CIY Adding Sites, Equipment, and Staff to Extend Growth

By Chris Moon 

Christ in Youth is expecting its busiest summer ever. 

The Joplin, Mo.-based youth ministry will host 56 middle and high school conferences this summer. It expects 53,000 students to attend—a record for the organization. About 2,000 students remain on waiting lists. 

Last year, CIY bounced back after the COVID-19 downturn; in 2022 it held 51 conferences and reached about 50,000 students.  

“This year, we’ve blown that out,” said president Jayson French. 

And more expansion is coming.  

French said church and individual donors already have funded the purchase of equipment and gear to enable CIY to reach an additional 12,000 students over the next two years. 

“They invested in us heavily,” French said. 

CIY also is expanding capacity at existing events to create another 8,000 seats. All told, the group will have space for another 20,000 students.  

CIY’s growth comes at a time when a narrative persists that the North American church is shrinking. French sees it differently. 

“How many times in our history has the enemy told us we’re in trouble,” he said. 

The fact that more students than ever are coming to CIY’s conferences is a sign the church remains healthy, French said. The church also is inspiring spiritual growth in the youngest generation. 

“I can tell you in the Restoration Movement, the church is just fine,” French said. 

BIGGER NUMBERS, NEW STAFF 

CIY offers summer conferences for middle school students called MIX. French said 17,000 students are expected to attend those this year. 

The weeklong high school conferences, called MOVE, will bring in another 35,000 attendees. 

“Jesus has been really good to us,” French said. 

He encourages the CIY staff not to take pride in the group’s growth. Instead, they should recognize the only reason CIY exists is because the church exists. A healthy church makes for a healthy CIY. 

“I care more about her [the church] than I do a brand,” French said. 

The growth in attendance and the new conference sites have spurred new hiring at CIY. The organization has added 16 additional full-time staff members this year. Total staffing now exceeds the group’s pre-COVID numbers, French said. 

A key to future growth is funding.  

French said CIY has seven semi-trucks that haul equipment to conference sites each year. He said if the group were to raise another $750,000 to $1 million, it could purchase an eighth truck, along with the necessary equipment, for an additional eight conference sites each year.  

Each of those sites would enable CIY to reach another 1,500 students.  

Finding that funding amid rising demand is a chief goal for the ministry as it looks toward 2024. 

“We’re scrambling right now,” French said. 

IMPROVING FOLLOW-UP 

In addition to expanding its summer conference slate, CIY also is looking to bolster its follow-up with the students who make decisions at each conference, French said.  

CIY has set a goal to raise up 30,000 students who want to pursue vocational ministry during the next 10 years. The need is increasingly urgent as more pastors retire and because many left the ministry during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Growing and retaining Timothys is important,” French said. 

A decision to pursue pastoral ministry is among the four major decisions a student might make at a CIY conference. A student also may give their life to Christ, make a decision to repent from a particular sin, or decide to pursue a particular kind of “kingdom work” in his or her community. 

Tens of thousands of students make one or more of those decisions each summer.  

“We kind of set a catalytic moment and a space for those decisions to be made,” French said. 

But CIY is finding many of those students don’t receive enough follow-up conversations when they return home, either from their pastors or their parents.  

The students’ passion for their decisions often can wane. 

“We want to resource the decisions made at our events,” French said.  

CIY has hired a full-time staff member to lead an effort to provide resources so churches can better connect with those students and help them remain focused on their goals after they return home.  

The initial work is in research. CIY eventually will expand its reservoir of follow-up resources for churches and families.  

CIY already has earmarked $500,000 for the endeavor. More funding will be necessary. 

“This will not be a cheap endeavor,” French said. 

Chris Moon is a pastor and writer living in Redstone, Colorado.