How To Create A Student Ministry Of Doers

Can we all agree that being a student is extremely difficult?

With the influx of technology and accessibility, students seem to be more stressed and more discouraged than ever before. The advancements that promised an easy life has caused thousands of students headaches as they try to navigate who they are and how God made them. Students need relationships. They need encouragement. They need Jesus.

Many student ministries are set up so that the weekly service opportunities for students in the church basically boil down to the greeting time at midweek services. As a result, students don’t take ownership, get excited, or invite friends to church. They also tend to dismiss community service projects as just another thing to go to … and they skip out.

Empowering students to serve within the local church will accomplish a variety of really positive outcomes! Students will develop in their faith and take an owner’s mentality. They will be excited about the things your ministry is doing, and they will invite their friends. Students will see how service helps them grow spiritually, and they will look for ways to serve outside the church too.

Here are seven ideas to get you started.

How To Create A Student Ministry Of Doers

1. Plan Services

This is one area your students can help keep your student ministry engaged in culture. Give them the sermon outline and allow them to help the worship team create (with guidance) engaging and creative midweek experiences.

2. Follow Up With Guests

Most student ministries gather contact information on visitors (if not, you need to start) and have adults send a card to visiting students. Imagine the impact you could have if your upperclassmen sent cards or made it a priority to maintain connection with visitors while at school? You can still be the one who addresses cards and makes phone calls so there are no confidentiality issues, but transferring part of the responsibility to your students will benefit everyone!

3. Lead Games

Students need to be up front as much as possible during worship. They need to see their peers on stage reading Scripture, praying, and acting as leaders. Give them some game resources, let them learn the rules, and schedule them in the worship set. For great game ideas check out FunNinja.org and DownloadYouthMinistry.com.

3. Lead Kids Worship

High school students are perfect to help with Kids Worship on Sunday mornings. Our church has two services plus a Bible study hour, so I expect our student leadership team to attend corporate worship service plus help serve in Kids Worship. They lead songs, participate in skits, give devotions, and facilitate games. Your students will grow deeper in Scripture through preparing Bible studies and leading kids.

4. Plan Trips and Events

There have been times that I thought an event would be a surefire hit and found out that it was a flop. Pass event ideas by your students so you can get their honest feedback. They have awesome ideas that will reach their generation.

5. Announcement Videos

Announcements can be boring and dry. Give your students a list of announcements, a time limit (one minute or so) and send them out with their smart phones to create something! This will help them open up conversations with their friends about church and Jesus when they post the videos online.

6. Empower Them To Share The Gospel With Their Friends

Whether you are a small group leader or student pastor, you must empower students to be vocal about their faith. Talk about it often, and give them training and resources to do it. If the extent of their evangelism is just inviting people to attend a church service, they will never learn to articulate their faith for themselves.

7. Brainstorm Sermon Topics

When you are outlining your preaching calendar you should ask your students about the issues they are currently facing and the questions they have. This is an easy way to ensure you connect with your group and minister in the areas they need encouragement.

Now What? 

One of my motivations behind writing a book called Doer was to help students own their faith and start to make a difference in their community and across the globe. As ministry leaders we must move from enabling passive faith to expecting dynamic service. 

To learn more about Doer, click on the image and head to the site. We have bulk discounts so you can walk through the book with your students.