New Life Ministries Report 13 - Reaching Teenagers

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Reaching Teenagers

A New Life Ministries Report
by Steve Clapp and Kristen Leverton Helbert

Reaching Teens Is a Priority

Strong youth programs are an important part of overall congregational health!

	Strong youth programs make a great difference in the lives of young people during the crucial teenage years. Research by the Gallup organization and by Search Institute confirms that church active teens are at less risk for violence, illicit drug use, early sexual behavior, and suicide than teens outside the church.
	Many churches have youth who stay active through the eighth grade but disappear by their junior and senior years of high school. Research by one of the New Life Ministries partners confirms that youth who stay active through high school are more than twice as likely to be involved in the church as adults.
	Strong youth programs can help draw new teens to the church, and active teens can be great evangelists.
	Although the connection is not automatic, parents are far more likely to become involved in the church if their teenage children are active.

Teens Are Believers

Most teens have religious beliefs even though they are not necessarily active in church. Research from the Gallup organization has consistently shown over the last decade that only 9% of teens do not have a religious preference. This doesn’t mean, of course, that all the teens who have a religious preference are actually involved in the life of a church or believe the same statements of faith as those who are active.

On most national surveys, 50% of the teens who respond say that they have attended a church activity within the past two weeks. That’s an impressive percentage who are church active, but it also means there are large numbers who are not.

Because of the strong religious interest of teens, outreach efforts to them have a good chance of being successful.

Youth Group Outreach Checklist

Here is a short exercise to help youth groups and classes assess how open they are to one another and how intentional they are about reaching out to new people and making them feel part of the group. With slight modification, this can be used for adult groups as well. Ask teens to check all that are true for them or for their group.

Offering a Safe Environment

Youth grow in the faith primarily because of relationships with people who take the spiritual life seriously. Both adults and other youth can have significant influence on the spiritual life developed by teens. Gimmicks and tricks don’t do the job. Mass evangelism events may produce meaningful religious experiences but can’t nurture continued growth. Friendships, mentors, Bible study, spiritual life retreats, and other opportunities allow Christ to be at work in the lives of teens through relationships. Teens need a safe environment to nurture the faith and to apply it to their daily lives.

Too much emphasis on having the “right” answers to questions keeps young people from stretching. An atmosphere in which those who ask questions are made to feel foolish works against spiritual growth. Young people need to feel accepted not only when they’ve accomplished something significant but also when they’ve failed. That’s why the checklist mentioned above includes items about a group being able to accept differing opinions.

We need to remember that unchurched teens face numerous barriers when visiting, attending, and assimilating into a church or youth group. These include:

	Differences in appearance because of financial resources and/or preferences.
	Differences in family structure because of divorce, death, and pregnancy outside of wedlock.
	Differences in educational background.
	Differences in familiarity with traditional church customs and beliefs.
	Differences in values, goals, perspectives, and support systems.
	Lack of long-standing friendships with others in the group.
	Perceived lack of welcome and warmth from the existing group because of differences and/or being new to the group.

A group that not only tolerates differences but proactively accepts, appreciates, and encourages diversity in its membership can make it far easier for the unchurched to become part of group life. In doing so, the group fulfills the Gospel’s instruction to extend Christian love to everyone, regardless of race, gender, educational background, economic or social status, appearance, or opinion. Having a youth group or class complete and discuss the checklist can be a starting point for helping create a group which reaches and welcomes new people.

Helping Youth with Faith-Sharing

Idea #1: Videotape and show a series of different television commercials. Ask group members for their opinions of the relative effectiveness of each commercial. Discuss why companies advertise, the benefits, and the drawbacks. Ask the teens to come up with different things that each of them “advertise” (for example, through T-shirts, book cover, etc.)—athletic teams, schools, clothing brands, favorite music, automobiles, etc.. Then ask how advertising relates to talking about the faith and inviting others to share in church activities. What have they learned about the best approaches to sharing the faith? Why don’t they want to sound like television commercials?

Idea #2: Have teens talk about ways in which God has worked in their lives, helped them move through difficult periods, and celebrated with them in better times. Challenge the group to brain-storm ideas, topics, and phrases which can be used with peers which won’t sound weird, forced, or threatening when they share their faith. Encourage them, in faith-sharing, to talk about the difficult times with which God has helped them; these are often the points with which unchurched persons are most likely to identify.

Idea #3: Encourage each young person to designate someone they are acquainted with (but do not know especially well) who would benefit from a new friendship and possible involvement in the group. Suggest that the person might be someone outside their typical comfort zone for friendships. Have them begin praying for this person and increasing the amount of interaction between the two of them. Challenge the youth to invite these individuals into the group when it seems appropriate to do so.

Idea #4: Involve your teens in a study of Peer Evangelism, a resource which helps teens understand the importance of sharing their faith and developing comfortable, non-manipulative approaches for doing so.

Resources

	*Fifty Strategies for Outreach to Teenagers* is a concise booklet available from New Life Ministries which is filled with practical strategies for outreach to teens; some of the material in this report is adapted from that publication. *Peer Evangelism* and *The Youth Workers Handbook* are other valuable resources available from New Life Ministries.
	Be sure to see the Youth Group Outreach Checklist that is part of this report. (Note that with minor adaptation, it may be used effectively with adult groups as well.
	Don't miss the links to other web sites related to youth ministry.
	Your denominational office has staff people who specialize in youth ministry and can offer you a wide range of resources, workshops, and other events to help your outreach to teenagers.

To purchase any of these products, go to our online order form or call us toll-free at 1-800-774-3360.

And remember, you can contact New Life Ministries without cost or obligation to talk about the specific needs of your congregation.

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