Sometimes the best ideas in ministry begin with a simple conversation that leads somewhere unexpected. Shortly after arriving in rural McMinnville, Oregon, we discovered that we were running parallel programs right across the street from each other. As programmatic youth directors at First Baptist Church and First Presbyterian Church, we realized that we were holding youth groups on the same day and at the same time, with similarly small crowds of kids. We decided that uniting our efforts and working together in youth ministry would benefit our youth, our congregations and our own efforts to provide high-quality programming. With that realization, the McMinnville Youth Collective was born.
From our original conversation in 2017, we spent over a year planning the details, meeting with key leaders, and getting everyone on board. We began the collective by coming together for one fun event each month. Eventually, our youth were begging us to do more with “the other church.” During the ensuing nine years, we went from two churches doing youth ministry together to four churches (representing five denominations) united in ministering to youth, their families and our community.
Collaborative youth ministry is an increasingly practical and faithful response to the realities facing many congregations today.
Our guiding principle for the McMinnville Youth Collective is that we believe we are better together than we are apart. Practically speaking, when we combine funds from our budgets, each dollar goes farther. When we pool supplies and equipment, we have a greater variety to choose and use. When we create one combined team of volunteers, our youth have more adults in their lives who know and care about them. When we bring all our youth together, we create the critical mass that fosters a necessary comfort level and a desire to be part of something. So, from a purely functional perspective, it just makes sense to do ministry together.
Collaborative youth ministry is an increasingly practical and faithful response to the realities facing many congregations today. Across the United States and around the world, church attendance, giving, staffing and ministry budgets are all declining, particularly within mainline Protestant denominations. As a result, many churches find themselves serving fewer youth with fewer volunteers and fewer resources to sustain vibrant youth programming on their own. Rather than viewing neighboring congregations as competitors for people, money or participation, collaborative youth ministry invites churches to see one another as partners in a shared mission. By bringing together resources, leadership, volunteers and young people from multiple congregations, churches can create stronger, more sustainable ministries than any congregation might be able to offer alone. Shared finances stretch dollars farther. Combined equipment and supplies increase possibilities. Larger volunteer teams provide more caring adults in the lives of youth, and bringing together so many more young people empowers meaningful relationships and engagement.
Beyond these practical benefits, collaborative youth ministry is rooted in a biblical vision of community. In Acts 2, we read how the first Christian community devoted themselves to teaching, fellowship, prayer, generosity, worship and shared life, holding everything in common for the good of all. Collaborative youth ministry reclaims that spirit by asking what it could look like for churches today to minister together rather than individually. Instead of each congregation maintaining separate youth programs, churches can serve youth and families collectively, modeling unity within the body of Christ and strengthening the church’s witness in their communities.
Every collaborative ministry will be shaped by its unique context. But four pillars are essential for long-term success.
I. Connection: recognizing that ministry is fundamentally relational. Strong partnerships begin with intentional investment in relationships among pastors, staff, volunteers and other stakeholders before programs are ever launched.
II. Commitment: requiring clarity about the purpose of the collaboration, shared expectations and formal agreements regarding how churches will work together.
III. Communication: ensuring that all participants and stakeholders consistently understand what is happening, how the ministry is progressing and why the collaboration exists in the first place.
IV. Cooperation: calling leaders to continually share ownership of the ministry through collective planning, decision making, evaluation and adaptation.
This collaborative approach requires more intentional effort than working independently, but it reflects the understanding that our youth and families belong not to one church or another, but rather to the shared ministry of all the churches working together. When grounded in connection, commitment, communication and cooperation, collaborative youth ministry can provide a sustainable and transformative model for nurturing faith, building community and serving young people in a changing church landscape.
Through its formation and growth, the McMinnville Youth Collective has become known within the larger community as a place where all are accepted, included and valued. Our experience is that this communal approach to ministry creates a welcoming, inclusive space for the youth from our churches and beyond.
At the end of 2025, one of our founding leaders moved on to a new call. With many tears and much to celebrate, the McMinnville Youth Collective said goodbye. But despite that leader’s absence, the collective goes on. The leadership looks a bit different as that specific church searches for a new director, yet the collective’s programming has continued uninterrupted.
Perhaps this continuity is one of the best-kept secrets of collaborative ministry. Beyond creating a welcoming, inclusive space for the youth from our churches and beyond, we have also realized that collaborative ministry provides consistency and sustainability. It smooths transitions, adapts to change, and continues to serve youth well into the future. We truly are better together. Nearly a decade later, we remain convinced that this approach is not only a practical strategy for ministry. It is also a faithful expression of what it means to be the body of Christ.
