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LISTEN TO THIS If You Want Consistent Youth Ministry Attendance! · Ministry Coach: Youth Ministry Tips & Resources

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: There are no throwaway weekends or programs in youth ministry.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Every single time you meet, you aim to hit a home run.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: The question that they are going to ask themselves at the end is did I even need to be here, like was this worth it?
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: And you want them to be able to have a resounding yes to that question every single time.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: Throughout the year.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: There are just certain times that you're going to have an ebb and flow of attendance, and that's totally normal, but it's if you're having these dips.
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: Maybe you're just not doing these things.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Have you ever wondered how to get consistency with your attendance in your youth group?
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: Well, then stick around, because today we're going to give you weekly tips and tactics to help you fast-track the growth and health of your youth ministry.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: My name is Jeff Laskola and this is Kristen Laskola, and today we are going to talk about how to achieve consistency with your students' attendance in your youth group.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: A lot of youth pastors struggle with this.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: I think I see it mostly in the meme world I don't know like there's an account of all like Christian memes or youth group memes and it always seems to center around attendance of, like, the youth pastor asking where were you?
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: And kids just giving dumb examples or like trying to get out of it, and stuff like that.
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: So today we're going to talk about how can you not become that meme and just have kids who really want to come to youth group consistent attendance for the most part and it's funny that we bring this up, because number one is be consistent yourself.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: And right before we recorded this episode, my friend Jed hey Jed, hey Jed.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: He texted me.
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: He said do you guys meet the week of Thanksgiving?
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: And I said yep, and that was all I said.
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: He goes, thanks.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: I was just trying to prove a point.
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: I'm like to who Like?
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: Who are you talking to?
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: and so he didn't reply, but I basically said yeah, I mean Thanksgiving, no offense, it's just Thanksgiving, it's like a meal, just Thanksgiving.
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean we travel for Thanksgiving, but not everybody does, and so there's a lot of kids that are home and have been home.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, have nothing to do, and they want to get out and it's like the whole you need the whole week for one dinner, like you'll be fine.
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: So question, though.
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: So your group meets on tuesday, which gives a day of a buffer in between.
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: Yes, even if I were a wednesday group, I would still do it halloween fell on a tuesday last year and we still met.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: Well, no, what not on actual holiday.
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: So yeah, like what you met on what day?
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: so halloween was on a tuesday last year and we still held youth group and there were kids who showed up.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: Harvest festival was it.
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: Was it big?
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: No, but there was still kids who wanted to come and we were there.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: Why not, you know?
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: So I only take the last two weeks of December off.
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: The end of the year, give my leaders a break.
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: Other than that, we are there camp, but you're still doing something.
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: But anybody, I don't consider that a week off, but yes, there is no.
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: So be consistent, Like if you want your students to be consistent with their attendance.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: Sometimes, you know, we cringe when we hear these youth group schedules that are like Too confusing to understand what.
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: The fourth and sixth Thursday of every leap year or something.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: So here's what it is.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: Tuesday night, 630 to 830 at the church.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: Very simple, there is nothing to remember.
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: You know where what it is.
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: Tuesday night, 6.30 to 8.30 at the church Very simple, there is nothing to remember.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: You know where the church is.
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: You know where we are every Tuesday, 6.30 to 8.
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: No ifs, ands or buts, unless it's the last two weeks of December.
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: That's the only time.
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: So I think sometimes these youth groups fail in their attendance because people can't keep up with the ever-changing schedule.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: Oh well, this night is only for middle school and then this night is only for high school.
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: But if it's this week, if there's five Tuesdays in the month, then you only are going to meet this and it's like it's even hard to remember.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: When someone says, like the first Friday of the month, we do whatever because I don't think about.
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: I know when Friday is, I don't think about what, I don't usually know what month I'm even in.
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: You know what I mean.
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: It's like it's hard.
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's just the way I live, but it's hard to figure out.
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: Like wait, so was last Friday the last, or was this the first, or I don't know?
