The Value of Small Groups

As we look at our Saviour’s life, we see that He used small groups in His ministry. In fact, much of the time we see Jesus was ministering to people in small groups. The following is an acronym that organ­ises some of the truths that demonstrate the value of a small group in a ministry setting.

Share your life

This happens as people share their struggles, joys, victories, sorrows, answers to prayer, what Jesus is teach­ing them, and what their relationship with Christ is like.

Ministry

Many times other people can see their friends’ gifts before they do. Small groups are a great place to challenge each other to discover and use their spiritual gifts.

Accountability

Small groups help us to be accountable in our spiritual walk, evaluating our spiritual discipline, challenging us to pray, memorize Scripture, and study God’s Word.

Listen and Learn

Being part of a small group can help develop the skill of truly listening to one another. God often speaks to us, or teaches through others experiences or revelations.

Love

Because we share our lives together, the group is able to understand many needs in the lives of each of its members. We can pray for others and often meet a need.

God

God speaks to us through the Body of Christ. In small groups we grow in our Christian walk as others confront, encourage, or pray for us.

Relationships

Small groups help us develop close, healthy, loving relationships with others. Deep friendships form quickly when you are in a small group that meets on a regular basis.

Opportunity

Small groups provide a wonderful opportunity to go deep with a few people, giving us a chance to be a part of what God is doing in the process of training leaders.

Unity

As small groups love and care for one another and work through conflict, the value of being united in love is displayed for all to see.

Prayer

In a small group, people are willing to share much more deeply than if they are praying with oth­ers they don’t know well. Pray anywhere and anywhere. Pray often!


Here are just a few of the many opportu­nities to use small groups in Young Life:

  • cabin time
  • work crew
  • mission community
  • camp‑work crew, summer staff, assigned team
  • committee/sub‑committees
  • Bible studies
  • discipleship
  • staff meetings
  • club
  • leadership meetings
  • contact work
  • prayer groups
  • tutoring
  • mentoring
  • after‑school programs
  • Mummy & Me
  • visit a committee member’s home with a small group of kids
  • service project with a small group of kids
Download – The Value of Small Groups

Levels of Contact Work

Adapted from articles by Neil Atkinson, Dick Langford and various other Young Life veterans

 

The Three Levels of Contact Work

  1. Being seen at school affairs and wherever teens are. It is important for the leader seeking to build friendships to express his/her inter­est by attending events that are important to the teenager. This could be a school play, athletic event or practice session, or some other activity in which they are engaged. It could be a shopping centre, or street corner, or park. The leader might not say anything to anyone, but his or her presence there speaks of interest. It is good to remember the words of St. Francis of Assisi: “We preach Jesus Christ and, when necessary, we use words.”
  1. Conversing with a young person. Before long the leader must step up to this second level and actually talk with someone. If he goes on just hanging around, suspicions will grow about his purposes. Real friendships can be built only through communication, and this communication must be more than an occasional “Hi!” We must remember to look at things from a young person’s point of view and learn to speak about things which are of interest to him or her.
  1. Enjoying activities with young people. Of course, this is the finest way to get to know a young person. Fast friend­ships are built when we live one of life’s experiences with him or her. Suggestions follow:

Water and snow ski trips, fishing trips, college and professional athletic events, golf, having young people over for lunch or after a game, telephone vis­its, working on school projects or dec­orations, slumber parties, parade float building, touch football and pickup athletic events, weekend trips to the beach or mountains or cities, bicycling, handball, swimming, bowl­ing, weight lifting, chaperoning school events, athletic officiating, visiting a college or university, music (give gui­tar lessons or take lessons from teens, listen to their group practice), arts.

Leaders should use their imagina­tions and be constantly on the look­out for activities, which they may share with young people.


Established Clubs Need a Larger Picture.

Besides the three levels, we need to have in mind three categories of high school people. Think of it as a series of circles. The small circle consists of Campaigners. The Campaigners are the smallest segment of a high school popu­lation. A larger circle surrounding the Campaigners is the circle of club attendees. Club attendees make up the next largest seg­ment with which we have contact. The last group of young people, by far the largest, is the non‑club attendees. These are individuals, who for one reason or another, don’t come to Young Life.

Circles

As Young Life leaders, we need to inten­tionally make contact with teens in each of the three categories: Campaigners, club attendees and non‑club young people.  What fre­quently happens is that contact work is done with Campaigners and club attendees and is not done with non‑club kids on a regular basis. Seldom, if ever, do we get to level three contact work. Many Young Life leaders do nothing with non‑club attendees, not even converse. No wonder clubs don’t expand! We need to go back to rela­tionship development and get to non­-club kids at level three. We have to do something with them.


When Do We Do Contact?

In order to be effective, we must be regular in our approach to teens. It might mean going when we don’t feel like it. It is essential that a leader do contact weekly. Vary the time and type of your con­tacts. Do not give the young people the idea that you are there to build your own ministry or event. On the other hand, consistent attendance for a certain sport you are targeting can help provide the trust needed to develop relationships.

