Sometimes we have to sit back and let our students do the work. I read a great article this morning over on the excellent RethinkingYouthMinistry.com blog. They point out the crucial idea of putting students in leadership roles not only in youth group but also in the normal church ministries.

I always cringe when I hear someone refer to teenagers as the “church of tomorrow”. There’s nothing stopping them from being the church of today except us (adults). They can do everything we can (sometimes BETTER than we can) if we will only train them and give them opportunities.

If we really want to lead missional [read “discipleship focused”] ministries, where our youth are equipped to find their own place within the Church's mission, don't we have to be willing to get out of the way and let them lead? And I'm not just talking about allowing them to plan the next lock-in or wacky game night. We've got to find ways to let youth guide the outreach, evangelism, study, and worship components of our ministries, too. And, with any luck, this approach will spill over into the wider congregation, with youth finding that they have something to say when it comes to shaping the mission and worship lives of our local churches.

The idea of letting our students lead in our ministries falls into the "fruit" category of the discipleship process. A lot of times we have students that would get involved if we simply gave them the opportunity.

Check out the full post for a bunch of really practical suggestions and a few helpful warnings. [via RethinkingYouthMinistry]