A New Kind of Youth Ministry

Below are nine considerations youth workers might employ to provide a more family-oriented approach to youth ministry.

1. See the bigger picture and start younger. A more family-oriented ministry cannot happen unless we work hard to start when our youth are children. This requires youth workers to have a broader perspective and definition of youth ministry and to be intentional about creating harmony with the church’s work with children.

2. Develop and commit to a theology of formation. A youth ministry that does not have a theology of formation often lacks the ability to see how others in the church might help them guide students into spiritual formation for the mission of God. I’m not referring to a programming structure as much as I am a pathway for developing teens and families toward becoming more like Jesus. Your programs can help this, but they can’t do this. You need a theology of formation to guide your efforts.

3. Understand family systems. Every youth worker does not need a degree in sociology or psychology. However, every youth worker does need to seek out and develop a working knowledge of how healthy families function and then help other families embrace those traits.

4. Lead by listening. Listen well. How aware are you of the various needs your families have? There will be many, and they will be unique, and you may need to ask.

5. Resource families with tools and practices. One of the easiest yet most helpful things you can do is provide tools and practices for families to use to engage spiritual formation. For example, my family has a prayer cube that we use before each meal. It was given to me by my youth pastor years ago.

6. Schedule fewer events/services and encourage the families in your faith community to use the extra time for family gatherings. You may want to offer suggestions for families of ways to use their time. My experience has been that families want to do this but don’t know what to do to engage all their children, who may be at various age levels.

7. Develop a team of parents who represent various families from various backgrounds. Let families speak into your ministry. This will help ensure that you are engaging families right where they are. This is hard to do for many reasons, one of which is age. If you are a younger, less experienced youth worker, you may want to delegate the leadership and coordination of this team to a more mature staff person or volunteer while you sit back and learn.

8. Create opportunities for the youth and families to experience the youth ministry together. This does not have to be elaborate or even often. However, your effort and willingness to do this will most likely be viewed by parents as helpful. Most will be grateful.

9. If you have a family yourself, lead your own family well, and others will learn from you. I know too many youth workers whose families come after the youth ministry. That sucks. Lead your family well and model family formation, and you will help others do the same.

For more information on this topic, read two of my friends’ (Andy Root & Jim Hampton) perspectives over at Slant33.com.

I received a call yesterday from a young youth worker in the Midwest who has been wrestling through some leadership struggles in his church.  Midway through the conversation this youth worker said, “I don’t understand why people won’t listen to me.  I mean, I am the youth pastor!”

As many of you have come to know through experiences of your own, leadership is not a position — it is influence.  Influence, the ability to move or impel a person or a group of people toward common action, isn’t given to any leader.  Rather, it is procured through an ongoing display of competency, communication, commitment to mission, the ability to relate to and with people, trust in self and others, honesty, the desire to value others etc.

Youth workers, we are not a leaders because of a position or an office we hold.  We are leaders only when we’ve proven ourselves to others through the enduring mission and message of our life.

I’ve found there to be three critical aspects to leading others.  I call it trialogical leadership.  Each of these three aspects are in conversation with each other to form a holistic way of moving others toward a common goal.  Realistically, these three are one — intuition, imagination and inspiration.

Intuition: This is your ability to discern, your gut feelings, your innate knowledge — a sixth sense.  This is leading by feeling your way around and through critical questions and decisions.  This aspect of leadership requires that you are attentive to your experiences and have the ability to evaluate your experiences through inquiry and a balanced filter of listening and learning.

Imagination: You have to be able to see the future.  You have to be able to imagine your dream becoming a reality.  As leaders we need to be able to connect mental ideas and concepts with the senses for people.  Leading with imagination requires a thoughtful approach to all that we do.  This means that we move past mere daydreaming and occupy intelligent thinking that leads toward context and meaning.  Leading with imagination means that we create a portal for people to see and feel what they otherwise can’t find real on their own.  We connect the dots of mission and vision for those entrusting leadership to us.

Inspiration: Leaders move people toward the accomplishment of a common goal by breathing fresh air into their lungs through creative ideas, storytelling, metaphor, play, truth-telling, empathy, parable, practice, etc.  To lead by inspiration means that we are being inspired by the very same things we use to inspire others.  If not, we dry up and loose the capacity to evoke the artistry of others.  To genuinely inspire, we must embody the very things we desire to see in others.

