Healthy student ministries have on ramps for newcomers to youth group. Here are the four main options.

It’s important to have a great gateway experience for people. By gateway, we mean a service or event that is particularly geared for people new to Christianity who are interested in pursuing God.

What is the gateway experience for youth? If you adopt a small group centered model for youth ministry, you may struggle with trying to figure out what exactly is the best gateway for a student coming to your church.

However, creating a gateway experience for students doesn’t have to be difficult. Below are some ideas for creating a positive first-time experience for visitors.

The Weekend Service

Your church’s weekend service can be a great gateway experience for students. Hopefully, your service is already structured to serve people who are new to the church. If you have contemporary worship and preaching that speaks to students as well as adults, then your service can be the gateway experience for new students at your church.

It’s important to know that if you go with this option, you need to make sure that your youth ministry has a clear presence at the weekend service. This includes youth involved with worship from time-to-time, announcing youth events, and having youth group information at your welcome table. It’s also important to have youth leaders at your services to welcome new families to your church, and answer any questions they may have about youth ministry.

Special Events

Special events are targeted activities designed to provide a positive experience for all students, particularly newcomers. These events can be at your church or some other location. Unfortunately, these events can be expensive and consume a lot of time and energy from volunteers. However, a well thought out and executed special event can be catalytic for your youth group.

The Small Group

If your small group is a place where students are mentored, loved, and empowered to help others, your small group can be a great gateway. If a student’s life is changed through a small group, you can be sure that he or she will want their friends to experience the very same thing. As a gateway, it is important that your small group leaders are sensitive to the needs of new members who may not yet be Christians.

Article for this topic by Scott Creps.
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Key Points:

  • The weekend service. Your church’s weekend service can be a great gateway experience for students. Hopefully, your service is already structured to serve people who are new to the church.
  • Special events. Special events are targeted activities designed to provide a positive experience for all students, particularly newcomers.
  • The small group. If your small group is a place where students are mentored, loved, and empowered to help others, your small group can be a great gateway.
Talk About It
  1. What is your initial reaction to this topic? What jumped out at you?
  2. Read Luke 19:10. Why is a gateway experience important for youth? What is it a gateway to?
  3. What does your church use as its gateway for new students?
  4. What kind of presence does your youth ministry have at the church’s weekend services?
  5. How many student groups do you have at your church right now? How welcoming are they for new students? 
  6. How do you need to improve your youth gateway to serve the needs of new students?
  7. Write a personal action step based on this conversation.

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