DIRT ROAD DISCIPLESHIP

Experiences like summer camps, mission trips, and youth conferences are often referred to as “mountaintop experiences.” Whether that’s a reference to Moses’ experience atop Mt. Sinai or a reference to the high one often feels during and after these events, anyone who’s ever planned for one definitely feels as though they are climbing a mountain leading up to it! For a full-time DRE moonlighting in youth ministry, or a part-time youth minister balancing a full-time job with parish duties, or even a volunteer youth minister with barely any time to commit to coordinating such an event, coordinating one of these events can be exhausting.

And because of that, these big summer events a) often constitute the entirety of a youth ministry program in a rural parish, and b) lack follow-up. Time and time again I’ve heard kids say that the basis of their faith-life is the one youth conference they go to every summer, or that one mission trip they fundraise for all year.

But one mountaintop experience per year isn’t enough to keep kids in the Church after they graduate.

And no one lives on the peak of a mountain.

I live on the prairie, and while I will admit that it isn’t perhaps as exciting as life on a mountaintop, its (relatively) predictable weather, rich soil, and gentle slopes make it fertile ground for growing crops…and lots of them. This is the same reason folks live in valleys.

That’s why my advice to parishes who want to see more fruit out of their youth ministry efforts – but don’t have the bandwidth to commit to any more than one major youth event per year – is to use that event as a launching point for a youth group. The steadiness of a regularly meeting youth group is fertile soil for discipleship to take place. Kids feel like they have a home in your parish, they might even invite their friends from school, and adults have an opportunity to build positive Christian relationships with them (rather than just counting their heads on a bus before and after a big event).

And the value of a young person recognizing your parish as the place they came to know Jesus in the day-to-day is something well-worth the investment.

If you’d like to learn more about how your small, rural parish can bring in a harvest by starting a “simple and sustainable” youth group, let’s set up a time to talk!