By this I mean that programs get them involved. One of the primary reasons we plan programs is because we want to give our junior highers
opportunities to use their gifts, talents, and skills to be participants
with us in the life and ministry of the church. Some youth workers, I think, see programs as something to keep themselves busy, rather than
something to involve the kids. But we don't plan programs because they
are in our job descriptions, because we have time to kill, or because we
like to entertain kids. As we will discuss later, kids want to be involved,
and programs are ways to make their involvement a reality.
Programs attract kids and create interest.
Sometimes programs are used simply to draw kids to something that
they would not otherwise attend, or to motivate kids to learn about
something that they would otherwise ignore. It is helpful to remember
that there we must make the distinction between what kids want and
what they need. Some-times they don't want what they need. Programs
can be used to turn their needs into wants. For example, most junior
highers don't automatically gravitate toward Bible memorization. But if
you were to organize Bible quiz teams or play games that require
memorizing Bible facts, you'd find junior highers doing something they
wouldn't otherwise do.
One of the reasons we have to be creative with our junior high
ministry programming is because our goal is to meet kids' needs, not
their wants. Programs help to create interest and attract kids so that
those needs can be met. A rock music concert will attract kids to hear
the gospel. A Sunday morning pizza breakfast will attract kids to come
a worship service. A mission trip to an exotic location can help kids
realize, perhaps for the first time, that they can serve God and make a
Positive difference in the world. While we need to be careful to avoid
bait and switch" tactics that promise kids one thing and deliver something else, we can use programs very effectively to heighten interest and motivate kids to come.
Programs provide a place where relationships happen.
In junior high ministry, this reason alone can justity any program you
do. If you and other adult leaders are there, and if the kids are there
then there is a good chance that some relationship building can take
place and that makes it worth doing. Adults will come to a Bible study
simply to learn about the Bible, but junior highers won't. They will,
however, come for the relationships. For this reason every junior high
program needs to have a strong relational emphasis.
Youth ministry expert Dave Stone tells a funny story about a dog
food company that boasted the most nutritious dog food in America,
the best advertising, the best employee-benefit program, the best
production facilities, the best and highest-paid executives in the dog
food industry, and so on. But sales of this company's dog food were
slipping. They couldn't figure out why. Finally, they did some market
research to find out the answer: "The dogs don't like it."
Sometimes we boast about all the programs we have in the
church-the large budgets, the great facilities, the incredible high-tech
gadgets and gizmos-but even with all that, the kids sometimes stay
away by the thousands simply because "they don't like it." If the
programs provide a place where their friends are-where they can
enjoy relationships-they will usually like it. The big question kids
usually ask about programs is not "what are we going to do," but whose
going to be there." That's what matters most to junior highers.
