A New Kind of Youth Ministry

I don’t think anyone can predict the future.  I do believe, however, that some can see the future.  Unpredictable doesn’t always mean unimaginable.

Scenario thinking is a process of visualizing the future.  It is the sibling of its older brother called, strategic planning and its purpose is simple – to proactively plan for future rather than being an inactive casualty of inevitable change.

The scenario thinking process asks the “What if?” questions and leads toward potential behaviors and practices based on forecasted trends or events.  While strategic planning tends to deal with the situations and conditions of today, the scenario thinking process deals with what might happen tomorrow.

There are big “What if’s?” like social changes, technological advances, economic threats, environmental concerns, political matters, etc. and then there are smaller “What if’s?” like church attendance, student involvement, old/new buildings, leadership transitions, salaries, volunteer participation, etc.  Of course, the determination of big and small is relative.

I like to use the scenario thinking process in my consultation with churches, youth ministries and with our staff at Youthfront for two main reasons.  First, scenario thinking helps people arrive at the “driving forces” or the unique environmental influences that might lead to paradigm shifting and unavoidable transition.  Second, scenario thinking spawns creativity and makes vital use of the imagination.  Emerging out from creativity and imagination are new thoughts and ideas.

I thought it would be good practice, a great learning experience and a bunch of fun for all of us to engage in some scenario thinking.  Over the next few days and weeks we’ll do some thinking around a variety of scenarios.  Each of the scenarios will be specifically related to youth ministry and will attempt to help all of us proactively plan for the future to avoid being casualties of inevitable change.

I am prepared for seven different scenarios at this point.  Sometime tonight or tomorrow I will post scenario # 1.  However, I’d love to get some scenarios from all of you at some point in this learning exchange.

There are only three guidelines for submitting scenarios.  (Simply use the comment tool to submit your scenario.)

1. The scenario must be youth ministry specific
2. Each scenario must have a helpful time frame
3. Each scenario must clearly articulate a “What if?”

Let’s avoid being a casualty of inevitable change and proactively plan for the future!