Hey Awesome Person,
6:45: No one
6:50: No one
6:55: No one
7:00: No one
7:15: No one
Thought in my head, “Hmmm, no is coming, really?”
I shall dub this No Show Wednesday, The Youth-pacolypse.
Last night was the first time, in 35 years, I had no one show up for a youth meeting.
One kid, two kids, sure. No kids, never, until now.
For context, I have been the youth pastor at this small, rural church (about 40 people) for a little over 3 years. It has been a struggle from day one to build momentum. We went through a pastor change 2 years in and we’ve never been able to find our footing.
This, along with with turning 57 this year, and a few other things, has taken a toll on me personally. I have a lot of questions and no answers. I’m sure you’re like “Welcome to the party, pal!”
It’s hard not to view events, or non-events, like this without filtering it through the lens of everything else, and I think this is an important point: this thing could be mean something or it could mean nothing. I’m processing it all.
I can tell you this, I am not taking it personally, it’s not a referendum on whether I am a good youth pastor or not (not that I know of, anyway). And your numbers are not a referendum on you.
I’m not mad or disappointed with my students. I had a heads up that a few students were not going to show up due to ball and being sick but I have come to expect at least 3 students to be there every week. When they didn’t show, I knew this night was going to be different.
I found myself in an adult service on a Wednesday night. My pastor has started a series about heaven. I was like, “God, is this it, am I going to die? Is this why no kids showed up so I could hear about heaven?” This is how my brain works.
It was probably midway through service when I felt like I needed to go down to the youth room. I had Habakkuk on my mind the past few weeks and so I went into the youth room and read, out loud Habakkuk 3:17-19
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.
I usually drop off at 18, forgetting 19. But verse 19 was wear the hope was.
In that youth room, I rejoiced in God my Savior and I declared "The Lord is my strength!"
I prayed for my students, wherever they were, and asked God to show Himself to them wherever they were.
I don't know if you had a youth meeting last night, if you did, I don't know how many students showed up. I don't know if you were thrilled or disappointed by that number. Maybe you're like me, no one showed up.
If this has happened to you, and I pray it hasn’t, I’m sorry. If it does happen to you, here’s what I am learning,
- I’m not alone (and neither are you)
- this may mean something and it may not mean anything, I'm processing this as an isolated incident vs a culmination of other things (or all things)
- I'm reserving judgement on students, they're not here to make me feel good about myself.
- Don’t take it personally (easier said than done)
- The peace of God is a real thing, embrace it.
If your youth meeting wasn't what you expected it to be, allow me to encourage you to pray through and see what the Lord is up to. Don’t make any rash decisions or any decisions until you’ve, at the least, taken a few days to process what is going on.
If you feel the need to vent or give a praise report, feel free to hit me back and let me know how your youth meeting went.
Have an awesome day!
Paul