Youth ministry has been known to pioneer new and effective forms of ministry that also influence the rest of the church. But that trend, in some churches, has largely reversed.
Some youth ministries (and children’s ministries) try to mimic the form, methodologies and styles found in adult church, aka “Big Church.”
That’s a switch from youth ministry’s earlier years, upon which I also reported in Group magazine beginning in the ‘70s. During that era, youth workers (predominantly volunteers) frequently experimented with approaches to ministry in order to effectively reach kids. And some of those things, because they were effective and successful, were observed and admired by the larger church, and eventually adopted. For example, the use of guitars, drums and contemporary music in general began in youth ministry and then were adopted in adult church.
But now we see youth ministry weekly gatherings attempt to imitate what goes on at 11 a.m. on Sunday in adult church. It’s the familiar formula of half sing-along and half lecture. The youth pastor delivers a prepared monolog and the kids are expected to sit still and listen. Even though they’re not wired to learn or retain much from this approach.
In children’s ministry, some churches model “children’s church” after Big Church. Line up the spectators in neat rows, and put on a stage presentation. Even though they’d gain much more from being fully involved in active participation.
It’s a worrisome trend, especially because many of the methodologies employed in adult church are producing lackluster spiritual results.
What’s the goal?
It’s time for youth ministry and children’s ministry to step back and re-examine their purpose, mission and focus. Some suggestions:
- Know your audience. Start with their characteristics in mind.
- Honestly ask what really works to influence them.
- Know your ultimate goal. If that goal is something like helping kids grow in a relationship with Jesus, then measure everything you do against that goal.
- Do what produces actual spiritual results that are linked to your goal.
- Innovate. Try some new things. Just because you haven’t seen it done in Big Church . . . well, that’s probably a good thing.
- Lead the way. There’s good precedence for looking for inspiration from ministries with the young: “He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.’” (Matthew 18:2-4)
Youth and children’s ministries can–and should–be a refreshing gift to the entire church.
Thom, I don’t disagree with what you’ve said but I would be very interested in hearing what you and others think DOES “work” with youth today. I would also like to know what a “relationship with Jesus” looks like in the context of youth. It seems that much of what I see being taught is that Jesus is a “nice guy” who wants to be your friend.
Relationships can be measured by emotional proximity and resemblance. Students understand what it means when friends are able to finish each other’s sentences or intuit what each other are thinking. So our goal is to metaphorically look like Jesus.
In terms of resemblance think: why did Jesus do what he did (core values), how (operating principles), and what?(the end game) The ‘why’ is that he loves people, his recommendation for us is the great commandment + love your neighbor as thyself.
Help your students love people. Jesus ‘looked’ at the rich young ruler and loved him. Jesus saw that all of the guy’s junk was just emptiness and desperation. It’s easier to love someone when you understand that the stuff that make people difficult are from their emptiness and desperation.
sorry, I’m feeling longwinded today 😀
Hey, Lynn. Some thoughts on what works: Today’s generation wants to be involved in the conversation, especially about major stuff such as faith. They want to participate, rather than passively sit through somebody’s canned talk. They want to question, explore, and be allowed to doubt in discussions of faith. When it comes to a relationship with Jesus, authenticity is key–including encountering the real Jesus. It’s true that many teenagers today have an incomplete image of Jesus, including a perception that he’s primarily just a nice guy. We need to introduce them to the authentic, bold, challenging, loving, forgiving, and adventurous Jesus.
I saw resistance in innovation with the rise of the helicopter parent generation. That’s when I began to conclude that the best way to reach the students was through their fear/entitlement based parents, to hopefully help them to trust God more with their kids.
I haven’t done this yet, but my thinking is to focus on what is working and multiplying/iterating the successes. As far as the parents go: inform the rider (their intellect), motivate the elephant (their emotions) & shape the path (their circumstances).
I find youth/children’s ministry a challenge, but I think it’s because that is not where my calling is. I am so thankful for the people willing to work in those area’s. I pray God’s blessings over them.
Thanks for sharing, great tips for all area’s of ministry.
I like the approach of looking at your audience and THEIR characteristics. Not what is “popular”. Or happens in another church. Thank you for your writings!
I was both in a youth group and served in youth ministries back in the dinosaur days of the ’70’s and from my perch it seems I’m seeing less innovation–but better practices. You may recall that back in the ’70’s it wasn’t unusual for a Young Life or YFC leader to plop a kid on a metal stool and–if the kid answered a question wrong—hit a switch to send a jolt of electricity through the stool. That was considered good, clean fun. Or abuse…
My point: the innovation came because nobody knew what really worked. Now we know what works…have codified and formalized it in Seminary training…but is it still working? “Best practices” have a notoriously short shelf life.
