The 'attraction model' of youth ministry that we all used to live by....

In this video, I'm rambling on about the 'old way' of doing youth ministry. Building specific events to attract new kids was common place. For a while, periodically, we'd have great results. More often than not, we just had great programs... 

1.  in my experience, few kids ever really shifted their attendance/engagement from the big, crazy Friday night event to the weekly discipleship/growth meetings. The different programs we offered were just too different. Kids that came for the fun just came for the fun. Only a few shifted like we intended.
2.  kids have told me that they didn't appreciate getting invited to a fun event and being blindsided with a serious, invitational 'God talk'.  This changed how we invited kids - not what we did. We started inviting kids to 'a big fun thing where we will talk about God'... that didn't really work either.
3.  my youth group just ended up bringing the same kids over and over... they got used to it, accepted the deal and had fun; but results diminished. Some of those kids finally accepted Christ because of the relationships built - could we not have done that much more effectively?
4.  I spent a TON of time and money on attracting kids. Kids came for the program, not for relationship, not for growth, not for the message, not for God. I was a program director more than a shepherd.

 Here's about 5 minutes of my ramblings...

 

How should we respond? Create healthy, authentic followers of Christ who will work at following Christ well. Then, in the relationships they have, invite friends into the community who practices following Jesus well.... Get good at doing what Christians do... let the world see that!

Let's not 'green screen' folks into hearing the gospel.  
dave


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P.S.
After shooting this, I remembered where I got the ideas I mentioned in the video. The article that talked about the choir and the debate team is by Ken Moser. His article on tearing down the house is awesome! So, Ken... I'm not stealing your material; I'm pointing it out! Good job.

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Dave Brotherton was a youth pastor from 1984-2006 and now teaches youth ministry at Ambrose University College in Calgary. Dave is also the National Youth Guy for the Alliance churches in Canada, the director of Legacy Youth Conference, and a junior high volunteer in his church. Dave is married to Lisa and they share 2 of the greatest kids in the world. Fishing, camping, and cheering on the Leafs are some of his favorite things. 
This summer, Dave is transitioning to lead the ministry of Sauble Christian Fellowship, Sauble Beach, ON. 
twitter: @oldbrotherdave