Download – The Signature of Young Life – Part II

Club Resources

We hope you find these resources useful.

Once you have completed the YL 101 course, you’ll have access to it as well in the Lesson: Resources.

Please note that these resources are Copyright to Young Life Australia; this means that you can use them for your use as a Young Life leader, but they can not be distributed to other youth or church organisations without first seeking approval from the National Office.

Download – Young Life Club Talks & Campaigner Lessons


Download – Young Life Club Talks

Download – Club Games Resource


All our young people attending club should be registered on Care Monkey, which your Area Manager will allocate access for.  If  a child attending is unable to complete a Care Monkey profile, one of these forms must be completed by their parents / guardians. Your local Area Manager will collect the completed forms.

Download – Club Consent Form

A Prayer Strategy for Club

Adapted from an article written by Kit Sublet

“Prayer is surely one of the most spoken about and written about subjects in Christianity. Unfortunately, it is not the most acted upon subject in all Christian­ity. We constantly emphasize the impor­tance of prayer but seldom heed our own words. The quality of the staff (volunteer) reflects the quality of the individual’s time in his/her closet with the Saviour” From Back to the Basics by John Miller

I am sure all of us pray for our Young Life club. Without prayer, club is no more than an entertaining evening with some friends (if it is even that), and you are no more than a neat guy or gal who has an attractive personality. The power of prayer cannot be overstated. It powers our lives and empowers our ministry. When we are prayed up, we are instru­ments of the Holy Spirit finely sharpened and ready for spiritual warfare.

We all have a picture in our mind of what great Young Life ministry is sup­posed to look like ‑ energetic singing, amusing skits, winsome club talks and, of course, lots of contact work. It is possible, however, for all of these things to be tak­ing place ineffectively, because it lacks the power of having even one person pouring his or her heart out to Christ, asking for the salvation of the kids that are involved. Andrew Murray says, “God seeks intercessors. God has need of inter­cessors. God wonders at the lack of inter­cessors. Rest not till God see that you are one.”

What I am trying to say here is that we must be sure that prayer is every bit as much a priority as the rest of the pro­gram. Young Life has become so pro­gram-oriented and so specialized that we have a tremendous amount of gifted peo­ple. It is possible, and likely, to pull off what would technically be described as good ministry without ever praying. Something that has the appearance of godliness, but lacks the power.

So, what is the importance of prayer?

Prayer ‑ secret, fervent, believing prayer ‑ lies at the root of all personal godliness.” (William, Carey)

It is the key ingredient to the recipe for a successful ministry.

Has anything new been said about prayer? Of course not! However, is it pos­sible to begin new prayer practices that will empower our ministry and help pro­duce eternal fruit for the kingdom? Yes, definitely. But, like everything in Young Life, we need a plan. We plan certain talks for certain times of the year; we plan our music to bring kids out of their shell and enhance the message; we plan skits to show that Christianity can be fun; and we even have three levels of contact work. Doesn’t it make sense then, that if prayer is the most important ele­ment of our ministry, it should have a plan as well?


Following are some possible plans and strategies you might be led to try:

  • Pray for a manageable number.  Whether this means separating the names on your club list throughout the week or throughout the leadership team ‑ keep it reasonable and specif­ic.
  • Pray them through these basic lists:
    1. Kids you don’t know: Start with a list of kids you would like to meet. Pray. Hopefully, they do not stay on this list too long.
    2. Kids you’ve met: Pray for an oppor­tunity to get together.
    3. Kids you spend time with: Pray that the conversations will eventually reach beyond the surface level of getting ‑to know one another.
    4. Intimate relationships: Pray for an opportunity to share your life with them.
    5. Meeting Christ: Pray for them to give their lives to Christ.
  • Assemble a group of committed mums and dads who are sold out to the idea of praying daily for a list of kids that you give them, and to meeting once a week together for prayer. (Preferably during the hour your club is meeting.)
  • Keep a prayer notebook.
    1. Don’t casually promise to pray for someone or something. Make a seri­ous commitment and record the requests and results.
    2. The blessing in prayer is to be able to look back and recognize how God chose to answer the requests.
  • Have a prayer partner. Meet weekly with another person to pray solely for the team and for kids. The partnership will keep you accountable and comes with a promise, “for where two or three have gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst,” Matthew 18:20.
  • Keep kids’ names in front of you: on bookmarks, on the back of the visor in your car, on the refrigerator. Create constant reminders to be an intercessor.
  • Don’t forget to pray during club and have others pray on the night at home.

Remember, your prayer strategy need not consist of all, or even any, of these suggestions, but you need a systematic plan by which you lift up the individuals which God has placed in your care.

Download – A Prayer Strategy for Club

Club Components

Go to the Young Life Leaders Blog for some great ideas on each of the components discussed below!

