Youth Groups vs. Small Groups

I had a conversation with someone involved with youth and Religious Education recently. It was suggested that youth group/small group ministry models are very different from curriculum/structural models.

There is no doubt that SGM is different. However, I would caution that the "small group ministry" and "youth group" models are not necessarily the same. There is no doubt that we are seeing a convergence of the two. In fact, many youth groups are set up as quasi small group ministries. They have the common ritual, check in, focus, and closing.

But there is more to small group ministry than that basic format. At the heart of small group ministry is intentional empowerment and leadership development with the ultimate goal of helping each individual share their gifts through their personal ministry, in many cases as small group leaders.

I wouldn't call a single group of youth with advisors planning and leading the sessions a small group ministry. The youth group I worked with ten years ago, through a collaborative effort, developed a format identical to small group ministry. That group did very well until they grew to over twenty and now thirty per meeting. The intimacy and deeper explorations/sharing that happened with a small group of ten to fifteen broke down. We didn't have as part of our model training youth leaders to facilitate smaller groups. We didn't have a plan for coupling youth worship with youth small groups. We didn't try to integrate the youth into the larger ministry of the congregation. What happened? Over time it became a larger check in and social focused group with lots of talk about what could be done. Fortunately I went to Star Island and took a workshop on "Small Group Ministry and Religious Education for children and youth"!

If any of you are working with youth or young adults and small group ministry, I'd love to hear from you. I am working on a resource for "YOUTH small GROUP ministry" with an emphasis on how the youth SGM fits into a lifespan model.

In the book The Connecting Church, Randy Frazee suggests that we need to address the need for education OUTSIDE of the worship service and OUTSIDE of the small groups. This is accomplished in his church through bringing groups together into "community groups" of about 50 for traditional classroom style education.

Also, at the upcoming "Spiritual Growth through Small Group Ministry" conference I will be leading a workshop on lifespan small group ministry and my vision for how it can transform our association & larger faith.

If you cannot attend this conference, I am going to offer this one-on-one via phone for those interested. I want to interact with you and get my ideas on lifespan SGM into your head.

Schedule a call.