National Survey on the Status of Youth Ministry

National Survey on the Status of Youth Ministry

Apostolic Youth Ministries International Status of Youth Ministry Survey Report Over the course of about 1½ years, AYMI has attempted to contact each of our ACOP churches for the purpose of enquiring about the status of their youth ministry. This survey took longer to complete than we thought it would, but we are pleased that we were able to reach as many churches as we did. We were able to speak with leadership from 131 churches, or 89% of the fellowship. In compiling the information, not every church responded to all questions. Some felt that they didn t have an answer for some questions, and in certain situations, others didn t want to answer at all. While this doesn t give a 100% picture of the status of our youth ministries, it does give an adequate overview, and allows us to draw conclusions that will help AYMI decide where to focus our energies for greater effectiveness. In most cases, we spoke to the main person involved in the churches youth ministry. When there wasn t such a person, or when we weren t able to reach that person, we attempted to speak to the Senior Pastor. All of the information that we received has been kept confidential and the information cannot be traced back to any specific church. Our goal is to take the responses and develop an ongoing strategy to help meet the needs of the youth ministers, youth groups and churches of our fellowship and beyond. We will be publishing vision and strategy to accomplish these goals. Finally, this is an abbreviated version of the full report. If you would like the PDF copy of the full report, please feel free to contact our offices. Both reports are confidential and are intended for members of ACOP and it s churches only. We would appreciate your thoughts on comments on anything you read, and will be communicating our plans and goals in follow-up communiqués. Thanks to all the pastors, youth pastors and others who willingly gave of their time to answer our questions. A huge thanks to everyone who has been involved in collecting this data and putting it together. God bless, and thanks so much for caring about students. Larry E. Moore Executive Director - Apostolic Youth Ministries International #8 3530 11A Street NE Calgary, AB T2E 6M7 Voice 403.717.0707 Fax 403.717.0709 Email office@aymi.ca

Apostolic Youth Ministries International Status of Youth Ministry Survey 2005/2006 1. How old is your church? - Average age of all churches reporting is 36-24 churches 0 10 years old 20% - 24 churches 11 20 years old 20% - 14 churches 21 30 years old 11% - 11 churches 31 40 years old 9% - 10 churches 41 50 years old 8% - 8 churches 51 60 years old 6% - 9 churches 61 70 years old 7% - 16 churches 71 80 years old 13% - 4 churches 81 90 years old 3% Note: not all churches reported age of congregation 2. What is the average number of attendee s on Sunday morning? - Average attendance is 117-44 churches average from 8 50 people a Sunday - 39 churches average from 51 100 people a Sunday - 12 churches average from 101 150 people a Sunday - 12 churches average from 151 200 people a Sunday - 6 churches average from 201 300 people a Sunday - 4 churches average from 301 400 people a Sunday - 4 churches average from 301 400 people a Sunday - 1 churches average from 401 500 people a Sunday - 4 churches average over 500 people a Sunday Note: not all churches reported attendance 3. Do you have any paid staff? (If yes, go to 4; if no, go to 5) - Yes - 108 - No 7 - Other 10 4. What paid staff positions are at your church? - Senior Pastor 107 - Associate - 33 - Youth Pastor 31 - Children 14 - Young Adults 4 - Pastoral Care 3 - Small Groups 1 - Seniors - 2 - Missions - 2 1

- Administrator 15 - Counselor - 1 - Music - 9 - Secretary - 33 - Treasurer/Accountant - 8 - Community - 2 - Janitor - 31 Note: some employees actually hold more than 1 position, but were only recorded as 1. 5. Does your church have a youth ministry? (If yes, go to 6, no go to 10) - 67% have an organized youth ministry department, SS class, or activity of some sort which is ongoing 6. If your church has a youth ministry, how many people attend on average? - Average attendance is 23 - Average with top 5 and bottom 5 removed is 17 - Stats tell us that attendance is usually 5% of the Sunday morning worship service 7. What would be the ratio between boys and girls? - 45% boys to 55% girls 8. What is the average age of the youth group? - 14 years old 22% - 15 years old 51 % - 16 years old 15% - Other ages made up the remaining 12% 9. When do you have meetings for the youth group? - 35% meet 2 or more times a week as a youth group - 30% meet Fridays only - 23% meet once a week but not Fridays - 12% meet less than once weekly 10. If you don t have a youth ministry, does your church have any programs for youth? (If yes, go to 11, no go to 12) - 18 yes - 16 - no 11. If yes, what do you have? - Sunday School class 2

