A Revival in Youth Ministry
It’s a new day for an important ministry area.
Today’s youth ministry has certainly evolved in the last 10 to 15 years. Churches are no longer looking only for the young, fresh-faced, charismatic youth leader whose boundless enthusiasm and energy represented the ministry’s primary assets. Instead, many congregations now realize that developing young disciples is a critical aspect of building up the church and strengthening church memberships. Investing in youth today is the first step in building a stronger body of Christ for tomorrow…keeping young people in the church is a better strategy than attempting to reclaim them once they are young adults and planning to have their own children.
In fact, that young and inexperienced youth worker who was formerly relegated to space in the church basement and paid accordingly is on the move up the church hierarchy. Many seminaries are now preparing youth ministers, and increased training and professional development opportunities are enhancing the skills and capabilities of many youth leaders today. As a result, average salaries for youth leaders have increased about 40% in the last 16 years. Similarly, new and exciting curriculum and resources are increasingly being developed for the multi-million dollar youth market. The investments are being made in youth ministry…and needed returns are being sought by churches everywhere.
At LOGOS, we see this trend playing out for many churches as congregations choose to commit to a ministry with children and youth. Our emphasis on the involvement of a large number of called adults to working with young people also reflects the trend toward “relational” ministry…meaningful, inter-generational relationships as the foundation for the process of building disciples. For more than 43 years, LOGOS ministry leaders have understood that the structure of a ministry is really only a framework for facilitating personal interactions between children and adult leaders. And so today, even as skilled youth ministry professionals are increasing their own capabilities and drawing upon an abundance of specialized resources, successful ministries are being based on strong partnerships with committed Christian adults.
It is certainly a new day for youth ministry…to the benefit of young people and their congregations.
September 27, 2006 at 6:51 pm
On Sunday, September 17th, “Next Generation” was launched. In the eyes of the “Next Generation” planning team, in the eyes of our elders, in my eyes, & in the eyes of each & every member I’ve talked with, God’s vision for Forest Hills Presbyterian Church (Pgh, PA) has become abundantly clear! God’s vision has come into focus!
This is what God created me for! This is what God created you for! This is why God called you & I together! I firmly believe that by the grace of God, “Next Generation” will sneeze into our church & into the community in which we live, spreading its germs, becoming infectious, so that new ministries will grow & more people of all ages, shapes, sizes & colors will come to love Christ. Ultimately, we aim to create an epidemic in which new missional ministries are being spread across our church & into the community in which we live.
A sneeze is messy. A sneeze is chaotic & uncontrollable. There is no rhyme or reason or order to a sneeze. And yet, a sneeze can be the most effective way to infect a large number of people in a very short period of time. A sneeze can be the catalyst that starts an epidemic. The emerging missional church operates like a sneeze. The new church of the early 21st Century will not be birthed like a baby or planted like trees in an orchard; rather, it will be caught like a cold.
Before “Next Generation” was officially launched, its cold had already spread. I wish you could have been downstairs that very morning when more than 20 of our children learned a memory verse, sang praises, gave an offering & grew in their love of God & each other thanks to the cold some of our members caught. This is the kind of epidemic the “Next Generation” sneeze will spread across the body of Christ that is Forest Hills Presbyterian Church.
Now that I’ve got you covering your mouths & washing your hands, just what is “Next Generation?” It is the discernment of God’s will for our mission & vision that’s been mutating for generations. It seeks to focus the ministry of our church on building intimate relationships with the teens in our community.
Teens today live in a completely different world than the one their parents grew up in. With the technological advances our world is enjoying, young people have more access to knowledge, communication & community. And yet, they feel more isolated & more alienated then ever. These post-moderns long for intimate relationships. They long for communion.
In an attempt to reach the next generation, we have discovered that “modern” evangelistic tactics do not work. A brand new way of being the church is required. We seek to redefine what it means to “do” church by actually “being” the church so that by experiencing the Kingdom, teens might come to know the King of Kings.
For “Next Generation,” this means investing in teen’s lives, going to them, & living incarnationally within their community. By practicing KIONONIA, we seek to reach the next emerging generation for Jesus. The Greek word, KIONONIA, means “to share communion with” & can refer to God, others, the Word, & suffering. This word, KIONONIA, is at the core of what this new kind of ministry is all about. It is the “cold that we caught.”
It’s time to be infectious! It’s time to spread some germs! It’s time to sneeze!
“Gesundheit!” ~ God Bless You!
† Special thanks to Rev. Jim Walker of the Hot Metal Bridge Faith Community for permission to use the “sneeze” concept.