Here’s a summary list of every issue in youth ministry that’s been mentioned by one of the series contributors. Whew! There certainly are a lot of issues that need to be addressed.

Discuss: Which of these issues apply specifically to your youth ministry? What changes can you make to address them in 2007?

What do you see as some of the main issues youth ministry is struggling with today?

• Students are under a tremendous amount of stress and pressure.
• It is vital that we remind them constantly that Jesus needs to have first priority in their lives and that He holds their future in His hands. Students are so busy and God and church is not always the #1 priority.
• We need students to be global Christians.
• The idea of godly sexuality for all people needs to be put back on the agenda.
• Mental health.
• The whole question of “church” is becoming more and more of a struggle for youth ministry.
• Professional youth pastors and senior pastors looking for job security.
• This generation is facing identity issues, sexuality issues, authority issues, and vocation/purpose issues, but in a much more intense, aggressive, combative, pluralistic context.
• Discipleship and teaching students to grow on their own.
• Retention after graduation.
• Engaging parents.
• Cultural relevance. The Church is often reluctant to change sufficiently to genuinely include the young people.
• Defining Success.
• Recruiting and training adult volunteers to be effective.
• Presenting God as the right and better choice over pop culture.
• A lack of understanding of youth culture and no desire to learn it.
• We’re spending so much time trying to keep the ones we have that we are not reaching the lost.
• The church leadership believes there are only a couple of kids caught up in major issues and the rest of the kids are great, god fearing and perfect.
• Employed Christian youth workers are only deployed where there are churches with significant financial resources, meaning deployment is based on money not need.
• The “dumbing down” of programs because of the myth that junior high students cannot go “deep.”
• Connections between people and real community.
• We should be focusing more on is inner-city and “fringe” type of neighborhoods and young people.
• The issue of personal holiness, from youth ministers to parents to students. Our calling should be to BE children of God and pant after Him so that teens can see HIS power in our lives.
• Apathy of the “cradle-Christian” student.
• Not enough long term funding or funding in general.
• The church allows the youth to be isolated, and sometimes they want the youth isolated, which is anything but unifying for the church.
• Viewing youth ministry as a stepping-stone to becoming a Sr. Pastor, as if it’s important to practice ministry on “little people” before being qualified to work with “real people.”

What do you see as some of the main issues youth ministry is responding to effectively?

• Loving teens and connecting with them in their world.
• The call to missions.
• Youth ministry is attempting to address the same issues that the adult church may be after, but the amazing thing is that there is more of a willingness to experiment.
• Provides a safe place for hurting students. We are responding to the deep-seated hurts of teenagers in more effective ways than ever.
• Giving students time and space to be in community with each other.
• A desire to do ministry outside of the church and where kids are.
• Youth ministry allows young people to encounter adults (and young people) who seek to live a 24/7 faith and model a life that’s Christ centered and counter cultural.

In what ways does youth ministry need to change?

• We need to make sure we’re taking our young people deeper into their faith. But not just in Bible studies, but in their experience of mission, church, worship and so on.
• Students need to be IN ministry and not just the recipient of it. If students don’t lead they’ll leave. We need to believe in students and their ability to minister effectively to their peers.
• Relational-driven is more work and less to show…at first.
• Do your deal, follow Jesus, create this environment in the student ministry IF YOU CAN. If you can’t - shut up and leave and find a place where you can if it’s that important to you.
• Less reliance on programs.
• Less “next big thing” thinking.
• Less trendy, fad, youth workers.
• Longevity. Finding a way to keep youth pastors and leader in their positions for the long haul.
• Youth ministers need to adopt more of a “Family Ministry” rather than a “Youth Ministry.” Parents need to be central to the process of our teenagers’ spiritual formation and not disengaged bystanders.
• Emotional health.
• We need to have a plan for when the kids arrive in 6th grade they graduate high school knowing the fundamentals of scripture while at the same time encountering God rather than just being taught facts about Him.
• Plug students into the greater body of Christ.
• Church leaders need to understand what youth pastors are facing and stand with them in a major way.
• Giving opportunity to live faith not just hear about it.
• There is a pretty big void when it comes to Junior High Ministry Curriculum.
• Starting where young people are instead of where we want them to be.
• Student ministry needs to change first in the heart of Lead and Senior pastors across America.

