RETHINKING YOUTH MINISTRY

Youth Ministry Book Give-Away: Belieber!

2012-01-27T11:37:00.004-06:00

Could the Christian faith of Justin Beiber have a lasting impact on teens of many different faiths?

At the risk of becoming the resident expert on Justin Bieber at Patheos.com, I was recently asked to do an interview with the author of the new book Belieber!: Fame, Faith, and the Heart of Justin Bieber. Writer Cathleen Falsini, award-winning journalist and nationally syndicated religion columnist, explores the phenomenon of Bieber's celebrity and the ways in which his faith intertwines with all that he does. I asked Falsini to reflect on Beiber's influence with Christian and non-Christian teens alike:

Falsini: I've heard from hundreds of fans around the globe via Twitter and email since I started working on the book. I've heard from Jewish kids in Israel, Muslim teens (both girls and boys) from the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and Indonesia. I've heard from Buddhist and Shinto fans in Japan, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Catholic kids in South America, the U.S., all over Europe and into the former Soviet Union. They're all intrigued by his faith—even if they don't share it or come from a different faith tradition—and want to know more about it and his story. It's extraordinary the reach Justin has and the barriers that he so naturally and with great love crosses all the time. And then, the most moving to me are the kids I've heard from (including a few I know personally) who say that the way Justin expresses and lives his faith has made them reconsider faith—and God—for themselves.

You can read the entire interview here.

Like a free copy of Falsini's book? I'd be happy to gift the copy sent to me by the publisher to one you intrepid youth ministers who want to read more on Beiber's faith or perhaps you have a teen in your ministry who is a big Bieber fan. Either way, to enter the give-away, simply leave a response on this post (or respond by email to briankskirk@yahoo.com) and answe the question: Which pop star/musical group was most influential on you as a teen? Contest ends at midnight Tuesday Jan. 31 and the winner will be announced here on Feb. 1.

Inviting Teen Response to "Why I Hate Religion" Viral Video

2012-01-26T08:45:00.000-06:00

What are your teens saying about the viral video that critiques Christian hypocrisy? We offered our youth a chance to share their thoughts and the results definitely surprised us.

This past Sunday we engaged our senior high youth in a spirited discussion of Jeff Bethke's viral video "Why I Hate Religion But Love Jesus." Most of them had already seen it (and some even responded to the video in writing as part of my essay on the video at Patheos). Our leader Jenn set up the discussion by printing out different sections of Bethke's spoken word poem and posting them at various places around the room. After viewing the video, the teens divided into small groups and took time to move about the room, reading the words and jotting down on the posted papers their reactions, underlining ideas they liked, or adding comments to lines or phrases they found confusing or troubling.

Afterwards, we gathered together simply to discuss where we thought Jeff got things right and where he may have misrepresented the Christian faith (or, at least, our understanding of the faith).

To our surprise, these progressive Christian teens -- the kind often criticized for having a "believe whatever you want" attitude about religion -- demonstrated real passion as they shared both what they liked and what really rubbed them wrong about the video. They collectively agreed with the video's assertion that saying you are a Christian is very different from actually living like one. They also had no trouble accepting that there is plenty of religious hypocrisy in the Church. But they felt that the video's assertion that Jesus was anti-religious was simply wrong and a misreading of scripture and history. They argued that the poet fell into the trap of overgeneralizing to make his point. Is the Church messed up? Sure. Has wrong been propagated in the Church's name? Yes. Are there phony Christians? Plenty. But these are all critiques of how we practice Christianity -- not the religion itself (And, in all fairness, I don't think the poet was criticizing the faith but rather how people practice it but his words were painted with too broad a brush and thus easy to misinterpret).

Where our youth really felt Jeff missed the mark was in his focus on personal salvation without concluding with any talk of what it means to live as a Christian. Where, they wondered, was the part of the poem that proclaimed that our freedom in Christ inspires us to live lives of practicing justice, working for peace, helping the oppressed, speaking out against intolerance, and welcoming the stranger? Where was the part about what we should be doing as Christians? Had the video been less focused on personal salvation (a sort of "me, me, me" Christianity) I think Jeff would have had more fans in the room.

