Successful Ministry

The following is an excerpt from an article I wrote for the FUMC Newsletter this month...

How do you measure the success of your youth ministry?

Over the last few months, I have been doing a lot with the youth. Not only in programming, fellowshipping, and worshipping, but so much more. I don’t say that to prove that I am a worthy Dir. Of Youth Ministries, and I’m not looking for a raise. What I am talking about is the thought, the prayer, and the purpose that God has been putting into me.

I knew from the beginning that numbers are not how we are to measure the success of a youth ministry, or any other ministry for that matter. But if we don’t measure it by number growth, how should we calculate it? Do we just say that it’s a success if “it keeps our kids off the street and out of trouble”? No. Prison and school can do those things. So how do we measure successful ministry? Here are a few questions I ask…
Are the youth growing in their knowledge of Jesus Christ? Are the youth growing in their personal relationships with Christ and with their peers? Are the youth coming to an understanding of where God is calling them to go and what God is calling them to do for His kingdom? If any of these answers is “yes”, then we are on our way to success.

How can you find out if we are on our way to success? Get involved. Talk to our youth. Ask them the big questions. Invest in our youth, because not only are they the church of tomorrow, they are the church of today!