This is an obvious thing to mention to fellow youth workers, but it is nonetheless important for us to all "learn how to read" youth ministry books and materials--there are a plethora of them out there. And yes, plethora was on my word-of-the-day toilet paper today.
I love so many books that it gets so confusing as to what kind of youth ministry I should strive for. Should we be Purpose Driven (Fields), Contemplative (Yaconelli), Sustainable (DeVries), Thriving (Mayo), or Jesus-Centered (Lawrence), and so on? I've even read Duffy Robbins' "Youth Ministry that Works" and heard him tell a group of us that we should avoid his lesser known book "Youth Ministry that DOESN'T Work." I don't know. Should we strive to "Dare 2 Share" (Stier) or help teens "Acquire the Fire" (Luce), etc.?
What is the be-all end-all approach to youth ministry? The answer? I dunno! You'll have to work on that for yourself, but be advised of the obvious. Take what all the great books, authors, and leaders have to say and the way God has uniquely wired you and make it work in your setting and in your unique calling. As long as you are focusing on God the Father and the Son Jesus Christ and allowing the Holy Spirit to work in and through you, it's all good!
Consumed is all about equipping students and their youth ministries for greater impact in God's Kingdom. I have a huge desire to see you change the world for Jesus Christ, and I am tired of seeing ineffective us-4-no-more youth groups. It’s time to create a movement impacting our schools and communities! Thanks for stopping by, and let me know if there is anything I can do. Andrew
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Already Gone...
As I interviewed and then accepted my new Youth Ministry position, I was able to talk through and come to a realization (a Duh! moment actually) with regards to the issue of why young people have a tendency to walk away from their faith and the church within their first few years after high school graduation as the staggering statistics seem to indicate.
And while the title of this blog alludes to a book that makes a convincing case for why the problem is, at its core, a theological one, I tend to put more weight into relationships being a big key as well. Doug Fields, Mark DeVries, Jeanne Mayo, and others have certainly been an influence in my thinking here, but Jeanne tends to put it best--if I can paraphrase--the desire is to build relationships between hearts that Jesus can cross over. What a beautiful image!
My duh moment comes in as I realize that the issue of young people walking away from their faith is likely directly connected to the issue many church parishoners and leaders raise about how they want to see youth more integrated into the life of the church. Rather, we often see the compartmentalized "one-eared Mickey Mouse" issue where the Youth Ministry is connected, somewhat loosely, to the church but largely doing its own thing. The simple realization is that if we want to see youth integrated into the life of the church (and not walking away from their faith), the church must become more intentional about being integrated into the life of the youth.
Mark DeVries puts this well as "architecting a constellation of relationships." Imagine a family based youth ministry--both the nuclear and broader church family--where this constellation or web of relationships means that each young person has at least 5 or 6 God-loving, Christ-centered, loving adults in the church that proactively connect with and care for them on a regular basis. These young people will then be less likely to fall through the cracks and more likely to feel connected, rather than disconnected from the church as they enter their young adult years.
Couple this with charging our youth with the responsibility to create a friendship epidemic in our youth ministries where youth are caring for, connecting with, and accepting other youth, and we have begun to construct powerful bridges between hearts that Jesus can cross over!
And while the title of this blog alludes to a book that makes a convincing case for why the problem is, at its core, a theological one, I tend to put more weight into relationships being a big key as well. Doug Fields, Mark DeVries, Jeanne Mayo, and others have certainly been an influence in my thinking here, but Jeanne tends to put it best--if I can paraphrase--the desire is to build relationships between hearts that Jesus can cross over. What a beautiful image!
My duh moment comes in as I realize that the issue of young people walking away from their faith is likely directly connected to the issue many church parishoners and leaders raise about how they want to see youth more integrated into the life of the church. Rather, we often see the compartmentalized "one-eared Mickey Mouse" issue where the Youth Ministry is connected, somewhat loosely, to the church but largely doing its own thing. The simple realization is that if we want to see youth integrated into the life of the church (and not walking away from their faith), the church must become more intentional about being integrated into the life of the youth.
Mark DeVries puts this well as "architecting a constellation of relationships." Imagine a family based youth ministry--both the nuclear and broader church family--where this constellation or web of relationships means that each young person has at least 5 or 6 God-loving, Christ-centered, loving adults in the church that proactively connect with and care for them on a regular basis. These young people will then be less likely to fall through the cracks and more likely to feel connected, rather than disconnected from the church as they enter their young adult years.
Couple this with charging our youth with the responsibility to create a friendship epidemic in our youth ministries where youth are caring for, connecting with, and accepting other youth, and we have begun to construct powerful bridges between hearts that Jesus can cross over!