Keep the principles, blow up the predictable, let the Holy Spirit and the kids speak into the delivery, and baton down the hatches before the board meeting. That’s how innovation came in the 70’s; I’m thinking it’ll still work today.
“Do what produces actual spiritual results that are linked to your goal.”
I always struggle with this one. I cannot find any tangible measure for it, so growth is hard to determine. Simply knowing Scripture is not enough. What does this look like in your mind?
I look for individualized results, such as increased prayer life, open references to a relationship with God in conversation with others, increased service to others, forgiveness of others, initiative to lead or engage in a ministry, hunger to read the scriptures, etc.
Just a thought…We may have the cart before the horse. How can we help nurture and empower families at home to “grapple” in God’s Word together in the real stuff of life and build cohesion. Are we, like our culture, indirectly telling parents “you don’t do it as well as we can so you need to bring them to our program (some charge a fee or tithe) so that we can do it for you. This will help you because you are WAY too busy anyway.” We have orchestrated diversity of service and programs for every conceivable appetite in church in different age groups while polarizing the Family unit. It may be an odd concept to say and many will chafe at the idea…How can we help parents have more and better family “God moments” together. I guess as you can say that our ministry “customer” is the family, not the individual “specialized” parts. 🙂
I definitely agree that having programs to encourage families to pray together, read the Bible together and encourage each other to work out their salvation together is very good. I think one of the goals of youth group, however, is to help the teenagers work through their own salvation and make their faith their own and not just accept their parent’s faith. It is more difficult to do that with their parents hovering around them.
I agree that much of youth ministry is in a rut. Just as encouraging, though, are the new ideas I hear of youth ministries leaving attractional, formulaic, outcomes based models of ministry behind. The bigger problem in finding what works rests on the leadership of the church. So many churches only allow for prototypical youth ministry. There’s very little freedom for new ideas to evolve. If things are to change, it will take both sides making a big effort.
This article is a pathway to failure and a sure way to send youth OUT of churches and AWAY from real faith. The silly Christian rock music blasting at every gathering, signs saying come as you are, break away with Jesus stuff, dont judge people, say whatever you want, embrace doubts, fun and excitement, and secret trips to the hotels and secret trips to the abortion clinics, more drama preaching, parties and trips and more sexual hookups and book clubs, and sexy young singers swaying to some kind of Christian poetry on stages with strobe lights, and hot dogs and donuts and coke and etc etc. And then come the restoration ministries! And more stage drama and rock music blasting at them.
Its the same old thing at churches these days. Neon entertainment, shallow Christians yelling at everyone about revival, kids leaving their faith and big restoration ministries to help the drug addicts and food pantries for the homeless. It’s the model for youth leadership today because we forgot how to disciple Christ’s little ones. The model that has left America with 86 percent of young people flying out of the churches like pop corn, abandoning abstinence, virginity and purity before marriage, and breeding a plethora of more atheists and secularism.
Don’t be embarrassed just to do the right thing. A good discipleship experience in church for youth today might be young sitting in rows! listening to a godly leader teaching and lecturing about the Bible, about Christianity, who Jesus was, what a holy pure lifestyle needs to be, practical examples of how to live as a follower of Christ. And then older COUPLES and FAMILIES modeling it , having young people to their homes, over for meals, on vacations, camp outs, evangelism, prayer meetings, Etc,
Teaching and lectures along with questions and answers, mitigating and trying to avoid an experience based program ans especially mitigating a church experience that allows or encourages doubt. How silly. A church experience should guide young people away from a feeling based faith that just accepts everyone the way they are and everything or anything they want to contribute or anything that passes through their mind.
The Christian life is a high calling with a strict lifestyle. What happened to discipleship? Young people have to be taught the Christian lifestyle and trained to have a PURE Christian thought life that is based in faith. They need to be guided, strengthened, directed, encouraged , rebuked, disciplined and prayed over for many years. All those things that take time and great effort. All those real Biblical things the lazy hippie generation cut out of church.
Mature level headed adults must be a part of church youth groups. Youth should learn to follow Christ in a family setting. A Biblical family. Not the one dad and 3 kids family or the single mom family example. Families, adults, pastors, ministers should be there to encourage exhort and support young people as they grow in faith and meet trials, to answer questions, to discipline them, to teach them how to pray and share their faith and most importantly, to experience and see modeled a godly Biblical family. That’s a church experience for youth based on LOVE and compassion and nurture and wisdom not on fun and easy going group art.