Effective Announcements

  • Announcements are the vehicle we use for communicating upcoming attractions. Many of these events are key to our relationship building and proclamation. Therefore, announcements should be heard, remembered and ignite enthusiasm.
  • Typically, there is one “Big Event” a team is selling. It is good to preface the announcement related to this event with a short run‑on or skit that motivates kids to want to find out the details.
  • To get kids to remember dates, it is helpful to make up a rhyme or slogan and ask them to repeat it each week, i.e., “August 3‑9, I’m There!”
  • Create a sense of urgency to respond to your invitation soon.
  • Sometimes momentum can be generated by prompting Campaigners to raise their hands in response to the question, “Who’s going?” following the announcement of an event.
  • “So what?” is also a good question to answer. Tell them the benefits of their participation.
  • Since kids will forget most of what is announced at club, it is helpful after the speaker closes in prayer for him or her to highlight any announcements that require attention after club like singing up for something, picking up a brochure, filling out a club card, etc.
  • Sell things far enough ahead to build momentum, but not so far they are uninterested.

Effective Icebreakers and Mixers

Since a club is made up of kids from a variety of groups who may or may not know each other, it is sometimes helpful to incorporate a mixer or ice‑breaker into the club program.

A mixer is a game in which everyone participates and demands each kid interact with at least one other, if not everyone in the room. This “connection” with the other participants creates a feeling of safety for what will follow. They feel like they are all in this thing together.

An ice‑breaker is a quick, funny way to defuse the crowd and put everyone at ease. In this case, kids don’t have to interact with others, but instead share a common laugh.

  • Though not essential, sometimes it can be helpful to have a team of student leaders kick off club with a mixer. Since they are initiators rather than the volunteers, other kids may feel more free to follow their lead. Obviously student leaders must be the right kids.
  • Make the activity more fun than threatening.
  • Be sure the instructions are clear and well‑heard; otherwise, no one will want to participate for fear of failure.
  • Test the idea yourself before doing it so you are sure to lead it effectively. Be sure to have the right props.

Effective Walk-Ons

A run‑on is a short skit that interrupts the flow of club. It can be a one‑shot deal or a skit that is built on for several weeks running. It can be used to sell an event or just get a quick laugh. A continuous run‑on creates an air of anticipation for what is coming as kids look forward to the next act.

Weekly Run-Ons

  • The characters should be clearly defined and easy to stereotype.
  • Some of the dialogue should be repeated each week so the kids can say the lines along with the characters.
  • Each episode should build toward a finale.
  • It is effective, where desired, for the underdog to experience victory in the finale.
  • Don’t drag it out ‑ either by over‑milking individual episodes, or by carrying it out for more than six or seven episodes.
  • Pick an appropriate theme song to kick off the run‑on so kids know its coming and get quiet for the dialogue.

One-Time Interupters

  • Come in suddenly, unannounced, even interrupting a song sometimes.
  • Be well‑rehearsed: A few well‑chosen lines are better than rambling dialogue (often a consequence of inadequate preparation).
  • Be short: Quit while they are wanting more.
  • Dazzle them with visuals: either some memorable costumes, I‑can’t‑believe‑they‑just‑did‑that antics, a goofy face, or by using humorous props (i.e. a bucket of water that’s really confetti).

Effective Skits

Historically, the reasons we do skits at club are as follows:

  • laughter helps break down barriers;
  • skits show humorous side of leaders;
  • kids up front invites participation for all;
  • they focus a diversity of kids on a common experience;
  • done well, they portray a commitment to excellence, which communicates caring.

Introduce the skit with a creative idea that gets everyone’s attention (funny costumes are good for this). You want kids excited about the skit before it ever takes place.

Involve a cross‑section of the kids in club (don’t use the same ones each week). Limit the number of Campaigners in skits.

Be crystal clear to the participants and the audience what the point of the skit is, and how it will run. A prerequisite of this is thoroughly thinking through the best way to run the skit.

Make sure every member of the audience is involved (cheering for their team, letting them in on the punch line, judging).

Never bore the audience. If you have props to set up or costumes to put on the participants, do it during a song. Don’t allow for any “dead” time.

Be sure the MC is loud and speaks to the audience, not just to the participants.

Be certain everyone in the room has an unobstructed view of the skit.

Protect the floor, walls, and participants’ hair and clothing from damage. Damage is never funny, always distracting and doesn’t depict excellence.

Honour the participants with a funny prize, or at least a round of applause. Make all participants feel like winners!

