Is bigger always better? That’s the message I’ve received from every youth ministry conference or publication I’ve seen during the past 10 years. So, what’s the youth pastor serving students in Small Town, America supposed to think?
There are 2,783 counties in the United States with a population under 150,000. These counties combined represent 90 million people who live in these approximately 15,000 smaller cities and towns. If considered as their own nation, they would be the 13th largest nation on earth.
For a decade, I’ve had the privilege to serve some incredible students and families in rural towns. I’ve also traveled and spoken at rural churches where youth workers are doing such a remarkable job reaching the hearts and minds of students. This happens even though many of these youth workers must work a full-time job in addition to their volunteer duties as a youth pastor when ministry budgets are lean or non-existent.
The demands can be extremely high, but I’ve met youth workers doing an incredible job with what they have, right where God has called them to be—and having a blast while doing it! I asked four of them to share their insights.
Since 2002, Tony Pena has served as full-time youth pastor at River of Life Christian Center in Urbana, Ohio (population 11,613), where he was born and raised.
Dan Borwick has been involved in children’s and youth ministry since 1986 and currently serves as youth pastor for Faith Christian Family Church in Clovis, N.M., (population 32,899).
Doug Kruzan started as maintenance and grounds keeper at Faith Christian Family Church in Rushville, Ill., (population 3,010) where he now serves as music minister and youth pastor.
Jeremy Robinson has been youth pastor of Pointman Youth Ministries at Church of the Good Shepherd in Wayne, Ohio (population 842) for eight years.
YouthWorker Journal: In a rural community, what are the unique needs and challenges for students?
Dan Borwick: One of the biggest needs I see in my community is places to hang out and connect with other students in a healthy, safe environment.
Doug Kruzan: I feel in our rural community the need for acceptance is a big need for our teenagers. There is not much to do, so kids are looking for things to do outside extracurricular activities in school. The challenges kids face include peer pressure to do drugs and drink alcohol among other things that get them in trouble.
YWJ: What kind of church staffing structure have you seen in a rural church? With a limited staff, most rural church staff/team members must carry multiple responsibilities. What all do you do in your church and how do you juggle it all?
Jeremy Robinson: Not only am I the youth pastor, I am also the maintenance man, lawn care person, head of cleaning and anything else that isn’t done by a volunteer or was forgotten by a volunteer. I think in a rural setting you have to be willing to be a jack-of-all-trades.
Doug: My responsibilities in our church are: pasturing the youth, directing the adult and youth music teams, directing our annual Summer Scream youth camps, overseeing the media and tech departments and whatever else when called upon.
YWJ: The school system in a rural community can be the epicenter of life. How important is it to connect with the heart of your community? How have you effectively done so?
Jeremy: Connecting with schools and attending school functions, basketball games, football games, musicals and other events is key to connecting with teens and parents. In our case, the core of our youth ministry is represented by three school districts, plus a few students from at least four other districts. Our biggest outreach to the schools is our annual tailgate party at which two of the schools (huge rivals) play each other in football. On that night, we tailgate and feed both marching bands and the cheerleaders from the schools. We even invite staff to come and eat, too. This has been huge in connecting with parents and the schools.
Dan: It’s critical to connect with my community. Not only do I serve the families and students of my church, but I also serve the families and students of my community. I must balance outreach to my community while ministering to the students of our church family. During the past 30 years, we have built a great bridge with our public schools.
Tony Pena: It is vital to be connected to the community. We are an outreach, youth-oriented church with programs that benefit the community such as Community Christmas, which benefits needy families and senior citizens; Bags of Blessings and a Teacher Appreciation Service.
YWJ: Living and pastoring in a small town can tempt us to think small. How do you keep your vision big, and why is it important to do so?
Doug: My pastor has a big vision for reaching not only our county but also our surrounding counties. We have people who drive from more than 13 communities to our church.
Jeremy: Just because the towns are small doesn’t mean that our vision should be small. Our focus is on not only the students who call us their church, but also the students who don’t go to church on Sunday. We are working hard to reach out to the students other people have labeled and “expendable.” As a result, many teens come and hear God’s Word simply because they know we care about them.
