We cannot always wait until someone is a fully capable leader to let them have any leadership. If we wait for that day, we may never have student leaders.
Jesus trusted his disciples to do ministry and proclaim the good news before they even fully understood why He came to the world. We can demonstrate the same trust in our students. When we do, we will see amazing things happen in ministry. Things that would never happen unless we hand leadership and trust to students.
It is not always easy to do. Adult leaders often worry that student leaders will teach the wrong things or the quality of the campus group will not be as good.
However, we believe students can be leaders. In fact, we have seven reasons why you should transition to a student-led, adult-directed model of ministry.
Most people do not think teenagers can be trusted with doing the work of leading a ministry. While it is true that maybe they cannot do everything, they can definitely be more than just the consumers of content.
Certain students may not have the attention span to emcee a meeting, but maybe they can lead a game, probably better than an adult can. Maybe a student does not have the confidence to be in front of the whole group, but they might be great at greeting people at the door. They may not know much about the Bible, but they can tell others what Jesus has done in their life.
Students do not really need more adults telling them information. They get that every day, but they do not always have trustworthy adults giving them something they desperately need, which is confidence.
Students can be coached to do much, much more than we think, and by the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives, they will be better leaders than we could ever be.
Students are often under-challenged and over-entertained. Trusting students with more leadership is the most tangible way we can build into their lives.
Having student leaders gives us a reason to meet with them more often and teach them about…
- servant leadership
- the weight of responsibility
- making good choices
Coaching students to lead and gradually giving them an appropriate amount of responsibility is how we can help students grow spiritually and emotionally.
We cannot always wait until someone is a fully capable leader to let them have any leadership. If we wait for that day, we may never have student leaders.
This cannot be overstated. The students are the cultural insiders of the campus. No matter how much you think you understand the school where you serve, you will never be a “native speaker” in the language of the campus.
Students see and hear things we miss. This gives them insight and understanding we do not have. This means they are critical leaders in our groups simply because they understand the questions the other students are asking.
We need to listen to them carefully and always explore new ways for them to be part of the leadership of the group.
When we take the time and effort to build up student leaders, we are paving the road for future student leaders. This may not be as obvious as it sounds, but people often need to see others like them as leaders before they can see themselves as leaders too.
When we make student leadership a priority today, we make it a possibility for tomorrow also. We plant seeds every time we hand ministry off to students because our future student leaders are in the room. They are watching. When they see students leading, they begin to believe they will be leaders one day also.
We need to give our students a platform to speak to the group. Students do not listen to adults the same way they listen to each other. They have deep respect for other students who step up to lead and be vulnerable.
It is easy to overlook this. An adult might give a more organized talk or teach with more theological prowess, but there is power when students hear truth from each other. Students might say the exact same thing the adult leader would say. However, students hearing the voice of other students will hear it completely differently.
We should never underestimate how this will impact our groups.
Students can be coached to do much, much more than we think, and by the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives, they will be better leaders than we could ever be.
It is important to remember while you might be able to go to campus today, that may not be the case tomorrow. Your ability to be on campus can change at any moment.
- Health or safety protocols may restrict visitor access.
- Changes may be made in school administrators or policies.
- Volunteer schedules or job situations may change.
In any of these circumstances, adults may suddenly not be able to be on campus with students. Students, however, are always able to be on campus. They can go to places adults cannot and they have more rights and freedoms than an adult volunteer has. This is one more reason why students are better leaders than adults.
Adult-only leadership can be surprisingly fragile, but student leadership with adult direction is much more resilient.
It is important to remember the next generation of the church is in your group. They may just be students right now, but someday they will be CEOs, public officials, teachers, and church leaders.
Our investment in them now matters. It will make an impact on the future and they will shape the culture of tomorrow.
How Do You Start Creating Student Leaders
- Cast Vision to students who are willing to lead. They may not always be the students you think. It might be tempting to just look for the students who have a lot of Bible knowledge or who are popular. However, you will want to invite students to lead who will be faithful, available, and teachable.
- Delegate Responsibility. Start handing students small things to show them they are capable of leading. Gradually entrust them with more as they show they are trustworthy. Let them feel the weight of real responsibilities and not just being leaders in name only.
- Reward Their Faithfulness. Give them encouragement and direction. After they complete a task, let them know you are grateful and proud of them. They may need direction or correction, but be more generous with your praise than your criticism.
Turn more of the ministry work over to teenagers. There is no guarantee they will not make mistakes, but growing is a process. You can be there to guide and disciple student leaders as they grow.
