I spent some time this afternoon thinking about our youth ministry programming over the past year. I had read this blog entitled “Do you keep pushing youth ministry buttons that don’t work?” and it got me thinking about our youth ministry program.
Having been one of Kenda Creasy Dean’s students at Princeton Theological Seminary, one question that will forever be stuck in the back of my mind when planning youth ministry programming is “What is the theological foundation for _______?” Before going to seminary, I probably planned a bunch of stuff with my previous youth group for no real good reason. It may have been because I just thought there were certain activities I “had” to do at youth group. Or maybe there were just things that we’d always done that I needed to keep doing. But I didn’t really think very theologically about what I was doing.
So, whether it’s a blessing or a curse, now that question is forever with me. And that’s very much the focus behind the post I read on Rethinking Youth Ministry today. Are you doing things in youth ministry “just because?” Are you planning events that don’t have any theological basis or don’t connect to your vision or mission?
So I did what the article suggested and made a list of all the activities in the past year. Luckily, our church spent about a year coming up with our Core Values Statement, so we do have something that all ministries in our church can measure their programming up against. Our Core Values Statement is, “Centered in Jesus Christ, we grow in faith, celebrate community, and serve others with love.” After going through our activities and seeing which part of the Core Values they were accomplishing, I found out that 13 activities were about celebrating community, 6 were about growing in faith and 3 were about serving others with love. (Now, it might help to explain that an “activity” could have been a one time event like a mission trip, or it could have been a regular weekly activity like Sunday School or youth group).
I’m not really sure how I feel about those numbers. But I’m guessing that they reflect a pretty average breakdown for many churches today. Our church’s youth programming relies heavily on fellowship activities: events or gatherings that are fun, focused on community building and just about getting these kids together. Now, that’s not inherently a bad thing. There is certainly theological support for building community and creating safe places for youth to gather together and feel free to truly be themselves.
But is that really where the focus should be? Or should our primary goal in youth ministry to be getting youth to be in service to others and the world, and to help them develop and grow their faith? Now, I know it isn’t quite fair to completely separate these things. Clearly, youth missions are very important for many people because it is a chance for youth to serve others, and so often their faith is also grown at the same time.
What do you think about your youth ministry? If you were to do a breakdown of your activities, how would it end up looking? Would you be happy with the results? Do you feel like you’re focusing on the right areas?
I was thinking about this and realized that it might be best to compare the ratio of activities to those of the rest of the church. When I was at a more service oriented church it was easy to do more than now, but here a few is radical. It seems that our own assessment as youth ministers should be related to what the parents do as adult members of the church.
Yeah I don’t even know if there can be a correct ratio. It depends on your church’s priorities I would suppose. I was really encouraged by your talking about thinking through activities theologically. That’s something all of us need to be doing.
Thanks Adam,
I think these are helpful (necessary) questions for us to be asking. I use similar categories when planning events/activities – not so that I have a “correct ratio” but to teach my youth and parents why we’re doing things. i.e. We’re spending the day at an amusement park riding rides and going to Christian concerts because it’s an opportunity for fellowship. We have Sunday School classes and times for teaching because of our commitment to discipleship. We do other outreach events, mission trips, service projects because of our emphasis on service/mission. I don’t think we always have the best balance, but I think we are striving in the right direction.
@tripp – I’m not so concerned that our ratios are similar to those of the larger church. Actually, i think the youth (at least in our church) have the opportunity to set a model for lives of outreach, mission and service. My hope is that youth can serve as leaders to encourage and motivate adults (even their parents) to live out their convictions in serious, real and life-giving ways.
I definitely think its important to keep a mission statement in mind so that we can continue to be set our aim in the right direction.
I think the effectiveness (in transforming lives) of our work in youth ministry can be minimized when youth don’t also have strong adult examples (preferably their parents) who are also having their lives transformed by the love of Jesus. This is the area I would like to hear more about. Thanks again Adam.
I’ve been thinking about this. I’m sure our youth group breaks down on similar lines, with less faith and adding an element of “engaging important issues of the day.” I’m bothered by it, a bit.
The thing behind all the fellowship however…
Kids just have the biggest BS-radar tuned on their leaders. They can smell a hidden agenda a mile away. And if the “ask the pastor your theological questions” night turns into a “incorporate teens into church membership” night, or a “plan a social justice program” night, you’ve lost half the teens at one go. They really need a lot of quality time – without an agenda – spent together (and especially with their leaders) to get to the place of trust where they CAN do the faith-growing… even more to get to the point where they’d WANT to do it with you.
This may be making excuses… but it’s how I deal with my sense of disproportion in our programs. I think the community/fellowship actually makes the others possible, and that it’s nearly impossible to do without it.
You asked if our focus should really be on creating safe places where kids can be free to be themselves. And I think we presuppose that the answer be NO. But maybe it’s YES. I don’t know. It’s something I’m still wrestling with (and will probably continue to wrestle with, especially through my blog and dialogue), and it’s really my primary mental thorn in the flesh: with kids, how do we integrate focused discipleship with games, fun, and freedom? I think it’s kind of neglectful to come from simply a theological slant. We need to look at the developmental just as seriously. This question haunts me, but I hope it will drive me forward rather than paralyze me.
Love the question and Kenda Creasy Dean. I think my youth ministry has tipped so far away from fellowship activities that I struggle to engage students who come as guests. But I feel like the events that I could put up outside the Wednesday night would only compete with a student’s family time.
Have you sensed an overall decrease in “free time” and if so where do you give?
I’d be interested to hear what your youth ministry looks like if it’s gone so far away from fellowship activities. What does a normal night look like for you?
Sunday morning: Middle School class/ discussion groups
Sunday morning: High School serve in ministry areas throughout church
Sunday night: All student meet in home groups with their families
Wednesday Night: All student worship/ Main teaching slots
I do a fellowship event in the spring and one in the fall/winter (Rock climbing, Christmas party, etc)
I do a Six Flags trip in the summer.
That’s about it.
That’s cool man. I have a hard time getting our youth interested in engaging in anything other than games & fellowship activities. So it’s impressive that you can have the program that you have.
haha love it! Sounds like both the title and the topic of my recent ebook! :)