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: It's confusing to me.
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: I'm sure I'm not the only one, but when there is, even if it's one day, sometimes it's confusing to me.
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: I'm sure I'm not the only one, but when there is, even if it's one day, sometimes it's hard to figure out is this the first one, or do we already have it?
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: Because if it's like that first Friday, but we've already had like six days, it's like wait, so was last Friday.
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: Did that count or not?
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: In my head at least, it's confusing.
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: I think I kind of.
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: I confused you, but I think you want to be in people's rhythm.
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: You know like it's this is what I do on Tuesdays and you just want to be a part of their calendar, their everyday routine or their every week routine.
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: And no variation.
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: And people get frustrated too.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: I have so many times I have this meeting that sometimes is this and sometimes it's that, and so many times I've shown up and nobody's there and I'm like was this one of the off weeks and I forgot or didn't get the memo?
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: And how did everyone else know?
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: Or I haven't shown up.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: I'm like, no, we don't have it this time.
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: And it's like where are you?
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: You know?
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: It's like, ah, like things that are inconsistent are so hard to make a part of your routine, so don't be that youth group.
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: And I think the temptation is like, well, we're not that big, or people are busy.
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: They should be busy with you, like that should be what they have on their calendar.
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: Yes, exactly.
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: So for the most part, make it the same time and place Again there's room for special occasions and you know, oh, we're all going here tonight, or something like that.
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: But by and large it should be the same time, the same place, the same day of the week every week every week all year.
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: So be consistent yourself.
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: Number two aim to hit a home run with your program every single time, whether it's a weekend, whether it's your midweek program.
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: And, by the way, youth groups should have a place for everyone on the weekend and for students something midweek.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: So I know some churches just do like, oh well, junior high doesn't meet on the weekend, but we have a little thing for them Anytime the church doors are open for services.
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: You will not capture visitors, new families, if you don't have something for their kids.
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: They need something for everyone to go to.
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: And I know some churches like no, we like keeping families together.
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: I get that and I get the reasons why.
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: I just don't feel like that's a very realistic growth strategy.
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: I think, yeah, everyone might enjoy it, but you will reach the people you're currently reaching and probably not a whole lot more.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: Maybe you'll gain a couple families throughout the year, but I think my opinion on it anyways is that a family should be able to show up and have targeted ministries for every single person in the family at every single.
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: Everything should be offered at every service.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: You don't want to be like, oh no, you should have been here at 9 am because that's the only one we have, the middle schoolers could have got to know other middle schoolers, and there is a need for family worship.
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: I understand that, but there also is a spiritual need for students to connect with peers who are on the same spiritual trajectory as them.
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: Parents should be the primary spiritual influence in their child's life.
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: However, for their faith to become their own at an age-appropriate level, they do need to see peers who are also following Jesus and connect with those.
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: That is very important in spiritual development.
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: So just be careful of that.
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: All that to say, hit a home run every single time with your program.
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: So there are no we call them throwaway weekends where it's just kind of like eh, I don't know, like we're here but we're just going to kind of like chill, you know.
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: And it's like have a plan every single time.
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: Keep in mind if you're in vocational ministry or if the church pays you at all, even if you're only part-time.
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: This is your job, like they are trusting you to do this.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: So no throwaway weekends.
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: Have a lesson prepared, have a game prepared, have a program prepared.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: Don't just kind of open the doors and let everyone sort of fend for themselves, but have a plan and a course of action of where am I trying to take you?
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: And yeah, and the reason for this?
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: Because we're talking about consistent attendance.
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: I think people need to be able to answer the question would it have mattered if I came or not?
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: Like, have you ever really mustered up your energy?
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: And I got ready and I got out of the house and you know I wanted to stay home and did not.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: I didn't grow at all, I wasn't, I didn't have fun at all, like there was nothing valuable in that for me at all, like and like we know that the word of God never returns void.
