The first six chapters of Simple Student Ministry by Eric Geiger and Jeff Borton explain the need, the why, and the how of creating a simple student ministry. The student ministries in most churches today are complex, confused, and unfocused. Youth group is a baby-sitting service to keep the kids off the streets and out of their parents’ hair for one night. It is a form of entertainment and a reason to have a party under the guise of “student ministry.” This kind of student ministry lacks focus and purpose so to combat such ministries, Geiger and Borton wrote a book to provide a way of “doing” student ministry that is simple, focused, and has a clear process.
Chapter one explains how student ministry became so complicated and unfocused. It is because of expectations of others, traditions of the church, and a deficient view of discipleship. The authors work to biblically define discipleship and change the common viewpoint. Discipleship is not about programs and information but rather about transformation. Discipleship is a process that transforms people.
Chapter two introduces simple student ministry and explains why a simple, strategic process in discipleship is important. The four reasons the authors give is one, a simple process creates space for relationships; two, it engages students in ministry and mission; three, it fosters less dependence on programs and four; it operates with great intentionality. Using a simple process like this feeds the spiritual and emotional needs of teenagers on a longer-term and deeper basis. It has the ingredients to create the environment where disciples can be produced.
Chapter three introduces the first of four key elements to the simple process in student ministry. The first element is clarity. Create a blueprint, a process, of how discipleship will be done within the ministry. How discipleship is done, how this process is carried out, impacts what kind of students are produced. So it is important that clarity is gained and a clear process is determined. The authors give four aspects of clarity that are important in creating a blueprint. One is to define the process, then illustrate the process, then measure it (or in other words, evaluate it) and then communicate the process to those it may concern.
Chapter four introduces the second element in the simple process, movement. Movement is moving students through the process and having clear next steps. It is moving students from a low level of commitment (showing up on Wednesday night) to a high level of commitment (being apart of a ministry team). Programs are apart of this movement element but only as tools to move students through the discipleship process. They should be used strategically and sequentially so that they reflect the process. Overall, movement needs to be intentional. There has to be a clear point and focus.
Chapter five introduces the third element in the simple process. The third element is alignment, which happens because of unity and a common purpose. To create alignment there must be a shared vision of the process by leaders and volunteers. Those who share the vision and passion place them in the environments that are vital to the discipleship process and offer them accountability. Continually align and make sure that the program and events offered are aligned with the process and the leaders and volunteers are in unity.
The fourth element is focus and is introduced in chapter six. Deviation from the process can and will happen. Obstacles can present themselves that will steal focus off of the process and when focus is diverted, chaos and clutter can occur. The authors give ways in which to bring greater focus to the student ministry. One way to ensure focus is to eliminate the nonessentials by saying no. Another way to remain focused is to limit adding programs and to reduce special events. If a program or event is not going to help the process then do not implement it. Use the programs that are already in place to achieve the goals.
The rest of the book gave examples of large churches, parachurches, and small and midsize churches that use a simple student ministry approach. Though the sizes of these churches and parachurches were different, they all had a simple approach to student ministry. In fact, they all had the same approach, just the way they went about doing the process was a bit different for each church. The approach for every church was this, to get the students to first connect with God, then connect them to others, and then connect them to ministry and the world. Though each church articulated this process differently, this was the basic process of every church. However, how this process was carried out was different.
In the large and small churches, some student ministries met Sunday night while others met Saturday or Wednesday night to implement their first phase of the process, connect to God. This first phase always consisted of teaching and worship. This is where students can come at any time and connect with God through the teaching and worship.
The second phase, connect with others, is done through small groups. Whether the groups met right after the service or throughout the week, they all shared the same purpose and goal, that the students would do life together and have an adult mentor to guide them. These groups would hold each other accountable, pray for each other, and go deeper with the message from the large group service.
The third phase, connect with ministry and/or the world, is done through a variety of ways. The adult small group leader would encourage the students to get involved with any of the ministry teams in the church. This could be the worship band, the nursery, and a greeter; anywhere the student could use his or her gifts. Some churches also offered mission trips for the students to go on. These mission trips would range from one week to a month long in duration. The point of this phase is to get the students out in the world and actively serving.
The parachurches definitely do the process differently. The process is more or less the same but it looks quite different from the large and small churches. The parachurches mentioned in the book either meet together on a school campus or in someone’s home. First Priority has four phases implemented in four weeks. The first week is Training Week, which is used to teach the basics of the Christian faith. The second week is Encouragement Week, which is where a guest speaker or one of the students will share their testimony or an inspiring message. The third week is Accountability Week, which has three main focuses: prayer, plan, and perform. The prayer phase is used to give the students opportunity to pray for their unsaved friends. The plan phase is used to prepare for Mission Week. The perform phase is used to hold students accountable to serving their school. The students of the club will do something to share the love of Jesus with the other students, like hand out donuts in the morning or bottled water. The fourth week is Mission Week, which is where students invite other students to come to the club for free pizza but really to hear a Gospel message. These four weeks are repeated a couple of times throughout the school year.
Young Life has the same process as the large and small churches. They meet in someone’s home and experience three elements of the club: music, humor, and a message. This is the entry point phase where students can bring their friends and introduce them to the club and to Jesus. The next phase is small group Bible study. In this phase a small group of students get together with their Young Life leader and have Bible study and are developed to be leaders. The next phase is Work Crew. This is where the students leave home for a month and work to serve others under a leader who will pour into them. When they come back they are considered leaders and have the responsibility of serving the other students.
Though these churches and parachurches are of different size, their simple student ministry strategies were very similar. They all had the same basic process of connecting students with God, with others, and with the world. Any church or organization of any size and means can implement this process in such a way that students will be discipled.
This book was an eye-opener to how simple and purposeful student ministry can be. It is amazing how clear the process can be and how much it makes sense. It makes me wonder why so many churches and student ministries are not getting it. I believe that student ministries will be a lot more effective if this process of connecting students with God, to others, and to the world is implemented. If I were ever to be apart of a discipleship ministry I would definitely use this strategy. There is nothing I disagree with. I think it is easily manageable and that it can be made unique to any ministry. I would involve parents as much as possible, especially as small group leaders and mentors. Ideally, I want parents to take the responsibility of discipling their own children but having trusted adults help that discipleship process along is a definite blessing.
The reasons I think this strategy is great is because it provides relationships, mentorship, accountability, encouragement, Biblical study, and leadership development. These are all things a teenager needs to be discipled and to be prepared for life after high school. If more student ministries began using this simple process, more teenagers would be put within a discipleship environment and Lord willingly, more teenagers would develop a relationship with God and become leaders in their church and their community.
