Finding a good resource that addresses how to do youth ministry in the small church can be a challenge. Few books have been developed that show insight into the dynamics of small church youth ministry. Youth Ministry in Small Churches by Rick Chromey is a good introduction to youth ministry in the small church.

Chromey understands the difference involved in ministering with teenagers in a smaller church–both the challenges and the advantages. He says, “Relationships make small churches different. Everybody knows everybody. People know and meet each other’s needs. When a tragedy occurs, the whole church weeps. When something great happens, the whole congregation rejoices” (p. 24).

The focus of Youth Ministry in Small Churches is healthy youth ministry, not big youth ministry. (While a healthy youth ministry always involves reaching out to lost youth, a big youth ministry does not necessarily indicate a healthy youth ministry.) Chromey suggests these elements for building a healthy ministry:

• One-to-One Relationships–The dynamics of a small church allow youth leaders to be directly involved in the lives of your students.
• Need Oriented Programming–Because youth leaders in small churches tend to know the needs of the young people involved in the ministry, they should be able to design ministry that focuses on their life needs.
• Family Support and Ministry–In a small church, youth leaders should know the parents of youth well. Providing support and encouragement for the whole family should be a significant part of your ministry.
• Spiritual Growth and Discipleship–The focus of ministry in a small church is not the program. It is the spiritual development of the teenagers in the group. Youth leaders should look for ways to disciple students that are unique to the needs of those students.
• Friendship Evangelism–While small churches have trouble creating huge event evangelism, the truth is that friendship evangelism tends to be more effective at disciple-making. Youth leaders need to equip students to make Christ known to their friends . . . and model a lifestyle of evangelism for their students.
• Missions and Service–Youth in small churches need opportunities to use their gifts in meeting the needs of other people.

The major draw-back of Chromey’s book is that it is dated. Released in 1990, the book includes a lot of examples that seem old fashioned. Chromey’s style of writing uses lots of illustrations and examples, and many of them won’t really work in churches today. However, there is much that can be drawn from the book if the reader overlooks those things that have passed out of season.