IT WORKED!

I'm going to talk numbers just for illustration...we have a big church, so we should have big numbers in our youth ministry. Remember, numbers in youth ministry do not always equate to health. While I think we're pretty healthy, we can do better...and have some ideas for 2007/2008 I'm pretty excited about and think will work incredibly well.

We are currently bumping 500 in our middle school program. That means we have students sitting over a dozen rows back. Every year as we've grown, focus has become more and more of an issue. In my mind, that's totally understandable. Personally, I can't sit more than four or five rows back; otherwise, my eyes and focus start to drift even though the messages are absolutely amazing, new and fresh. So, I shouldn't be surprised, when it happens to students. (Note to parents: maximize the time and impact of church - sit your family as close to the front as possible).

So, what's the solution you might ask? Well, here is one that I think is going to work for us. We have limited building space. It's being used by many. Adding another day of youth ministry to the weekly schedule by subdividing the ministry further is just not an option at this moment. Therefore, we tried a new thing this past Wednesday. After worship, we sent half of the group out of the main auditorium into breakout groups, while I taught the half that stayed. Then, about half way through the evening we switched, those that heard the message went into breakout groups and the other half came in for the message. It went shockingly smooth the first night. We still have a timing and transition issue to get master, but I think this is going to seriously work for us. Nearly three dozen of our leaders have reported back that they absolutely loved it. Can you tell I'm excited about the whole thing?

The other thing I'm excited about is the breakout groups (aka Eagle's Nests). We worked really, really, really, really hard getting them just right, hooking the right students to the right leaders. Never before in the history of Oasis did I hear so many leaders afterwards say, "Judy, I love my Eagle's Nests." That's the power of team. I had numerous leaders do the preliminary work so that I could pour over the final connection stage. I think if I had done all the initial linking of students with friends, I would have been just about ready to puke when it came time to for the final connection stage. Actually, I've been to that point in previous years. By the time I reached the final stage, I wasn't as careful making the connections as I was this time around. It was quite the process putting 700 students in breakout groups. To hear the words I heard the other night, it was worth every second. Don't get me wrong, we still have some tweaking to do. One group in particular had too many guys and one had two few. We'll adjust a few things this week and keep tweaking as we go.