I recently spoke with Kim, a young woman who has attended the same Assemblies of God church nearly all her life.

During her high school years, Kim faithfully showed up for youth group every week. She served on the student leadership team and participated in National Fine Arts. Kim also volunteered in the children’s ministry and operated a video camera in the sanctuary during the main service.

Today, Kim is the church’s youth pastor. She is discipling the next generation of students in that congregation just as others invested in her.

Unfortunately, stories like Kim’s are not as common as they should be.

Kara E. Powell, executive director of Fuller Youth Institute, explores the issue of youth retention in her book Sticky Faith. Powell estimates that 40–50% of young people who attend church as high school students leave their faith during college. Of those, only 20% expected to walk away from church and faith. The rest simply found themselves drifting, with no spiritual moorings.

I asked Kim, “How did you stay connected after you graduated high school?”

A heavy course load during her first semester in college made skipping church a real temptation, Kim confessed. However, she said her former youth pastor spoke with her one day, reminding her she was an important part of the church. Kim’s gifts, the pastor said, were making a difference in the lives of others.

Recognizing the value of attending and serving, Kim chose to remain faithful.

As members of Generation Z come of age, pastors are looking for ways to keep them involved in church. Kim’s testimony highlights three ways to help young people put down lasting roots.

Participation

Inviting students to participate in the weekly service is key to student engagement and retention.

Make room for students to take part in your Sunday morning services. Don’t limit their participation to an annual youth Sunday. Encourage them to join in with the congregation consistently — every week, if possible.

Teenagers are more interested in what is happening beyond the youth room than you may realize. Bringing them into the main service is key to developing and discipling them.

The experiences young people have now will help determine whether they see church as relevant to their lives in the future. If students associate church only with youth programing, they may leave the faith as soon as they graduate high school.

Service

Be careful not to let your youth ministry become too insulated from the rest of the church. Teenagers benefit not only from worshipping with congregants of all ages, but also from serving alongside them.

When students are involved in areas of ministry outside of a youth group, they are more likely to stay in church after graduating high school.

In her research, Powell discovered a positive correlation between students serving younger children and remaining in church as adults.

The experiences young people have now will help determine whether they see church as relevant to their lives
in the future.

“Part of that is likely because of the type of students who volunteer to serve younger kids, but nonetheless, being involved in children’s ministry seems to be faith-building,” Powell wrote.

Volunteering gives students a chance to explore and discover their gifts, learning to use them with competence and confidence. Amid a culture that is often self-absorbed, serving also trains young people to care for others as Jesus did.

Invest in the next generation of church leaders by providing opportunities for them to minister to the entire congregation. Such experiences will develop students’ leadership skills and may even open their hearts to the call of God.

Are there teenagers in your congregation who play instruments or sing? Invite them to join the worship team, choir, or orchestra. Do you know students who are interested in technology? Perhaps they would be willing to help with the church’s website, livestream, or YouTube channel.

Students with artistic gifts could assist with graphics and stage designs. Young people can serve as parking lot greeters, prepare Communion elements, and even preach sermons.

In his book Born to Give, Project Rescue co-founder David Grant wrote that he preached his first sermon at age 15. The next year, he traveled to preach at a number of churches.

By the time Grant was 17, he was engaged in regular ministry. It all started with a pastor who believed in a teenager and gave him a chance to use his gifts.

Churches need youth participating in ministry at all levels. Not only will students grow spiritually, but the congregation will also receive the blessing of their contributions.

Paul wrote, “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’ On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable. … You are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it” (1 Corinthians 12:21–22,27).

The teenagers in your church are part of the body of Christ. Help them find their place of service. God wants to use their gifts, talents, passions and interests to build His kingdom.

Mentoring

Many people are wary of teenagers, unsure of what to say to them or how to relate. Nevertheless, young church attendees desire the support and encouragement of adults in their congregations.

Powell said this topic came up repeatedly in her interviews with students.

“By far, the number one way that churches made the teens feel welcomed and valued was when the adults in the congregation showed an interest in them,” Powell wrote. “More than any single program or event, adults making the effort to get to know the kids were far more likely to make the kids feel like a significant part of their church.”

Students need people in their lives who will call out greatness in them. They need Christian mentors who will listen to them, pray for them, and offer them wise counsel. You might be surprised at how responsive your students can be to even the simplest gestures of friendship and support.

Many students want to become contributing members of the congregation. By giving them opportunities to grow and develop through participation, service, and mentoring, you can help set them up for a lifetime of church involvement and spiritual growth.

As pastors, we don’t have to accept the notion that half our youth will drop out of church after high school. We can begin moving the needle on those statistics — and changing the trajectories of our young people.

Taking intentional steps today will help ensure tomorrow’s Church is in good hands.

This article appears in the Fall 2022 issue of Influence magazine.