The Secret Sauce…
Let’s be honest, Chick Fil A is not that good… without the Chick Fil A sauce! Cane’s gets a downgrade without their classic, only option dipping sauce (don’t be dunking those chicken strips in ketchup, either). And even those classic McNuggets from McD’s are pretty tasty with some Sweet n Sour dipping sauce. Yes, I know that one’s controversial but it’s a delicious combo, I promise you! And certainly you’d agree, Culver’s has bad ranch as a dipping sauce.
While you may not agree with all of my dipping sauce takes, you probably do agree that you love having children and youth as an integral part of SRBC. During the graduation season, it’s always a bittersweet time; we celebrate the time that God allowed our church to have in ministering to these students, but it also brings a bit of sadness knowing that many will leave our ministry area for their next big season in life. Every year we put the names of our graduates on the screen to pray over them, and I’m humbled and grateful that our church has graduates to celebrate and pray over. It’s not uncommon for rural churches in our area to go 3-5 years without having a graduate. To not lose sight of the role our church is having reaching the next generation, our last 5 years of graduates from our church and youth ministry includes: 2021-14, 2022-20, 2023-17, 2024-21, 2025-18! Let’s take that in for a moment church and rejoice!
Over the past couple years, some people outside of our church have asked me. “What’s the secret sauce for having so many youth active in your church and youth ministry?” I’ve given lots of thought to that over the years, and I’m not sure I have the correct answer. Ultimately, I’m not positive there is one special sauce that adequately answers the question: rather, I lean towards thinking there are many contributing factors, with a lot of different people involved. Take a look at my list and see what you think, and maybe you have some of your own to add!
· The presence of your teenagers in church. Without our core “church kids,” we wouldn’t be able to have the reach that we do to invite friends from school, extended families, and extracurricular activities. While we consistently have over 100 teens present on Wednesday nights, it can’t be overlooked that we have anywhere from 30-40 youth attending worship services on Sundays.
· Children’s ministry! Because we have young families, many of those kids who grow up attending Awana and Children’s Church, eventually plug into youth ministry in Middle School.
· Awesome M.S. & H.S. students who invite their friends. It’s somewhat normal for church kids to keep what they have to themselves. But year after year at SRBC, I’m astonished by the courage and tenacity and openness to students inviting their friends, who in turn, invite their friends. J
· An active bus ministry. Thanks to many drivers over the years and Roger Sutton most recently, we continue to pick up steam by transporting Eldora students to Awana and M.S. & H.S. Radiate. What a cool investment the church made over a decade ago to purchase the bus!
· Yearly commitment to a budget that allows for student contacts, pizzas for small groups, gym rentals, Bibles for students who don’t have them, and camp scholarships for summer camp and fall retreats at VCBC.
· The presence of your teenagers active in our youth ministry. Church attendance is the top of the cake, but when a large majority of students also attend Radiate, this creates a huge wave of momentum in our ministries. We often believe that the 80% principle in church is true – when the sanctuary gets to 80% full, visitors sometimes will not return. However, I believe the opposite to be true in M.S. & H.S. ministries! A full room of students…often leads to an even fuller room at times!
· An intentional effort to invest in the youth of our area since the 80’s.
· An investment in a full time Youth Pastor for over 30 years.
· A commitment to reach “unchurched” kids. As a Youth Pastor, you have given me and our leaders freedom to invest not only in our church kids, but the space to disciple students who don’t attend church on Sunday mornings.
· A space to share the Gospel and teach God’s Word in an applicable way, relevant to M.S. & H.S. student’s lives.
· Volunteer leaders who give time and energy every week to help make Wednesday night Radiate a go. Roughly 20 adult do this every year!
· An openness to a change in ministry when we went to once a month small groups, over a decade ago.
· An openness to students serving in Awana, as greeters, in the nursery, and on our worship teams!
· An openness to try new things within our youth ministries, including a 20-year tradition of H.S. Radiate meeting on Sunday nights, which was switched to Wednesday nights.
· The foresight to build a Youth Loft about 10 years ago, which has become a place of safety and light for M.S. & H.S. students. And the expansion also allowed for growth to happen within the last decade.
· Mission trips, mission trips, mission trips. J I couldn’t even put an accurate number on the number of students who have been involved in local, nationwide, and international mission immersions because our church believes and invests in missions and youth.
No matter what the exact sauce is, I’m grateful to serve a church that cares and invests in the next generation. I’m grateful for a church that doesn’t wait for adulthood to see students among those who are called in the “equipping of the saints.” Let’s keep forging ahead SRBC, doing everything possible to reach and disciple as many students as we can with the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
Blessings,
Pastor Bryce
