Triple Your Youth Ministry In One Year Part 6

Last week we started a series called "Triple Your Youth Ministry In One Year". There is so much in this topic. I have to say that there are many factors that can go into this. There are seven parts to this whole series.

To get caught up make sure you check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5.

I'm really excited about the last part of this series which will be on one of the main reasons we do ministry, we'll be getting to that after this one. But today I want to talk about an issue that I see a lot of ministries getting caught up in.

Today is about "a cool youth room will get them there but love will keep them".

There is such a trend today of having all the latest "toys" for your youth room. In fact, it is almost taught that in order to have growth in your youth ministry you have to have a game room and game time so that teens can come and have a great time.

Honestly, from my perspective, that is not true at all.

In fact I don't think you have to have a game room at all to have growth. Now I'm sure that many of you reading this would not expect to hear that, but in our first ministry all we had was just a youth room and remember we tripled our ministry in one year there.

What I do believe is that your youth room should be relatable to teens.

Basic Elements In A Youth Room

• Stage - Believe it or not some don't.
• Lights & Fog - The reality is you don't have to use a lot of money for this. We wired our youth room up with shop lights with colored bulbs and ran extensions wired to light switches. With about 16 you could run 4 colors and change the stage dynamics. Use colors for the back stage and walls and whites for lighting.
• Projector or TV's with Computer - Hooking this up adds a graphic appeal to the room.
• Sound System - Again you don't have to put a lot of money...with about $2,500 you can get a great starter system with 12 channels. You should work to eventually have sub woofers with a 24 channel board.
• Fresh Paint - Honestly, with lighting, dark colored walls work the best.
• White Spandex Geometric Shapes For Rear Stage - The white will pick up the colors of the light.
• Theme - Go back and read Part 4. If you don't do it by series, you could create a theme for the whole year. Keep it fresh.

We were very technical with all we did.

We had countdown video's with music, opening promo videos, live worship band with lighting and smoke, video announcements, series with theme decorations, and used movie clips in our messages. We even created our own 5 part reality game show called "The D Factor". We had a podcast with a weekly talk show. We went all out using everything and method possible.

Here is the twist though...

ALL OF THAT STUFF DOESN'T MATTER...IF THERE IS NO LOVE.

You can have the coolest youth room possible and if you don't love teens and that runs through the core of your team then they aren't going to stay.

Tripling you youth ministry isn't just about numbers...it isn't just about getting them in the door. It is about keeping them there and developing them into disciples of Christ.

You and your team must have a core value of loving teens and wanting to help get them to where God wants them.

Numbers without disciples means nothing. You can have a cool room but if their is no love there it means nothing and they aren't going to be staying for long.