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: So I'm not saying, oh, your message wasn't worth it.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: But I am saying sometimes people will leave energized of like, yes, and they're excited about what's happening.
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: And sometimes they're like, well, I, they're excited about what's happening and sometimes they're like, well, I went, I checked a box.
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: It wasn't particularly life-giving, but almost like I did it, you know.
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: But we want them to have the feeling, oh my gosh, I would have missed out if I hadn't come.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: And that can take the a lot of forms and we're going to talk about those kind of in the next one.
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: But make sure you plan and organize and execute in a way that think of like if your senior pastor has kids, that he was about to send them into your classroom and that you knew after church or after program he was going to pick them up and ask so how was it?
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: You know, our senior pastor used to visit all the different campuses and his kids would come into my ministry and I'd be like, oh my gosh, pressure's on, like I want them to go home and say how much they loved it and they learned so much and they had so much fun and people were so nice.
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: You know they're like, no, that doesn't like fit for me, but what about if another youth pastor was coming?
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: And they're like, hey, we just want to observe, like, what your church does and how they do it, because we're brainstorming ideas of our own, like that you were having some kind of visitor or the parents of the students.
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Like if they were going to observe and stick around and all.
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: We're just kind of checking out different youth groups.
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: You know, plan as if you're having a high intensity visitor, you know, and what you would want them to leave thinking, because I think sometimes we get used to our own family and our own people.
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: You know, like how you might not clean your house for your own family, but if you have guests coming over you're like oh my gosh painting the roses you're like totally, oh my gosh, painting the roses red.
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: We're painting the roses red, exactly, you know, and it's like that, if we take that mentality into every week of like there could be that first-time visitor, that could be the first-time family, it could be someone who's not quite sure, but they're gonna give it a shot.
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: We want them to leave.
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: Like I never want to miss out on that.
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: Like, creating that irresistible program and putting excellence into everything really gives you momentum, because people want to be there, not just like well, it was okay, right, you know, if I missed it it wouldn't have mattered.
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and we all know that feeling, and so the goal is really to have people arrange their life so that they can be there, meaning like it's not.
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: Like well, I'll go to youth group if I have time, but it's like youth group is the first thing on my calendar because it's always so good and I leave so filled up and in so many ways that I'm going to make everything else work around that.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: Well, I can't do that day because I have youth group.
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: Like that's the thing that I do that day.
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: And I think that's where the memes are coming from, because the kids are finding the other excuses of like.
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: I had this, or I was tired, or I had too much homework and we've created a program where kids will their parents tell me this, year after year after year.
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: They go home, they rush to get their homework done because they know if they don't get their homework done they're not going, or they, like, really go back and forth with do I want to join this baseball team?
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: Cause the practices are on Tuesday and I think I've said before I had a coach even switch his practices to Monday or Wednesday or something, because so many kids were like but now we can't go to chaos and he's like, oh my gosh, like what?
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: And so he had to switch it because they were trying everything to make sure that it fit in their schedule, not like, oh good, I have an excuse now, but that really points to the quality of what we're doing.
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: If we're executing things with planning and excellence, then people will do everything they can to be there.
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: And so, like I've had youth pastors say, like I don't know, like it's hard, like our our attendance has been dipping and you know the question I really want to ask is a lot of number three are you delivering their needs each and every time?
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: So what is your audience?
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: You know whether you work with children, junior hires, slash, middle schoolers, high schoolers, young adults.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: You need to know your audience very well and you need to know exactly what they need from a gathering very well and you need to know exactly what they need from a gathering.
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: So you're going to have to put on your youth pastor hat majorly in this because your desire for what you want them to want and what they actually want.
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: We need to be honest and I think you know what I mean, what we want them to want, and then if we create our youth ministries around that utopian desire that is hypothetical and doesn't exist, we miss the mark.
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: What we need to do is take a good hard look at who you actually are and what you actually need and the stage of life you're in, whether I think it's silly, stupid or annoying or not, and I need to deliver that.
