Ministry

2 months of no blogging hurts my soul. Maybe for Christmas break this will pick back up, but I doubt any of you actually check this any more. I hope you find this and really put some thought into it, though, because this is seriously important to me.

My blog for today is a paper which I turned in a week ago. This is my philosophy of youth ministry. This goes on my permanent resume, and I plan on giving it to the church that I ask to be hired by. I seriously plan on implementing this as my plan to affect the lives of youth. So please, critique me, affirm me, and really read into what I am saying. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers as I embark upon this.

My Philosophy of Youth Ministry

The main goal of a youth ministry that I design would be to help youth understand that, at every point in their lives, whether young or old, God has a purpose for them as a part of the body of Christ. While God does call us to this, he does not need us; he has given us the privilege of being included in his plan. As such, the adolescents of today's culture must recognize that they have potential to serve in the church and be part of the body, but that they also must seek wisdom and maturity in order to be a more capable servant. It is important to see that all Christians can contribute. God has called the church as a whole to recognize that students, while they do have disadvantages and weaknesses, are every bit a part of the church, and must be trained and brought up with discernment in order to guide them into a full life of Christian leadership and service.

One intermediate goal is integrating the youth with the church while maintaining their respect for the elders of the church. I believe that, to an extent, the whole youth group should be allowed to participate in the activities that the adult church body takes part in. This includes, and is certainly not limited to, baptism, communion, worship, service, prayer, and social events. This is not to say they need leadership positions there; they do not. I contend that the youth must be a part of the church in order to fully engage in their relationship with Christ, because the church community is a web of support, and they should not be denied the diversity of that body simply because of their age. Another goal is developing a public faith that emerges in every location of their lives. I am not necessarily saying that the youth need to become apologetic masters; instead, I would encourage them to be in regular discussion with peers, adults, and younger youth about spiritual issues in a casual, sincere way. This means I would focus on developing boldness and honesty as spiritual characteristics, as well as their identity. My last goal is to give them necessary skills for continuing their faith after they leave adolescence. The students would need to know how to find a church that matches up with their beliefs, how to be part of a body, and have a general understanding of the major issues of Christianity and the history of the church. This would include a fairly high level of cognitive development.

In the pursuit of the completion of these goals, there are several events I would like to see regularly occurring. In order to pursue integration with the church, I think it is appropriate for the youth to participate in contributing to the main events of the general congregation. This could include having youth read verses for the liturgy or assist in worship, perhaps even sharing from personal experience as part of the worship service. To develop a public and honest faith, I would assign "homework" (without the expectation of immediate success) for the youth to speak about a certain issue every month with at least one person. For the purpose of giving them skills for their strengthened and lifelong faith, I would teach sermons not necessarily targeting key issues in their lives, but speaking about what the church is and what the Christian life is. Topical sermons occasionally have their uses, but the truth of the Gospel and the wisdom from the history of the church contribute much more to long-term faith.

In order to ensure the greater success of all of these goals, I plan to have a network of discipleship, consisting of the support of the rest of the church. At most events, whether or not there is teaching, I intend to have adults (hopefully some parents) who are mentoring, engaging, and worshiping with the youth. This would ensure integration with the rest of the church, and since I alone cannot answer every objection or question of the faith to every youth, constant discussion with these volunteer adults about the lessons would create a greater understanding. Also, if the adults share their own stories of developing faith into adulthood, the youth will have a greater understanding of what is necessary to maintain strong faith even after leaving high school. Since adult volunteers cannot be expected to eternally pour out in a perfect way, I would also disciple and guide them in their leadership with monthly meetings to lift them up and teach them. This way we would all pursue the same specific goals.

The success of this plan could be determined in several ways. For one thing, the adult volunteers, who regularly interact on a more personal basis than I do, could inform me of the spiritual progress they witness, as well as the students' ability to interpret and respond to what they hear and see and do. Also, at the end of junior high and again at the end of high school, I would take one Sunday with that specific grade of students, and ask them to write out for me a summary of what they believe as a Christian, and determine their ability to do so. It would also be easy to determine how well the students are integrated with the rest of the church, based on how regularly and how well they engage the adults and the rest of the body.

The purpose behind the youth ministry that I envision is not to entertain students, or make them into morality angels with perfect Bible memory. The purpose is to make them part of the modern church and raise them up to be leaders of the future church.