Christian apologetics are about as scarce in a progressive Christian youth groups as civility in a presidential debate. But last Sunday night that's just what our teens were doing, whether they knew it or not. So what happens next? Well, our youth decided they wanted to make their own video. Not exactly a response to the "Why I Hate Religion," video but more their own message about what faith means to them and their lives. I think, perhaps, this is the sort of response Jeff Bethke was hoping for all along -- to get people talking about Christianity in ways that matter.

One final note: Jeff has received much support and a great deal of criticism for his video. I think some of this is owed to the slick production values. Had he simply shot this with a web cam in his bedroom, it would likely have gone unnoticed by the masses. He recently shared his thoughts on the debate surrounding his message and offered a humble response to what he was attempting to accomplish and what he might do differently were he to remake the video.

Great Youth Ministry Idea: Giant Block-Stacking Game

2012-01-18T09:04:00.000-06:00

Here's a super-sized game with lots of youth ministry potential for community-building.

We've posted ideas in the past about creative ways to utlize block-stacking games like Jenga for community-building and educational purposes in youth ministry. It just never ocurred to us to try those ideas super-sized! But Ian at Youthblog has inspired us to do just that with his group's game that utilizes the big blocks by stacking them with your feet! There are places on the web you can purchase the over-sized blocks or your could make them yourself? The larger size playing pieces open up new possiblities for inviting youth to write on or decorate the blocks as well as increase the possiblity for using the game to develop team work skills among your youth. Of course, it might be better to play this outside or in a wide open indoor space and you'll want to make sure you think carefully about the size of the blocks and the height of the tower so if (when?) it comes crashing down no one gets too serious of a knock on the head!

What is the Future of Youth Ministry?

2012-01-18T01:26:00.000-06:00

What issues will have the most impact on your youth ministry in the next five years? The next ten years?

I was honored last week to participate in a Lily funded Youth Ministry Think Tank hosted by the excellent Center for Youth Ministry Training in Nashville. The gathering included a pretty amazing group of youth ministry academics and practioners such as Mike King, Mark DeVries, Kenda Creasy Dean, Stephen Ingram, Dori Baker, and Mark Matlock, to name a few.

Participants in the 4th annual Lilly Laboratory Think Tank

Our challenge prior to arriving in Nashville was to consider the question: "What cultural or theological issues will youth ministry be facing and responding to in the next five to ten years?" Each participant wrote three white papers on this subject and those papers formed the bulk of our conversation and discernment over the three-day event. You'll be hearing a great deal more from me on the think tank's work but at present my brain is still spinning with the sheer volume of information, ideas, questions, and challenges that came out of the group's efforts. For now, I simply want to share with you in brief the three relevant cultural/theological issues that I identified as impacting the future of youth ministry, encourage your comments, and invite you to propose your own responses to the think tank's question. (Update: I also encourage you to check out this post by think tank participant Stephen Ingram on the issues he identified. They are definitely the ones that resonated the most with me of all those submitted).

Issue 1: Increase in the influence of Post-modernity on Teens

Summary: The challenge for many of us, throughout the theological spectrum from evangelicals to progressives, is that we increasingly will be encountering new generations of adolescents raised in a thoroughly post-modern culture. These young people are being shaped by values that include open-mindedness over certainty, tolerance and diversity over exclusivity, and a willingness to see Christianity as but one of a multitude of valid religious choices.

Additionally, these youth will be seeking experiences, not dogma and will be more willing to believe that truth is relative. For me, the challenge here is that we can no longer assume that youth will simply accept the faith of their parents or of the church in which they were raised. They will no longer be willing to accept that Christianity is “the way” simply because we tell them that it is. I think we will see fewer and fewer youth who will be satisfied with our attempts to give them the “right answer” or our efforts to help them be on the “correct side” of a debate. They will want to be part of the messiness of figuring out what the world means for them.