[Read previous authors and posts in this series, “Issues in youth ministry.”]

UPDATE: Please read the comments below. This is not a serious post. It’s satirical sarcasm and does not contain a hint of truth. It’s a joke written by the founder of Youth Specialties describing in exact opposite terms what NOT to do. Do NOT run your youth ministry this way! This is written to such an extreme in order to point out the absurdity of running a youth ministry this way. It’s only a joke. Please don’t take this seriously or think that this is my personal philosophy of ministry. It definitely is NOT.

Ten Easy Steps to Guarantee a Successful Youth Ministry!
by [tag]Mike Yaconelli[/tag]

1. Dumb Down the Gospel. Employ attractive phrases such as, “Since I’ve known Jesus I’m happier, getting better grades, and captain of the football team!” Even better, reduce the complexity of the gospel into group cheers (i.e., “Give me a J!”) or simple worship choruses like, “God is so good…blah blah blah.” (Try singing those words in Ethiopia.) Or even better, try out some hip slang (i.e., God is “phat”; Jesus is a “hottie”).

2. Count. Constantly make everyone aware of your group’s attendance figures and the increases in attendance. Make numbers an issue by setting attendance goals for each activity and reward the group for reaching those goals. Spend lots of time throwing pies at the leaders if goals are reached.

3. Put Your Students on Display. As soon as kids become Christians or rededicate their lives or show real growth, put them in front of the group and have them share their testimonies—especially if they’re physically attractive. Let young people talk about their faith as much as possible and don’t worry about the fact that most young people have no clue how complicated and rough the real world is with or without Jesus.

4. Don’t Allow Down Time. Hey, kids today are [tag]MTV[/tag] kids! They can’t sit still for any length of time. Silence, solitude, prayer, meditation, fasting? All totally lame in the eyes of this generation! Nope, keep ‘em busy, active, noisy, and shuttling from one Christian rock concert to another. Fill every moment of your program with something to do—otherwise you’ll lose their attention (which would be disastrous because then they’d have to pay attention to God and their souls).

5. Stay on the Technological Cutting Edge. What would Jesus do? Are you kidding? Jesus would have the best sound system you ever heard, along with a DVD player, the Internet, instant messaging, the coolest Web site, and of course a digital TV. Show your kids that when it comes to the latest technology, Christians are right there! I mean, who needs to read when you can watch?

6. Create Celebrities. Make sure your young people get an earful and eyeful of the latest Christian music stars, video stars, and NFL players who profess their faith in Jesus on national television. Encourage your young people to worship, idolize, and live under the illusion that these people are somehow better, deeper, more Christian, more together, and more dedicated than them. Let them believe that the marketed images of these celebrities are completely representative of them—even though you know it isn’t true.

7. Let Youth Group Take the Place of [tag]Church[/tag]. Oh sure, encourage your kids to attend the contemporary service—even though you know most of them never will because church is “boring,” filled with “dull, old people,” and the music “sucks.” Whatever you do, though, don’t suggest that worshiping with people they don’t like and connecting with people who are older and wiser just might save them when their adolescent view of the world is shattered. Just keep convincing your students that youth group is a good substitute for church.

8. Tow the Parental Line. Whatever you do, don’t cause friction with parents by suggesting to their kids that grades, SAT scores, financial security, college degrees, and athletic scholarships really don’t matter. Just accept the fact that most parents want their children to attend youth group as long as it doesn’t interfere with hockey, football, ice skating, tennis, ballet, or baseball practice. And don’t encourage young people to resist their parents’ attempts to smother the call of God on their lives, either. After all, you could get fired!

9. Ignore the Arts. Never encourage painting, dance, sculpture, writing, poetry, ballet, or trips to the museum, symphony, and opera. Stick with activities that rock! The WWF rules!

10. Live in the Now! Verify the success of your ministry by visible, measurable, observable results you see now. Don’t waste your time worrying about lasting results. Who can wait?! Go for the instant return. Hey, once your kids leave youth group, you aren’t responsible for what happens to them anyway, right?

