They need programs that allow students to have a ministry to their world. When students see themselves as participants, they will pick and choose what they like at church. But when students see themselves as leaders, they will invest in the ministry of the church and become lifelong owners of the church. As Christians, we have a responsibility to God to develop ourselves as leaders in order to be of the most use in the Kingdom.
We also have a responsibility to hand off the reigns of leadership to those on the path behind us. In a healthy youth ministry, every aspect of the ministry serves as a leadership laboratory for developing student leaders. While each of our contexts are different and our churches have different missions and goals, we do share many aspects of our ministry that are the same.
My hope is that this article will cause you to do some evaluation of your ministry. So many pressures push us off course, and every now and then, we need a course correction. We need to ask ourselves if we are doing what we always dreamed we wanted to do. Curious how healthy youth ministry is? Take the Intentional Youth Ministry Assessment.
Doug Franklin is the president of LeaderTreks, an innovative leadership development organization focusing on students and youth workers. Doug and his wife, Angie, live in West Chicago, Illinois.
Diesel and Penelope are Weimaraners who never leave their side. In reality, kids trust, are attracted to and listen to a person who is sincere. People who deeply internalize the gospel and understand just how much God loves them often have an attractive level of comfort in their own skin. They also tend to listen well. These qualities transcend age, and are more important to kids than someone with a thousand great jokes.
There are, of course, pedagogical techniques to develop, age-appropriate illustrations to be utilized, and contextualized language to employ. At the root of youth ministry, though, one should find the same basic convictions about the importance of a steady diet of expository Bible teaching for conversion, spiritual growth and equipping for ministry.
Young people have much to offer to the wider church body right now, and youth ministers should be diligent in releasing them for ministry and service. Youth ministers may, at times, experience the joys of seeing young people converted or growing in faith and obedience by leaps and bounds. God gives the growth, my friends; we are called to be faithful to bear witness to him no matter who plants, who waters, and who gets to reap the harvest.
It sounds ridiculous when we say that out loud, but far too often, we are almost unconsciously finding our identity in whether or not our students like us. Youth minister, you are a child of God, bought with the blood of Christ, and set apart for gospel ministry to his glory. Come back to that fact daily and find your identity there. She has served in both volunteer and paid positions for parish youth ministries and diocesan youth ministries for eight years. I recently had the opportunity to go to the National Youth Workers Convention where the head of Youth Specialties, Mark Matlock, identified five things he thinks Youth Ministry is doing for the Church today.
I shared some of these during my presentation at our Diocesan Convention. It strikes me that these are all things that are done, no matter the size of your congregation.
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