Youth Ministry Intuition:
I had the priviledge to recently sit in on a group of youth pastors planning for a city wide event. There was a devotional that focused around a certain text. Then a very healthy dialogue about youth ministry and integrity. They never used the word integrity, but it's what they were talking about.
Instead they said things like, "If I could rearrange my time I'd .... spend more time with kids / do less programs/ get parents more involved / work at UPS and build relationships with people / be more available to people etc etc etc."
It's becoming the chorus over the past several years. It started with veteran youth workers and has worked it's way into minds and hearts of youth pastors who are just beginning youth work in the church. We've been talking about this for years.
But here's what's interesting. While there is a consensus for disolving youth ministry as we know it and a desire for a ministry to youth that actually impacts teens long term... there is little energy to try anything that is new or different.
Back to my recent meeting with youth workers. After their healthy discussion on all that is wrong with youth ministry and the church... they spent the remaining 4 hours discussing/ planning and organizing events and programs that completely contradicted their original thoughts. For example. They complained about being to busy planning events, but they spent a solid 30 minutes trying to add new events throughout the school year for them all to plan.
There are several reasons for this paradox.
These youth pastors are are sociologically intuitive geniuses. Youth pastors by and large feel their way through program building and ministry experiences depending largely on intuition. And it works. They can work a crowd. They can relate well to teens.
They are intuitive about many things. It is the exception to find a youth pastor who would go to church where he/she is employed, not the rule. Youth pastors are haunted by a dream of what they think or know church can be. But they rarely think about it. When they do think about it, it's generally brought on by a negative experience. A staff meeting. Weekly church services. Burnout.
I had the priviledge to recently sit in on a group of youth pastors planning for a city wide event. There was a devotional that focused around a certain text. Then a very healthy dialogue about youth ministry and integrity. They never used the word integrity, but it's what they were talking about.
Instead they said things like, "If I could rearrange my time I'd .... spend more time with kids / do less programs/ get parents more involved / work at UPS and build relationships with people / be more available to people etc etc etc."
It's becoming the chorus over the past several years. It started with veteran youth workers and has worked it's way into minds and hearts of youth pastors who are just beginning youth work in the church. We've been talking about this for years.
But here's what's interesting. While there is a consensus for disolving youth ministry as we know it and a desire for a ministry to youth that actually impacts teens long term... there is little energy to try anything that is new or different.
Back to my recent meeting with youth workers. After their healthy discussion on all that is wrong with youth ministry and the church... they spent the remaining 4 hours discussing/ planning and organizing events and programs that completely contradicted their original thoughts. For example. They complained about being to busy planning events, but they spent a solid 30 minutes trying to add new events throughout the school year for them all to plan.
There are several reasons for this paradox.
These youth pastors are are sociologically intuitive geniuses. Youth pastors by and large feel their way through program building and ministry experiences depending largely on intuition. And it works. They can work a crowd. They can relate well to teens.
They are intuitive about many things. It is the exception to find a youth pastor who would go to church where he/she is employed, not the rule. Youth pastors are haunted by a dream of what they think or know church can be. But they rarely think about it. When they do think about it, it's generally brought on by a negative experience. A staff meeting. Weekly church services. Burnout.
posted by mark at
11:13 AM
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