Get a group of youth leaders together and ask them about older youth. They will almost all begin to talk about how few older students stay involved in the youth group as they move toward high school graduation. Students begin to drive, get part-time jobs, are involved in an increasing number of activities, have more freedom to spend time on their own with friends . . . and seem to have less time for youth group. In small youth groups, we feel the press even more because we have so few older students to start with. Is this trend something we have to live with? Are students always going to move away from our youth ministries as they mature?

Maybe. As parents give their students more freedom to make their own decisions, some young men and women are going to opt out of youth ministry. I think our strategy with those students is to find new ways to challenge them. Help them not to graduate out of their faith because they feel like they have graduated out of the youth group.

However, we lose some students because of the way we do youth ministry. Think about it. a student enters the youth group around age 12 with huge excitement and high expectations. They are excited about things like youth camp, mission projects; time with older students they admire and time away from parents. And that excitement is enough to hold their attention . . . for a year or two. Eventually, all of the excitement fades. Youth camp becomes one of many optional activities. And some of the older students they once admired don’t seem as cool as they once did. Students develop a “been-there-done-that” attitude toward youth ministry. At the same time, they are striving to become the president of the student class, or the head cheer-leader, or the drum major of the band . . . roles that give them new challenges and more responsibility. Is it any wonder that students begin to drop out of our youth groups.

If we want our young people to continue to find our youth ministries engaging, we need to find ways to raise the challenge for them. I know, you don’t have the resources to develop a high school seniors seminar in apologetics. It might not help if you could. But the answer may not be all that tough. Give your older students status in your group. Ask for them to teach part of the Bible study lesson, not just sit in a class full of younger students. Give them responsibility for caring for younger students. Find their gifts and get them plugged into ministry projects in the youth group, in the church, or in the community. Raise the bar for students and many will respond.