Since I'm new to my current church, we are undergoing a period of change.
We are in the process of developing a youth ministry that incorporates all three models in some respect.
1) Event focused - montly events that range from intergenerational gatherings within our church, community service projects, and community building events (i.e. the "fun nights")
2) Relationally based - at some point during their high school career, the goal is to have each student in our youth ministry connected with an adult member of our church in a one-on-one mentoring relationship, whether through doing Profession of Faith, student leadership training, prayer or prayer partners
3) Small groups - we don't have small groups in the formal sense with an assigned leader; we have a more fluid approach where the groups and leaders change depending on who is in attendance at our discussion evenings. This approach fosters great relationships between the students and the leaders because there is always a bit of change from week to week. Our group is relatively small (just under 20 students), so this works well.
I appreciate the way you’ve described “fun with a purpose”, especially as it pertains to relationship building. I totally agree that this should be a primary focus of our fun events. What I had in mind when talking about fun events is in youth groups where the fun is the main emphasis and purpose of the youth group, as if youth group exists solely as a form of Christian entertainment – keep our kids entertained and then they will like church. I’ve seen it happen too many times where youth leaders/pastors are criticized by parents, youth, and other leaders when fun is not the focus - "give our youth what they want to keep them happy".
I agree with you that creating a safe space to have deep discussions is very important and that, unfortunately, this is not going to appeal to every student. However, I suppose this is also true to the church as a whole – I’m sure you’d agree that it is not the task of church leadership to cater to all wants and interests represented in the church. After all, the church is not a country club, right? The question is, how do we move ahead with the task of discipleship with the realization that not everyone is interesting in following Christ? I'm not suggesting that we leave those who are uninterested behind, but I think our priority needs to be focused on those who are hungry for growth.
I also echo your attitude related to “your” students going to other youth groups. They aren’t our sheep – they belong to Christ, so as long as they are getting fed, we should be saying “thank-you and Amen”. How can we create a partnering attitude between churches when it comes to “sharing” youth? Too often, churches are in the business of competing with each other and resort to some very interesting tactics in trying to reach out to youth. This attitude also extends within churches too – I’ve seen youth pastors pressured to create similar, if not identical, programs to other churches in an attempt to “win back” their youth from other youth groups. This seems to be a poor use of resources and it is certainly not fuelled by a kingdom vision.
I love your perspective on the size of your youth group – Amen!
How do we strike a positive balance between “large group”, “small group”, “missional”, “outreach”, “spiritual formation”, and “fun” events? I have a hunch that the only way to do this is to be more intentional in our congregations about shifting from being “multi-generational” to “inter-generational” churches.
I agree that numbers do matter, especially in terms of the way you’ve framed the discussion. What I had in mind in this article is the presumption (by parents, church leadership, youth, and youth leaders) that a youth group is “failing” if there is not 100% attendance by all church youth and/or if there is a specific son/daughter, niece/nephew, granddaughter/grandson who is not attending. I think there is tremendous pressure put on youth leaders from a number of different fronts on this issue. I understand the motivation behind the concern, but I think the responsibility is often misplaced.
Posted in: Survey on Program Model
Since I'm new to my current church, we are undergoing a period of change.
We are in the process of developing a youth ministry that incorporates all three models in some respect.
1) Event focused - montly events that range from intergenerational gatherings within our church, community service projects, and community building events (i.e. the "fun nights")
2) Relationally based - at some point during their high school career, the goal is to have each student in our youth ministry connected with an adult member of our church in a one-on-one mentoring relationship, whether through doing Profession of Faith, student leadership training, prayer or prayer partners
3) Small groups - we don't have small groups in the formal sense with an assigned leader; we have a more fluid approach where the groups and leaders change depending on who is in attendance at our discussion evenings. This approach fosters great relationships between the students and the leaders because there is always a bit of change from week to week. Our group is relatively small (just under 20 students), so this works well.
Posted in: A Final Post...and an Excitement for What's to Come
Paul,
Thanks for your leadership and wisdom over the past year. You're leaving big shoes to fill!
Blessings!
Posted in: Revisioning Youth Ministry
Mark,
Thanks for sharing your wisdom on this.
I appreciate the way you’ve described “fun with a purpose”, especially as it pertains to relationship building. I totally agree that this should be a primary focus of our fun events. What I had in mind when talking about fun events is in youth groups where the fun is the main emphasis and purpose of the youth group, as if youth group exists solely as a form of Christian entertainment – keep our kids entertained and then they will like church. I’ve seen it happen too many times where youth leaders/pastors are criticized by parents, youth, and other leaders when fun is not the focus - "give our youth what they want to keep them happy".
I agree with you that creating a safe space to have deep discussions is very important and that, unfortunately, this is not going to appeal to every student. However, I suppose this is also true to the church as a whole – I’m sure you’d agree that it is not the task of church leadership to cater to all wants and interests represented in the church. After all, the church is not a country club, right? The question is, how do we move ahead with the task of discipleship with the realization that not everyone is interesting in following Christ? I'm not suggesting that we leave those who are uninterested behind, but I think our priority needs to be focused on those who are hungry for growth.
I also echo your attitude related to “your” students going to other youth groups. They aren’t our sheep – they belong to Christ, so as long as they are getting fed, we should be saying “thank-you and Amen”. How can we create a partnering attitude between churches when it comes to “sharing” youth? Too often, churches are in the business of competing with each other and resort to some very interesting tactics in trying to reach out to youth. This attitude also extends within churches too – I’ve seen youth pastors pressured to create similar, if not identical, programs to other churches in an attempt to “win back” their youth from other youth groups. This seems to be a poor use of resources and it is certainly not fuelled by a kingdom vision.
I love your perspective on the size of your youth group – Amen!
How do we strike a positive balance between “large group”, “small group”, “missional”, “outreach”, “spiritual formation”, and “fun” events? I have a hunch that the only way to do this is to be more intentional in our congregations about shifting from being “multi-generational” to “inter-generational” churches.
I agree that numbers do matter, especially in terms of the way you’ve framed the discussion. What I had in mind in this article is the presumption (by parents, church leadership, youth, and youth leaders) that a youth group is “failing” if there is not 100% attendance by all church youth and/or if there is a specific son/daughter, niece/nephew, granddaughter/grandson who is not attending. I think there is tremendous pressure put on youth leaders from a number of different fronts on this issue. I understand the motivation behind the concern, but I think the responsibility is often misplaced.
Thanks again for sharing, Mark.
Posted in: Revisioning Youth Ministry
Here is a great short article on why youth stay connected to churches: spoiler alert - it has nothing to do with how well they were entertained...
http://www.churchleaders.com/youth/youth-leaders-articles/153948-why-youth-stay-in-the-church-when-they-grow-up.html
Posted in: Celebrating Our Network "Winners"
Private groups is a great idea...
Posted in: Revisioning Youth Ministry
A few weeks ago at a Classis meeting, I was part of a group of youth pastors from Classis Toronto (and beyond!) who gave a presentation on Youth Ministry in the CRC. You can find the presentation notes here: http://rootedradical.wordpress.com/2012/05/11/re-visioning-youth-ministry-part-1/
http://rootedradical.wordpress.com/2012/05/11/re-visioning-youth-ministry-part-2/
Posted in: A Good Reason to Gather [Bruce's Blog]
Thank-you, Bruce, for this challenge!
Posted in: Measuring Youth Leader Success
Amen and Amen!
Thanks, Paul. Your post reminds us that Numbers is a book in the Bible, not a Fruit of the Spirit...