A Third Kind of Youth Ministry
Just read a blog post – The Youth Ministry Gap.
The gist of it is that when the words “Youth Ministry” are uttered, it could actually mean 2 different things.
1. “Professional Vocational Youth Ministry” which he say is 20% of the workers.
This youth ministry is pretty sophisticated. Like any profession people fall into schools of thought. They have models for doing youth ministry. They have written personal and can defend philosophies of youth ministry. They run programs which implement their well thought out and defended philosophy of ministry. They train volunteers to be proteges for their school of thought. They have opinions about whether a certain models is getting stronger or dying.
2. “My Church Youth Ministry” which he says is 80% of the workers.
They just want to know how to minister to the kids in their church. When they e-mail me or call our customer service line they don’t want to talk philosophy or are even aware that there are different ways of doing youth ministry. They are calling because they have 15 seventh graders in their Sunday School class and they need a curriculum that will work for them.
For the 80% or so of youth workers in America who fit this category, youth ministry is pretty matter-of-fact. There are kids who show up on Sunday morning or Wednesday night and I do what I can to minister to them.
That characterization might be true, but I disagree with the percentages because there’s a missing group in there. It’s the group of youth leaders who have little interest in youth ministry philosophy, programs, or models because they aren’t really focused on creating a “thing”. But, they also aren’t overly concerned with what to do with kids who “show up”.
This third group of youth leaders are not holed up in a church building waiting for the kids to come to them. They are spending their time going to the kids, living out life among them, bringing Jesus to them. There is a percentage of Youth Ministry professionals & volunteers who don’t strive to draw kids to themselves, but are drawn to kids. It might be a small percentage, but it is a group of people who are doing it the way Jesus did it. There is a third kind of youth ministry.
Cabin Time Questions For Ordinary Club Talks
Help for Young Life Leaders NOW has some great advice for weekend camp speakers.
I recently spoke at a YL weekend camp. One of the best pieces of YL camp speaking advice I ever received was to plan your cabin time questions before you plan your talk.
That is outstanding advice, but reading the post gave me an idea.
At the end of nearly every regular Club talk our leaders will say something like “Hey, if you want to talk more about this stuff come and see one of the leaders.” That’s always great, but hardly any kids actually do that.
Here’s the idea…what if leaders who were speaking came up with 2 or 3 questions (before they write their talks) that they’ll give to the other leaders at pre-Club for us to use in conversations with kids during the following week? Not only would it help the speaker stay focused but it would help the rest of us have some creative ways to bring up the talks in our conversations with kids outside of Club.
Just an idea!
The Psychologist Skit
We just did this skit on Monday. It is my favorite to do and had the kids cracking up.
Mr. Tolson is knocking at the door on the door of Dr. Roberts, the in-house psychologist.
Dr. Roberts: Mr. Tolson
Mr. Tolson: Are you Dr. Roberts?
Dr. Roberts: Yes, come in. Please have a seat. Sorry to have to call you down here on such short notice, but your company asked me to give you a creativity test.
Mr. Tolson: I’ve never taken one of those before.
Dr. Roberts: Well, they’re pretty easy. Actually, they can be fun. Would you like a beverage?
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Gospel-Centered Everything…Even Topical Discussions
I’ve had some great discussions over the past year or so about making Jesus central to every Young Life talk we do. That’s easy most of the time, but challenging when it comes to particularly the Sin talk – telling kids about our separation from God due to our sinfulness. But still, Jesus is & should be central to everything we teach, even when it comes to specific topical teaching & discussions.
Resurgence posted some thoughts under the title “Gospel-Centered Discipleship: How It Looks” and I love this statement.
A gospel-centered church does not just preach the gospel. The gospel is not an addition to our ministry or even a beginning point; rather, the gospel must saturate every part of our church’s life.
I understand the value of topic-based discussions, especially in Campaigners. Kids seem to always want to talk about topics that “apply to their lives”, and it’s a temptation as leaders to give in, plan for, & do an entire discussion on some topic but leave out the gospel, as if the gospel doesn’t “apply to their lives.” The gospel needs to be in and through everything we do.
So, how do we do that?
- Rely on scripture. The gospel runs through scripture, so if we are using it Jesus will be central.
- Most “topical” discussions that kids want to talk about are usually about their misguided responses to a longing for deep relationship with God. Keep that in mind & steer discussions toward Jesus.
I would take the whole Gospel thing one step further & say we should not only apply it to church, but to our own lives. The gospel of Jesus Christ must saturate every part of our lives.
Easy & Funny – Gotta Get Those Blindfolds
I tell ya…I get more fun game ideas from watching Ellen than from anything else – except the Source of course.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qnqidr7PdTk]
Mix It Up Monday – Bobbing For Gum & Jello
Make a bunch of jello & sink gumballs in it. The jello doesn’t have to be all that firm (or firm at all), but the more firm it is the more the gum balls will stay midway between the to & bottom of the container. Have kids bob for the gum balls in the jello and then blow a bubble. The first one to blow a bubble wins. You have to have tons of gum or it takes forever for them to blow a bubble. The best part is watching them chew as fast as they can with red all over their faces. We got some great pictures.
Have a camera taking shots the whole time and make sure to have plenty of towls & plastic. Goggles wouldn’t be a bad idea either.
Join Mix It Up Mondays and get your posts linked right here. It’s quick & easy. Here are the instructions if you’ve never taken part in a Blog Carnival before.
How About A Friday Quote – Where are you going?
One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. “Which road do I take?” she asked. “Where do you want to go?” was his response. “I don’t know,” Alice answered. “Then,” said the cat, “it doesn’t matter.”- Lewis Carroll