YWJ: With limited budgets and resources, how do you pull off creative events that create community and momentum for your student ministry? What has proven to be effective for you in your setting?
Dan: I am a huge advocate for recruiting local businesses to assist us in reaching our teens. Because many of our students who attend are from the community, I believe there are businessmen and women who would love to help. I have partnered with McDonalds, Wal-Mart, and dozens of locally owned businesses. The dairy industry also has donated about $250,000 through the years to help us.
Jeremy: You have to be resourceful. From stage lighting to décor to the atmosphere you are trying to create, we have been resourceful. For me it can’t be about the big name brand or the latest, greatest thing. Most of the items in our café came from a closing Wal-Mart. I walked in, asked for the manager, cast the vision for what I wanted; and they gave us everything we wanted for about $30. A few years before that, we bought their old booth seats before they junked them. Look around and see what you can use that is already around you. We have pulled off some cool things by just asking the right people.
Tony: My biggest outreach for the youth is our Fifth Quarters. After every home football game, I open the youth building and have a bonfire outside. There is a local pizza shop that donates 50 large pizzas and sodas for the youth who attend.
YWJ: Let’s face it: We can’t and shouldn’t do it all. God desires to utilize the gifts within your local church family. How do you partner with parents, and how do you recruit and build volunteer teams?
Dan: I don’t use bulletins or video announcements to recruit adult volunteers. I personally engage with individual adults and share the vision of our ministry and how they can make a difference.
Jeremy: Most of our new volunteers come from our teens who’ve graduated. They get the concept of what we are trying to do, and they want to be a part of it; but I need more mature volunteers to help shape the teens who come. This is hard in a rural church because other departments are looking for the same thing. There are only so many workers to go around. So when you get workers, you have to work hard to train, encourage and cast vision so they stick around for a long time.
Doug: I try to stay in touch with our parents by communicating with them through email and Facebook. I also try to connect with them when at the church.
YWJ: Many rural congregations have an aging population. How do you connect your students into the life of your church? Is there an intergenerational feel to the church?
Doug: There is definitely an intergenerational feel to our church. Our teens are involved with just about every aspect of our ministry including the nursery, toddlers, children’s ministry and many aspects of the media department.
Dan: We challenge our students to dive into the life of our church by serving in many areas of ministry during adult services. Our adults serve alongside our young people.
Jeremy: This has been our nemesis for years. We have tried hard to assimilate our students into our Sunday service after they have graduated. What I have found is that getting teens to serve in areas of ministry before they graduate helps them transition to the Sunday service a little better.
Tony: Our church is awesome in that area: Out of 250 members in our congregation, almost 80 percent of the people are in our Ministry of Helps Department—mostly in the toddlers, children and youth departments—so we are very connected and a very intergenerational church.
YWJ: Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers about the challenges and joys of working with rural youth?
Doug: I love my job and love working with teenagers. Sometimes I don’t see the fruit for years to come, but I’m glad I’ve had a chance to plant seeds in many young people’s lives.
Jeremy: One advantage the rural area has is that you can observe the new trends that are hitting the big city. It takes awhile for new things to come to the farmland, so partner up with someone in the city and communicate about what they are seeing change. That way you have three months to work on it and are still ahead.
Tony: If there were not any challenges, then it would not be as fun as it is to work with the youth. It’s the challenges they go through and overcome that give me the greatest joys of seeing God work through their lives.
YWJ: Keeping our emotions and hearts strong requires us to take time to disengage our souls and relax. What hobbies do you enjoy as a youth pastor in a small town? How do you spend your free time?
Dan: I love to watch movies and hang out with my wife and two kids.
Doug: I enjoy time with my family. I love to go to my kids’ sporting events. Not only is it great to watch them, but it’s also a great way to be around people in our community and build relationships. I also enjoy fishing and playing golf.
Jeremy: Time to relax doesn’t come easily. I have to make time to unwind. Recently I have started playing roller hockey in one of our bigger towns. It was something I enjoyed, so I found a group of guys who play and joined. Also, the high school I graduated from has an alumni open gym night when I play basketball once it is too cold or snowy for roller hockey.
Tony: In my free time, I enjoy fishing a lot. I am very athletic, so I golf, play softball, bowl and enjoy taking my family to the Reds’ games.
