Youth Ministry: Family Based?
Here is my latest post over at Jesus Creed.
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Since I began posting here several months ago I have received a dozen or so requests for me to post on "family-based youth ministry." For those of you who have been requesting this, I think you might be disappointed with this post. Honestly, I have no idea what to say about family based youth ministry. I mean, I know how some are defining it and I think I like the idea of it, generally speaking, but I have no idea what it means to be a family-based youth ministry.
Can somebody help me out with this?
I've read some portions of books and articles, sat in some seminars here and there and I've been in a ton of conversations about the importance of family-based youth ministry. However, I still haven't really witnessed a youth ministry who is truly shaping a family-based youth ministry where the "God-designed structures of the nuclear family and the extended family of the church are helping young people grow toward mature Christian adulthood." I'm not sure I could even begin to explain it in a coherent way
Do I think the family has a role in the spiritual formation of their children? Of course I do. Do I think that the local faith community has a responsibility to create environments for the spiritual formation of others children? Of course I do. Do I think that youth ministries and families need to be in harmony and working together to support one another in our roles and responsibilities? Of course I do. Do I know how to structure a youth ministry in such a way that does this effectively? Of course I don't. Does anybody?
Can someone help me better understand what it looks like for a youth ministry to be family-based? For those of you who are in the process of shaping family-based youth ministries, what does it look like? I mean, what kinds of things are you doing that are different than the "conventional" youth ministry models?
So, I thought that rather than trying to reveal my ignorance on the issue, I'd rather sit back and learn from those of you who are doing it. Here are some questions that I would love some thoughts on (and so would the group of people who've requested this theme).
• Is there a need for a youth pastor/worker in a family-based model?
• What does discipleship/formation look like in a family-based model?
• How do you go about this in cooperation with the other staff or workers in your church (for example, the children's ministry)
• How does the 'youngish' in age youth pastor/worker even lead parents of teenagers toward such a model? (Of course, I am assuming that there is a need for a youth pastor/worker in such a model.)
• Does it work? Do you have any 'success' stories to share? What defines success?
• Where might I go to get some really good help on better understanding what family-based youth ministry is?
• How do the youth in your faith community feel about family-based youth ministry?
Again, I'd really love to be informed on this topic. I long for youth ministries to be more proactive in working with the family in process of spiritual formation of youth for the mission of God and I think there are many others like me out there. Help! Where do we go with this?
May 23rd, 2009 - 20:57
i keep bumping into a church that should have a thriving youth ministry, but doesn’t, all in the name of “we are committed to family-based youth ministry”. I’ve got many leaders who have kids in our ministry and i always remind them that their kids get to veto their parent’s participation, cause a teen just needs some space to explore and work out their identity in Christ. Thus, i pull in parents in many ways, like recently inviting all the parents of seniors to our graduation celebration night. Involving parents at sporatic times in meaningful ways, seems to be the best combo of family-based ministry I can find. Pastor Dustin
May 24th, 2009 - 15:25
Hi, discriminative posts there
hold responsible’s recompense the compelling information
May 28th, 2009 - 22:35
We are a church striving to create a student ministry that partners with parents to help teens become fully devoted followers of Christ. FAMILY BASED YOUTH MINISTRY is a over used term. We are trying to create a family model where we empower parents, keep them informed, give them tools AND at the same time create irresistible environments and events to reach teens in our city. In our model youth pastors and youth volunteers are critical. Leadership is drastically important. We hope for many families we the ministry and the home can be saying the same things. 2 combined influences.
Great book to read…THINK ORANGE by Reggie Joiner, this will help with the foundation of where we are going.
our team is from Grace Community church http://www.gcomchurch.com
September 7th, 2009 - 20:07
I am a seminary student and am studying this very thing. There seems to be a few ways of doing family ministry. The bigest concern is to not add another program, but to change a mindset. It is something too big to discuss in this area and short time frame. Without promoting any one way of doing family ministry let me leave you with some names that have been used in several of my classes that may help. Google can help with these.
Brian Haynes “Shift” as well as the web sites kingsland.org and legacymilestones.com
Timothy Paul Jones (several titles)
Steve Wright (several titles) website lastingdivergence.ning.com
Jay Strother with Brentwood Baptist Church in Brentwood, TN
These are the big names training and actually doing family ministry.
If you do a little research with these names, it may give you a better picture.
October 25th, 2009 - 08:07
We need more than anything is to go back to the bible and be honest to see what is says on how we should minister to our youth and their families not our culture. The you ministry you see in the bible consist of 3 things 1) THE PARENTS BEING THE SPIRITUAL MOTIVATORS OF THEIR CHILDREN 2) A STRONG MENTORING PROGRAM WHERE THE OLDER MEN TEACH THE YOUNGER AND 3) WHERE THE OLDER WOMEN TEACH THE OLDER WOMEN! Church leaders and parents must meet and discuss how the church and our families can parter together. This model might not be popular but it is bibical and right!