11. “Us” Versus “Them.” (Yeah, yeah, I know I said “Ten Steps”—sue me.) Convince your kids that the only way Christians can make a difference is through public, physical confrontation with the “world.” Explain that this “world” is “them,” and Christians—the good guys—are “us.” And since it’s us against them, we have to “stand up for our faith.” Encourage them to march in rallies, wear slogan-filled T-shirts, hang banners, and do whatever it takes to get in the world’s face. Convince them that the Devil and his demons are running around, wreaking havoc—and the only way to deal with the Devil is to confront and “bind him.” Don’t let them believe that evil is much more seductive, much more camouflaged and tricky than they could ever imagine. And whatever you do, don’t start getting into Jesus’ strategy of powerlessness.

Now go get ‘em!

(ht jacob)

Hmm… Our interim pastor just called me and said that the guest speaker for Sunday had to cancel due to some scheduling conflicts and asked if I’d be willing to take over the pulpit. I don’t mind helping out, but I don’t really have a ready-to-go game-plan in mind either. Since I’m not really an auditory learner myself, I’d like to do something out of the ordinary that’s maybe a little interactive (kinesthetic). Plus, it’s a very full service so I only have about 20 minutes or so. Hmm… Any ideas?

[tags]preaching[/tags]

The Catalyst Blog summarized “Spirituality for 20-somethings” and, being 26 years old myself, it seems to fit me pretty well.

• They don’t like attending traditional worship.
• They shy away from labels.
• They identify with no specific religion or, if Christian, call themselves non-denominational.
• They demonstrate overwhelming belief in God.
• They show interest in how spiritual matters relate to their lives and their world.
• Many reject dogma and large institutions, instead preferring personal and convenient ways to find answers.
• They send prayer e-mail, look for love online, join smaller ministry groups.
• They fuel an industry of spiritually inspired books, movies and music.

I can identify with pretty much everything on that list, except I wouldn’t say that I don’t like attending traditional worship because sometimes I do. Rather, I would say I usually prefer modern formats of worship, but still have an appreciation for traditional styles.

Off the top of my head, I dream three things for youth ministry:

1. Students who are growing in depth and insight of God’s Word.
2. Students who genuinely worship God both publicly and privately.
3. Students who have a burden for lost souls around them.

I look at that list and think, “Hmmm, do I even measure up to that list personally?”

I just got out of Lilly Lewin’s seminar titled, “Creating Sacred Spaces: A practical intro to experiential worship.” Most of the seminar focused on practical ideas for creating worship that’s interactive and utilizes all five senses, but she made one side-comment that pricked my brain. From that point on I was only kinda half-listening as I scribbled down my thoughts.

She said, “We need to create a personal space for people to worship however they want. People today don’t know how to worship on their own.”

Lilly moved on from there, but I didn’t. That’s such a huge statement! We’ve raised a church of people that need someone up front telling them when to stand, what to sing, when to sit, when to stop singing, when to pray and when to stop praying. It’s more like playing “follow the leader” than anything else. Many of us are more focused on the person telling us what to do than we are on worshipping our Savior. What about the person who really just needs to linger in God’s presence? In church worship we’re all pulled along at the same pace. In a perfect world people would worship privately at home at their own pace and this wouldn’t really be an issue, but it’s obviously not a perfect world. So again, as I asked in a previous blog post, what’s the church’s responsibility in leading the congregation in worship?

Our culture is so loud, so noisy, so intense. We’re so deeply immersed in it that we don’t really notice the screaming volume until we intentionally take time to focus quietly on the Lord. If students aren’t intentionally making this time in their lives, should we create it for them at youth group? Or is there some other kind of transformation that needs to take place in their lives first before a “sacred space” can be worthwhile?

Jeremy Camp just started leading worship in the last general session here, so maybe I’ll continue this later.

