by Ryder Mills, C4SO’s NextGen Leadership Team

Back-to-school season is upon us! As the fall ministry season kicks off, I want to offer a few suggestions for how to integrate young people into the life of your church. 

One of my constant prayers for the young people in my church and life is from Acts 2. On the day of Pentecost, Peter preached to the baffled crowd and quoted the prophet Joel: 

In the last days, God says,
 I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
 your young men will see visions,
 your old men will dream dreams.
Even on my servants, both men and women,
 I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
 and they will prophesy.
(Acts 2.17-18 NIV). 

In praying this prayer, I ask God to fulfill his word to fill me and the people in my community—specifically young people—with his Holy Spirit. I pray that God’s Spirit will empower them to prophesy, that their eyes will be opened to see visions of God’s future for them. I pray that God would give them dreams for a hopeful future.  

This passage paints a picture of the church as an intergenerational community of men and women working together in Spirit-filled ministry. God has poured out his Spirit on all people—men and women, young and old, rich and poor. As a result, each has a place at the table and a voice in the conversation. Our sons and daughters will prophesy, speaking the truth of God to his people. The youth will see visions—gaining clear insight with wisdom beyond their years. Meanwhile, elders will dream dreams—releasing the cynicism of experience and choosing hope once more. When God’s Spirit fills a community of believers, we are all empowered to minister together in unique ways.  

We receive our faith through relationship. We come to know God through knowing others who’ve encountered him, specific people with faces, names and unique stories who passed on their faith to us, teaching us to walk with God by walking alongside us in life. If you were to sit down and think back to when you first began to walk with God, I bet there are a few specific individuals who walked with you in that season. The young people in your church are no different. They need a robust community of caring adults to walk with them and share their lives with them in appropriate ways. Are you willing to do this with a student or group of students this year?

I also want to encourage you to invite and include young people as co-contributors in ministry. Whether your church is a few families gathering in a home or a large church with multiple paid staff, consider how you can include young people as teammates, not only the beneficiaries of ministry. A few easy ways to do this include: 

  • Invite young people to read the scriptures in worship or serve as acolytes
  • Ask them to help stack chairs after church 
  • Let them organize (and raid) the snacks for a cookout 
  • Ask them questions about their joys and struggles and listen to their responses 
  • Pray together
  • As elders in their faith community, share your dreams for them and their future

Finally, here’s a tip for all my fellow student ministers and volunteers: Don’t do ministry alone this year. We’ve just finished the summer ministry season—you may have spent the last few weeks feeling overwhelmed, isolated and under-resourced in your ministry. If that’s the case, let’s work together to make some changes moving forward! The Next Generation Leadership Initiative has a short self-assessment for your student ministry you can complete here. Additionally, if you’d like to receive some specific coaching or participate in a learning cohort with other youth workers, you can sign up here. If I can help support you in your NextGen ministry, please reach out. 

Ryder Mills works as the Director of Outreach at Christ Church Anglican in Overland Park, KS. He also serves on the NextGen leadership teams for C4SO and the Anglican Church in North America. He and his wife, Morgan, live in Kansas City with their son Theo and a spirited dog.