I’ve been thinking lately about the best ways to help students engage Scripture.  It seems as though each time I speak or facilitate a training seminar or workshop I am asked about the best ways to get students to read their Bible.

I hear comments like, “My students just don’t want to read the Bible.  They say it is boring.” or “Our students won’t read the Bible unless there is some prize at the end of it.”  I have even heard, “Our students are so indifferent.  Most of them wouldn’t know what the Bible was if it hit them on the head.” (To which I replied, “Well, maybe that is because that is what you are trying to do with Scripture.  That is, beat your students over the head.”)

I haven’t got the secret formula bottled up and hidden away in my youth ministry laboratory or anything ridiculous like that.  I do I have a few thoughts on how to engage students in the Bible, however.

4 Basic Tips for Engaging Students in the Bible

1. Start with the fundamentals. Help your students know that the Bible is quite simply about 1) God 2) humans and 3) how humans interact with God and each other for the sake of the world.  For example, the creation narrative is not a science thesis it is a biography of God.

2.  Stop proof texting! Using the scriptures without thoughtful consideration of the verses meaning as understood within a greater context is not helpful.  If you think reading a verse hear or there or using a verse to prove your teaching point is helpful, think again.  I think it may do more harm than good.  Teach from a narrative perspective — not from your pet truth.  When teaching from a particular passage be sure to give the greater context for the passage.  Context is everything!

3.  Begin engaging students with experience not authority.  Before I go on let me make it clear that I absolutely believe in the authority of the Bible.  I believe the Bible is true.  Now, with that said, I don’t think that students process information through the lens of authority, however.  I believe that students process and learn through their own story and experience – all of life’s encounters (with self and others). If you want to engage students in the Bible provide experiences that engage them in actively living the Bible all the while helping them reframe their own story within the context of God’s story.

4. Provide a hermeneutical practice for your students. In other words, help them interpret the Bible and find meaning and application through an exercise that helps them better understand the context of a passage.  Examples of this would be to use the Wesleyan Quadrilateral (Scripture>Tradition>Reason>Experience) as a means of interpretation.  You might even just guide them into the rhythm of asking a series of questions such as, “What does this passage tell me about God?  What does this passage tell me about myself?  What does this passage tell me about others?  What does this passage tell me about the world?”

No doubt students need to more deeply engage the narrative of God (as do adults by the way!) but consider your methods, practices and habits up to this point.  Evaluate if the reason your students aren’t interacting with the Bible is because of your own our confusing and vague methods.

Do any of you have tips for helping other youth workers (or parents or pastors or whomever) engage students in the Bible?

The last few months I have had a hard time containing my excitement for a resource that our team has been working on called, A World Unbroken: Hope and Healing for a Shattered World.

We began working on the project for the Church of the Nazarene almost a year ago.  What started out as a theme idea for their quadrennial youth event (NYC) has turned into a resource that will be made available to anyone wanting to engage students in the story and mission of God.

Those of you who know me and read my books, blogs, articles, etc. know that I am passionate about finding new and challenging ways to call and inspire students to participate in God’s mission to restore the world to its intended wholeness.  The last few years I have been wanting to create a youth ministry resource that would be an interactive, multidimensional, community focused and what I refer to as a shared-curriculum resource. A resource designed to fire the imagination of students, creating within them a passion and commitment to missional living.  I am thrilled with the way the resource is shaping up as I believe it is going to do just that.

A World Unbroken is interactive in that it engages the student with daily offices of prayer (and other practices) and missional expressions to serve humanity and care for the world.  It is multidimensional in that it involves an interactive website and other various forms of media.  It is community focused so that we can continue to help students move away from an isolated faith and away from an individualistic perspective on Christian formation.   It is a shared-curriculum resource in that it encourages the facilitator (youth pastor, parent, pastor, etc.) to become a co-learner, partnering with the students on the journey toward participating with God’s mission.

The A World Unbroken resource will consist of:

• A Book for youth workers written by various youth ministry thinkers and doers
• 8 interactive participants guides
• A DVD with film shorts, curriculum, communication tools, etc.

We have some incredible people contributing to this project — all who have a passion to see students engage the mission of God in their school, community and throughout the world.  Scot McKnight, Kara Powell, Pamela Erwin, Mike King, Ian Cron, Jason Barnhart, Mark Oestreicher and Mae Elise Cannon all have major contributions to the book for youth workers.

