The purpose of a church youth group is to help young people in the church to continue to trust and grow in their relationship with God. This experience will prompt them to be faithful to Christ in everything they do as they age, and the church itself will benefit from this. With all the busyness of raising a teenager, it's easy to forget about youth group attendance. But why is it so important for their faith? Students want to learn from people who care about them; they want to be discovered and known.
When youth ministries create opportunities for students to build meaningful relationships with adult believers, they lay the foundation for evangelism and discipleship. This will equip them to have an impact on Christ both now and in their future. In healthy youth ministry, every aspect of ministry programming is linked to the mission of youth ministry and everyone (parents, students, and adult volunteers) knows the purpose of each event. Studies suggest that students who have multiple adult believers who intentionally invest in their lives are more likely to stay connected to the church and thrive in their faith, even after they graduate.
Youth groups exist to establish meaningful relationships between mature adult believers and students for the purpose of helping the student grow in their relationship with the Lord. Adults must understand modern influences on Christianity, which allow them to identify with young people and build meaningful relationships with them. In addition, every aspect of ministry serves as a leadership laboratory for the development of student leaders. Empowering young people to lead the cause of Christ and apply Christianity to all areas of life is what youth ministry is all about.
We expect every teen to participate in worship and be connected to the entire life of the church; youth ministry is just an extension of congregational ministry specific to that age group. Young people need guidance and support as they go through the most difficult part of their development and seek to grow in their walk with Christ.