Issue 2: Greater Openness of Youth on Issues of Gender, Sexuality, and Sexual Orientation

Summary: Attitudes in the United States continue to shift toward greater inclusion of those who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered. Gallup polls in 2011 show that, for the first time, a majority of Americans favor legal gay marriage. Additionally, polls of persons under the age of 30 show that the majority support greater inclusion of LGBT persons. These findings echo those indicating that many young people (including those who identify as Christian) view the Church negatively because of its seemingly hostile attitude toward persons of minority sexual orientations. Relatedly, recent studies by The Barna Group indicate that youth who were once active in church but are no longer often site the Church’s overly simplistic or judgmental view of sexuality as a main reason for their disconnect. These changes suggest a cultural (if not theological) shift amongst youth that will represent a real and perhaps painful struggle for many in both mainline and conservative churches who do not believe that openness on the issue of sexuality is compatible with the Christian faith. However, it would seem clear that the Church risks irrelevance if it fails to engage in honest and open dialogue with youth on these issues.

Issue 3: The Challenge of Extended Adolescence

Summary: Often when we speak of youth ministry we are referring to ministry with teenagers. If we were to extend that definition to include “adolescents,” many sociologists would argue that this category now includes young persons up to their mid and late twenties. According to the latest statistics, almost 50 percent of youth ages 18-24 live at home and a majority of youth still receive financial support from their parents even after graduating college. A shift has occurred in our culture resulting in adolescents delaying adulthood. Youth in their late teens and early twenties take longer to develop financial independence from their parents, have trouble maintaining employment, postpone marriage, have difficulty sustaining relationships, and seem to lack direction. It seems to me that the Church is part of this problem. While the world around us struggles through war, poverty, and injustice, we challenge our youth with little more than participating in a youth group, attending Sunday school, hosting a youth Sunday once a year, or perhaps leading at youth-centric events or camps. At a time when teens are at the peak of their mental and physical abilities, we ask them to sit on the sidelines of the work of the Church. To be certain -- inviting youth into leadership often results in messiness, half-completed projects, and missed deadlines -- but if our intention is to raise up leaders of the faith, can we afford to wait until their extended adolescence is over?

So, there are the three issues I named. Of course, there are many others. What cultural or theological issues do you think youth ministry will be facing and responding to in the next decade?

Celebrating Epiphany in Youth Ministry

2012-01-06T15:38:00.003-06:00

January can be a tough month to do youth ministry. This activity can help you and your youth refocus.

As Lars Rood reminds us in this thoughtful post, after the build-up of the fall and the flurry of the holidays, by January we are sometimes left asking "Where do we go from here?"

For these reasons, January is a great time to take stock with your youth about your ministry together. The month itself is named after Janus, the Roman god of new beginnings and transitions. Janus is often depicted as two-faced, looking toward the past and toward the future. January also marks the beginning of the season of Epiphany, when we observe the coming of the wise men and the manifestation of the light of Christ for the whole world.

This week, we'll be asking our youth to celebrate the season of epiphany by shining a light both on where we've been so far in ministry and on where we are called to go in the days ahead. Here a few suggestions for trying this approach with your group.

1) Last Year in Review: Warm up the group by seeing how much attention they were paying in the past year. Split into small teams and present a series of trivia questions both about world events from the past year and events within your own group or church. I like to keep this less competitive by providing each group with a small chalkboard. I ask the question, give each team a minute or so to decide upon and write their answer, and then all groups show me their written responses simultaneously. Every team with a correct response gets a point. (Want to be a little more raucous? Give each team a noise maker and let them sound it when they have an answer ready). Need some 2011 trivia? You might start here.

2) Epiphony: Provide each group with the short retelling of the Epiphany story below. Challenge them to underline elements in the story that don't quite jive with the biblical version (the errors are underlined for you):

In the season of Epiphany, we retell the story of a December long ago when the three kings spotted a huge, bright star in the sky and followed it to the manger in Bethlehem where Jesus had just been born. Their names were Balthazar, Melchior, and Caspar. After arriving in Bethlehem, the wise men met with Pharaoh who asked them to bring him word when they had discovered the location of the baby. Upon finding Jesus, they bowed down, worshiped him, and presented him with gold, frankenstine, and myrrh. Then, knowing that Pharaoh was up to no good, the wise men escaped on their camels by a different way home.

See how many inaccuracies they spotted and then talk about why it's important to get this story right (or, more to the point, why it's important not to just conflate this story with Luke's account). Ask the youth to share why they think Matthew included this story in his gospel. What could it mean? What does it have to do with Epiphany as a "season of light?"