- Monthly activities - Others 12. If you don t have anything for ministry to youth, are you planning for something for the future? (If yes, go to 13, no, go to 14) - 56% are planning to have one in the future 13. If yes, what are you planning, when, how, and what are you doing for leadership? - get someone to lead 9 - work with other churches/town/city - 3 - no plans/not sure 5 - camps/conferences 2 - pastor to run for now 1 - youth plan on their own 1 - raising someone up within - 1 14. If you aren t planning anything for youth for the future, what is the main reason for this? - Need leadership - 7 - Finances - 1 - No/few youth 8 - Not sure what to do - Youth needs are handled elsewhere than the church 2 - Planning to do this soon 1 - Other priorities in the church 2 15. Do you have anything in your financial budget to support the youth ministry? (If yes, go to 16, if no, go to 17) - 80% of churches with an ongoing youth ministry have some kind of a budget for it 16. What percentage of your churches budget is designated to youth ministry? (Go to 20) - Not Sure - 14 - Yearly amount - 10 - $300 - $6000.00 a year - low end - $300.00 a year/high end - $6000.00 a year - average $1650.00 per year - Budget Percentage - lower end 1% - high end 45% - average 6 8% - Wouldn t Answer - 1 - Nothing 2 - No set amount/as needed 9 - Youth do fundraising 3 3

17. If you don t have a budget for youth ministry, are you planning for one in the future? (If yes, go to 18, if no, go to 19) - 56% are planning to have one in the future 18. When do you plan to have a budget for youth ministry? - Unsure/sometime later - 9 - When we find someone that wants to do youth ministry - 2 - When funds become available - 1 - When needed - 4 - Budget inclusion date set approximately 8 19. If you don t plan to budget for youth ministry, what is the main reason for this? - Not enough youth 5 - Not enough money 7 - Church too small - 3 - Not a priority 1 20. Do you have a paid staff for youth ministry? (If yes, go to 21, if no, go to 31) - 20% of respondants paid their youth workers part or full time 21. If you have paid staff, how many do you have? - 23 churches have 1 paid staff member for youth ministry - 4 churches have 2 paid staff members for youth ministry 22. Are they paid part time or full time? - 12% had a full time youth worker - 8 % had a part time youth worker 23. Are they male or female? - Of the paid staff, 67% are male and 33% are female 24. Do you feel that they were adequately trained when they came to this position in your church? (If yes, go to 26, if no, go to 27) - Of the paid staff, 51% felt they were adequately trained for youth ministry, 19% felt they were not, and 30% said they were somewhat trained - Most of the paid staff do more than youth 25. If you think they weren t well trained, what are the major areas you feel they needed training in? 4

- Areas of training felt needed all areas, ones that were the most prominent general youth ministry principles, administration, counseling, conflict resolution, working with Senior Pastor, vision casting, etc. 26. If they are part time, how long have they been in this position? - 5 -.5 year - 1 1.5 year - 5 2 years - 1 4 years - 1 5 years - 1 9 years - 1 15 years 27. Do you plan to pay them full time in the future? - Yes - 11 - No 7 - Not sure 6 28. If you plan to pay them full-time, do you have a date when you would like to do this? - No - 9 - Have date 2 - Whenever youth group growth occurs - 1 29. If they are full time, how long have they been in this paid position? - 2 years 3-1 year 11-3 years 3-4 years - 2-6 years 2-20 years 1 30. Are you considering changing this position in any way in the future? If so, how? - No - 11 - Not sure 1 - Youth worker leaving - 3 - Finances may/have become an issue - 1 - Yes but not sure how 3 31. Have you ever had paid staff for youth ministry in your church? (If yes, go to 32, if no, go to 35) - Yes 29 - No - 46 5

