Only about one in four teens now participate in church youth groups, considered the hallmark of involvement; numbers have been flat since 1999. Other measures of religiosity — prayer, Bible reading and going to church — lag as well, according to Barna Group, a Ventura, Calif., evangelical research company. This all has churches canceling their summer teen camps and youth pastors looking worriedly toward the fall, when school-year youth groups kick in.

I mean, who doesn't love to drive to church to get to play an awesome game of "Piece The Bible."

I cringe when I read this article in the USA Today not because the slumping numbers bother me, but for 2 other reasons.

1. There is an assumption that our priority is to “get kids in church” which undoubtedly means that stupid building and…
2. The word “relationships” doesn’t appear anywhere in the article.

I’m biased, but Young Life’s emphasis on going where kids are & earning the right to be heard (through relationships) just seems so much more logical, biblical, and effective. But, it’s a lot harder than simply throwing a pizza party. You actually have to recruit and train leaders to go outside the walls of the church and convince them that it’s important to enter the scary lives of teenagers – even if that seems to be the most uncomfortable thing in the world to them. I promise you, teenagers are craving it.

It’s not only culture who perpetuates the madness. I’m well aware that youth pastors feel pressure from the church leadership because the answer to this question is what the youth pastor’s job performance is based upon: “How many kids are involved in our youth group?”

Instead if you want to focus on numbers (which I’m not entirely sure we should), we need to be asking these questions…

1. How many kids in our community do you know by name?
2. How many leaders within our church have you trained to do youth ministry with you?
3. How many athletic events & other activities did you and your leaders attend at the schools?
4. How many times did you or a leader go play playstation with kids at one of their houses?
5. How many kids do you & your leaders talk to on Facebook on a weekly basis?
6. How many kids have your cell phone number programed in their phone?

Effective & genuine, "going where they are" youth ministry.

And there are a lot more of these questions that are relational ministry questions instead of marketing questions. If all your church leadership is concerned with is numbers, print this out and show it to them (you might want to change the title). And, if you are at a church where you struggle to get adults to go out and be with kids, then quit. Why? Because you will never be able to fill their unrealistic demands on your own. Church is not a business. It is a relationship.

You have to have a group of caring adults who are willing to genuinely dive into the lives of kids. It’s easy to sit in a fellowship hall at a table with a bunch of Bibles and wait for kids to be sent to you for “small group time” so you can “teach” them for 30 minutes, tell them good bye, and wait until you get to do it all over again next week, but honestly, how worthwhile does that sound if you put yourself in the mindset of a teen – even if they do get free pizza? And, what is honestly gained from it? Do you really know those kids better? Do they know you better?

No, Jesus was among the people where they were. Sure there are times when he taught in the synagogue, but primarily his ministry happened on the street, on mountain-sides or by lakes and in the houses of (get this) sinners. He was out there.

Our culture has such a messed up view of youth ministry and church in general – and the worst part is that the church has fallen pray to that view & embraced it. I honestly hope youth groups that demand that kids “come to them” fail (call me the Rush Limbaugh of Youth Ministry), because that’s not ministry the way Jesus did it and its fake.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s a place for group meetings at church, just like there’s a place for worship services at church, but that ain’t church. Church is “out there” among the people and if youth leaders take their calling seriously, that’s where they’ll go. They will go among the kids, build relationships with them, share the gospel with them, and invite them to join them in that building most people call a church, where they might actually have a pizza party with their youth leaders who know them & love them, and they’ll be there because they want to – not because mom “made me” go. Can we please get the order straight?

Mark Oestreicher has some thoughts on this article, as well. Check it out.

Cross-posted from www.chrisstorms.com.

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!

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?

Mr. Tolson: I work in the computer center on the 17th floor. We just got a new computer in, and they put it in the back of the center. And all I did, I told them that they should put it up in the front of the center, so more of the people could get to it, but they didn’t.

Dr. Roberts: Fascinating. OK, the first test that we’re going to do is called a word association test.

Mr. Tolson: I don’t know what that is.

Dr. Roberts: Well, it’s pretty simple. I’ll give you a word, and you say whatever you can think of.

Mr. Tolson: Well, that sounds easy.

Dr. Roberts: Great! OK, well let’s start. First word, “shoe.”

Mr. Tolson: Shoe

Dr. Roberts: “Rabbit”

Mr. Tolson: (long pause) Rabbit

Dr. Roberts: “Truck”

Mr. Tolson: Truck

Dr. Roberts: OK, you’re just saying the words that I’m saying.

Mr. Tolson: I know, but when you say the word, that’s the word that I think of.

Dr. Roberts: OK, it’s my fault then. Let’s try again, only this time I want you to change the word.

Mr. Tolson: OK, so not just the same word.