[tags]Lilly Lewin, NYWC, National Youth Workers Convention, Youth Specialties[/tags]

(CLICK THE THUMBNAIL TO VIEW THE FULL SIZE IMAGE)

Me and Dana with Doug Fields and Josh Griffin

Me and Dana with the Skit Guys

Left: Jars of Clay performing | Right: Tic Long with a look-a-like puppet Taylor Mason made

Left: Taylor Mason, stand-up comic | Right: The Skit Guys

Left: Jeremy Camp leading worship | Right: Bob Stromberg, stand-up comic

Left: Greg Stier | Right: Thousand Foot Krutch in concert

[tags]Greg Stier, Thousand Foot Krutch, Bob Stromberg, Jeremy Camp, Taylor Mason, The Skit Guys, Jars of Clay, Tic Long, Doug Fields, Josh Griffin[/tags]

It’s obvious that way too many people attend church every Sunday and never connect with a word that’s said. I could walk into an average church on any Sunday morning and find numerous people dozing off, daydreaming or privately thinking about unrelated matters. My question is this: how much responsibility should those leading the service feel when attempting to hold the audience’s attention? Is it because [tag]church service[/tag]s have become irrelevant and boring or is it because these individuals aren’t personally connecting with God during the week so Sunday is no different? Is it because our means of worship and communication in church services are really that ineffective or is it because people don’t worship on their own time thus making a church worship service just a meaningless act? It probably involves some of both, but at this moment I’m more apt to lean toward the latter.

Even so, I’m not willing to dismiss the fact that church services could probably stand to be re-evaluated for effectiveness. The [tag]Purpose Driven[/tag] [tag]ministry philosophy[/tag] is big on evaluating, scrapping and tweaking programs that aren’t effectively accomplishing their purpose. There’s probably a lot we could change in our services to make them more effective. I wonder what a church service would look like if we stripped away everything that’s not in scripture and honored God’s Word more than tradition and people’s opinions.

The Sunday morning format has generally been the same in every church I’ve attended since I was born. It starts with music followed by a quick welcome, more music, announcements, special music, tithing, sermon, closing song, see ya next week. And almost every service is geared around the sermon topic, the focal point of the worship service. The approach to each of these elements has generally been the same, too. Now, at 26 years old, I’m still kinda young, but our world has changed considerably even in my short lifespan. Why is the church still the same?

Seth Godwin, marketing expert and author of the best seller Permission Marketing, said this in his blog last Sunday and I think it has big implications for preaching:

What’s the point of talking to a group?…

I’m serious. We spend a lot of time in presentations, or at the United Nations, or sending our kids to school. We have orientation sessions and keynote speeches and long-winded oratory on the floor the Senate. Why?…

Here’s my point: In our scan and skip world, in a world where technology makes it obvious that we can treat different people differently, how can we possibly justify teaching via a speech?

Speech is both linear and unpaceable. You can’t skip around and you can’t speed it up. When the speaker covers something you know, you are bored. When he quickly covers something you don’t understand, you are lost.

If you teach – teach anything – I think you need to start by acknowledging that there’s a need to sell your ideas emotionally. So you need to use whatever tools are available to you–an evocative powerpoint image, say, or a truly impassioned speech.

If it’s worth teaching, it’s worth teaching well. If it’s worth investing the time of 30 or 230 or 3330 people, then it’s worth investing the effort to actually figure out how to get the message across. School is broken. Legislative politics are broken. Linear is broken. YouTube and Bloglines, on the other hand, are new platforms, platforms that enable the education of millions of people every day, quickly and for free.

I’m not at all thinking that preaching should be done away with, just that it needs to be evaluated and modified for maximum effectiveness in today’s society. Right now an average church sermon at an average church often feels like sitting through a lecture at school except without accountability to report its contents on a pending exam.

Dennis Poulette reminded me of a quote from The Youth Worker’s Guide to Helping Teenagers in Crisis,

Most listeners process information in the range of 300 to 500 words per minute (the rate generally declines with age). But most people speak at a rate of 100 to 200 words per minute, which means there’s serious excess capacity on the listening side of the transaction. And with excess capacity comes the tendency to daydream, fret, plan, doodle, and - if we’re not careful - lose track of what the other person is saying. (page 62)

It seems to me that the [tag]modern church[/tag] (and youth group) needs to find new effective ways of communicating the truth of God’s Word to those attending the services. How can we change our presentations to be less linear, to keep up with the rate that people process information, utilize new platforms and “emotionally sell” our message while, the same time, not lose anyone in the process?

Of course, this does nothing to to force people to seek God during on a personal level during the week, but given the state of our ever-changing culture I’m sure there’s still a lot that can be improved about our church services that might encourage such spiritual development.