With thanks to the Cluster for Creative Leadership in Southeast Indiana for a great conversation around youth ministry on Monday, I’ve been thinking about just how we define youth ministry in our churches. For many in our church, I have a hunch youth ministry is defined as what happens when the youth pastor or youth volunteer, or in some cases the pastor, interacts with a student. In this way, our churches appoint or hire someone to “do” youth ministry, with the unspoken assumption that it is something an individual or small team does.

What would happen if we gave a concerted effort to redefining youth ministry for our congregations? What if we said to all who worship with us: “youth ministry is simply this – intentionally sharing the love of God in Jesus Christ with students?”

The definition is simple, but what it means to members of our congregation may be radical. It means that youth ministry is much more than Sunday morning class or worship or some evening’s youth gathering, and responsibility for youth ministry lies well beyond the hired or appointed person or team. It means that every dinner with your family offers an opportunity for youth ministry. It means that a grandmother willing to share her faith with her grandson is practicing youth ministry. It means that an uncle who prays with his niece is ministering to youth. It means that tutoring in a local school, serving as leaders in civic youth organizations like scouts or 4H, or mentoring a young person in your church community can be youth ministry.

So I’m curious, what would happen if we shared this definition with our churches and then asked every member of the congregation to commit to one hour of youth ministry once a week?

Peace and blessings,
Brian

PS   As one who myself easily gets hung up with the words used in definitions, I had to resist the desire to complicate and nuance the definition of youth ministry. I changed it several times and then went back to my original writing. It may be too simple, but somehow simple seems right. For a more in depth read on defining youth ministry today, check out this article by Chap Clark at Youth Specialties.

A couple of weeks ago I joined the Youth 2011 Design Team at Purdue as we began putting in place the details for an amazing ministry for youth and youth leaders next summer.  I left genuinely excited, and I want to offer a personal invitation to all of our Indiana youth ministry leaders and youth to join us for five fantastic days of worship, learning, service, and fellowship with thousands of United Methodist youth.

I know you have a lot of choices for your Summer 2011 ministries, and I know that committing to an event like YOUTH 2011 may require a move away from a traditional mission trip or camp experience.  I truly understand the challenges in those decisions!   With that in mind, let me just share why I am so excited and why I believe the commitment to bringing youth to this ministry is worth the investment.

1.  From the very inception of the idea of the format for YOUTH 2011, youth have been involved in every facet of planning.  This isn’t an event put on by youth leaders for youth, it is a ministry of youth and youth leaders together, with a huge commitment to youth leadership.  As two examples, the youth praise band from Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City (Rezlife) will be the house band, and youth will be featured as speakers on stage.

2.  With the input of the youth, this ministry event is focused on “more than” a singular experience. Everything in the event is being designed with intentionality about giving young people and their leaders the tools they need to grow in their faith and in leadership once they return to their home churches.

3.  Does anyone remember the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books, where you could choose which direction to take the story?  I’m really excited that YOUTH 2011 includes a sense of that choose your own path for groups attending.  Need time with your youth group everyday, there is room for that.  Desire workshops for those youth who really want to dive into discipleship and leadership.  They are available.  Looking for mission knowing that this is taking the place of a mission trip for some of the youth, you’ll find several offerings.

Add to this list the opportunity for youth to experience Christian fellowship with thousands of other youth; artists and speakers that include Kristian Stanfill (touring this fall with Chris Tomlin), Jared Hall, Fred Lynch, Olu Brown, and Scott Erickson (to name a few); a commitment from Tic Long and Youth Specialties to help create a great Youth Worker Oasis experience; and a chance to offer our best in Hoosier hospitality to all who attend.  I truly believe that this will be a transformational event for young people, and I hope you can join us.

If you have questions, check out the website or give me a call at the conference office.

Peace and blessings,

Brian

I was listening this morning to a lecture by Reggie Joiner at the NYWC where he talked about “leaning into parents”.  I really like the term “leaning in”.  As Fall starts and lots of us are kicking off our school year ministry offerings for youth, “leaning in” may be a great place to start as we think about our ministries with families.  Notice it isn’t pressing or pushing, for while we’d like parents to be more involved in the faith life of their teens, pressing or pushing for it to happen often isn’t fruitful.  And it isn’t standing back and waiting for parents to get involved or ignoring the influence they have and doing our ministry without them.

So I’ve been thinking all morning, how does one “lean in”?  It boils down to 3 principles:  communication, intentionality, and support.   I’ll explore these in more detail in my next 3 posts, but in the meantime, how do you experience “leaning-in” to parents and families in your ministry?