32. When was the last time you had a paid youth worker in your church on staff? - Not sure - 4-1 year ago 2-2 years ago 2-4 years ago 4-5 years ago 1-6 years ago 3-8 years ago 2-10 years ago - 1-18 years ago 1-27 years ago - 1 33. Were they full or part time? - Part-time - 15 - Full-time - 10 34. What is the reason you don t have someone in that position now? - Finances - 11 - No Youth 11 - No Leader Available to take position 7 - Previous situation didn t work well 2 - Staff Rearranged - 2 35. Do you plan to have a paid youth worker in the future? (If yes, go to 36, if no, go to 37) - Of those who don t currently have a paid youth worker, 66% are planning to have one in the future. 36. If yes, when? (Go to 38) - Not sure - 17 - Date and plans set 4 - When numbers warrant 4 - When finances are there - 1 - Need Senior Pastor first 1 37. If not, why? - Finances 6 - Other church priorities 6 - Too small 6 - No youth 6 38. Does your church have volunteer staff for youth ministry? (If yes, to 39, if no, go to 40) 6

- Yes 64 - No - 22 39. If you presently have volunteer staff, how many do you have and how long have they been involved? # of volunteer staff per group - 1-9 - 2 17-3 - 14-4 4-5 4-6 5-7 3-8 3-10 + - 3 Time that volunteers have worked in the churches youth ministry: - ½ year - 111-1/3 year - 1 year - 11-2 years - 1111-3 years - 4 years - 5 years - 11-8 years - 10 years plus - 11 40. Does your church have a bible camp that they attend? (If yes, go to 41, if no, go to 44) - 55% of our churches support a camp or call a camp their own - 45% of our churches don t support a camp or call a camp their own - 64% of churches have at least some of their congregation who attend a Bible Camp 41. Which camp do you attend? - Various 42. Do your young people attend, and if so, what % of them would attend any given summer? - 85% of churches have some youth who attend a Bible camp, whether it s their camp or others 43. Do you feel that the camp has been effective in changing the lives of your teens? (Go to 45) 7

- 87% who have youth attend camp say that the experience is effective in changing their lives. 44. What is the reason you don t have a camp that you support? - none around or the one we attended shut down - too far away - too expensive - watered down - no reason - no youth to send - no interest in camp 45. What do you feel are the 3 greatest needs of the youth in your church? (top 5 reported) - 1. Discipleship/deeper knowledge of God/Teaching - 2. Mentorship - 3. Learning evangelism/having ministry opportunities - 4. Acceptance/love/respect form their church / more peers and fellowship - 5. Youth pastor and or workers to lead the youth 46. What do you feel are the 3 greatest needs of the youth in your town/city? (top 5 reported) - 1. Relationship with God - 2. A safe place to come/be loved/receive help with issues - 3. Christian peers/adults who care and will provide mentorship - 4. Healthy alternatives to partying/crime/etc. - 5. Acceptance 47. How can AYMI help you meet those needs? (no specific order) - assistance with their youth ministry (ideas, resources, encouragement, updates, etc.) - Rallies and youth events in their area - Need a youth leader for their church - Need for teams in schools - Continue on-going training of youth - Financial help to bring in teams/materials to give to unsved kids for outreach - Provide role models, do outreach, - help facilitate youth groups getting together - continued discipleship after kids attend SI or LF - help train leaders - input and encouragement - have youth give 6 months to a community, like Masters Commission/LF Interns - camp counselors and training for same - do YLC on a regional level - newsletter/website for youth workers - let us know what you have available to us for youth ministry support - youth pastors retreat - need workers 8

