How do you get to the next level?

One of the opportunities that arises from being at CPAS is being able to encourage and support churches as they seek to develop their youth ministry, whether this is well established or fledgling. For sure, most of the time youth groups start because the church sees an unmet need in their community, whether it is young people hanging around in the graveyard or whether it's suddenly finding a dozen young people attending the Alpha course (which happened in the church I am a member of here in Leamington).
The challenge, however, is so what do we do now? A group may have formed, people may be coming, but is this all there is to it? How do we develop the work and take it to the next level of community, of unity, of spirituality?
There are many useful areas we can look at, including seeking God for vision and direction for the ministry, developing our leaders who work with the young people and providing guidelines for how youth groups can operate safely. These are all essential if we are to develop what we do, but I wonder if these all miss out a vital component.
This component is how the rest of the church and young people relate. We have tended to find adults who are willing, if not keen, to work with young people and let them get on with it, but what is needed is a greater awareness and understanding. For young people to feel like they belong to the church they don't only need a group where they can grow and feel safe (belong), they also need opportunities to contribute to the life of the church and to use the talents and gifts that God gives them, just as we all do.
So the challenge for me is how do we help the local church fully welcome young people into the community of faith, where we all grow together, recognise we all have something to contribute (regardless of our age) and we can inspire one another.

Andy