Be creative ‑ make audience say, ‘Wow”

Thinking through Skits

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10

  • Skits need to be in good taste.
  • The whole purpose is to have fun!!
  • Usually short: 5 to 7 minutes.
  • Keep them moving ‑ don’t let it drag.
  • Never crude or in poor taste.
  • Never make humorous references to the spiritual aspect of club.
  • Skits help to break down barriers.
  • Use many different kids.
  • Be very careful about involving new kids.
  • We don’t want kids to feel humiliated.
  • Be creative.
  • Walk through the skit in your head. Think through what could go wrong.
  • Don’t become predictable.
  • Let Campaigner kids take ownership.
  • Teach Campaigners how to think through skits. Make them successful up front.
  • Always be prepared.
  • If you are going to really mess someone up in the skit, you may want to clue him or her in beforehand.
  • Make up a “skit bag:” drop cloth, paper towels, emergency skit, etc.

Download – Club Components


Download – Effective Song Leading & Song Selection

Responsibilities of a Leader

Before Club:

Arrive Early – about an hour

  • Not to plan club (it’s already been laid out ahead of time)
  • Get organised – order of the meeting, skit, etc. (have it in writing)
  • Last minute preparation
  • Prepare the room (talk about homes)
  • Beat the kids there – be ready when the first one arrives so you can hang out.
  • Pray together before the chaos begins.

Patrol – help outside

  • Park cars
  • Keep kids from getting hurt
  • Greet kids outside
  • Meet parents
  • Have new kids fill out club cards (address and other information).

Hear Brian Summerall share about the start of club.


During Club:

  • Do your assigned job – be ready and practiced.
  • When not involved spread out and help control kids by sitting with them.
  • Don’t be up front unless involved.
  • Don’t take away from who’s up front by drawing attention to yourself.
  • Sing enthusiastically, laugh, pay attention.
  • Draw kids into the singing, tease them into clapping.
  • Be alert to any crisis, keep kids inside, don’t let them throw things.

After Club:

Visit with kids

  • Tell them you’re glad they were there
  • Be available to answer questions
  • Take time to give yourself to them
  • Leave to do contact work with them
  • Set up a time to hang out with them later in the week.

Get kids home

  • Again, be outside to patrol.  This is a good time to meet parents and to provide safety.
  • Don’t leave while kids are still there, whether you meet at homes or another place.
  • Clean up
    • Not until kids leave
    • Everyone help.

If at a home, be sure to vacuum, take rubbish with you and say THANK YOU!

Download – Responsibilities of a Leader

Giving an Effective Message

Adapted from an article submitted by Dr Chap Clark

 

Young Life has always been noted for its effective communication to young people. From the early pioneers to today’s staff and volunteers, there remains a commit­ment to effective messages targeting youth. But productive communication, especially to a highly diversified and dis­interested youth culture, is becoming increasingly more difficult. In order to reach the kids of today and beyond with the truth of the Gospel in a way that they can understand and are drawn to, it is vital‑ that Young Life messages be as clear and relevant as possible.


This article recommends a relatively sim­ple, add water and stir method of prepar­ing and delivering an effective message. This approach has been handed down in one form or another for decades. There is nothing new, but the plea in this approach is for simplicity and a return to the roots of what makes a good talk. The time‑honoured speaking traditions in Young Life still provide one of the best possible methods for reaching disinter­ested kids with the wonder of Jesus Christ.

Before looking through the method below, listen to what Steve Gardner has to share on preparing your first club talk.

Method

Order of preparation

  • Controlling Thought
  • Conclusion
  • Body (Scripture)
  • Introduction
  • Application
  • Transitions

This order is useful every time you approach a brief message to any audi­ence where you have one point to convey. A banquet talk, for example, may require the exact same preparation method in order to stay on target and not lose focus.

Components of the Message

These are the essential six components of an effective message.

    1. Controlling Thought: This is your target statement. When the message is finished and someone is asked, ‘What did she say?” he should be able to repeat this phrase almost verbatim. Throughout the talk, no matter how lost or nervous you get, as long as you keep this one phrase in mind, you can­not help but communicate clearly.
    2. Conclusion: After writing down the thesis statement, the next task is to formulate a conclusive paragraph or summary. The reason I prepare this second is because it provides a framework within which the controlling thought can be couched and delivered. When the thesis is clear, the conclusion will be clear.
    3. Body: In almost every talk of this kind, the body represents the Scrip­ture which illustrates the thesis. In most preaching classes, students are taught that the controlling thought flows out of the Scripture. But for a specifically evangelical or informa­tional message, where the controlling thoughts have already been formulated and agreed upon (in Young Life, the Statement of Mission Purpose and Doctrinal Statement), the Bible becomes the tool to illustrate the truth being communicated.
    4. Introduction: The point of an intro­duction is to draw the attention of the crowd to the speaker and interest them in what you have to say. Sometimes this is a personal story, current news or school occurrence or an anecdote. It usually has some sort of natural tie to the Scripture (or sometimes the controlling thought). The danger for most speakers is a tendency to spend too much time with an illustration, thus taking away from the point of the talk and diluting the. impact and focus on the controlling thought.
    5. Application: This is one of the most neglected components of Young Life messages. We will communicate life­ saving truth to students and then leave them without an avenue to implement the information. An effec­tive talk must always have a clear and simple application that can be both understood and carried out. For example, after a talk on the identity of Christ, ask kids to answer the question for themselves, “Who do you say that I am” or challenge them to complete this statement on their own: “I believe Jesus is ______ because ______.”
    6. Transitions: Perhaps the biggest mis­take that is made by speakers is the lack of attention given to transition statements. Between every point there must be a sentence or phrase that bridges the gaps between thoughts. It can be smooth (And if you think I was hurting, let’s look at a woman who once lost everything she had,” and turn to Mark 5:21) or rather abrupt (Enough about school, let’s get into some real exciting stuff . Last week we saw how Jesus…”). The point is to make sure that each tran­sition makes sense and maintains continuity and flow from point to point, making sure that the thesis statement is the objective.