3) Taking Stock: Share the origin of the word "January" and invite your youth to do some reflecting on the past and future. Post a series of flip chart pages or poster boards with different titles (see below) around the room. Youth should move in their small groups in turn to each poster and write or draw their reponses. Limit time at each poster to about 3 minutes and then have each team move to a new poster.

Possible headings could include:

Looking Back: What Can We Celebrate About Last Year?
Predictions: What Do You Want to Do Together in the New Year? (e.g. activities, events, trips, experiences, changes)
Epiphany 1: What do You Want to Shed some Light on This Year (e.g. what do you want to learn, study, talk about?)
Epiphany 2: Where Can We Shed Some Light this Year? (e.g. where can we serve, help, be in mission?)
Which Endings Will We Observe/Celebrate This Year?
Which Beginnings Will We Eperience this Year?

3) Setting Priorities: Next, provide each person with about ten stickers and give them a few minutes to review all the responses on the posters. As they do so, they are invited to put a sticker next to ideas, suggestions, statements by others that they like the most. Just remind them: only 10 votes per person. Later, you can review the posters to determine which ideas seem to connect most with the group overall and possibly intergrate these into your plans for the rest of the school year and beyond.

4) Light of the World: Close with a time of worship by sitting in a circle and giving to each teen a battery-operated LED votive candle. Challenge your youth to think of one significant way in the coming week that they can bring the light of Christ into the lives of the people around them (or perhaps one way they will bring light to your ministry together in the new year). Go around the circle, inviting each person to "light" their votive and share their plan for being a light in the darkness (if some youth choose not to share aloud, simply have them light their votive and then move on to the next person). Close in prayer and send the youth home with their candle, challenging them to light it as least once a day as a reminder of their committment.

Most Important Youth Ministry Story of 2011

2012-01-04T18:52:00.001-06:00

Looking back now, it would seem the most important youth ministry story of 2011 wasn't really about youth ministry at all but its implications for those who work with youth in the Church are enormous. The scandal at Penn State brought to light once again the critical importance of establishing proper and consistent boundaries for adult-youth interactions in schools, clubs, sports teams and, yes, even youth ministries. I think this all boils down to two important questions:

1. Does your youth program have a policy that mandates that no adult is to be alone in private with a teen?

2. Do you allow exceptions to that rule?

I regularly lead boundary training workshops with youth ministry, church, and camp staffs. By far the most important rule I argue must be part of any safe church policy is the "two adult rule." Simply stated, there must be two adults present with youth at all times -- no exceptions. Oddly, this is the one rule that participants in these workshops often have the most difficulty accepting. Without fail, someone will always argue that there must be exceptions to that rule. The most common exception: "We follow that rule when the youth and adults are opposite gendered but not if they are same gendered." In other words, it's okay for a male youth leader to be alone with a guy but not a girl, or vice versa. My response: Take a look at the Penn State scandal. Take a look at what has happened in the Catholic Church. How well did that policy work out for them?

If you start allowing exceptions to the two-adult rule, you open the door to a host of difficulties. In particular, you send a clear message to pontential abusers that there is a hole in your safe church policy that they can exploit...and often the would-be abuser is the last person you would suspect.

Developing and maintaining strict boundary policies in our youth ministries shouldn't be about protecting ourselves from litigation or making our work easier. In truth, isn't it really about honoring our youth as children of God who deserve to be protected and treated with the utmost care and respect?

Merry Christmas from Rethinking Youth Ministry

2011-12-22T22:06:00.001-06:00

Someone Came in the Night from Sam Billen on Vimeo.

Wishing all of you a merry and peaceful Christmas season. (Music from the above video and more free Christmas music available on the album "A Light Goes On" which you can download for free here.)

Advent 2011 Ideas for Youth Ministry: Mail Challenge

2011-12-20T15:49:00.000-06:00

Help your youth observe the 12 days of Christmas with this mail challenge.

How many of our youth realize that the Christmas season hasn't even started yet? How many of them know it really begins on Dec. 25th and runs for 12 days leading up to the start of Epiphany on January 6th? (The answer is: probably not many!)

