Connecting with High School Students: Practical Tips for Preaching to Young Adults

So, on a scale of 1-10, how do you grade worship? Just think of the whole experience. As you leave the church, on average how does it leave you? The overall average in our database is 6-7. 

OK, what about the music? How does that rate? The responses for contemporary music is 7-10.  For traditional music, the rating is 2-4.

How about your pastor's preaching on a scale of 1-10? How would you rate your pastor as a person? On this question, most high school students rate their pastor as an 8, 9 or 10. A few will respond, "I don't really know pastor all that well."  Overall, as a person, the youth rate their pastors fairly high. 

What About Preaching? 

So what about the preaching? How would you rate your pastor's preaching on a scale of 1-10? As I review our large database, this is what I have discovered: 

• Most groups I interview rate the preaching above 5 on the 10-point scale. 

• Most students provide numbers fairly close to the others in their group.

• The responses seem to be grouped from 5-7 points from 8-10 points and are generally consistent for each group within that range. 

How do you think the youth would rate your preaching? 

My interview process does not end there. As I pursue the preaching issue further, my approach depends on the scores. For example, if the numbers are in the 8-10 range, I ask, "What do you like about the preaching?" I probe deeper: "What does your pastor do that seems to make the preaching meaningful for you?" 

If the numbers are in the 5-7 range, I ask, "What could your pastor do that would improve the value of the preaching message for you? What would help?" 

Here is the interesting part: With significant regularity, the high-end-rating group describes the same cluster of issues as the low-rating group suggests in almost every church. 

What Works for Students? 

Here is a list of the same issues I hear about consistently. They are not in any particular order of importance.

• Pastor is "real." Pastor speaks like a real person, is transparent and honest about the joys and challenges of life as a Christian.

• The use of humor. It's great that Christians can hear a message that has a little fun at some point. Even a serious message can have some element of joy at some part, especially at the end so you leave with hope. 

• The use of story. Instead of just lecturing at us, the main points of the message are put into a story. (This reflects the importance of narrative in postmodern culture.)

• The use of visual aids. PowerPoint - not just words, but pictures and symbols as well; video clips; visual aids that are part of the message and brought into the communication at the appropriate time.

• The pastor interacts with the congregation. This can be a show of hands, dialogue or text messaging. It's great when the listeners can give input or feedback. 

At the end of my interview, I ask the students if it happens very often that someone asks their opinion about church. About 90 percent of the time, the answer is "Never."  What a shame! If church leaders would ask the youth more often, I guarantee you would be greatly encouraged. Plus, it could improve your preaching!