This post is part of the Foundations Of Youth Ministry series. Check out the rest of the series!

I’ve been examining the concept of involving students in the life of the greater church body recently.  This is something I’ve determined to be crucial in keeping students involved in church throughout their lives.  Simply put, when people feel like they are owners of a ministry, they are much more likely to remain committed to that ministry.

In this series, I’ve examined several different aspects of this idea.  I started off with a look at the many benefits of involving students in church.  That was followed by some of the challenges you may face in doing so.  Most recently, I wrote about the biblical precedent for this type of ministry.

Today, I want to give you a peek at a couple of examples from my ministry experience.  These are people who I’ve taught and mentored in my various youth ministries.  And I can’t take any credit for any of these successes.  God did the work; I just happened to be there to watch.  But I do feel responsible for the unsuccessful story below.  I’m not sure what else I could have done, but it didn’t work out like I desired.

Steve
Steve came into our ministry early in his high school experience.  He came because he had a crush on one of the girls involved at our church.  But he stayed because he got involved.  Steve has a talent for music.  One of his earliest areas of serving was on our praise team.  He played guitar quite naturally.  Soon, he was leading portions of our services.  After high school, Steve moved away from our town, but he got involved in a church in his new community.  Now, Steve is on staff at a church, leading worship.  Because Steve got plugged in, he stayed connected.  And, most likely will reman that way for a long time.  By the way… he married the girl.

Bekka
Bekka was already involved in the youth ministry when we moved and I became the new youth minister at her church.  She was at every event, along with her sister.  He mother was involved as a volunteer youth sponsor.  I tried to give Bekka plenty of opportunities to serve.  She joined our praise team.  She helped out in several different areas.  But none of these really inspired her passion.  Until she discovered a ministry that saved girls from human trafficking and sex slavery in Asia.  My family and I have since moved, and we watch from a distance as she raises funds and awareness, in partnership with a ministry striving to end this travesty of humanity.  Bekka is passionately connected to the greater church because she got involved in a ministry that she took ownership of.

Matt
I was instrumental in helping Matt make the decision to follow Christ in his life.  He came to me with questions, we discovered the answers, and he chose to turn his life over to God.  Shortly after this, Matt began looking for ways to get involved.  Nothing really excited him.  He couldn’t find anything that he felt comfortable doing and was excited about.  He stayed on the fringes of our youth ministry.  Unfortunately, it didn’t take long before we were seeing less and less of Matt.  Eventually, he stopped attending altogether.  Because he didn’t make the connection, he failed to stay the course.  My prayer is that he finds a place to get involved.  But the last I heard, he hadn’t.  A lack of involvement resulted in a passionless commitment, which led to his dropping out of our ministry completely.

You see, involving students in the life of the greater church body is crucial.  Failure to do so can be tragic.  But successfully connecting students can result in life-long service and ministry.

Have you had any memorable experiences, either successes or failures, involving students in ministry?  Please share your stories in the comments.