If you have been in students ministry for any amount of time, you know that relationships define the existence of teenagers. They live and die by the drama, by the BFFs and new worst enemies and it’s a constant wave of excitement and devastation as the seasons of their friendships come and go. We have all been teenagers before and know how vital those relationships are and how important friends are to having a great or miserable high school experience.
With the understanding of the value of relationships we need to be abundantly aware that students who come to our youth groups are less concerned with our deep v-neck worship team and sweet stage setup and more about finding meaningful friendships. The stats for adults and teens are similar in that a student will likely try your youth group 3 times and will leave if they d o not make a meaningful friendship in that time.
For us reaching out to community students, how will we ever help students enter into a relationship with Jesus if we can’t even help them develop a friendship with another student. Fellowship is very underrated and the more that we can help foster community, the more we can foster relationship and the more we can foster a culture where students are known. Where students know each other’s stories, know their past and pray for their future. Where students understand that they are acceptable because of Jesus.
Geoff Stewart is the Youth Pastor at Peace Portal Alliance Church in Surrey B.C. where he oversees Journey Student Ministries. He is married to Lavonne and they have two cats, Norman and Puff Daddy. Geoff Blogs all over the place and tweets often, but not TOO often. Follow him on twitter @geoffcstewart.
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