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: So for me, I know my audience very well.
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: I do ministry for sixth, seventh and eighth graders.
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: What do they need?
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: And all of this is going to be wrapped up in the truth of the gospel every single time, but I'm going to put it on a platter meant for them, so they need to have fun.
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: That's a non-negotiable.
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: We've talked about that before.
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: If it's not fun, they're not going to come, no matter how earth shaking our message and worship are which I mean, that's like a youth pastor's dream.
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: We just want kids to crave that, and they do.
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: They really do want that stuff.
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: However, they also need to have fun, and if it's not consistently fun, they're going to not have that strong appetite of like ooh, I'll do everything to get there.
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: They need excitement.
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: It's got to be exciting for junior high especially.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: It's got to be upbeat.
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: It's got to have some energy, some spice, some fun, some action.
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: You know, there's got to be some level of excitement going on there.
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: And if you're not excited about youth group and your leaders aren't excited about youth group, it's going to be very evident in the kids' attitudes as well.
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: Junior hires specifically have a need for humor, silliness and weirdness.
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: There's got to be very evident in the kids' attitudes as well.
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: Junior hires specifically have a need for humor, silliness and weirdness.
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: There's got to be a sprinkling of that in there somewhere, something that's kind of random or off the wall or like just odd, you know, and funny, like they need to laugh and they need to have fun.
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: And it's got to be a little bit goofy, not so much so that's like wow, trying so hard, but just enough.
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: Like everyone should realize whoa, we can be light-hearted here as well, like we're also human.
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: You know you don't want to be so inaccessible that people are like, whoa, they're so spiritual.
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: I'm not.
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: I don't even see how I could ever be that kind of person.
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: They don't even seem real.
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: Be a real, authentic Christ follower.
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: You're a human.
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: You like to laugh too, so make sure that you bring that in.
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: They have a deep, deep need also for Jesus.
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: So make a big deal about Jesus.
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: Show them exactly who Jesus is, what he did, what he is like, who he is, how much he loves them.
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: They need some tangibility of like Jesus is, who he says he is, and they need that gospel truth.
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: They want to have an experience with Jesus.
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: They want to be led into deep worship.
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: They want fun worship, but they want deep worship too.
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: They want to be led into those spaces.
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: That's meant for them as a junior higher, so we never shy away from that.
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: I mean, our teaching is very deep, very challenging, and our worship is very deep and challenging as well.
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: It's just wrapped in a box.
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: That's a little bit goofy and fun and silly at times not during the message and worship but we set the stage and the platform of like hey, we get you.
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: Well, even during your work or during your message, excuse me, it would still be funny, sometimes fun, sometimes exciting, sometimes interesting.
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: You know it wouldn't be removed.
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: Of all those things Like now it's time for the serious message.
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: I just didn't want people to think like make the gospel hilarious.
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: You know I didn't want to portray an image of like you're a standup comic every time you preach the gospel, but yeah, I mean, all of that stuff makes its way into your teaching as well, we've done episodes on that before and they have a deep, deep need for community.
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: So what are you doing to get them into relationships with significant adults and other students and peers and people that are like them?
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: They have a deep need we have never talked about this on the episode before but for independence and freedom, and one reason they love coming on Tuesdays is because we have a lot of adults and we're supervising, we've got security and all of that.
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: But there is this level of freedom where they've kind of got the church to themselves and they get to kind of walk around and go everywhere, whereas like at church it's like you stay in my classroom and on a Tuesday like they get to kind of peruse and maybe I'm going to buy a coffee, maybe I'm going to go to the snack shack, maybe I'm going to play Gaga ball, maybe I'm going to go hang with my friends and there's like a level of freedom of like we get to kind of hang, like this is our area and they love kind of especially junior hires, they love testing that independence.
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: You know, they've been in school all day, they've been at home with their parents and now it's like their time to just sort of be and they get to like, have flex that independence which they love, and then we talk all the time.
