Chris Storms

One of the things we did a few years ago that I really think made a huge difference for our Club was to get our leaders serving at the school.

The very first time I met our 2 new leaders that particular year, I asked them what they did when they were in high school, what they were involved with.  Jim said he played football & volleyball and Sarah said she was involved in student government.

The next day, I got in touch with the boys volleyball coach & the SGA sponsor.  I let them know I had a couple college students who would love to come and volunteer with their programs.  Turns out, Jim ended up getting a 3-year JV coaching job & Sarah started coming to work with our Leadership class once a week and even substituted some.

We talked about them serving without an agenda.  They weren’t there to talk to kids about Young Life and it wasn’t even their goal to get more kids to come to Club.  Their purpose in being at the school was to serve, to become part of the community they were ministering to.

Besides being a Young Life Leader, I’m also a teacher at the school.  I really believe that having the 3 of us on campus made a huge difference in the number of kids who come to Club, not because we ask tons of kids to come to Club, but because we are present in their lives.  Though we don’t talk about it at school, they know we are Young Life Leaders, they know we love them, they know we are part of their lives, so it’s just natural for them to come and hang out with us when they hear that Club is happening.

So, my second suggestion for growing your youth group is to get on campus as much as you can.  That’s where the kids are, so that’s where we should be.  Don’t expect them to come to you.  And, go without an agenda.  Just serve.

Take a look at Make Your Youth Group Grow (Part 1) – Connect With Adults.