Ideas: David Perry

What’s the idea?

Integrating teens into the church community.

What was the need?

The students in our church felt like outsiders in their own church. About 90 percent of our students were from other youth groups and were connected to other churches.

Why was this?

Some reasons include that most youth groups in town have their services on Wednesday nights, and we used to meet on Sunday nights.

We have nine school districts in an approximate 30-mile radius of the church. Because our church draws people from this entire area, we don’t have the majority of people coming from one community.

Solution?

Here are ways we integrated our students into the life of the church.

• They are incorporated into existing church ministries such as the praise and worship team, sound and video team, children’s church helpers, greeters, volunteering with “parents’ night out,” and Vacation Bible School.

• In various places and at different times during the week, we have “Student ConneXion Groups” that meet and are led by adults. All teens are encouraged to be involved in these groups.

• We are creating experiences and environments where students can connect with each other and grow together in their relationships with God.

• Instead of meeting as a full youth group each week, our main youth ministry focuses on the ConneXion groups. Special events and retreats are created where the teens and sponsors can come together.

What’s the goal?

Creating community is part of our intention behind this. We do it through the small groups and other ways of serving in the church.

But also, we try to be intentional about serving the community around us. This is what the entire church is doing, but we’re incorporating the youth into the church model.

How are you serving the community?

We remove graffiti around town, rake leaves, clean yards, hand out bags of apples in neighborhoods, build accessible ramps so those in the hospital can return home, and other things that connect our skill sets to needs in the community.

Some employees from the Public Works Department attend our church so we have inroads to the community’s needs through them. They can direct us to specific areas that need attention.

How has it helped?

We have seen an increase in the number of students move from just attending church to participating in the life of the church. They are connecting to the adults and to their peers.

More adults are now actively engaged in ministry. Several of them who were not involved before have been activated to become leaders and mentors in the youth ministry. This helps me because I have more leaders connecting with students. The students receive more attention than what one youth pastor can provide.

David Perry is a youth pastor in Plattsburgh, New York, at Church of the Nazarene on the Upstate New York District. Originally, he was a math teacher who, after volunteering at the church, became the youth pastor. He and his wife, Nicole, have a daughter, Aerilyn.

Please note: All facts, figures, and titles were accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of original publication but may have since changed.