How do I grow my student ministry?

If you have been leading student ministry for one week or 10 years you have most likely felt the pressure to grow your student ministry. That pressure comes from various places; our leadership, our peers, and often times ourselves. This can be a healthy pressure as long as we understand what healthy growth looks like. There is this popular statement we hear often in the Church world… “Healthy things Grow” and why there is truth in this statement it isn’t an entirely true statement. Because unhealthy things grow as well. Think about it… Mold grows! Cancer Grows! Bacteria Grows! You get the idea. Just because something is growing numerically doesn’t mean it’s healthy. 

So, back to the original questions “How do I grow my student ministry?” 

Simply put, if you want to grow your student ministry you might have to redefine what growth looks like. What if instead of focusing so hard on the attendance numbers of our services we started looking at other points of engagement? How many students have given their life to Christ? How many students are in small groups or are in our discipleship program? How many students are on our student leadership team? How many students are going on mission’s trips or serving in local outreach? 

Also, you might need a new strategy! My experience has taught me that often times our methods just don’t work! I am going to give you a few of them here…

Gimmicks, Guilt & Giveaways – Simply don’t work! 

Pressure Shifting – Trying to pressure students into inviting their friends because it’s their responsibility to reach their friends. Yeah, this doesn’t work either! 

Bait & Switch – Promoting a fun event to get students in the door and then actually doing a church service. Again, doesn’t work! 

Healthy and sustained growth is possible! You just might have to change your approach! I address this more in my book Intentional Youth Ministry. Also, I would encourage you to sign up for our free zoom calls to brainstorm with other youth pastors. 

Matt Moore

Pastor & Author of Intentional Youth Ministry