A New Kind of Youth Ministry Guiding Students Into Spiritual Formation for the Mission of God

Youth Ministry and the Church

I've been thinking a bunch lately about how we help our students best understand the Church and its work in the mission of God.  I have received several recent emails in which youth workers have expressed a deep concern for their students understanding of the church.

Can the students in your youth ministry describe the nature of the Church?  Do your students recognize the role of the Church in the mission of God?  Are your students able to identify with the biblical metaphors of the Church?  All of these questions are born out of the concerns that I have heard youth workers repeatedly expressing. As we are all aware there has been a great deal of dialogue surrounding the data concluding that students are 'leaving the church' upon the completion of high school with no plans to return.  I've heard many reasons as to the cause of this great challenge we face ranging from the increased level of apathy of students (which I don't think is in anyway the primary reason) to the abandonment of today's youth by both culture and the Church to a myriad of other suggested causes that are in some way connected to the inability and desire for local churches to embrace change and new practices.

I'm not an expert on the issue of what is so often thought of as the most daunting challenge facing the church today -- that being the mass exit of emerging adults.  For all I know there may be dozens of causes that have led to this challenge.  So I don't proclaim my absolute conclusions.  I do, however, have a hunch.  My hunch is that many of our students, as a result of not knowing the Bible's story, haven't been guided toward an understanding of the work of the church in the mission of God and therefore have no framework for or devotion to the church and its nature and work.

What is your hunch as to the cause of such a challenge?  Maybe you have more than a hunch; you have a conclusion?  If so, what have you concluded and what might the church do differently to cultivate a passion for the church among emerging adults?

Perhaps a great starting point for our students is to help them see the Church as a people who are about conversion, community and conformity.

> By conversion I mean that the Church is to be a people concerned about evangelism, hospitality, generosity, liberation and formation.

> By community I mean that the Church is to be a people concerned about providing a sense of belonging, responsibility, inspiration, sharing, diversity and inclusivity.

> By conformity I mean that the Church is to be a people concerned about their desire to form spiritually.  That is, a community that is consistently seeking to arrange its personal and communal lives around the mission of God, the person and work of Jesus, submission to the gifts and roles of the Holy Spirit in order t become a people full of grace and dedicated to the healing of all people through salvation and justice.

What else might we consider as part of the framework to help students best understand the nature and work of the Church?  As far as you are concerned, do you feel like the Church is doing a good job helping emerging adults understand the Church?  How might the Church improve in its efforts?

Youth Ministry and Mentoring

[I've been posting once a week over at Scot McKnight's blog.  You can read the post and join the conversation over there and read my previous posts HERE.  Below is this weeks installment...]

Sometimes I wonder how I ever even made it as a youth minister through my emerging adulthood years (think: Dr. Jeffrey Arnett and his book, Emerging Adulthood: The Winding Road From Late Teens Through The Twenties).  The first position I held as a "solo" youth minister I was only 22 years old.  Those years were largely a time that I would characterize my life's experiences as experimental and transitory and my inner life as self-absorbed, unbalanced and stuck.

Disclaimer:  I am not generalizing about a stage of life here; I am telling you who I was and at times, still am.

I took a call today from a youth minister in the Midwest who sounded a whole lot like I did when I was his age (25) and in my first few years of youth ministry; energetic, idealistic, optimistic, self-assured, and fearless.  The conversation was frightening in the sense that it took me back to mistakes I had made over a decade ago, words I had spoken in absolute certainty that I wish I could take back and statements I made to myself like, "I can handle this" or "I don't need any help".

The difference between the youth minister I spoke to today and me at his age is this; he knows enough to long for and look for a mentor, I thought I could do it all on my own.  The problem this minister is having is that he can't find one--maybe he isn't looking that hard or looking in the wrong places.  I don't think that is the issue however, as today's conversation was one of a dozen or so I have had over the last year.

I certainly don't have anything against a 25 year old being a youth minister and being called on to guide the spiritual formation of a dozen or sometimes ten dozen teenagers.  Much of my life is spent training and equipping 25-year olds.  What I do have a problem with, however, is what I perceive as the outright neglect of older more mature men and women to mentor the emerging adults.

Am I the only one who sees a huge gap between the expectations we place on the lives of emerging adults to lead our youth ministry's and the mentoring those ministers are getting?  Is it that youth ministers don't want to be mentored?  Is it that others (church boards, pastors, etc.) won't take seriously the role of mentoring?

I had and currently have wonderful mentors in my life.  I must say that the mentors who have taken their role with me seriously have undoubtedly changed and continue to change the way that I live, pray, work, play, etc.  I continue to wonder if much of what concerns us about youth ministry today isn't at the very least reduced by commitments to mentoring.  What would youth ministry be like if the churches who hired emerging adults to lead their youth ministry's were as passionate about mentoring the minister as they were about the minister mentoring the students?

Maybe I am trying to tackle an issue that really isn't all that noticeable to anyone but me, that is possible.  I'd love to hear from all of you on this, however, I'd especially love to hear from some of you who are youth ministers and would be classified as an emerging adult (late teens through the twenties).  What do you think?  Do you think a mentor might help you be a better youth minister?  Do you already have a mentor?  If so, is it working?  Why or Why not?  Are you looking for a mentor and can't find one?

