The Church outside the Building
I have worked with students for nine years now at Seacoast Church in Mount Pleasant. I love my church and I love what I get to do full-time as a minister of God. Over the last 9 months, God has revolutionized the way that he has called me to do ministry.
For some reason, I have always operated from the standpoint to be ready to present the Gospel when the students come into the church. My work schedule, my priorities, my philosophy of youth ministry have always been centered around doing ministry inside the church building. I would tell the students to go and get their friends and bring them to the church. Guess what? It wasn’t working!
I went into a depression second guessing my calling and my ability to pastor students. Our youth group attendance was low and we were scrambling just to keep from going under. We started new programs to try to jumpstart the ministry and all that did was add more work to our schedule without really producing results – Followers of Christ.
Last January we began a pruning process in our ministry and really began seeking God for his direction. There were several life-changing and ministry-changing behaviors that God revealed to us in this process but there was one that stood out the most for me.
In March I attended the Youth Pastor Summit in Orlando, Florida. There I heard a message from Ed Stetzer and the one line that God wanted me to hear.
“If you are not in student’s places then you are not in student’s ministry.”
This quote hit me like a ton of bricks! Sure, I have gone to school lunches before in the past, but honestly I dreaded being there. I had no purpose being there. I was only begging them to come to youth group. I would do an occasional FCA meeting now and then at the school. I would go to a football game or basketball game. But was I really making a difference!
As the new school year approached my goal was not to just show up every now and then at the school but allow God to open doors to reach students at their schools. Little did I know that when I started praying this, God was already opening doors. Here is just a few of the doors he has opened:
1. Every morning before school starts a group of 40+ of our students are praying in front of the school at the flagpole, in front of every person entering the school. I come every monday to lead a devotion for them but my role in this group is to encourage and challenge the students.
2. I attend lunch every Wednesday and instead of begging students to come to church, I get to know the students and the friends they introduce me to. It begins with a relationship, then an invitation.
3. Myself, along with another Pastor at our church and the FCA representative for our area are Chaplains for the B team, JV, and Varsity Football teams at our PUBLIC high school. We provide meals for them every Thursday and Friday as well as PREACH the Gospel.
4. I lead a leadership small group for all the Seniors of the Varsity Football Team. A group of 40+ members.
5. I am speaking chapels for our local Christian schools.
6. We have reached out to the teachers in the public school by serving 180 of them before Open House by serving them dinner.
7. I have committed to praying for the Faculty and Administration at all of the schools in our area. I will occasionally send them encouraging emails.
What has resulted in this?
A GROWING and THRIVING Youth Ministry. Kids can forget about a once a week service but they don’t forget it when they see you four-five times a week! I don’t say these things to brag about myself or my church. Jesus tells us in Matthew 28:19 to GO and tell people about the Message. That is why we are experiencing a harvest in the Youth Group at my church. 28 students have accepting Christ in the last 3 weeks! We have almost doubles in attendance! 60% of our students are in small groups (we just started 3 weeks ago)! We are baptizing 9 students tonight!HOW is this HAPPENING? Because we are GOING. It begins with the leadership of the church. If we are not going, but only staying, then how are we to teach others to do the same thing!
Let me challenge you to look at your schedule this week and determine where most of your time is spent. Is it spent more in the church, waiting for people to come to you. Or is it spent outside the church, GOING to people who need the Gospel!
I would love to hear feedback, comments, stories of what God is doing in your life and how you are GOING into the world to share the GOOD NEWS!
I am completely in agreement with this. This is what I did for 3+ years. I saw the impact it had in Summerville. I loved being out with the kids. Whether I was in a prayer group, eating lunch, in the classroom, or at my house with a group o teens. I poured my life into them. They know the difference!
I am trying to continue that here in Tennessee, but so far it has been much more challenging. The biggest challenge is all of the high schools. In this one district there are aprox 15 high schools and not 2 of my “church kids” go to the same school. There are even a hand full of private schools.
I encourage you to keep doing what you are doing. You are making a huge impact on those teens lives and as you share Jesus with them, they will share Jesus with others. Im sure it is not always easy to get up and go to prayer or to be away from your family at night when you are at a game, but I feel from very deep inside that what you are doing is what all “youth leaders” should be doing! I hope your story can encourage others! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Sarah. I’ll be praying for your ministry in Tennessee. Are you still in Chattanooga with The Net?
Yes! We are in Chattanooga with the Net and LOVING IT! God is doing amazing things and we are growing in leaps and bounds. We are going to need another small group and/or service in the near future!