December is the busiest month of the entire year.
It’s too busy for you and it’s too busy for your family.
Sometimes it’s too busy for students to attend youth group…
…or at least that’s what they tell you.
So what do you do, write them off until the spring?
No way.
Dealing with over-committed families is a massive frustration, but we’ve got to do it.
Several years ago, I was working with a student who (I thought) was too smart for his own good.
He took AP classes as a freshman, starting taking college courses at 16, and was so busy studying that he almost never showed up for youth group.
I knew he had a relationship with Jesus, and I knew he spent time in his Bible. But Sunday night would come, and then he wouldn’t be there. Again.
How frustrating.
Today he’s working in a top university’s optometry lab and he’s trying to find a permanent cure for premature sight loss.
Does that mean he skipped youth group so that he could learn how to heal the blind?
It’s tough to imagine a more Jesus-like thing than that.
Ministering to busy students means that your ministry will need to become bigger than simply planning and delivering a pair of weekly gatherings. Instead, you’ll need a little bit of flexibility to adjust to the pace and schedule of someone else’s life and situation.
First, a word of warning:
Many students who tell you they’re too busy for youth group are lying. They’re simply not interested in what you’re doing, and don’t want to say that to your face. You need a different strategy for those students.
But for the over-committed honors student, drum major, team captain, class President, cadet teacher, and part-time cashier; try something like this:
Do it quicker.
Most of our programs have some amount of fluff, hangout time, and fun. There’s nothing wrong with those things, but busy students don’t want to give you an hour-and-a-half for 25 minutes of meat.
Consider something like a Bible Study for Busy Students so that people with time constraints aren’t excluded by your program.
Do it less frequently.
This was where I finally experienced success with the future eye doctor. We did a lot of great youth activities, but once a month we did a night of serious worship and a deep Bible study. I made sure he understood how important that night was.
He didn’t come every week, but he did commit to coming once a month.
Do it more conveniently.
If you can get into the local school, meet with students during their lunch break. That’s more convenient for them than asking them to make a special trip out to you.
If you can’t get into the school, find an establishment or home that’s right next to the school. Make it your new home base and offer to meet with students directly before or after school.
Use your phone for talking.
Talk to the student (and her parents) and set up a regular phone conversation, just to check in. At the very least, this will communicate that you still care about the student, even if she can’t show up.
At best, it will become a more significant ministry opportunity than you get with the regularly assembled masses.
Working with super-busy students is frustrating, but it can be done…
…and it should be done.
Share a comment and tell me what you’ve done to work with busy students.
Better yet, tell me how you’ve managed the frustration.
