intentional relationships back to the youth ministry.
I challenge every YTH ministry in America to continue the momentum of See You At The Pole. Why not schedule a monthly Pole prayer meeting the rest of the school year? This will be a great way to activate the faith of our students, and for them to live their faith publicly. Not to mention the incredible spiritual impact of the prayers that are being prayed.
Finally
Remember, if we do not take our freedom to prayer, our freedom to pray will be taken from us.
Millions of students from all over the country believe they have something to say about the future of this nation. If the church is in the hands of the young people that I see across America, the church is in great hands.
And See You At The Pole is the perfect initiator of The Next Great Awakening in this nation!