Subscribe to the NetworkHow to Get Your Student Leaders Crunk
As a full-time Youth Pastor, one of the most enjoyable pieces of ministry was watching students emerge as leaders. I looked forward to investing in the lives of a key group of students who then became motivators of spiritual and numerical growth in our student ministry.
There are some things to consider before building your student leadership group. First, be careful in how you select your group. You don’t want to exclude a quiet student who really would emerge as a leader if just given the chance. I would suggest that you ask all students to indicate their interest in being on a leadership team. Allow students from all grades to be on the team.
Ask students to complete a leadership team application to reveal a little about their personal relationship with the Lord and their desire to be a student leader. You can design your application to reflect your desires for your group. You might ask the students to make a personal commitment to things such as the following: attendance at Bible study and youth activities, a personal daily quiet time with God, and an extra commitment to attend student leader training or enrichment events. You can determine the number of students you can effectively disciple and commission to be your group of student leaders. If your student ministry is divided into a middle school, junior or senior high divisions, you can consider forming leadership teams that sometimes function within those age groups and sometimes function together for overall student events.
Once you have determined who will select your student leaders, you can then motivate them to lead. Here are four ways to get your students excited about leading:
1. Plan a leadership retreat. One of the most exciting times for me as a student minister was when I took my first leadership team on a weekend retreat. I used the weekend to talk about my expectations for the team. We then talked about their dreams for our student ministry.
2. Give students responsibilities with enough guidance to ensure their success. I have found that when given responsibility, students will achieve what we believe they can handle. Your belief in their ability and your availability of guidance as needed will empower them to own your student ministry and be totally connected.
3. Help your leadership team begin to invest in other students. As you watch your leadership team grow, encourage them to begin to invest in students who are marginally involved in your student ministry. Just as you feel strengthened in watching your leadership team mature in their faith and leadership, your students will be strengthened when they see other students begin to grow with their encouragement.
4. Give your leadership team a voice in your church. Your student leaders should be asked to serve on ministry teams and in leadership positions alongside the adults in your church. As your church begins to assign people to ministry teams, make sure they remember that your students are just as much a member of your church as the 40-somethings and senior adults. As students take part in more ministry opportunities, God may just call out these students and lead them to ministry vocations or future church leadership ministries.
