5 Ways Your Church Can Engage Teens
Teenagers can sometimes seem like they are disinterested in church and are not wanting to get involved. If we learn to meet them where they are at and engage them, we will have an unstoppable group behind us, helping us grow and reach more people.
Here are 5 ways your church can engage teens:
1. Involve them in ‘load-bearing roles’ in your church.
Gen Z (born after 1999) are natural-born leaders. Raised primarily by Gen X, who took a more hands-off parenting approach, Gen Z developed more independence than any other generation. 66% of them plan on finishing their education and starting a career by the time they are 30. Use their desire to grow in leadership and to be successful and give them opportunities to lead in your church.
2. Explain everything.
Teens today are entirely post-Christian. Only 4% of them have a Biblical worldview. We have to rethink how we communicate. They have no Christian context and no ‘memory of the Gospel,’ so we need to use terms they understand and not assume they know who Moses, or Paul is, or even what a Bible is.
3. Increase and improve your presence on social media.
To teens, Social Media is their primary language and we need to speak it. Find out what social media platform is most used by the teens in your community and be present in it. You can even get some teens to filter through your current branding and give you some feedback on what you’ve already been posting to see if it is making it past their 8.25 second attention span. Dan Schawbel of Millennial Branding says that “if they don’t communicate in five words and a big picture, they will not reach this generation.”
4. Make sure your music reflects current trends.
Does the style of music in your church reflect current trends? If it doesn’t, to teenagers it could represent the church being outdated and irrelevant. Let’s not put up barriers that would stop the next generation from hearing and understanding the Gospel.
5. Rally Them To A Cause.
Teens place a high value on making a difference in our world and social justice. We can engage them like never before with mission’s trips and community initiatives. Look into what you can do to rally your teens to a cause.
Let’s work together at reaching the next generation so that they can not only hear the Gospel, but also understand it and be transformed by it.
Jeremy Gifford has years of leadership experience in youth, young adults, and pastoral roles. He and his wife, Rachel, are graduates of Vanguard College. He currently is the Lead Pastor of Life Church in Edmonton.