Yesterday was Youth Sunday at Resurrection and I was a very thankful pastor as I watched our youth sing, pray, read, welcome and preach. Here are my top five reasons for celebrating Youth Sunday.
1. The opportunity to celebrate talent. The youth of Resurrection are blessed by God with incredible talent that needs to be shared. Like any member, they could do this any Sunday, but Youth Sunday gives them the excuse or reason to do this with their peers’ support. The whole congregation, young and old, can celebrate together.
2. Parents can rejoice with their children. Parents of high school youth know that their children need to start the process of differentiation – separating from their parents. This includes making their Christian faith their own. But this can be painful for the parents to watch. The celebration of Youth Sunday gives parents a moment to see the faith being handed down to a new generation without directly pushing their children into it.
3. Young children are given aspirations and models. Young elementary age children see older siblings/peers/teenagers participate in a special way within the life of the church. This participation can spark such aspirations in them to perform in the worship band or read scripture or present the children’s message. Also parents of young children see and hear how the ministry of this congregation has impacted its youth, giving them reasons for their family to be actively involved.
4. Mentors share their gifts. Yesterday was a real celebration for John Moore, a member of our worship team, who for the past six months has coached and directed the youth band as it prepared for yesterday’s worship service. He and the band did an outstanding job. Our youth director Hannah Koehler also had the opportunity to directly mentor students as they participated in leadership roles in worship.
5. Pastor try-outs. This one is personal for me. As high school junior I had the opportunity to preach at my home congregation. Though my preaching on the “Population Bomb and Environmentalism” was strange and controversial, the affirmations I received were part of my process of discerning my call as a pastor. Though our youth can serve God’s kingdom in a wide variety of vocations (see here), the church will need good pastors, youth directors and music directors in the future and I am praying that God will call some of the youth of Resurrection Lutheran Church to serve in this way. God continues to call forth his servants to serve among us.
What are some others reasons to support Youth Sunday?
Lord Jesus, I am thankful that you call all ages to follow you, including our youth.
Pastor John Keller 
I think Sundays such as yesterday remind worshippers of the hope we have in Christ – as lived out by these willing, talented, young leaders. They give hope for the continual and renewed sharing of our faith – and the hope that young life always brings. Seeing students serve in so many ways can also spark new ideas in those of us who are older; the youth contributions remind us of possibility and of our call to serve. Another ‘side benefit’ is that whenever there is a change in routine, I appreciate those who regularly take on all of those roles – from musicians to greeters to readers to pastors.
Your reason #5 reminded me that April 18 is a ‘seminary preview’ day at Luther Seminary, if any high school students are interested, church staff can get the details to you!
Hello Pastor John, I’m sorry I missed services yesterday. I heard the youth did a great job! I was home with some kind of bug that got me down for the weekend. Feeling great today so it wasn’t serious. Another reason why I believe Youth Sundays are important is that it gives the congregation (especially those who do not have children in the youth programs) a chance to see the Christian growth and
development that has taken place among our young people. Remember the new member who told us that they joined because they were so impressed with the Youth Sunday? He felt that if we prepared our young people so well, he wanted to be a part of our congregation as well. It gives all of us a sense of hope and excitement for our future knowing that our young people are prepared to carry on the mission of our church. Just thoughts of a non-Mom who is impressed with our Youth Program! Bette