Emma Koop Liechty is a 2017 graduate of Goshen (Indiana) College. 

Photo: Mark Devries. By Vada Snider. 

Thursday afternoon’s Featured Seminar highlighted Nashville-based youth minister Mark Devries talking about ways churches can successfully work through declines in enthusiasm and participation from youth.

Devries has been a youth pastor for 36 years at the First Presbyterian Church of Nashville and is the current president of Ministry Architects, an organization that provides direction and tools to guide churches toward success. Devries has authored three books on youth ministry.

Throughout his talk, Devries used metaphors and parables to illustrate his ideas for the youth leaders in the audience.

He started by referring to God’s presence as a treasure and went on to say, “The treasure doesn’t have a problem, it is doing just fine. But we do have some issues with the delivery system.”

“If there is a word to describe many of the youth ministries in this country today, it is ‘stuck’,” said Devries.

Devries said it becomes apparent when church’s youth ministry is stuck because leaders will start using the phrase “We just…” when they are looking for the answers to their problems. “We just need more money.” “We just need more youth.” Or “we just need a better band.”

Devries offered some approaches churches may try when their youth ministry seems to be in a rut. One of his suggestions was encouraging churches to “create a space where failure is not only allowed, but is celebrated.”

Other suggestions included trying to find a balance between not making the youth ministry about numbers, but also not completely letting go of the importance of the numbers that are there.

Devries also emphasized the importance of investing in youth ministry, being conscious of when efforts reach roadblocks and finding ways to make small programming changes. Devries explained that on average, churches tend to spend about $1,000 per youth member and have at least one full-time staff member per 50 youth.

Churches also tend to reach roadblocks when youth groups reach about 30 participants, and it can be difficult to make meaningful one-on-one relationships past that, he said. Devries suggested that splitting youth programs up into smaller groups based on age can be a helpful way of growing active youth within churches.
Devries then went on to discuss ways that he guides churches toward creating sustainable youth ministries. To start, Devries used scripture from Proverbs 14:4 to help describe a way to look at youth ministries. The verse says, “without oxen a stable stays clean, but you need a strong ox for a large harvest.”
Ministry can be tricky and hard to navigate, he said, but it is important for youth ministers and leaders to remember that a lot of how youth react to the word of Jesus is based on the culture that is set within the church. Change is necessary, but it is also necessary to know how to approach those changes, he said.

“Changing programs almost never creates lasting change, but changing systems changes the game,” Devries said.

In changing systems, churches must be able to trust the process. Even if youth don’t seem too receptive to ministry, he said, “the spirit of god is at work and we need to trust the process.”

In regard to delivering results, Devries suggested a way to approach those results is meeting the congregation where they are in that moment.

“Fire your arrow, draw a bullseye around it and celebrate,” said Devries.

To conclude his talk, Devries expressed the importance of embracing stories and metaphors deliberately.

“The very same event can be narrated in very different ways,” he said. “We get to pick the stories we tell and by the stories we tell, we predict the future culture of our church.”