THE FEW · First 90 Days
Your first 90 days are already planned.
You bring the students. We'll help you know what to do next.
This pathway is designed for churches beginning with a few students and one willing Student Shepherd. You do not need a youth room, a large budget, or a complicated calendar.
Establish
Build trust, create consistency, and help students belong.
Deepen
Move students into Scripture, prayer, and spiritual practice.
Release
Help students serve, share their faith, and recognize calling.
Before Week One
Don't start with a meeting. Start with people.
Before you gather students, take a few simple steps that give this ministry the relational and pastoral foundation it needs.
Confirm your Student Shepherd.
Choose one faithful, spiritually healthy, safe adult willing to intentionally invest in students for at least six months.
Name the students.
Write down every middle and high school student already connected to your church-even the ones who attend inconsistently.
Contact every family.
Tell parents what you are beginning, who will lead it, when students will gather, and why discipleship matters.
Pick a consistent rhythm.
Same day. Same basic time. Same place when possible. Consistency matters more than creativity at the beginning.
Define The Win
What are we actually trying to accomplish?
By the end of 90 days, every student should know that someone in their church knows them, is praying for them, and is intentionally helping them follow Jesus.
The Three Phases
Don't rush the process. Build it in the right order.
Establish
Before students grow spiritually, they need to know they belong.
The first month is about relationships, trust, consistency, learning students' stories, and establishing a simple rhythm. Don't measure success by energy in the room. Measure whether students are becoming known.
Deepen
Move from gathering students to forming disciples.
Help students open Scripture for themselves, develop a prayer life, ask honest questions, understand the work of the Holy Spirit, and begin practicing faith outside your weekly gathering.
Release
Discipleship should eventually move outward.
Give students meaningful opportunities to serve, share their story, discover gifts, identify burdens, and begin recognizing where God may be calling them.
The First 12 Weeks
One week at a time. No blank pages.
These first twelve gatherings establish the core rhythms THE FEW is designed to build.
Listen Before Leading
Relationship · Story · Trust
Leader goal: Learn every student's story, interests, pressures, questions, and expectations.
You Belong Here
1 Corinthians 12
Leader goal: Help students understand that they are part of the Church now-not someday.
Knowing God Personally
John 15
Practice: Introduce a simple 10-5-5 rhythm: Scripture, reflection, prayer.
Learning to Pray
Prayer · Honesty · Listening
Practice: Every student prays something aloud-even if it is only one sentence.
How to Read the Bible
READ Method
Practice: Read · Examine · Ask · Do. Give students a process they can repeat without you.
The Holy Spirit
Pentecostal Formation
Leader goal: Introduce students to the Holy Spirit as present, active, empowering, and personal.
Who Am I?
Identity in Christ
Conversation: What voices are currently shaping the way students see themselves?
Building Convictions
Truth · Wisdom · Decisions
Leader goal: Move students from "my church says" toward "I understand why I believe."
You Were Made to Serve
Gifts · Church · Responsibility
Action: Give every student one meaningful place to serve within the local church.
Tell Your Story
Witness · Testimony
Practice: Build a simple testimony: Before Jesus · Jesus · What He's doing now.
Could God Be Calling Me?
Gifts · Burden · Calling
Conversation: What do you care about? What gifts do others see? Where might God be drawing you?
Commission
Celebrate · Pray · Send
Action: Celebrate students publicly, involve the pastor, pray over them, and mark the next step.
Every Week
Keep the gathering simple enough to repeat.
Table
Food, conversation, and real life.
Word
One clear biblical truth.
Talk
Questions that move truth into life.
Practice + Pray
Respond to what you just learned.
Protect The Simplicity
Don't overbuild it.
30 / 60 / 90 Day Check
Don't just ask, "Are they coming?"
Attendance matters, but THE FEW measures whether students are actually becoming disciples.
Known
Does every student have an adult who knows what is happening in their life and regularly prays for them?
In the Word
Are students beginning to engage Scripture outside the weekly gathering?
Praying
Are students becoming more comfortable talking to God personally and praying with others?
Serving
Has every student been given a meaningful opportunity to contribute to the life of the church?
Connected
Do students feel like they belong to the whole church, not only to a youth gathering?
Moving Forward
Can you identify one spiritual next step for every student?
For The Pastor
You don't have to lead every gathering.
Publicly communicate that these students matter to the whole church.
Check in with the Student Shepherd at least once each month.
Know every student's name and ask about them personally.
Give students visible, meaningful opportunities to serve in the church.
At Week 12, pray over the students and publicly celebrate what God is doing in them.
Day 90
You haven't built a youth program. You've started a discipleship culture.
After 90 days, don't start over. Keep the relationships, keep the weekly rhythm, and move students into the next stage of THE FEW.
Students are known.
A weekly rhythm exists.
Everyone knows the next step.
Ready To Begin?
Start with Week One.
Don't worry about Week Twelve today. Gather the students God has given you, learn their stories, and begin there.