My heart aches tonight…

My heart aches tonight for my friends at Youth Specialties who have engaged in a re-organization of their company resulting in some significant days of transition ahead.  You can read more detail about the situation over at Marko's blog.
Artwork from: http://www.illustrators.co.za/becker/cloudy-day.jpg

I’m starting to see the light again…

I have finished the manuscripts to two of my most recent books.  Clear and Story, Signs and Sacred Rhythms are both slated to come out with YS/Zondervan sometime this year.  There is still some editing to go but for the most part -- I feel done.

Currently, I am moving on to some other fun projects including a book with my friend and youth pastor Jason Gant, called, You Are Here: Developing a Life of Mission (working title).  It's early in the process but it seems like it'll be a helpful book for high school students.

As much as I have enjoyed not blogging for a bit, I am beginning to feel the itch again.  We'll see how it goes. So I guess I am back for a while anyway.

I'm looking forward to being a part of a youth worker training day for metro KC youth workers tomorrow.  My friends Nate and Tim are hosting a bunch of us at their church -- Hillcrest Covenant.  There is some great people talking about some great stuff.  I get to have a small part in it -- with Jason Gant.  We are looking forward to teaching together for the first time.  We're doing a two sessions on "Giving Your Life Away" (some basics on mentoring).

I beseech Thee…

Forbid that I should walk through Thy beautiful world with unseeing eyes:

Forbid that the lure of the market-place should ever entirely steal my heart away from the love of the open acres and the green trees:

Forbid that under the low roof of workshop or office or study I should ever forget Thy great overarching sky:

Forbid that when all Thy creatures are greeting the morning with songs and shouts of joy, I alone should wear a dull and sullen face:

Let the energy and vigour which in Thy wisdom Thou hast infused into every living thing stir to-day within my being, that I may not be among Thy creatures as a sluggard and a drone:

And above all give me grace to use these beauties of earth without me and this eager stirring of life within me as a means whereby my soul may rise from creature to Creator, and from nature to nature's God.

From: A Diary of Private Prayer, John Baille

I want to be like this 11 year-old boy one day…

Check out our new look…

We still have a few glitches to work out and as nearly all websites are, our new site is a work in progress. We are thrilled to have a new look!

Visit our new Youthfront website here: http://www.youthfront.com/

Thanks to our friends at INFUSION for their creativity and great work!

Merge to Echo The Story

A few years ago Sonlife developed a learning experience for HS students called Merge. Merge was designed to help students merge with God’s story, way of life and mission.

There was a bunch of people involved in the development of Merge. Mike Novelli (now of Echo The Story, LLC and Imago Media) led the development process and was the creative genius behind it.

Before I hired Mike to work at Sonlife he had been exploring Chronological Bible Story and was developing a set of narratives to use within the context of the youth ministry that he was leading at
the time. Mike brought to Sonlife the narratives and the dream of an experience that would inspire, equip and challenge students towards God’s ways.

As Sonlife transitioned through the creation of new training content and resources, we felt like it was a great time to experiment with facilitating an event in the realm of what Mike had been dreaming about. Although Merge was a Sonlife event it was really born out of the passion, mission and creativity of Mike Novelli.

When Sonlife merged with Youthfront last fall, we (Youthfront) decided that we would continue to facilitate Merge especially for youth ministries who had made it a regular part of their summer routine. So, this past summer we had a wonderful time facilitating Merge at Youthfront Camp South. One youth worker said it was the best community-wide formation experience his ministry had ever been a part of. That is really cool...

Recently at Youthfront we have decided to concentrate our ongoing efforts on what we do best which is (1) Creating environments of spiritual transformation (currently camp, Croc, etc.) (2) Developing and delivering theologically and philosophically attentive training for youth workers that is inspiring, thoughtful and practical and (3) Provide resources that assist youth workers in their efforts to lead
transformational youth ministries -- through partnerships with publishing companies.

We love many of the ideas found within Merge and we had a blast facilitating it this past summer. We have decided, however, that we will no longer facilitate Merge. Instead, we have released the rights of Merge to Echo The Story, LLC. So, be looking for Merge to be facilitated by Mike Novelli and the partners he brings around Echo to make it an even greater event.

We are working directly with Barefoot Publishing to create an affordable resource developed around narrative theology, fixed hours of prayer, interactive and experiential learning methods and fundamental practices for spiritual formation.

We think that with the growing economic stress that churches are under these days a resource might be more helpful than an event – especially with the rising costs of renting facilities, traveling costs, etc.

This resource is scheduled to be available the the spring of 09 just in time for those of you who want to use it within the context of your youth ministry (camp, retreats, learning series’, etc.) during the summer months. Next month will be working some of the early kinks out with 60 or so camp directors and youth workers in Orlando, in partnership with NYI. We are looking forward to serving you and your ministry via this new resource.

Finally Alive Again

I have had some trouble with my blog as of late. It seems like we have the kinks worked out now. For some reason I couldn't login to my dashboard to write, edit or anything else.

WordPress has been good to me so far so I am not ready to bail on them yet but if I go nearly two weeks without being able to login in again -- I am jumping ship.

I plan to finish up my '5 Dangerous Things' posts with Doug and I also have some recent reads to post about soon too. I am going to gear back up sometime after Labor Day. Peace.