I often wonder if the let-down some people feel after Christmas day stems from the way we spend all of December (and even October and November) hyping our way to the 25th. There's no way one day can live up to that much anticipation. Why not help our youth see that the Christian observance of Christmas is not intended to be one single day of activity and gift-getting? Rather, it is a twelve-day season of celebration and reflection on what it means that God is revealed to us through the incarnation -- that God is known to us in human life.

Gather enough Christmas cards for all the youth in your ministry. Take the time to write each a brief, personal message in the card expressing why you are thankful for their gifts and presence in your church or youth group. In addition, include in the envelope a list of ideas for things your youth can do to observe each of the 12 days of the Christmas season. You could either just print them out on as one list or cut up the list up challenge them to pick one idea at random each day from the envelope and try it. Mail the cards and mark on the back: "Do Not Open Until Christmas Morning!"

Here are 12 suggestions to include in your list:

Day One: Dec. 26 is the "Feast of St. Stephen." Remember that song "Good King Wenceslaus looked out...?" Stephen is remembered for giving to the poor. You probably got some new stuff for Christmas. Spend a few minutes today gathering up some used items you don't need anymore (clothes, books, cds, etc) and make a plan to donate them to a Goodwill or other resell-it store. Read: Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59

Day Two: What's that you say? The wise men aren't at the manger scene on the night of Jesus' birth? Well, not according to the Bible. Take those wise men out of your family nativity scene today and put them somewhere else in the house each of the 12 days of Christmas or even carry them with you wherever you go to mark their year-long journey to see Jesus. When anyone asks what your up to, explain to them the long journey the magi were willing to make to find Jesus (a journey we are invited to take, too!). Read Matthew 2: 1-12.

Day Three: It's still Christmas. Celebrate by finding some of left-over decorations you didn't use yet this year and add them to the tree, your room, or some other place in your home. Invite others to join you!

Day Four: The days after Christmas day can be a let-down for some people. Take some time today to call or Facebook a friend you think might particularly need some encouragement.

Day Five: Take some time alone or with a family member and look at the Christmas cards your family received so far this season. Remember stories about each of the senders and say a prayer of thanks for friends and family.

Day Six: Send the message "Merry Christmas" to others via Facebook or Twitter or text and if anyone asks if maybe you are a little confused about the date, share with them that the good news of Christmas just can't be contained to one day! Read: Isaiah 9: 6-7.

Day Seven: At Christmastime we celebrate Jesus coming as light into a dark world. Take some time today to sit in a quiet place, light a candle, and meditate on the flame as you consider ways you can help to shine Christ's light in the new year with your family, your friends, your teachers, and even strangers. Read John 8:12.

Day Eight: It's Jesus birthday. Here's a great excuse to bake a cake today and decorate it as a birthday cake for Jesus. Share it with others, but before they get a piece ask them to share one teaching from the life of Jesus that has been important to their faith journey. Read: Luke 2: 1-20.

Day Nine: You may have received a lot of nice gifts on Christmas, but today would be a good day to give thanks for the gifts of God's created world that have always been with you: air, sky, water, earth, living things. If possible, take some time today to take a quiet walk outside, giving God thanks for each element of nature you encounter (from the smallest animal to the biggest cloud).

Day Ten: Sometimes at the end of the year we write resolutions about things we'd like to change about ourselves in the new year. Today, take a few minutes to sit and write down changes you want to see in the whole world next year...big or little...and then consider how you can be part of making those change happen...in ways big and little. Post the list in your room where you will see it periodically. Read: Luke 4: 14-21.

Day Eleven: Didn't get around to sending Christmas cards this year? No problem! Send Epiphany cards. Check the stores for a 1/2 off box of cards depicting the wise men. Send them to friends and family along with a message with a personal hope you have for each of them in the new year. Chances are you'll get props for being the only person they know to send Epiphany cards!

Day Twelve: There is an old custom, on or just before the start of the season of Epiphany (Jan. 6), to do a blessing of your home. With permission of your parental units, use a piece of chalk to write the following on the inside door frame of your home's front door: 20+C+M+B+12. The numbers on either side of the equation represent the coming year (in this case 2012). The letters CMB stand for the Latin phrase "Christus Mansionem Benedicat," meaning "May Christ bless this dwelling" (some people also think they stand for the folkloric names of the three wisemen: Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar). Finish by offering a prayer aloud or in silence, that your home might be a place where others in the coming year experience the blessing of Christ's love, peace, hope, and joy. Want a simpler option? Find a Christmas card with the 3 wise men on it and tape it over your door for the whole new year as a reminder that those who journey to your home should find the light of Christ there.

