We are for the trying to get our youth involved this year....we have a young youth and they are not yet on the track of being involved in things. How can we get them involved without scaring them off. This is for some the only time they walk into church.

Try getting them involved in the more group related activities, such as recreation, worship rally and crafts. Take your more known teens and use them in the classroom for bible study and missions. If you give the newer ones things that are fun and not so tailored they will want to come back and then you can expand their duties. Hope this helps. Good Luck...God Bless

Our youth are our greatest volunteer force! They do a great job and the kids love them. I agree with Ms. Carol, if you don't know them well... put them in charge of the recreation, it's easy and really fun.

We don't usually put any of our youth in a leader spot, they are our 'helpers', although they don't realize it! This just ensures that the curriculum gets taught and it's not all fun, youth have a tendency to want to do what the kids want rather than make the kids want to do what they need.

Also, take age into consideration. For example, if I have a teen in grade 8 wanting to help, I will put them into the Kindergarten or Gr. 1 & 2 class. Then save my teens in Gr. 10-12 for the higher classes. This just ensures that ALL the teachers are getting the respect they deserve. A kid in Gr. 1 will think a teen in Gr. 8 is really old, where a kid in Gr. 6 might think of them more as a peer.

Just some things to ponder!

so here is how it is so far....one of the mom's that helps with youth asked her daugther and her friend her daughter has said she will help me with learning the had motions for the songs but no interest from the other. Then I found out that they mentioned it to the rest with out knowing what they were really going to do and they showed no interest. The director has asked me to talk with them....I'm thinking of laying off for a couple of months and them bringing it back again. I want to get the the youth involved with the kids now with small activies so maybe they will see how much fun it can be to work with them. How did you approach the youth.....then there is the issue of the youth want their summer time. I'm in the middle I work with the little ones and help when I can with the youth but I'm closer in age to the youth so everyone thinks I can get them on board....but i've never done this before.

I have a bit of an in - I'm the youth pastor's wife, so we have made this a yearly ministry for our youth to be involved in.

I personally talk to each of the youth and find out the area that they would like to be involved in. I decide who would be best in classes or gym/crafts/etc.

A couple of hints: Youth like to be together; put two friends together in each spot. Youth like to have responsibility (but not too much); give them a specific task for the area they are in, but have an adult leader to supervise.

If your youth really are showing no interest - don't push it! Use the ones that are excited and willing to help and leave the others this year. If they help because they were forced, they don't do a very good job and it will be a headache for you! After VBS the youth that helped will be talking about how much fun they had and you'll have more workers for next year!

Keep up the relationships with them and you'll be rewarded for it! Good luck, I'll be praying for your success.

I agree with the age group suggestions, but I hesitate on putting two "friends" together. It works in some cases, but sometimes they spend too much time socializing and ignore the kids. On the other hand, if they have to go off looking for each other, then they're ignoring the kids too. I've found that quietly checking with their moms is usually a good way of finding out whether they would be better off on their own under the leadership of another adult, or have the maturity to work with another teen.

I would be lost without youth for VBS. They are my lifesavers especially when it comes to getting backdrops and painting/decorating done in the weeks prior to VBS. Their schedule is more flexible. They can come paint during the day or afternoon when everyone else is having to work. I have found that it works best to have the younger youth be helpers in the classes such as bible study, crafts and missions. My high school youth are great for teaching recreation and helping lead worship.