Youth Ministry & the Numbers Game

Fellow youth ministry blogger KaGe has just shared a great reflection on his site about what it means to get caught up in the numbers game, particularly when your group is small to begin with:

I admit it. I am guilty, 100% guilty. I fell for it, I bought into it, I totally invested into it and was completely and utterly emotionally destroyed last week when I had a killer evening planned for youth group. I planned for 15 (which is a high number for our church) and was completely ready just in case I had a couple of extra people come. . . .OK, so my plan was great, a fun, active game, an active lesson, time for discussion and then bring it home with prayer and hangout time. Sounds good right? Now remember when I said I was prepared for 15? Well, it's hard to do a large group lesson/game when only 4 show up...and one of those was a half hour late. UGH! (((heart slowly breaking))) I dragged myself home that night
defeated.

I imagine most of us have been in this position - feeling like there was something wrong with us or our ministry because we didn't attract a huge crowd of teens to this event or that. And yet, Kage, in reflecting on the whole affair, has come to realize that perhaps there is a real advantage to leaving behind the numbers game and instead focusing on the strengths of being small in number but mighty in ministry. Check out the rest of his excellent post here. Perhaps his brainstorm could bear fruit in your ministry, too.