Monday, April 09, 2012

Church Grows through Student Second Groups

Report from Daniel, a youth pastor in Little Elm, Texas.

When I was first asked to take over the student ministry in my church, our Senior Pastor told me “When the youth get activated, the whole church will get activated.” I didn’t completely understand how true that statement was until a couple of weeks ago.

In December 2011 we launched our first I am Second group in our youth group.  It didn’t take long for our students to get behind the groups.  A few weeks after our first group launched, six students told me they wanted to take I am Second into their public schools. So in early 2012 we launched I am Second in our local Junior High and High School.  Soon 35 new students had joined those school groups.

We now have 8 groups. Each group caters to different types of people.  About 30 kids have joined our youth group because of groups our students are doing outside the church.

One group amazes me because they consistently have over 25 kids attending each week. This group has inspired the parents to get involved.  Each week 4-6 of the parents team up to host the group and provide dinner.

The whole church is getting behind these youth groups.  For example, the parents are wearing I am Second bracelets and t-shirts. Their impact is spreading, too, for now we are finalizing a strategy to launch I am Second groups for the men’s and women’s ministries.  Several new families have come to our church because their kids started coming to one of the Second groups.

 
After we train more leaders, we plan to expand the groups in the schools.  The schools have given us permission to put up banners during lunch to get more exposure for the Second groups.  So we’ll have an official launch soon when these new leaders are ready.


There is nothing more powerful than young people passionately telling others about what Jesus has done in their lives.  Our Pastor was right. “When the youth get activated, the whole church will get activated.”

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