Monday, January 27, 2014

My Re-examination of Youth Ministry

Youth ministry goes on.

It has done so quite well for nearly 60 years as a matter of fact and it will continue to do so. Why? Well, we've created something of a monster and we need to keep feeding it. Maybe monster is the wrong word? Maybe… a child? An enterprise? A mechanized Tyrannosaurus Rex with chainsaw hands that reads its Bible daily? I don't know. I suppose the metaphor doesn't particularly matter. The point being that we've found ourselves in a place, for various reasons, where ministry to teenagers has become indispensable for the Church.

Now I'm not interested in championing a particular youth ministry model, claiming it is what Jesus himself had in mind for the church. I've honestly lost count of what our options last were.  Was it family-centered youth ministry? Prayer-centered youth ministry? God-centered, Presence-centered, Jesus-centered, Gospel-centered, chewy-caramel-centered… Where does it end?! I haven't event touched contemplative, purpose-driven, or multidimensional models! (No, really, Google this stuff - these can give your bookshelves some serious street cred! Or make you look really confused… Or well-rounded perhaps?) Now I bring up models for a reason - despite the influential place that youth ministry has carved out in mainstream evangelicalism over the last 30 years, it still remains significantly challenged. There seem to be a lot of areas in ym where, honestly, we don't have a great grasp on what we're doing as a Church.

Case in Point: In October 2013, Amy Macmillan wrote an article for Christianity Today titled, "Are Christian Teens Leaving the Church Because of Unfulfilling Youth Groups?". You can read the full article here. She cites,




"According to a survey sponsored by the US-based National Center for Family-Integrated Churches (NCFIC), 55% of American Christians are concerned that modern youth ministry is shallow and too entertainment focused. Over a third (37%) even agreed that youth group programs are not actually biblical."


The concerning thing, to me, is that modern youth ministry doesn't seem to be innovating. If the research suggestions are correct, it seems like discontent is growing across the board with regards to youth ministry but very little is changing. It also appears that, if anything, conventional youth ministry is digging in its heels and bracing for a fight that it may have already lost. Modern youth ministry is a red ocean ministry pool. The center may keep shifting from book to book, ministry to ministry, Jesus-y tattoos to Jesus-y V-necks but the approach has been exhausted.





So I find myself looking for that resource pool that will have innovative concepts to change the focus of contemporary youth ministries.  But I can't merely sit around and wait for it to arrive.  Some things just need to be created.  As I've been exploring the merits of the Blue Ocean Faith network, it has provided a place for me to ask new questions, to imagine new possibilities, and to conceptualize practical changes we can make so that youth ministry's value and place in the conversation is heard and deserved.  There are many blog post ideas rattling in my head and I am looking forward to a place where I can share those freely with you as well as hear thoughts from others.  I believe we're due for a reexamination of youth ministry and I hope that you'll join me.