Youth Ministry: Developing Your Youth Group

By Bob Myers

Growing up with a father who was a carpenter taught my brothers and me some important lessons. We used to marvel at the care he demonstrated in his handling of tools and how each tool was used for its designed purpose. (He was not a guy who would use a fine chisel for a screwdriver or as a pry bar to open up a can of stain.) We admired the solidly crafted cabinets, staircases, and homes that resulted from his work. Over time, Dad’s tools were passed down to his sons. In the church we have been given tools, too, and we likewise want to become seasoned in their use as we interact with our younger brothers and sisters in Christ. We try to figure out how best to pass down the faith once delivered.

My experience is with a small church, with a relatively small pool of young people, but hopefully some of these thoughts will be of use and serve to encourage those who would like to start a youth group.

Not all of the youth here are “cradle Lutherans.” Some are new to the Lutheran faith and are in the process of catechesis. And yet all of them, just like the pastor, the vicar, and the youth leader volunteers have the same needs: forgiveness, life, and salvation. All face the same enemies: the world, the devil, and our own sinful flesh. So we don’t treat the youth necessarily as some special needs group—they are our brothers and sisters in Christ, brought into the church in God’s way of doing things, called by the Holy Spirit, washed in the waters of Holy Baptism, strengthened by His Gifts, absolved by His Word of forgiveness. They are younger in the faith and so rely on adult leadership to listen to them, to guide them and to show them the way.

Our leaders are the pastor, a vicar (when assigned), and volunteer lay leaders. The training of a pastor and vicar is pretty much a given, and we rejoice in the men that the seminaries prepare, but it is important that lay volunteers spend time in their own theological education as well. Guided and taught by the pastor, lay volunteers study God’s Word, know the Small and Large Catechisms, and make use of Book of Concord study to make that part of their work with the group. This shaping by these Lutheran tools necessarily will impact what the program looks like.

The core of our program is Word and Sacrament ministry on Sunday morning. Hearing God’s Word put into our ears gives us a voice to speak it to our family and neighbor. Then, teens attend Sunday morning Bible class with the rest of the congregation. Those of middle school age (6th-8th graders) are in a class centered on the Small Catechism. During their catechesis, the 6th-8thgrade students journal their way through the Old Testament and the New Testament over the course of three years. On Sunday mornings, these Biblical truths are explored in relation to the students and the world around them.

This Sunday morning schedule is supplemented by a Wednesday evening schedule that is more intimate by design. The extra-Biblical resources that we have used include HT Bible Studies, HT YouTube videos, Worldview Everlasting videos, and a variety of podcasts. After an Issues, Etc. podcast introduced us to the work of Greg Koukl we decided to work through his book, Tactics. Tactics and other resources have been very helpful in teaching how to recognize and engage different worldviews. We have been through books by Brad Alles and Craig Parton and are currently working through Rev. Harold Senkbeil’s book, Dying To Live.

We grapple with some tough theological questions; existential questions and questions of the truth and reliability of Scripture and other writings are an important part of our mid-week time. We want to engage the group in learning how to confess, how to forgive, and how to apply Law and Gospel in the various vocations in which our youth live. We try to give them the vocabulary that helps them clearly speak their faith.

We also participate in service projects, although they are not the main point of the group. Such service stems from who they are in Christ. The youth assist in serving during a monthly Lutheran Blind Mission dinner and occasionally at the church’s weekly homeless breakfast. They know full well that these works do not earn merit but that they are meeting the needs of their neighbors by such activities. There are also times when the kids just get together to socialize—to learn to better know their brothers and sisters in Christ. Canoe trips, baseball games, and water park events always bring a smile. Our youth have even been known to put a serious hurt on pizzas on occasion!

At the very center of what we do is the proclamation of the forgiveness of sins for the sake of Jesus Christ. Like their leaders, youth sometimes have overwhelming feelings of weakness, failure, and an awareness of their sin. Their sin troubles them as much as my sin troubles me. The lesson that they must hear, often, is not “try harder” to pull themselves up by their bootstraps to fix themselves but rather to take comfort in and seek the forgiveness found only in Jesus Christ. Our teens are facing a rapidly changing, even decaying world and they will be seen to be different as Christians. Our job is to help them know that there are answers to the challenges that they are facing and that Truth can be defended.

Parents want their kids to be free from exposure to sin (how’s that going?), they want to protect them from danger, and they want them to remain steadfast in the faith. The church wants all her members to remain steadfast in the faith, even the younger ones. We’ve been given some great tools. The early Lutherans gave us the Small Catechism, sometimes called the Layman’s bible. Funny thing, it’s a handy tool that works when it is used but, just like some of Dad’s woodworking tools, if it is neglected it gets a bit rusty. We keep the rust off by constantly using the gifts we’ve been given.

Want a successful youth group?

Parents: Teach them (remember that “as the head of the family should teach in a simple way” bit in the Small Catechism?), pray with them, love them, and take them to youth group. Congregations: Teach the faith, pray with your younger brothers and sisters in Christ, love them, and support them. Pastors: Teach them, pray with them, love them, absolve them.

We all face the same dangers and the same foe. We all have an Advocate with the Father. The greatest gift we can pass on to our children is the Christian faith. The forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life, that Great Exchange of Christ’s perfect life for ours, is a message that needs to be heard in our churches on Sundays and Wednesdays and Saturdays and in our homes and families every day. God bless you and your youth!

Bob Myers grew up in a Mennonite home, left to join the Navy for a 23-year career and became a confessing Lutheran along the way. He teaches catechesis and apologetics to middle and high school youth at Immanuel Lutheran Church, Pensacola, Florida.