February 25, 2013

Start at the Very Beginning

Julie Andrews had it right.

In “The Sound of Music,” she begins to teach her young charges about notes and singing. When she realizes that they don’t even have a basic understanding, she backs up and encourages them.

“Let’s start at the very beginning. A very good place to start.”

There’s a common refrain across the country: We want more kids to be a part of the church.

But time and again, it seems, we make the mistake of starting in the wrong place.

Launching a senior high youth group for two faithful high school students probably won’t get much traction. It makes more sense to partner with a neighboring church so that the teens can be part of a community and build some comraderie with their peers. Starting a college ministry around one faithful freshman is likely an invitation for failure and frustration.

Look around and identify the energy – and the audience.

If your church has a cluster of early elementary students, focus on nurturing this group. Build a stellar Christian education program. Plan a rocking Vacation Bible School. And consider beginning an after-school offering.

It’s much easier to keep children involved if they feel connected than it is to bring them back into the fold.

In our congregation, there are some high school students, but there hasn’t been any sustained programming for a bit. It would be a steep, uphill battle to lure them back into a newly formed youth group.

But we have a large crop of middle schoolers. These kids are just beginning their separation from their parents, vacillating between independence and family ties. They’re seeking and forming their identity and making their own decisions about faith and life.

So this is where our efforts are focused. With a dozen or more kids on most Sunday evenings, there’s a critical mass for discussion and play. Outings to a local ice skating rink or to the park are fun in a group. And if just half of those kids invite a friend the following week, the group grows exponentially.

Bringing kids into the church and creating space for connection and community is a vital practice for our congregations. But we need to make sure we make smart decisions and find the very good place to start.