Trouble Shooting: Common Pitfalls to Avoid

  • Overuse of Illustration: The point of a talk is to lift up Jesus Christ and not ourselves. We must keep in mind that every illustration is simply a tool to get into the Scripture, which in turn high­lights the thesis. If an illustration goes beyond this purpose, it will often over­shadow the thesis, which would cause a reaction like: “Great message! I’m not sure what was said, but it was sure funny!”
  • Muddy Conclusion: Usually caused by lack of adequate preparation, where the most common mistake is to take either our favourite Scripture or illustration and force it into a talk.
  • Lack of Direction or Flow: Again, often caused by preparing the compo­nents out of order, or not thinking through transitions. The key to a smooth flowing message is keeping a clear focus on the thesis and supporting it.
  • Poor Use of Scripture: Scripture deserves careful attention in our messages. We must make sure that our interpretation is true to the original intent of the passage, and that we are not stretching the text to make it say what it does not intend. Every passage should be thoroughly studied and prayed through before speaking to kids in the name of the Lord.
  • Poor Delivery: An effective Young Life message can be invalidated by poor delivery. It helps for the speaker to be aware of deficiencies and work on the delivery prior to speaking regularly. Such things as gum chewing, holding the Bible like a shield, speaking in a whisper or monotone and avoiding eye contact will diminish the effectiveness of a message. On the other hand, if the leader is known (and presumably liked) by kids, has a clear and simple message with a specific thesis and application and is willing to share with kids as friends, an unpolished delivery will still make a huge impact on the lives of the students.
  • A wise, old sage once remarked to me, “Your message is only as good as the breath mints in your pocket.” Not a bad piece of advice as someone approaches you after a talk.

Download – Giving and Effective Message


Download – Club Talk Checklist

Download – Young Life Club Talks & Campaigner Lessons Resource

The Traditional Young Life Club – Part II

Submitted by Fil Anderson

As was highlighted in the last article, the Young Life club is historically the most effective setting for the proclama­tion of the Gospel.  The following “ingredients” and suggestions for making the club effective are a guide only, although should be taken into consideration as is written from a collection of years of experience.  You know the young people you’re working with the best – do what is going to be most effective for the skills you have within your leadership team and is going to be most engaging for the young people you are working with.  Remember, the main point of club is the clear proclama­tion of the Gospel – if you are engaging unreached young people and giving them a clear Message, you are running an effective club.


Traditional Ingredients of the Young Life Club Meeting

  • Music/Singing has particular value in get­ting young people doing something together and in preparing them for the message. Good singing can be a tremen­dous asset to the meeting’s atmosphere and effectiveness.
  • The Minutes (Skits/Games). This is not just a skit thrown into the program, but rather an important ingredient for break­ing down barriers and making kids laugh and relax in a happy setting.
  • The Announcements. Mainly used to break the stride of the meeting and cover any future plans for the club. Camp pro­motion may often best be done at this time.
  • The Message. An important part of any Young Life club is when a leader has the opportunity to speak of Jesus Christ to young people who do not know Him. Give them something to believe so the Holy Spirit can do His work.
  • The Close. Brief, but important in leaving kids with a good impression of the meet­ing and what was said.

Making the Club Effective

Variety

Young Life leaders have discovered that a club is attractive in its informal, sin­cere, loving presentation of Jesus Christ. The message does not need the support of special gimmicks and tricks, special music or refreshments, to be effectively heard and appreciated. Sometimes the charm and force of a club meeting is its simplicity. On the other hand, care must be taken not to get in a rut and allow the meeting to become routine or lack­lustre. From time to time, leaders will want to try a special effect, or club meet­ing, just to introduce some needed vari­ety. See Module Seven – Further Resources for suggestions.

Discipline in Club

Discipline is built upon respect. Most problems may be solved as we get to know the young people we are working with and as they know and respect us. Teenagers are naturally enthusiastic. In a setting as informal as a Young Life club, they will undoubtedly pose discipline problems. Good leadership will ensure that the same problems will not continue week after week.

Christian kids can cause trouble with an “I’ve head all this before,” attitude. Disinterested students are often careless, not malicious, in their inattention.

