Nearly a hundred adults and their families swayed back and forth on Sunday to powerful worship music with hands raised and voices lifted in praise as the Youth Praise Band led the worship service. Three rows of teens were present in the worship service in their customary section near the back. As I reflect on why our church has been so effective at reaching the next generation, it occurs to me that one reason is because we allow God to use the teens in ministry. Most churches say that teens are the church of tomorrow. While church leaders mean well when they say such things, what they are actually communicating to the teens is that teens have no current value. They may have value in some future "tomorrow" but they have no value right now. Teens hear that message and decide that if they are not valued at church, they will go somewhere that does value them, which all too often ends up being places they shouldn’t be.

If churches want to attract teens, they have to begin to value them the way God does. Churches must begin to recognize that teens are gifted by God and can be used by Him in powerful ways. Our teens used to lead worship once every six weeks, then it became once a month. Now it is up to two or three times a month. They don’t just lead worship, they also help with children’s church, they are active raising money to pay off the mortgage and they even help clean the building. Three weeks ago I was nearly moved to tears as I watched one 17 year old young man put his offering in the offering box, it may have been small, but it was one more example of his growing spiritual maturity in Christ.

At Faith Community Church teens are full partners with the adults in leading the church and in sharing the Gospel with our community. If you find yourself in a place where teens have no real value, perhaps its time to come worship with us and watch what God can do in the life of your teen.

Pastor Terry Dorsett