4. Keep your church services consistent
Students are concerned about inviting their mates to church if they don’t know what to expect from any given Sunday. In other words, if one week is going to be really friendly to guests but the next week is going to be a deep dive into Leviticus, whilst assuming everyone is a Christian, they will stop inviting!
Students need to know that the welcome they received will be the same welcome their friends receive. They need to know that the teaching will be high quality and engaging week in week out. Their worst nightmare is to invite their friends only for them to be sitting there bored for an hour by a poorly put together message.
You can reassure your students by bringing consistency into your language. Try not to use Christian jargon, or if you need to, explain it. Signpost the service so that anyone new there knows exactly what’s happening and why. Plan your services like there will be people present every week who are not Christians, but do assume they are interested. This means you don’t have to sell Christianity to them, but you do have to make it accessible.
This doesn’t mean that all our church services need to be the same. There is plenty of room for creativity and for breaking the mould. Often, students will have a fixed idea of what church is like and it can be refreshing for them to see things done differently and in new ways. This can increase their curiosity around church. However, students hate the idea of not fitting in and fear sticking out like a sore thumb, so we need to bring consistency in the tone and language so that a guest isn’t left feeling alienated.
5. Peer-to-peer support is essential