I’d say we are 80% done with this project.  We have a few groups this fall testing the content and we are awaiting some video work and the completion of the website before we can launch but we’ll have it done by winter.  If you want to grab a sneak peak at some of the material before it releases, email me here and I will find a way for you to get a good look before the resource hits the bookstores.

Also, check out the video below and you will get a deeper feel for our heart on this project.

A World Unbroken from Barefoot Ministries on Vimeo.

I hope to see a bunch of you at the conventions this year.  Drop me a note if you are planning to be there and want to meet/catch up.  You can email me using the contact form HERE.

Taking a cue from my friend Andy Root, I’ve decided to give away some copies of my most recent books entitled, Story, Signs and Sacred Rhythms: A Narrative Approach to Youth Ministry and Clear: 8 Lessons on the Theological Foundations of Faith.

Anyone interested in potentially using these books as a tool in within their ministry setting is eligible to receive one.  My only request is that you commit to reviewing them as a resource as I have a limited amount to give away.

Here is a little information on each book…

Story, Signs and Sacred Rhythms is for youth workers (volunteer, paid or professional) and introduces a unique approach for a theology/philosophy of youth ministry.  The approach I offer in this book is deeply rooted in the mission of God and is designed to help you discover, explore and articulate a framework for guiding students into spiritual formation for the mission of God.  Each chapter has in-depth conversational prompts to help teams discuss, evaluate, plan, etc.

The contents of the book are born out of my experiences as a youth pastor as well as my current role as speaker, trainer and consultant to youth workers and churches throughout North America.

Clear was written with high school students in mind.  It is a book that is designed to help students develop a foundation for a lifetime of following Jesus.  It covers the major areas of doctrine you might expect — God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Church, etc. While each of these major areas are given a chapter, the intention is that the reader/user would interact with the whole narrative of God, giving an informed context to a systematic approach.

Each of the daily interactions are interactive giving the reader opportunities to journal, draw, dig into the Scriptures, write prayers and practically live out their faith.  Several churches I know are using this book as a confirmation supplement/small group curriculum.

If you would like a free copy of either or both of these books, go to the contact form HERE and I will ship one out to you.  As I mentioned above, I have a limited amount of copies to give away so this will be done on a first come first serve basis.  If you have questions about the books or ways to use the books with your ministry team or students don’t hesitate to contact me.

I typically read/purchase two types of books—theology books and business books. It’s just where I am living right now. One day I hope to get back to some fiction.

When I read most theology books, I am impressed by the intricacy, abstractness, and hidden thought and meaning…so I read more of them. I read more of them in order to be brought into a concept or idea that I am not altogether familiar with so my imagination might be fired to understand it (or at least explore it) more deeply.

When I read a book on business (strategic thinking, marketing, social media) I am often merely whelmed—not overwhelmed or underwhelmed, just whelmed. I am taught new things, no doubt; but most business books don’t inspire me with the same force as a theology book. That realism probably says more about me than the books or their authors. The people who write business books are usually nothing short of brilliant.

I read books on business because I need to learn, grow, and be stretched. The practical nature of most business books clearly helps me organize my ideas, evaluate current practices, and think about future sustainable practices. I am, however, merely whelmed by the majority of the ones I read.

I was reminded in reading Different: Escaping the Competitive Herd (a book I am totally digging) that the reason I am whelmed is simple. “Most business books are written for easy digestion. They are reductive in the same way that subway maps are reductive; the elimination of unnecessary information creates a kind of conceptual isolation that is functionally efficient to the extreme.”

Then I got to thinking about one of my main areas of life foci—youth ministry training (I’ve been working on my workshops for the National Youth Worker Conventions the last few days, so it’s on my mind, and we are launching the fall season of our $5 training this weekend in Chicago).

Youth ministry training is often like this— reductive. It can provide you with a map of sorts, a way to easily read/understand the map, and it might even provide you with a clear way to get from here to there. However, it often does so by eliminating the non-essential information. I contend, however, that what is often perceived as the non-essential information is where various layers or meaning, richness, texture, and context of a more robust understanding of a subject matter lies. Eliminating these essentials renders the training itself limiting and uninspiring, leaving its participants, in many ways, conceptually isolated.

