Youth group members smiling and jumping with the arms up.

Two vibrant pink head and shoulders icons.

Church Youth Group Boosts Engagement with Joyned

A New Approach to Youth Group Communication: Safer, Stronger, More Engaged

Tom Amos, youth leader at The Community Church Bishops Stortford, had a clear vision: build real relationships with young people, nurture discipleship, and foster engagement beyond Sunday mornings. But his team faced a significant hurdle, communication chaos.

Before Joyned

A Communication System Unable to Serve Youth

No communication system could meet the balance of safeguarding, accessibility, and engagement needed for modern youth ministry. Despite best efforts using:

Email (often ignored or missing parental context)
WhatsApp (raising safeguarding flags)
Paper sign-ups (prone to loss or low response)

"I wanted to offer more than a weekly Bible study. But organising anything took multiple attempts and still left young people in the dark."

Building a Relational Culture in a Digital Age

For Tom, youth ministry was never just about weekly meetings. It was about building a relational culture, one where young people felt seen, heard, and spiritually supported. However, attempting to navigate safeguarding requirements while also encouraging authentic connection created a constant tension.

Tom’s group had tried multiple platforms without any success, making it hard to coordinate volunteers, track interest in events, or foster deeper relationships and community involvement. What’s more, parents were caught between wanting transparency and giving their children independence.

Existing tools simply didn’t offer the nuance needed to meet both needs. Until Joyned…

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A group of people gathered together around a table socialising.

Discovering Joyned

A Platform Built for Real-World Church Needs

Tom first encountered Joyned at Newday, a youth camp, where a demonstration video immediately clicked. Joyned offered a rare combination of simplicity, flexibility, and embedded privacy-by-design. But most importantly, the app addressed the unique safeguarding and community-building needs of church-based youth work.

The platform mirrored the exact solution his team had been dreaming of, a centralised, safe, and easy-to-use app for engaging both youth and parents. Tom saw an opportunity: not just a better app, but a better way to manage ministry life, one that wouldn’t force trade-offs between compliance and care. It also meant less admin time, more responsive communication, and the ability to shape a platform around their real-world rhythms.

A Thoughtful, Hands-On Rollout

Success didn’t happen by chance. Tom approached the rollout methodically:

He spent time aligning with youth leaders and parents about the need for change.
He introduced Joyned through in-person demos with QR codes during youth group sessions.
He created tailored groups for parents, youth, and specific event interests.

Crucially, onboarding wasn’t just digital. It was relational. Tom made time to answer questions in person, followed up with stragglers, and kept communication clear and invitational. This approach helped the group achieve an 80% adoption rate early on, a major win for a voluntary, youth-led environment.

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The Impact

Since introducing Joyned to The Community Church Bishops Sortford, the youth group has seen measurable improvements in how they plan, communicate, and connect - including:

Centralised Communication

All updates, sign-ups, and polls now live in one easy-to-access space.
Youth no longer miss out on information due to absences or forgotten emails.

Seamless Event Coordination

A baptism interest group created via Joyned led to six sign-ups, double the usual engagement.
Polls and group chats simplify decisions, like which film to watch at youth night.

Parent & Leader Alignment

A dedicated parents' group keeps them informed without overwhelming them.
Leaders use Joyned’s features to maintain boundaries and encourage participation.

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Community Engagement Through Innovation and Fun

Once live, the team got creative. From ‘Rev Memes’ channels for lighthearted fun, to using polls for home group discussions and voting on favourite youth night films, Joyned became more than a logistics tool, it became part of their culture.

Even bigger moments, like baptisms, saw a new level of engagement. By creating a private interest group, Tom made it easier for young people to explore significant decisions without pressure. Where previous years had seen two or three participants, Joyned helped facilitate six baptisms, not through pushy tactics, but by reducing friction and creating safe digital spaces.

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