4 Pieces to the Youth Ministry Puzzle
One of the things I’m most passionate as a youth pastor is discovering the pieces of the youth ministry puzzle that help create life long faith in Jesus. It’s the central core part of our mission as youth pastors and leaders to continually work hard to help the youth we care for discover Jesus in a meaningful way and grow a life long vibrant relationship with Him that affects every area of their lives. There’s four areas that I’ve settled on over the past year that I believe are the pieces of the puzzle that effectively develop faith in youth that lasts a lifetime.
- A vibrant student community We are built to belong. God hardwired us from the very beginning to be apart of authentic caring community where deep relationships are formed and youth feel a part of something bigger than themselves. As I always tell parents and our leaders, youth will find a vibrant community no matter what; it’s our goal to make this the place they connect in and find their sense of belonging and identity. Without a vibrant youth community its very difficult to flesh out what it means to follow Jesus simply because youth wont be around. A vibrant community attracts and keeps youth engaged in the local church.
Caring adult mentors
- As youth mature and develop they begin to look less and less to their parents for guidance, advice and approval. It’s so incredibly important for them to have other adults in their lives that are there to mentor them and say the things to youth that their parents can no longer say. These adults give up their time and energy to love, mentor and care for the lives of youth. In my youth ministry I constantly reiterate to my leaders how important their role is in the spiritual development and growth of the youth in their small groups. This isn’t just about hanging out with kids for a few hours a week, it’s a deep God given responsibility to be carried out with long lasting spiritual implications.
- Spiritually engaged parents This is a piece to the puzzle I discovered was incredibly important a few years ago. Prior to this I really didn’t feel parents should be that big of a part to my ministry vision and mission. In the past few years I’ve spend much of my time and energy in communicating and resourcing parents to take on the work of spiritually engaging and developing their kids. Parents who are able to engage their kids with spiritual things stand a much greater chance of their kids holding on to their faith into their adult years.
- Serving others / Social Justice work Giving youth the opportunity to be engaged with local and global justice work where they are taught and discipled to serve others is a massive part of creating life long faith in youth. They are forced to leave their “me first” selfless worldview behind and are given the opportunity to view the world differently. These are the places where youth are given the opportunity to flesh out what they are learning in our ministries and put it to practice. As youth learn to thoughtfully engage justice issues and become exposed to the world around them their faith becomes alive.
In our youth ministry we are far from perfecting these four pieces but they are something we strive hard towards everyday. This isn’t exhaustive by any means but these are the four pieces that I’ve found to be significantly effective in youth developing a vibrant faith in Jesus that lasts a lifetime.
What are your thoughts? Would you agree these are the top 4? Am I missing something?
Daryl
July 08, 2011I cant agree more with your 4 pieces to the puzzle. But as always, I got to push back.
Concerning the first puzzle piece, a vibrant community. We as youth workers need to get less centralized in our thinking. Instead of meaningful community meaning one big happy youth group, we need to get more creative then that. We need to be more “integrated” into students lives, instead of isolating. Maybe that means ‘canceling’ youth group, and having students go watch a few students in a play. Maybe it means some youth leaders/pastors serve within the schools, at lunch, or after school, instead of all leaders serving one night a week all together.
Concerning the second piece, caring adult mentors, I got to echo your words. Well said Phil. This is one of the great reasons why youth ministry needs diversity in leadership. Students connect with different leaders in different ways. Sometimes youth ministry gives off the impression that the only leaders they want involved are outgoing 20somethings. Trust me, youth ministry needs leaders in that demographic. However, as an example, each youth ministry needs, just as bad, the grandma & grandpa figures, who can be excellent caring adult mentors.
Concerning the 3rd piece of the puzzle, engaging parents. I got to admit, I think this may be a huge piece to the puzzle. Maybe bigger than the others in my opinion. This is not to say that youth ministry cannot be somewhat effective supporting students without parentsl being integrated. Look at the last 30 years of youth ministry. Sorry – some have done a better job than others. However, for the most part, youth ministry has been competing with family influence/time for too long. Parents are the most important influence on their kids, and their kids friends. It is an honour and privilage for youth ministry to come alongside families, as parents disciple their children. However, one very important thing to remember, when youth ministry has spiritually engaged parents, is to be flexible to the guidance and influence that comes from these parents. Sadly, too many youth ministries either become so set in their ways they stop listening, or constantly adjusting to the last parent complaint, that no real meaningful relationship forms.
Really the 4th piece of the puzzle is just practical theology. If your learning the way of Jesus, you cant help but change the world. When students are compelled with grace & truth, they are propelled to action. Students get this better than most youth pastors and leaders.
I appreicate the analogy of a puzzle. And these are just 4 pieces. The reality is, to some people, these are the most important pieces. Some people like to work on a puzzle from the edges first. Others try to figure out all the sky pieces first. While some crazy people start from the middle and work out. At the end of the day, with such an important and life long topic, as discipleship, we can never summarize the process to only a few pieces. But I think you found some really great pieces to the puzzle.
Some other pieces I can think of include: freedom, simplicity, wise choices, prayer/worship, rebellion, fun, etc.
philprendergast
July 08, 2011Great thoughts Daryl,
I do think that there are pieces that are a must and pieces that can be added and taken away when thinking about spiritually forming youth. Obviously good theology and teaching is necessary but flesh has to be put on that somehow and that happens through community, mentorship, engaged parents and serving the world around us.
So maybe what im saying is these are the most important pieces to create life long followers of Jesus.