- youth culture research 48. Has your church ever hosted a LifeForce Team? (If yes, go to 49, if no, go to 50) - Yes 55 - No 62 - Unsure - 3 49. If yes, when was the last time? How was the ministry received in your church/town? (Go to 51) Last Time we had a team: - 1 year ago - 5 churches - 2 years ago 7 churches - 3 3 churches - 4-3 - 5-1 - 6-2 - 7-3 - 8-2 - 9-2 - 10-3 - 11-2 - 12-2 - 13-2 Response: - Excellent - 14 - Good - 17 - Fair - 5 - Poor 2 - Unsure - 5 50. If no, is there a reason you haven t considered having a team come to your church? - Finances are a major issue to hosting a SI or LF team, more would if we got around to the churches and explained what we are about - Unsure - 10 - Finances - 10 - Haven t considered it/haven t been approached - 12 - Don t know about it - 4 - No youth/not enough youth 5 - Couldn t handle a team/billets/too much work - 12 51. If you were given enough time to plan for it, would you consider having a team in the future? - Yes 51 - No 3 - Unsure/possibly - 26 - If finances/local facilities and help were there 13 9

- Depends on team focus/size 4 - Need more info - 3 52. Has your church ever hosted a Street Invader Team? (If yes, go to 53, if no, go to 54) - No 73 - Yes 40 - Don t know/not sure - 11 53. If yes, when was the last time? How was the ministry received in your church/town? (Go to 55) Years ago - 1 year ago 5 churches - 2 years ago 9 churches - 3 years ago 5 churches - 4 years ago 5 churches - 5 years ago 6 churches - 6 years ago - 7 years ago - 8 years ago - 9 years ago - 10 years ago 1 churche - 11 years ago - 12 years ago - 13 years ago 1 churche - 14 years ago - Response - Excellent - 11 - Good - 15 - Fair 2 - Poor - Unsure 4 Note: some churches knew that they had a team at their church but were not sure of how long ago it was. 54. If no, is there a reason you haven t considered having a team come to your church? - Finances 5 - Few/no youth 5 - Building/facilities/volunteers 8 - Church not ready - 4 - Unsure/no reason 14 - Unaware of program/not been approached 12 - Summer not a good time for outreach - 1 - Follow-up 1 - Attend other programs - 2 10

55. If you were given enough time to plan for it, would you consider having a team in the future? - Yes 62 - No 4 - Unsure/maybe 22 - If finances were available - 4 - If facilities/volunteers/follow-up are there - 5 - Need more info - 6 56. Does your church have a good understanding of what LifeFORCE and Street Invaders are all about? - Yes 59 - Somewhat - 13 - No 41 - Unsure - 3 57. Do you have youth who have attended Street Invaders or LifeForce in the past? If yes, which program, and how long ago? (Go to 59) - Yes 61 - No 45 - Unsure - 7 - SI - 20 - LF 10 58. If they haven t attended before, what do you feel is the biggest reason for this not happening? - Doing other programs/work - 8 - Didn t know about it/need more info 16 - Distance - 6 - Not sure 2 - Finances - 9 - Focused on school 1 - Not interested - 2 - No youth - 3 59. What is the best attended youth event that your church has or participates in? - Offsite activites involving other youth - 37 - Local church activities like sports, games, etc. - 25 - YC Edmonton - 11 - Bible study/worship 9 and Sr/Jr High weekend in Eston - 9 - When LF or SI come around - 5/Regina Retreat - 5 - New Years Eve in MJ - 3 - Avalanche in BC 2 60. What is the most effective youth event that your church has or participates in? - Local church activities - 23 11

- Camp - 12 - Off site activities with other youth 10 - Jr/Sr High Weekend 7 - YC Edmonton 6 - When LF or SI come around 5/Avalanche 5 - Bible study/worship - 4 - Big Chill 3/Christian concerts 3/Regina Retreat 3 - YLC in Kelowna 2/Missions Trip to Mexico 2 - History Maker 1/AWAKE 1/Sunday School 1/Fuel 1/Soul Cry 1 12

Apostolic Youth Ministries International 8-3530 11A Street NE Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2E 6M7 Voice - 403.717.0707 / Toll-free - 877.356.0707 Fax - 403.717.0709 Email - <office@aymi.ca>