There are tons of 10 – 80 – 10 principles out there so here is my fleshing out a youth ministry version of it. There are many ways to debate health in youth ministry. There are attendance numbers, decisions for Christ, baptisms, students who serve in ministry and the list goes on and on and on. I am a youth pastor of a large youth ministry and have been a youth pastor of a small youth ministry. There are successes and health in every size an type of model but one thing that allows me to at least quantify how we are doing is the good old fashioned bell curve.
The leadership 10%
The way I figure it (and I am sure I am not original in this idea) is that 10% of my ministry should be solidly on fire for Jesus…you know your all stars. The ones that bring their Bible, crave the word and share Jesus at School. These 10% are to be poured into and developed as leaders and disciplers themselves.
The high maintenance 10%
Then there are the other 10% of students that when you see them you wonder what in the world went wrong. You don’t ever seem to be able to get through to them. They are at the group to see their friends, to eat the pizza or to simply get away from home. They are hardend and though we should never give up on them, they are typically the ones we manage not pour into. (I know that sounds harsh and offends some sensibilities but you know who you pour into.)
The middle 80%
This is the where the battle is won or lost. This is the crowd that we are fighting for. Are they going to be led into the leadership 10 or the high maintenance 10. These are the ones on the bubble that tend to fall through the cracks. This is why we offer small groups, cell groups, accountability groups or whatever you offer. We need to pray for these students, fight for these students and staff to these students.
This in my view is where the idea of health takes place. If a ministry is skewed too much in the leadership area it tends to be inward focused and becomes a club of Christian teens. However I have also led a ministry that focused on the high maintenance teens in a missions model that placed so much attention on some of the hardest cases that the leaders and teens that really should have/could have been developed for leadership felt outcast in their own youth group. Finally if you focus so much on EVERYONE your ministry is flat and ineffective. However if you are balanced you are developing a manageable amount of students and you have a solid crop of students to fight for/develop. And you don’t have to feel bad about the 10% of students that are floating in and out because that number is moderate as well.
I know there are holes all in my blog here so poke away but I have found this to be effective as a ministry when I was running 25 3 years ago and it works now that I run 350 in our youth ministry. Now, these are simplistic theories I know, theories that do not take into account the human element but it is a tool to help plot out the health of your group. So, try it out…plot out your kids and see where you need to pour your time, energy and resources. Have fun and tell me what you think.
Sean Rheaume 