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: They have a deep need for treats, all the treats, all the time.
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: Goodies and treats and snacks and food.
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: They love it.
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: Um, it enhances their experience.
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: So we threw out so much candy last week, oh my gosh, at our Halloween, like it was the week of Halloween.
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: Oh, like during the event you threw out.
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Like we were like fall festival harvest Ball festival.
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: harvest festival, we just call it chaos, costume and candy bash.
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: And we throw out so much candy and they just go bananas.
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: It's just, and then they just leave the wrappers.
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: They eat the candy, and then they clear the room.
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: No one needs a wrapper, so they just leave that for you.
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: They just open their hand, leave it right on the floor and it's like, oh, how sweet they.
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: They wanted us to know they were here, like a little love letter Like confetti from a party, just to show we had fun yeah we had a great time.
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: We're going to leave the candy wrappers behind for you.
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: Another way to get that consistency is through for lack of a better word marketing and advertising.
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: Like do people know you're there?
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: Like do they have any idea that there's a youth group meeting?
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: Do you post on Instagram?
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: Have you sent out emails?
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: Like are you visiting schools?
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: Are you introducing yourself?
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: I just feel like there's ways to let people know.
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: Like we are here.
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: We are here and not just waiting all the time for people to find you, but making sure parents know, like, did you know we have a youth group on Wednesdays, you know?
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: Do you know we have a youth group on Wednesdays, you know?
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: Do you know we have?
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: And I have to market the other way too, because a lot of the kids who come on Tuesdays they just get dropped off, and I let the parents know we're also a church, like you can bring your kids on the weekend and we have services for the whole family and a junior high service specifically for them, but we just meet in the junior high room those days.
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: So I think, like, making sure you make a big deal, like you, you have a megaphone for your youth ministry, like we meet here, like you should come, and all of that, you know.
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: And I think shirts and stuff like that that kids can wear to school, or a good thing too, because they're like, oh, like I've seen a few people wearing that.
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: What is and the kids love it too.
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: The merch has been so fun for us.
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: That's a great way to like.
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: Kids love shirts with your youth group logo on it, if it's cool, and then it kind of spreads a little bit of the word and awareness and stuff like that.
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: So especially when you see more than one per like.
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: If one person wore something that said the bridge or whatever you'd say, I don't know what the heck that is but it's like I've seen three of those shirts now what is that?
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: I know it kind of makes you want, to like, ask a question yeah and ours, like we have a few different colors, but I love how.
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: So there's black and white versions, which everybody loves, right Easy.
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: But then we also have, like a, a pink and a yellow version, and those ones I love because they stand out a little more.
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: There's a dachshund skateboarding on the back and it says chaos and so, yeah, they are a little more eye catching of like wait, yeah, I saw a few kids at my school wearing that.
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: What is it?
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: And our kids invite their friends all the time to our youth group.
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: We're always getting new kids invited and the reason is because junior hires don't like have you ever invited a friend to your church and all of a sudden you see it through a visitor's eyes and you're like, oh, I feel like I need to explain some things or like apologize, like I know he means well, but like I want to create an environment where a junior hire would never be embarrassed to invite their friend to youth group, because it's so like you're gonna have fun and you're gonna love it and you're gonna be challenged in the way that you see god and jesus and like, but never having to apologize like well, normally it's fun but, I, don't know, it was kind of an off week, you should try it again
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: because you really have one time to make a first impression, you know, and if a kid is already kind of hesitant at like on the idea of church and then it's like, well, like, nobody said hi to me and it was weird and they didn't really have a plan and I didn't have any fun and there was no opportunity to get to know anyone, I mean, I don't know, there could be a million reasons why someone doesn't come back, but I never want it to be said that it was something that we could have helped.
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: Like, if it's not their time, it's not their time.
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: But if there was a factor that we dropped the ball on, that kind of left a bad taste in someone's mouth and they're like, uh, I never want a kid to feel like, oh gosh, like I love my youth group, but oh, I don't think I could invite, like yeah.
