How do you measure success in your youth group?
The recent Barna article New Research on Measuring Faith Formation in Teens outlines some findings about teens who attend youth group. Although 57% of Christian teens say they’ve been to youth group in the past three months, only 18% of them show signs of an “activated” faith (measured by spiritual practice, evangelism, service, integrated faith, belonging, and calling).
This research reveals a concerning gap between the number of students who attend youth group and the number of students who are on fire for Jesus and eager to share Him with others.
What’s the evangelism metric?
One pathway Barna used to measure students’ faith is evangelism. Researchers asked teens to respond to these two statements:
- I regularly share about my religious faith with others.
- I have a personal responsibility to tell others about my religious beliefs.
A rating of 75 or more (out of 100) counted as being faith-activated. Out of all respondents, only 32% of the teens were activated in evangelism. And out of the youth group attendees, only 44% were activated.
Although youth group members have more desire to share Jesus and feel called to evangelize, the difference isn’t dramatic. That means attendance alone isn’t making enough of a difference.
So what does matter?
Dare 2 Share’s 2025 report A Generation in Reach, a study done in partnership with Clarity Research, showed that youth groups using Gospel Advancing strategies demonstrate notably higher faith-activation metrics.
Compared to other youth groups, a Gospel Advancing group is 30 times more likely to have Gospel conversations, experiences three times the growth, and has a 50% higher likelihood of growing through new believers.
Are we counting heads in pews or hearts changed?
The contrast between these results points to two facts: Merely attending a youth group doesn’t make enough long-term change in students’ lives. But being equipped and challenged to share their faith does make a long-term difference—for teens and for the people they reach.
But if we’re not measuring long-term success by attendance, how can we know if we’re making a difference at all? How can we know if Jesus is truly changing people’s hearts?
What numbers should we count?
Obviously, the Lord works through your youth ministry in ways you can never know and might never see. But that doesn’t mean you lack practical ways to assess the program’s health or that it’s bad to acknowledge the numbers.
Every new life in Christ is a cause for celebration in your youth group.
‘In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.’
By measuring impact in visible ways, you can help teens be accountable for their own spiritual growth. Some youth groups do this through a visual representation of how students are praying, caring, and sharing.
For example, set out a see-through container and give students different-colored ping-pong balls. These can represent the different ways students are living out their faith: Blue is someone they’re praying for. Red is someone they’re caring for. Green is someone they’ve shared the Gospel with.
Visual reminders encourage you and your students to press on with evangelism efforts. They’re a powerful way to show that each ping-pong ball—or sticky note with initials, jigsaw-puzzle piece, or whatever else you use to represents lost souls—corresponds to a person God created and loves. Then pray that the constant visual reminder would spur them to share the Good News again and again, ultimately bringing more people into the Kingdom.
Now those are some great numbers to count!
