Essentials of Small-Town Youth Ministry

Written by Chris Ediger

A large percentage of American churches serve in smaller communities. Ministering to youth in these small-town settings presents its own special set of advantages and challenges. Here are some essential things to help you succeed when ministering in a small-town environment.

Surround Yourself with Good Help

One of the temptations that all student workers face, especially those in a small town/smaller church setting, is to "run the show." That is, the point person (which may be a full-time student pastor, part-time, bivocational, paid or volunteer student worker) is the one who does most, if not all, of the ministry work with the teenagers in the church.

Realize that the main job of every point person in ministry is to be an "equipper of the saints" (Ephesians 4:11-12). This should be our number one priority as leaders, next to ministering directly to students. A student leader's job is to help raise up and enable others to minister to students as well. When we try to do it all ourselves, we are robbing others of the joy of ministering to teenagers. In the process we can also cripple our ministries from experiencing real growth.

I have learned to ask the following question before taking on a task: "Can someone else do this?" Delegation should not be an excuse for laziness on our parts, but it can provide great opportunities for ministry for other leaders.

Youth workers can be student parents, college students or teens. People can help with any number of needs--making copies, taking roll, greeting guests or setting up chairs. These can be made-to-fit ministry opportunities for any worker.

Get to Know Other Area Youth Workers

Another key to effective small-town youth ministry lies in relationships with other churches/youth groups in town. If a town is big enough to have more than one church and/or youth ministry coexisting, it is to the ministries' advantage to link up together. What are some of the benefits of working together with other youth ministries?

• Big events: Working with other churches provides an opportunity for all churches involved--big or small--to conduct larger events. This increased attendance means the ministry can provide an exciting, large event at a low cost for participating youth.
• Friendships among youth workers: Through partnerships, churches are seen less as competitors and more as friends with the same goal-winning youth for Christ. Many youth workers, especially those who have moved from out-of-town, have few friends. Meeting regularly for lunch or fellowship provides key relationships with others who are also ministering to teenagers.

Think Big on an Individual Basis

Working in a small town or small church is no excuse to think small! Think big--not just in terms of numbers, but in terms of impact. How do we balance the desire to see teenagers reached for Christ while remaining humble in our outlook of our own ministry and not grading our success by numbers alone?

We must realize that numerical growth is the natural outcome of spiritual growth. When our students are being equipped to grow in their spiritual lives, they will catch the vision and passion to reach their lost friends for Christ. We must look to minister to the individual youth.

Spending time with individual youth is one practical way to do that. It doesn't have to be a major time-consumer for youth leaders. We can simply look for areas in which we and our youth workers can involve students in everyday life. It has been in some of these "common" moments that I believe my most effective ministry has taken place. When we surround yourself with others in ministry to our youth, we are making heart-to-heart ministry possible in a way that couldn't be accomplished on our own.

Small-town youth ministry can be a rewarding experience and one filled with great successes, if we take the time to invest in principles such as these.