  • Pray for wisdom.
  • Try to understand the reasons for inattention.
  • Work hard to win the confidence of the ones who cause trouble.
  • Keep motives in check. Are you motivated by a wounded ego or by a desire for kids to hear the Gospel?

Some Solutions to the Problem of Noise and Inattention

  • Arrange furniture and focal point so kids can see the leader.
  • Up‑front leaders should be in a good light, good enough to show facial expressions.
  • Leaders can help greatly by sitting close to trouble spots and modelling an attitude of complete attention to the up‑front leader. Attitudes are contagious.
  • At the first club of each semester, remind kids of some basic ground rules at club: We are committed to making club fun and treating you with respect. We ask, in turn, that you will listen carefully during the last 10 to 20 minutes each week.  When noise and inattention must be stopped, try:
    1. Heart-to-heart talk, jovial or seri­ous: “Hey, wait a minute. There are too many clubs going on tonight. This is way too impor­tant for us to compete with a lot of chatter.”
    2. Just be quiet: Let it become obvi­ous that someone is disturbing.
  • Work on kids individually: Chat with him or her after club about it. Show love to that kid there and everywhere.
  • Evaluate your club format fre­quently. Be willing to hear and act upon kids’ constructive criticism as well as that of other leaders.

 Special Problems

  • Kids who won’t come in: A leader should invite them in each time they hang around the outside. Be sure you are always friendly when you meet them at school. If they are making noise in an attempt to disrupt, appeal to their sense of fair play and ask them either to come in or at least let the rest of the crowd enjoy the club.
  • Kids who want to heckle you in club: Above all, don’t get angry since that would mean they won the game. If it isn’t persistent, a readiness to laugh at yourself has the best chance of ending it quickly.

Publicising the Club

Of course the key to this is the student who is really sold on Young Life, perhaps a Christian who was greatly helped to personal faith through Young Life. Word of mouth invitations to others to come are most effective. These may be supple­mented by:

  1. Printed slips or flyers or pencils, giv­ing information on where club meets, when etc. (Some school authorities object to these being given on campus. We must observe their wishes.) Some leaders see as much as a 25 percent increase in attendance due to flyers.
  2. Posters or PA announcements are sometimes permitted on campus. Again, special care must be given to not violate school rules.
  3. The leaders may become involved in some school activity, helping to offici­ate at a game, speaking to a class or assembly, working with a teacher or dean on some special program or proj­ect.
  4. Be careful that your friendship with kids is not conditional on club atten­dance. Encourage kids to do most of the inviting of their friends.
  5. Some kids need an invitation from a leader they have met. A good rule of thumb is to specifically invite a student once, and then pray for wisdom and sensitivity about bringing it up again.

Encouraging Decisions

Young Life leadership is determined not to use embarrassing button‑hole tech­niques. Yet, we must keep in mind the young person who might respond with a more directed and guided chance to trust Christ at a Young Life club. We do not need to wait for camps or special meetings to expect kids to make their commit­ment to Jesus Christ. If we give a closing prayer, we may help them phrase their own prayer of faith.

Leaders should be available to kids who might want to talk. We must make it as easy as possible to see us. We may want to encourage them publicly to come, let­ting them know we would like to help in any way possible. A direct question from the leader is in order with those we know very well, such as, “What do you think about all of this?”

It could happen at any time or place when a leader senses the young person wants help in meeting Christ in a per­sonal way.

Pitfalls

A few assorted problems in club work are as follows:

  • Do not use the summer camp enter­tainment skits for the minutes of club. This ruins it for all who go to camp and it is too often done.
  • Beware of clocks, chimes and phones during the message. Stop them prior to club, if possible.
  • Leaders should carefully avoid any situation where they might be alone with a young person of the opposite sex, such as taking him or her home from club.
Download – The Traditional Young Life Club – Part II

The Traditional Young Life Club

Submitted by Fil Anderson

What is a Young Life Club?

The Young Life club is historically the most effective setting for the proclamation of the Gospel.

In some communities, it remains a highly effective tool in reaching out to a majority of a targeted adolescent community. Usually the meeting is held on a week night in a neutral place, such as the home of one of the kids. The atmosphere is friendly and relaxed. A club is under the leadership of men and women who care enough for kids that each meeting has maximum effectiveness in expressing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Young Life club should be a heavily prayed-for meeting. Even during the hour, leaders should cultivate the habit of praying without ceasing. Some club teams have been wise to establish prayer teams, which meet during the club hour to focus their attention exclusively on prayer for the meeting. This beautiful platform of expression, the Young Life club, may become one of the most powerful influences for Jesus Christ in the entire community.


