How to Create a Youth Ministry Scorecard
Student ministry changes lives forever.
After serving in student ministry for the last 14+ years, I can confidently say that student ministry has drastically changed. From the way students interact and engage with their understanding of spiritual matters, it is different.
Students’ mindsets have evolved with our culture. The time of students coming to a Youth Pastor’s office during the week has passed. Events, programs and coming to hang in the church with the Youth Pastor no longer attract or grow ministries.
What grows a student ministry? A Student Pastor who is real, relational and willing to leave the office to hang out with students. Students want pastors in their world.
Over the past few years, I have studied some churches in America—various churches that vary in size, culture and location. There was a common theme throughout my research. While many churches have a clear vision and mission, not many of them actually track or measure their progress.
INTRODUCING THE YOUTH MINISTRY SCORECARD.
What is a scorecard? A student ministry scorecard focuses on the precise development of a vision, mission and quantifiable objectives to track progress against those goals. The scorecard focuses on ways to move the ministry toward the vision and mission while maintaining the operational and relational health.
After talking with the staff at my church and volunteers within the student ministry in 2015, we realized we needed a new approach focused on quality. This led to Elevate’s student ministry scorecard.
After talking with different pastors and leaders, I came across a book called MAKE IT LAST by Jeff Lovingood. Lovingood created a scorecard with five different categories, or groups. We used the same structure:
- Coming to worship – reaching students to come worship, whether churched or unchurched.
- Connect in fellowship – focusing on developing Titus 2 relationships and having events for students to grow together.
- Grow in discipleship – helping students own their faith and also begin to disciple peers.
- Serve others in ministry – having students take ownership of their faith, but also to start serving others around them.
- Go reach the world – helping students to become missionaries where they live currently and where they go daily.
NOW, WHAT?
Creating a scorecard for Elevate was uncharted territory that presented its challenges. However, it was a project worth investing in because we now have a standard tool among church leaders and volunteers, as well as something students and parents can embrace. I highly recommend every Youth Pastor take time to consider how they are communicating their ministry strategy and measuring performance against those objectives.
This article originally appeared here.