Friday, June 17, 2011
LIFE Groups Strategy
I envision a student ministry small group and leadership development strategy that helps students and volunteer leaders to LIVE In Faith Every day. In my overall youth ministry strategy, if the large youth group meeting is the open door into the ministry and the first (outreach and in-reach) step, small groups are where the second (faith nurturing) and third (discipleship) steps happen. The following resources, mainly from www.simplyyouthministry.com, provide (1) a 6-7 year comprehensive small group/teaching plan; (2) a context for developing spiritual HABITS (prayer, Bible study, account-ability, etc.); and (3) a context for further discipleship and leadership development for both adult and student leaders.
The Resources
· LIVE curriculum – currently, four extensive resources can be combined into a Biblically based, comprehensive small group and leadership development plan that covers all 6-7 years a student is involved in our ministry:
o High School LIVE curriculum – four year plan/materials (36 weeks per year).
o Jr. High LIVE curriculum – two year plan/materials (36 weeks per year).
o Books of the Bible LIVE curriculum – 72 week road map: www.simplyyouthministry.com/resources-curriculum-small-groups-live-curriculum-book-studies.html
o Leadership LIVE curriculum – 60 week road map: www.simplyyouthministry.com/resources-curriculum-small-groups-live-curriculum-leadership.html
· LIVE Bibles – while study Bibles are helpful, they may not encourage the kind of personal interaction and discovery we would like. LIVE Bibles are light on study notes and heavy on creative space and ways for students to interact with God’s Word. I personally use this Bible as my own “workbook” and journal for this purpose, often taking notes from sermons right on its pages. Ever notice how it’s easier to lose notes than it is your favorite Bible? Taking notes directly IN our Bibles helps us see what God has done and is doing in our lives.
· Unleashing God’s Word in Youth Ministry – the only resource listed here not from Simply Youth Ministry, this book by Barry Shafer (www.inword.org) is a how to in increasing Biblical literacy among teenagers, and adults for that matter. It has revitalized my own personal Bible study. This resource is instrumental in helping me realize my vision to see students become self-feeders by the time they graduate high school and our ministry.
· One Minute Bible for Students – from those who are not sure where to start with daily Bible reading to those wanting to go deeper, The One Minute Bibles offers—you guessed it—a daily reading that takes just about a minute to do and gives an overview of the Bible in a year. Simply turn to the page for that date and read the Scriptures and brief devotional thought. I joke with students about how this is a great book to keep in the bathroom! In addition, it also offers related passages to dive deeper if desired. I use this resource as well.
· HABITS Kit – this is a kit of reproducible resources that help students develop spiritual HABITS. (AS – indicates an Andrew Suite twist on these Simply Youth Ministry ideas.)
o Hang out with God – JAM Time Journals (AS): Jesus And Me times at home and during programming. Simple spiral bound notebooks or nice print journals can be used with the LIVE and One Minute Bibles.
o Accountability with another believer – Back 2 Back contracts: helps create student accountability. They meet on their own or (AS) regularly during programming, holding them accountable to accountability!
o Bible study – Rootworks self guided study booklets are a good beginning while (AS) I would like to develop or see more resources developed for self-guided study based on Shafer’s book and ministry.
o Involvement in the church body – students need to be involved in their youth ministry AND church.
o Tithing commitment – Bank o’ Blessings coupled with (AS) $2 Challenge at most events = students learning to be generous and seeing the effect of their simple sacrifice of the price of a 1-2 sodas weekly.
o Scripture memorization – key tags; learning to write God’s Word on our hearts is simply priceless.
Strategy ideas
· LIFE Groups can meet…
o Sunday morning – Sunday school groups.
o Regularly every six weeks or so during youth group (great for transitioning into next options).
o Various weeknights in various homes.
o During a different night than youth group at the church – imagine a family night or church-wide event for all ages with a dinner, small groups for parents too, etc.
· Sure, a small group is about Bible study and discussion, but why not go deeper into helping students learn to pray for each other in pairs or triads (for the beginner, try fill-in the blank prayer cards) and hold each other accountable? LIFE Groups are also a great time to guide students into a daily quiet time with God by having them do a mini-version of it with JAM Time Journals and teaching them Bible study techniques they can use. The goal is self-feeders and beyond that, multipliers who can help others become self-feeders.
· You may notice a running theme here as I don’t differentiate much between students and adult leaders. I use a lot of these resources myself, and while LIFE Groups certainly need adult leadership, adult leaders are mentors and fellow disciples on the journey. Therefore, I see little need to differentiate between these-are-resources-for-our-kids and these-are-resources-for-adults. (Arguably, many student resources available are better than some of the adult resources out there!) The quality of student ministry resources out there today is great for all ages with regards to growing in our walks with Christ and Biblical literacy. Imagine the impact of students who are self-feeders when they graduate high school AND adult and student leaders who are also growing, self-feeding, and able to equip others to BECOME self-feeders. Ministry of multiplication!
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