What To Do About Youth Ministry in the 21st Century Church?

Lately, I have been doing a fair amount of reading and reflecting about youth ministry. Specifically, what is the best way to pastor to young people between the ages of grades 1-12? In my new ministry situation, the reality of life is that most families are only going to commit to an hour for worship that includes some sort of education for their children. I have been fighting that resistance for nearly twenty-five years. To be honest with you, I wish not to engage in that battle anymore.

So, I am coming to the conclusion that young people in grades 1-6 need to be offered some sort of education during the limited time we have them on Sunday morning. I also believe that students in grades 7-12 need to be in worship on Sunday morning learning the basic teachings of the faith and being mentored by the larger community in the prayers and praises that we offer to God. In addition, parents need to be parents and teach their children the Way of faith, not opting out of their responsibilities as far too many do (but that is another post for another time!).

Somewhere in all of this mix is the need for additional time to nurture our young people outside the confines of Sunday worship. I have witnessed more than my fair share of folks who have come to me over the years with the promise of doing "cutting edge ministry" with the teens. In the end, the promise never comes to fruition and the Church hurries on to the next fad or craze in ministry.

Cameron Cole who serves as the youth director for the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham, Alabama offers some very wise counsel about youth ministry and what all of us should be doing and supporting in our local congregation. His article is entitled: "Resisting the Urge to do Cutting Edge Youth Ministry". Cole writes....

In my early twenties upon moving to Birmingham, AL, I attended for three months a mega-church with an impressive growth rate. The pastor regularly boasted about the church’s increasing attendance in between opportunities to talk about the large audiences, to which he was speaking around the world. My last Sunday was capped by the pastor’s proclamation that the incredible prosperity of the church resulted from the “cutting edge ministry,” which they performed (and, oh yea, God too.) I exited with a bad taste in my mouth and a headache from the number of times I rolled my eyes that Sunday.

Fast forward ten years. I had been working for six years as a youth pastor at the Cathedral Church of the Advent. During a meeting with a business leader in town, where I explained our somewhat unique approach to reaching postmodern teens through a fragmented ministry of smaller, intimate clusters of students, the entrepreneur said, “Wow, it sounds like you guys are really working at the tip of the spear.” As I burned with pride, the voice of my ego whispered, “You might even say that we are on the....cutting edge.” In the one- and only one- potentially cutting edge moment of my life (which lasted ninety seconds), I felt this rush of pride as if my efforts made the difference and as if I had distinguished myself from other ministries. (These are ironically vain sentiments for someone who still uses a flip phone.)

In all spheres of ministry, the temptation lurks to be “cutting edge.” This enticement may exist more in youth ministry more than other sectors, due to the frequently evolving nature of teen culture, where the target seemingly moves every five to seven years. In a valuable manner, youth ministry people seek to keep a watchful eye on the most efficacious means by which to reach teenagers. It is part of what makes the field exciting and dynamic. At the same time, youth ministry can dedicate exorbitant amounts of attention to finding a magic bullet in our methodology.

The longer I work with students, the more convinced I am that there is nothing sexy or cutting edge about effective youth ministry. I have annoyed many a colleague with my penchant for repeatedly saying, “There is nothing new under the sun: if you want to be cutting edge, go into biomedical engineering or particle physics, not ministry.” Effective youth ministry boils down to pursuing relationships, teaching scripture, proclaiming the Gospel, worshiping, and praying fervently. That is it. Ministry revolving around these five components has endless possibilities. Other parts of ministry, such as missions, social justice, and fellowship, can have great vibrancy with such a foundation. Ministry that lacks relating, exegeting, proclaiming, worshiping, or praying usually evolves into an exercise in futility or a practice in “playing church.”

Such a minimalistic philosophy will not sell many books or land you on a panel at the next conference. Nobody has ever been impressed when I describe our strategy with a few participles: loving, teaching, proclaiming, worshiping, and praying. Perhaps, this is because effective youth ministry involves a healthy lack of confidence in our ability to effectuate change and transfers all hope upon what Jesus did do and what the Holy Spirit can do. Thus, our methods become less sexy and sophisticated and more simple and basic. What a relief! Thanks be to God. (The Rooted Blog)

There is another reflection on youth ministry that you should read (too long to print here and pretty damning of what the Church has failed to accomplish over the past fifty years - but well worth the read). Youth Ministry - The Fifty Year Failed Experiment by Father John Peck.

And one more reflection comes by the way of The Christian Post suggesting that today's youth ministries should be disbanded, calling the common practice of separating congregations by age for worship and Bible study "unbiblical." In the paradigm shift, Scott Brown said churches would have "the older gathering together with the younger for worship, celebration, and instruction. It would look like what happened in Deuteronomy 12 where Moses commands the parents to bring whole families to come and worship and sacrifice. It's the only pattern you see in Scripture. You never see Moses, or Nehemiah, or Jesus, or the apostle Paul, or anyone ever segregating people by age. On the contrary, integrated discipleship is really an un-disputable pattern of Scripture." See more of this article by clicking here.

 

Cole's message has always been my experience with young people. The best youth ministry moments in my life have been the one on one relationships grounded in the Scriptures, sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ, and surrounded by much prayer. There was that Thursday night Youth Bible Study at Christ Church in Charlotte that still offers me fond and cherished memories. As a matter of fact, I am still in relationship with many of those young people years later - thanks be to God.

A Church Development Officer once told me it was best to keep ministry simple. Perhaps that is the way forward in ministry to our young people.

Love One Another - Brian