Primary Considerations

  1. In a class by itself in importance is the leaders’ relationship with Christ. Club will always reflect their attitudes. They are the ones who set the whole tone of club. They should radiate Christ in actions, words and attitudes.
  2. A successful club is one in which Jesus Christ is made known. It may have nothing to do with numbers of kids, how many laughs were shared or how smoothly it was run. Club is geared to kids and where they are. Nothing is pushed or forced since Christ does not force Himself. Making Jesus known at club simply means doing things in His way, with His attitudes and His actions. The fun and games of club are all part of the nonverbal communication of Christ.
  3. Young Life club is a team ministry. Christian kids and leaders living the Christian life are of major importance. They help set the atmosphere to be that of Christ’s love. Their love and concern at club build a vital believing base for the message.
  4. When kids leave club, they should feel like something was different about that one hour. As they continue to come, they should find out for themselves that it was Jesus Christ’s presence that made it special. It was Christ in people, in the songs, in the laughs, in the message and in the attitudes.
  5. Numbers are important! Christ’s command to all of us is to ‘go to all the world’ and to every person. We will ask God to use us to reach as many kids as we can in our meetings. Well attended meetings usually have a stronger feel of excitement and interest. Obviously, then, we hope lots of kids will show up, and we pray to this end. But be careful. Numbers, per se, do not necessarily spell success.

Preliminary Considerations

The club meeting features planned informality. The leaders are in charge, but the students feel it is their club. They sit on the floor, usually in the home of one of the participants, but it could be held elsewhere. The parents are the hosts and should be within earshot of what goes on.

  1. Most clubs meet on a weekly basis, the same night each week. Continually shifting the night or calling off club will seriously impair the outreach it has.
  2. Typically, in suburban situations, the meeting lasts from 50 minutes to an hour. In some urban and rural situations, the meeting may also involve recreational and social activities, and last for an evening. In places where the majority of teens experience home as a place to escape from, club becomes a safe place to be, and kids want to stay as long as possible.
  3. It must be attractive ‑ should move along and not drag.
  4. The meeting is designed to introduce disinterested high school kids to Jesus Christ. It should not become a clique for Christian young people; we must always guard against this as some clubs become safe Christian sanctuaries.
  5. It is open to any student in the school or community. There is no such thing as membership or dues.
  6. Leaders make every effort to cooperate with school activities and to help promote school spirit. We want school, church, and civic leaders to look at Young Life as an asset to the community. Always be sensitive enough to include those who tend toward being dropouts. Strive to win them also.
  7. Special care must be taken not to conflict with the program of the local churches and to gently correct any teenagers who might consider Young Life their church.
  8. Information, both printed and spoken, must be given to parents. This may be accomplished through a prepared brochure, personal visit, phone call, or Parents’ Night. In urban situations, it is vitally important that club leaders have a letter of introduction and explanation available at every meeting for new kids to take home. Don’t leave parents guessing about what kind of group Young Life is.
  9. No club may exist under the name Young Life without the supervision of a Young Life staff representative. This means, among other things, an adequate reporting system on a regular basis.
  10. Leaders are free to experiment with new features in club just as long as the Gospel is not obscured or the club does not become mere entertainment.
  11. Careful records should be kept in the form of weekly club report cards and use of the informal club cards filled out by the young people themselves once a year. It is imperative that the club leadership knows what kids they are ministering to. A good club survey will reveal that information.
  12. Leaders must exercise care in the protection of personal property, as well as in the conduct of the young people before and after club, particularly those driving cars. Any damaged property must be replaced and proper apologies given.
  13. If at all possible, clubs should not get too lopsided with girls or guys. An even split is desirable. Each leader must be conscious of this and pray and work hard to keep the balance.
  14. The message is the climax of the meeting. All that is done earlier should prepare the way for the verbal presentation of Jesus Christ.

Atmosphere of Club

  1. Should be relaxed and enjoyable.
  2. Picture Christ’s love flowing from you to each kid.
  3. Let students know you appreciate being with them.
  4. Give them as much responsibility for the club meeting as possible. Help them to feel that it is their club. Let them participate. Here are some possible ways to incorporate students into the leadership and ownership of the club:
    a. Have kids lead songs. (They should be carefully coached first.)
    b. Have them clap, raise hands, answer questions.
    c. Have them yell for their class or team.
    d. Have kids pass out brochures, give announcements, do walk-ons and skits.
    e. At certain times in the year you may want to ask kids to share their faith, lead in prayer or give the message.
  5. Keep things moving. Don’t lose momentum.
  6. Each of the team leaders should sit in the middle of a group of kids and give rapt attention to the up-front leader at all times. This attitude will catch with the kids around the leader.
Download – The Traditional Young Life Club

The Heart of the Mission

(A letter from Jim Rayburn to donors)

Dear Friends,

I want you to read this letter!

I am going to try to tell you something about Young Life’s strategy for reaching high school young people for the Saviour.

It is easy for me to assume that you know more about the work of the Young Life Campaign than you actually do. I am so close to it. I have watched the progress and the changes that the Lord has indicated from the very start. Some of you who receive this letter know of these matters perhaps as well as I do, but many friends have suggested that they would like to have me tell them a little more about the inside working of Young life. We do have a unique approach to the problem of reaching young people.