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: Like what a sad, because then it's who is it for at that point, you know, like I think there is kind of a question on the table.
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: That youth group serves two purposes.
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: Obviously it's for discipling kids who are already Christians.
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: Discipleship is a huge focus at my youth group, but also discipling in an environment that is also visitor, like seeker sensitive.
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: You know it's not like well, let's water everything down so everyone can understand it.
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: But there's a fine art to being seeker sensitive, um, but believer focused, and that's what our church as a whole really aims to do.
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: We've always said that that we're seeker sensitive, believer focused.
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: We're.
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: We've always said that that we're seeker-sensitive, believer-focused.
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: We're going to always disciple the believers, but we're going to keep in mind that in our midst there's people that are very new at this and we want to create environment that they feel comfortable in, because the gospel is already pretty uncomfortable when you're just coming in.
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: And so why would there be anything else that we like?
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: And they were just flat out weirdos.
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: You know, I just feel like we want to create environments that students are proud to invite their friends to and that know, like you might not understand all of this yet, but I promise you'll be loved, you'll be well taken care of, you'll have a good time and you won't feel uncomfortable in the sense like that.
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: You're not one of us.
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, like, it's not like a click, you're walking into there's a lot of weird insider language and things it's like I have no idea what's going on.
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: I feel so out of it.
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I've been in those environments before where you just feel like a total outsider and you're just like everyone seems to know what to say and do and all of that.
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: And they'll always be a level of that.
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: When you're brand new somewhere, there's just kind of no way around it.
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: But does a visitor think like, okay, I got over.
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: My first time I could see myself coming back here.
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: I met a couple people, I had some fun.
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: I'm very intrigued about, like this whole Jesus thing.
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: I have some questions and I want to see where this goes.
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: Or was it like check please?
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: These are weirdos and I felt so uncomfortable and again, we can't help all of that.
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: But I want, again the students to feel like I want to be there so bad and I want my friends to be there so bad.
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: You know, when we speak the language of the people that we're ministering to, it really helps get us that consistent attendance that we're looking for.
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: We're speaking their language, we're coming to them, not expecting them to jump on board with where we are spiritually and theologically Like.
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: Well, you know, you're a 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 year old youth pastor, but you're you're not creating the youth group for you, you're creating it for them.
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: Is it irresistible to the people you're serving?
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: And if so, they'll come and they will bring their friends.
• 27:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, strong Question for you, though.
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: There are certain times of the year that are kind of known to be attendance killers or whatever.
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: When are those times you've had 20 plus years as being a youth pastor?
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: When are those times during the year that you can say this time of year?
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: yeah, summer is always weird.
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: You never know what you're gonna get, depending if you live in an area where people travel and try to get the heck out of there.
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: Um so, and then anytime you're around a holiday, you know, or three-day weekend or something like that but I always stay the course.
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: Just stay the course all the time.
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: I and I've already committed to it, so it's not like a whole time to do something.
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: It it's like I've already planned out the year and I plan on being here every single Tuesday from six, 30 to eight, 30, whether I have two kids or 200 kids, I will be here.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: You should come to, you know, except for those last two weeks in December.
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: So I just feel like riding those waves is important.
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: I think sometimes people see a little dip and they start oh time for a plan.
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: It's not always time for a plan, it's just time to write it out.
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: Continue to be consistent, because starting up a new plan can sometimes I think I think you know what you're saying, but it's not so much.
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: Don't have a plan, but don't blow up your plan.
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: And I mean, you're going to have a plan that you're going to kind of be following, but yeah, you just don't want to sit there and say it's not working.
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: So we're just, you know, destroying the whole thing and starting over because we dipped you know, yeah, yeah.
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: Exactly when it could be, like you said, around the holiday, it could be summertime, it could be some other fluke thing, I don't know.
• 29:02
  Speaker 2: Maybe you're there, you're in is big on sports and it's that season and what.