This year, stretch yourself (and your team) and look for and participate in the types of youth ministry training offerings that go beyond the reductive, subway-map approach. Take in a training seminar or workshop that begins and leads to conversations that aren’t “functionally efficient to the extreme” and that pushes you to discover new things in a new way.

My friends Steve Argue, Lilly Lewin and Brooklyn Lyndsey have posted some interesting thoughts on consumerism and the church over at Slant33.com.  Check it out and enter into the conversation!

I met Andy a few years ago at a National Youth Worker Convention.  I had just read his book called, Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry so naturally I had tons of questions that ultimately led to great conversations. Since then Andy has become a friend and a voice in which I gladly tune my ears to.

Since meeting Andy I’ve found as many ways as possible to find ways to partner with him.  We (Barefoot/Youthfront) brought him down from MSP to KC for some youth worker training last fall and we’ll be doing it again this year.  We are also thrilled to have him as one of our contributors on Slant33.com.  I hope we find more ways to work with Andy because I truly believe that what he offers (a thoughtful, robust theological framework) is something all of our faith communities should absorb and practice.

Andy is giving away one of his recent book releases called, Unfiltered Relationships.

Here are the details from Andy:

If you’ll email me (aroot@luthersem.edu) I’ll send you a free copy of the book so you can look it over and decide if it would be of help to you and your volunteers.  If you’re interested in using it you can then go to:

http://www.zondervan.com/cultures/en-us/ministrywelcome.htm

and type in the code 980752 in the “source code” box.

Starting August 1 this will give you a 40% discount on as many books as you’d like.

And I’ll also offer this, if you do use the book with your team, I’m willing to do a select number of skype or ichat conversations with you and your team after getting through the book.

——————–

I’ve read this book.  It is a terrific book that will surely help you with one of the most important aspects of youth ministry — relationships.  If I were you, I would take advantage of this remarkable give-a-way… today!

A quick Google search indicates that youth workers are, at the very least, giving fragments of their attention to missional thought and practice. I googled missional youth ministry and was quickly introduced to some people and websites offering thoughtful insights about what it means to cultivate missional environments for young people to learn and grow.

However, I’m not having a lot of explicit, everyday missional conversation with youth workers. I would say that almost every day I talk (via blog, email, phone, Twitter, whatever) with a different youth worker in my city or around the world who has a question or two about some facet of youth ministry. Most of the time, however, it isn’t about the missional nature of youth ministry, which in my mind is the core of all ministry—the mission of God to restore the world to its intended wholeness. Typically, the questions I get are about a game, a particular resource, a training concept, a relevant SS curriculum they can use, a small group book to use, etc. Many if not most of the conversations I have about youth ministry are not about the core but about peripherals.  The peripherals are important but not primary.

This raises, for me, questions. Questions like:

• Why aren’t youth workers talking about missional youth ministry?
• Are youth workers so entrenched in doing missional youth ministry that they don’t need to talk about it?
• Do we think that missional thought and practice are for big church?
• Do youth workers not want to talk missional because that means change and hard work and a lack of clarity as to what a successful youth ministry might look like?
• Is it that each of our ministry contexts are so different that we don’t have anything in common to discuss?
• Do youth workers not have a grasp on what missional youth ministry is and therefore don’t explicitly talk about it?
• Is it that the word missional has become tied to the emergent/emerging church movement so youth workers are fearful and skeptical?
• Are youth workers ignorant about missional and, because they can’t articulate it, choose to stay away from it, as if it is a dirty word? That must be it.  Missional is a dirty word. Well, if that is the case, talk missional to me, baby!
  

Seriously, can we have a meaningful conversation about what it means to engage God’s story and mission and what it means to let it form us as we form others? Can we talk openly, honestly, and inquisitively about what missional might mean in our divergent contexts? Can we at the very least admit that missional is a life without center or circumference? A life of living like Jesus that isn’t tied to a geographic location or held in by boundaries? Can we talk about what this means for youth ministry and specifically for the faith formation of our teens?

Youth ministry needs more missional people thinking more deeply and more practically about what it means for youth ministry to shift toward a more missional (or sometimes called narrative) approach. Youth ministry needs non-missional thinkers and doers to be brought into what should be explicit, everyday conversations about life and ministry.

What do you think missional youth ministry is? In what ways would you define it? How would you articulate it to others?