Dr. Roberts: Great. You’re catching on. OK? Next word “hat.”

Mr. Tolson: Hats.

Dr. Roberts: “Moose”

Mr. Tolson: Meese

Dr. Roberts: OK, now all you are doing is just pluralizing the words that I’m saying.

Mr. Tolson: Yeah, but they’re different.

Dr. Roberts: Yeah, they are different, but that’s not what I want. OK, let me give you an example. Why don’t you give me a word?

Mr. Tolson: I give you a word?

Dr. Roberts: Yeah, any word.

Mr. Tolson: Word

Dr. Roberts: Fine, uh, that makes me think of “constriction” (folds arms across chest in a constrictive manner). Don’t worry you’ll catch on. Let’s try it again. Okay, “trumpet.”

Mr. Tolson: Constriction (folding arms in same manner)

Dr. Roberts: “Scarf”

Mr. Tolson: Moose

Dr. Roberts: “Cat”

Mr. Tolson: Scarf

Dr. Roberts: All right, now you’re just using the words that I’ve already used.

Mr. Tolson: Well, you didn’t say that I could use them up.

Dr. Roberts: Well, you can’t. OK? Why don’t we just move on to another test?

Mr. Tolson: They got this new computer up in the computer center, and I just told them they should put it up front, but they put it in the back.

Dr. Roberts: That’s fascinating. OK? Look, uh, for this next test I’m going to start a sentence, and I want you to complete it, OK?

Mr. Tolson: So all I have to do is finish it. OK, all right. Well this one sounds easy.

Dr. Roberts: OK, great. Now here is the first sentence. “When we went to the park we were going to …”

Mr. Tolson: Period

Dr. Roberts: OK, look, you have to add some words to it. OK? Squeeze some words between the period and the other words all right. Let’s try it again. Let’s do another one. “Jerry had a wonderful red balloon, and he took it to …”

Mr. Tolson: His friend Jerry … who also had a red balloon … and liked to add words.

Dr. Roberts: Look, Mr. Tolson, I need you to come up with some answers on your own. OK?

Mr. Tolson: We got a computer, and they wouldn’t put it in the front and …

Dr. Roberts: Look, I heard you the first time.

Mr. Tolson: Are you angry with me?

Dr. Roberts: No, Mr. Tolson, I’m not angry with you. Let’s move to the next test all right. This is called a Rohrshach Test. What it is, is some people who took a piece of paper and put some ink on it and folded it. What I need you to do is look into these inkblots and tell me what you see. (Holding up ink blot) Now, what do you see here, Mr. Tolson?

Mr. Tolson: A black smear.

Dr. Roberts: Yeah, that’s exactly what it is. I need you to look into it and tell me what you see.

Mr. Tolson: (Looking at the doctor’s shoes) I see black shoes.

Dr. Roberts: That’s good. I could see that.

Mr. Tolson: (looking at the doctor’s tie) I see a brown tie.

Dr. Roberts: Um hum, good, good.

Mr. Tolson: (looking at the wall) I see a diploma from Grand Valley State University.

Dr. Roberts: That is enough, Mr. Tolson. You will not leave this office until you tell me what you see in this.

Mr. Tolson: I don’t want to, I don’t want to.

Dr. Roberts: Look, I’m going to make you use one creative bone in your body if it’s the last thing I do. Now look at this and tell me what you see. Tell me.

Mr. Tolson: I see a dog. (struggling)

Dr. Roberts: Good.

Mr. Tolson: And it’s on a log. (continuing to struggle)

Dr. Roberts: Good, go with that.

Mr. Tolson: And the dog is a terrier … and it’s rabid … and it shakes its head back and forth in meaningless anger.

Dr. Roberts: Good, good, good.

Mr. Tolson: And foam sprays from its mouth, and we follow this droplet of spit down to see where it lands on a symmetrical lawn, and the drop of spit slowly transforms, becoming a flaming brass eagle holding the Magna Carta in its claws. This eagle takes flight and soars over the (spit) gray convulsive Atlantic Ocean. (lowering voice) It flies low by the choppy waves, a massive shimmering sea bass leaps up, and it snatches the Magna Carta. But the sea bass is served to the family of Long John Silver’s restaurant. And as the family devours the fish, the father is transformed. His eyes glow wolf-yellow, he stares at his claws, and a massive crowd gathers around. He screams wildly into the night sky: “Where is the passion?” “Where … is … the … passion?”

Dr. Roberts: (stunned) I’ll see what I can do about getting those computers moved.

Mr. Tolson: Yeah, on the 17th floor, and they put it in the back.

Dr. Roberts: Sure, OK.

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?

1. Rely on scripture. The gospel runs through scripture, so if we are using it Jesus will be central.
2. 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.