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: They're not coming for whatever reason, and you could have a tough class, I mean.
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: I've had classes that are like ride or die, like we're going to be here no matter what, we'll skip everything to make it.
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: And then you know, in the past I've had classes that are a little more.
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: They're not as cohesive and they're a little more flaky, and it could just be you're in the middle of a weird year, like when you're in youth ministry long enough, I think you realize too, like every class kind of has its own flavor and that you just know what to expect from them so you could just be like well, these eighth graders are kind of checked out, we'll write it out to the end of this year.
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: I mean it could be but, don't like you said, don't blow up the plan, Just stay the course.
• 29:47
  Speaker 2: Right yeah, what you're doing is the right plan.
• 29:50
  Speaker 2: Then make sure you stick with it and, you know, stay the course.
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: We were just talking about new people coming to your youth ministry and maybe sometimes you think is my youth ministry odd or weird or something like that.
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: We did a whole episode kind of like mistakes that youth pastors or youth groups make that are kind of pushing away maybe first-time visitors.
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: So make sure you guys check that out.
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: We'll link it below.
• 30:11
  Speaker 2: The question of the day today is what is something that would ruin your coffee?
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: I hate when I order something and it's way too sweet, like I don't mind a little sweetness.
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: I'm not like I drink black coffee.
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: I have nothing to prove.
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: But, I also want to taste the coffee and or if I'm having a matcha, I want to taste the matcha.
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: I want to taste whatever it is and sometimes, like I've never had a coffee from Dutch Bros but I hear it's like basically a milkshake.
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: Like so decadent.
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: That is not my style, like I don't mind a sweet-ish one, but usually when I order stuff I order it half sweet or no sweetener.
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: Like I would just want to taste.
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: Like I order a lot of London fogs, I just want to taste the tea.
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: I want to taste a latte.
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: I want to taste the coffee.
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: So yeah, I hate when they like, especially when you order a matcha and it's not matcha, it's a matcha mix and it's like already mixed with 800 pounds of sugar and you're like I can't even taste the matcha.
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: This is a green milkshake, it's a shamrock shake for crying out loud.
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: I hate that.
• 31:24
  Speaker 2: I'm the opposite.
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: I say if it's not sweet it's not for me.
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: Oh, have you ever had sweet tea?
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: yeah, I love we're gonna really make some enemies here on that one but you are, I love it.
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: You love sweet tea.
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I've ordered iced tea when I will not drink tea or coffee if it's not sweet but they don't even ask me if I want sweet tea, they just give it to me you're a normal person.
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: I'm like this is I'm like choking on sugar.
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: No, that's how it should be, oh no, just black iced tea with a squeeze of lemon, and it really brightens that up.
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: It's just delicious.
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: I like my cream and sugar with a little bit of coffee in it.
• 32:03
  Speaker 2: Put in the comment section below what's one thing that would ruin your coffee.
• 32:07
  Speaker 2: All right, this is the community comment of the day.
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: This comes from our good friend, reginald Manyweather, who says, as a new viewer slash mentee, the relevancy of your material is game changing.
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: I have viewed many podcasts and YouTube channels, but yours are by far the most.
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: Rewarding.
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: The content is potent and your delivery is astronomical.
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: Rewarding the content is potent and your delivery is astronomical.
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: The way you two are able to tie real life experiences into professional principles set you apart as leaders.
• 32:34
  Speaker 2: Keep up the outstanding work, reginald.
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: That was the best review ever.
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: It was so specific yes, and very artfully put together like quite a sonnet, if you will very good.
• 32:50
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much, reginald.
• 32:52
  Speaker 2: We appreciate that every day.
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: We appreciate you and we appreciate you guys for watching and listening and we'll see you next time.
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: Today we're talking about no, and I told him, mister, keeps on coming back for more.
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: Keeps me coming back for more, baby, you're all that I want.
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: My stomach hurts.
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: There's so many gestures, and make it happen, hey, buddy.