About a month ago we finished a summer project of completely overhauling the Senior High Ministry space called "The Underground". It took a lot of work, collaboration, creativity and funding. But a few weeks of using it, it seems all worth it. I have had this task before as I had the task of designing a student ministry space called "Exit 224" at my previous church. (they by the way are about to redesign that space in order to accommodate more children read more). I learned from this process at PLC that it is not a build it and they will come. Students still need relationships first. It wasn't the environment that brought students to PLC it is definitely the growing relationships that they have with leaders who care.
While we were in the process of dreaming and planning, I ran across the following quote from Walter Surdacki (what a cool last name), "Is our youth room a recreation zone? a sanctuary for worship? a home away from home? a mini Starbucks? a graveyard for free Christian music posters? Here's what I think: Like everything else in youth ministry, theological guiding principles come into play when we design, decorate, or even a build a youth room from scratch" This quote got me thinking and I am still thinking about what purpose our ministry space serves. What are we trying to do with this space. Here's what I have so far:
On the student ministry cafe:
- We desire to have a space that is attractive to students. Not only do we want it attractive but we hope that students will not want to leave, that they will desire to stay and connect with thier friends.
- We desire to create an atmosphere where students can invite their friends as an entry point into our student ministry community. We want it to be confortable and safe as well as attractive and irresistable.
- We desire to create a platform where leaders can naturally connect with students.
- To sum it up we hope that the student ministry cafe can allow students to connect with each other.
On theUnderground meeting space:
- This environment is to help students see God's Glory and be able to engage with Him in worship.
- We hope that this place is free from distraction so that students can't miss what God is communicating to them through music, His Word, testimony, etc.
- To sum it up we hope that theUnderground meeting space will allow students to connect with Jesus and leave different than when they first came in.
Since ministry spaces aren't build it and they will come, we have to prioritize our role of building relationships with students. We just have new couches to do that on!
