How Effective Is Your Student Ministry?

Written by Dwayne Ulmer

Your students receive a report card every few months that evaluates their growth, but evaluating youth ministry is not that easy. Youth ministers who do want to evaluate their youth ministries have a limited number of evaluation tools, and most are unstandardized and somewhat unreliable. But despite the lack of interest and proper tools needed for evaluation, it's arguably one of the most important administrative tasks in youth education. So what does an effective youth ministry look like?

The Value of Youth Ministry Evaluation

Evaluation measures the degree of success or failure in the achievement of ministry objectives. It may result in changes such as reidentifying needs, reclarifying objectives and restructuring methods and ministry to deepen the kingdom's impact on a community.

Evaluation is more than number-crunching. It's determining worth or merit. Once the ministry has been evaluated, it should seek to improve. Evaluation asks, "Is the ministry doing what it should be doing?"

At least three terms are used almost interchangeably in the context of evaluation:

Testing refers to information about a given person, group or program. The data is obtained through objective, written means.
Measurement tends to refer to the gathering of a body of evidence through the process of testing over a period of time. The emphasis is still on the obtainment of data rather than the formulating of conclusions from the data.
Evaluation is the broadest of the three, implying interpretation of the objective data so conclusions can be developed, resulting in change.

The Judges of Youth Ministry Evaluation

Paul Borthwick points out that it is also important to ask, "Who is judging the effectiveness or evaluating the health of a youth ministry?" Several parties participate in the process, he explains:

God Himself, the most important judge,
Parents, who give insight into what motivates their teens and what youth are like away from church,
Teenagers, who know what is effective in helping them grow and ministering to them and
Other churches/youth ministries, who can help share in the big picture of what is happening.

Biblical Purposes of a Successful Youth Ministry

To evaluate youth ministry, the most significant principles of church growth should be determined. The best place to begin this determination is with the New Testament. If the goal is to establish a successful New Testament church in the 21st century, it makes sense that the key would be found in Scripture.

Three of the most significant Scripture passages that deal with growth and ministry include:

the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20),
the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37-40) and
the Great Commitment (Acts 2:42-47).

In these three passages of Scripture, five essential purposes or functions of the church emerge as clear standards for the development of the New Testament church in every culture and society from New Testament times until Christ returns:

evangelism,
discipleship,
ministry,
fellowship and
worship.

Jesus' Great Commission to His disciples is what Gene Mims has identified as "the capstone of the Savior's earthly teaching ministry. Author and pastor Rick Warren identifies the Great Commandment as the Cliff Notes summary of God's word: Love God with everything you have and love your neighbor as yourself ("The Purpose Driven Church"). James White, in his book "Rethinking the Church," has identified Acts 2:42-47 as the answer to the question, "What is the business, or purpose, of the church?" This "Great Commitment" describes the incredible commitment the body of believers had to Christ, to one another and to the world.

The Evaluation Process

The evaluation instrument for youth ministry must be built on the five purposes of the church. Various evaluation questions must examine how well the tasks are being completed. Other data must reveal the results of the five functions. An evaluation tool must allow youth, workers, leaders and parents to evaluate their perceptions of how well they are accomplishing the tasks.

Evaluation should take place yearly, preferably at the same time each year. This allows for year-to-year comparisons. Evaluation instruments, such as the newest version of Richard Ross' "From Boot Up to Exit: Planning Youth Ministry, Internet Access Edition," are presently available and in development.

It's long past time for youth ministers to stop and take a hard, honest look at their churches' ministries. It's essential for the youth ministry culture to step up ministries' effectiveness and broaden the impact to fulfill the Great Commission.

Dr. Dwayne C. Ulmer is a veteran youth ministry writer and the former managing director of Student Ministry Publishing at LifeWay Christian Resources.