You see we are after the unreached. From the very beginning, the burden that the Lord placed upon us was to reach young people who were not being touched by any other methods. The vast majority of young people are not in church and never hear the truth about the Saviour’s love, so we are after them particularly. To reach them we have had to break with some traditional methods and, I am sorry to say, we have had to sometimes be misunderstood.

For example, take our contact work. By that, we mean the hours and hours that our leaders find it necessary to spend with the kids, meeting them where they are, going along with them, living with them. Now this is recognised procedure on any foreign mission field, but many well-meaning Christians have felt that we are wasting time. And yet it is this time spent with the youngster, before and after his confession of Christ, that has made Young Life something far more than the ordinary youth movement. Not only do we win a hearing among the most difficult and hardest to reach, but after reaching them, we stay with them, as a true missionary should. The winning and establishing of a soul for Jesus Christ cannot be done on a hit-and-run basis.

The Lord Jesus Himself is our example in this. His heart was tender toward sinners. He longed for them. He was not ashamed to be with them. His compassionate approach to the lost is what we are after. We try to be kind in our approach to the lost. We insist that gentleness is essential if we are to properly represent Him. I am afraid we are often times criticised for no other reason than that we are honestly seeking, under the Lord’s guidance, to be as He was, the ‘friend of publicans and sinners.’

Many people ask us about our ‘Bible Clubs.’ We do not have any! In Young Life, we have given years of prayerful study to this matter of the right kind of a Christian meeting for kids. What we call a Young Life Club is actually a Gospel meeting for high school young people. It is perhaps different from any meeting you have ever been in. But the differences are in small things. We sing, pray, and preach the Gospel in an atmosphere of friendly informality. The meeting is deliberately placed at their level. The language is that which will be understood and impressive to a modern adolescent. We avoid the clichés of evangelical terminology and present the sweet story of how Christ died for our sins in simple terms, which young people can understand and appreciate.

The Young Life Club is but a phase of this work. There are weekend camps, parties, rallies, high school assemblies and our intensive Bible study units. Then there is our summer ranch program conducted on our three nationally famous Colorado ranches where more than one thousand young people are winsomely challenged with the Saviour’s claim on their lives.

There are the leaders. We maintain a high standard of our leadership; all of them carefully trained in our own approach to evangelism. These men and women are not selected because of some personal charm or magnetism.

There is a deeper quality that makes for a successful Young Life worker. It is sincerity, warmth, a personal walk with the Lord Jesus Christ, a desire to see this hard job done for His glory!

There you have the three important phases of the Young Life strategy:

  • The emphasis on the direct and friendly contact with the high schooler. The emphasis on follow-up, follow-up, and follow-up.
  • The leaders; trained, skilled, dedicated people willing to put up with kids, to live and play with them.
  • The gracious, informal gospel meetings featured especially in our Young Life clubs, our camps and summer ranch programs.

There is much more to be said about Young Life strategy, but the most significant thing is not the technique or the people. It is, this true compassion that comes from above. Much of the gospel work today is hindered by the severity of its attitude toward the lost.

In Young Life, we try never to forget that Jesus ‘looked on the multitude and had compassion on them.’ We keep always before our minds that when He mingled with sinners, He did not condemn and judge. He treated them as friends. He longed for them to be His friends. We do too! He has led us that way. That is why a Young Life leader knows more young people than anybody in town. That is why he or she spends hours and hours sitting around soda fountains, going to ball games, wandering around the campus – doing things that may look kind of silly! But they are not silly, they are essential. We go where young people are. That is where they can come to understand a Christian leader and love him and respect him and want to listen to him.

Because we are dedicated to such principles, we will never become a statistically prominent movement, but we know of no other way to reach young people for the Lord and get results in lives that will stand the test of time. Already, in the first eleven years of our work, the Lord has honoured us with an outstanding host of young men and women who have been reached in high school and are taking a prominent place in Christian circles. Most of these would not even have heard the Gospel if the Young Life leader had not deliberately gone after them. The quality of these young witnesses across the nation is sufficient demonstration that God is doing a unique work through Young Life. Scores of these young people are vitally associated with us as staff and volunteer leaders, going after more kids like they were when they were in high school.

We feel no sense of superiority nor do we feel that we have a patent on a special kind of evangelising. We know that the Lord has used these methods in every age and throughout the world. But we also know that these truly scriptural methods for reaching the lost are sadly neglected in America today. We trust that more and more of God’s people will re-discover how basic and important it is to ‘walk in wisdom toward them that are without’ making friends and helping people for the glory of God and for the purpose of making known the Saviour and His love.

I hope that this brief review of some of Young Life’s methods will help you to understand better our work and explain it to others. Pray for us.

Sincerely in Him.

Jim Rayburn


This video will give you an overview of what Young Life does.

Download – The Heart of the Mission