Image of the Day: Subversive Advent Art

2011-12-19T18:42:00.000-06:00

This mosaic image was created by teen and adult artists at my church this past Sunday using paper pieces torn from Christmas ads and Christmas sale catalogs we'd been collecting for the past month.

The idea was to take things that symbolize the commerciailization and secularization of Christmas and use them to create a sacred Advent icon. The inspiration for this art piece can be found here.

Update: See here another great example of this project, shared by youth worker Brian Nixon and this one shared by Alisha.

Youth Leaders: Give Yourself this Free Gift

2011-12-14T11:33:00.001-06:00

Fellow youth workers: If you haven't already thought of a gift to give yourself this Christmas, I would heartily recommend that you download (for free!) the album of Advent and Christmas music by Sam Billen (and friends) entitled "A Light Goes On." The music is spiritual, lyrical, comforting, fun, restful -- all the things we really should be gifting ourselves in this often hectic season. Merry (almost) Christmas.

From christandpopculture.com:

A Light Goes On‘s artistic roster is pretty impressive, including musical and visual contributes from the likes of Half-Handed Cloud, The Tenniscoats, Timbre, Dan Billen, Danny Joe Gibson, Beau Jennings, and of course, Sam Billen himself. If you’re looking for some original holiday music to listen to, or an alternative to the packaged Christmas muzak that fills stores and shopping malls this time of year, then A Light Goes On might just be the thing for you.

The website for the project is pretty cool, too. It includes artwork, videos, and a chance to listen to all the songs online.

Teen's YouTube Cry for Help

2011-12-14T10:45:00.000-06:00

My latest essay at Patheos reflects on this heart-breaking video of 14-year-old Jonah Mowry, a victim of bullying, and the Advent message of hope that has come about since the video went viral:

I wonder what the teens in our own communities are waiting for this Advent season? What changes do they desperately need to know and experience so that they might fully receive God's gifts of hope, joy, peace, and love at Christmas? Many of us become so caught up in the nostalgia of Christmas that we fail to see Advent as a time to look ahead, not backward, at the potential for God's love to heal a hurting world. What many young people need is not necessarily the often too-sweet message of an "all is right with the world" Christmas season, but rather the radical message of Advent that God can make a change in our broken lives.

You can read the rest of the essay and share your thoughts here.

Advent 2011 Ideas for Youth Ministry: Greeting Card Mixer

2011-12-13T14:13:00.000-06:00

Try this mixer at an upcoming meeting in Advent or for your youth group Christmas celebration.

Recycle the images from the front of last year's Christmas cards (or get a cheap box of greeting cards from the dollar store) by removing the back and cutting each image into 2-4 pieces (depending on the size of your group). As teens arrive for the meeting or party, hand each a random piece from one of those greeting cards. Some time during your gathering, invite teens to find the other persons who have the matching pieces to the one they are holding. With those groups sitting together, read off one-at-a-time a list of questions for them to discuss. Suggestions might include:

What is a favorite toy you received for Christmas as a kid (and do you still have it!)?
What are you hoping to get this year?
What gift are you excited about giving?
What funny or special tradition(s) does your family do together this time of the year?
Who are you particularly concerned about, praying for, grateful for this Advent season?

Video: Mr. Bean's Nativity

2011-12-13T09:49:00.000-06:00

In this video, Mr. Bean adds some new characters to the traditional nativity and disturbs the peace for the baby Jesus. A nice illustration, perhaps, of how the noise and activity of this season often threatens to distract from the real story. Oh, and it's also pretty funny.

Still Available: Advent & Christmas Ebook for Youth Ministry

2011-12-09T01:53:00.001-06:00

There's still time to grab a copy of our latest ebook, Creative Youth Ministry Ideas for Advent and Christmas. You can check out a sample from the ebook here.

In addition to offering some of the material scattered about this blog new edited and neatly repackaged into one ebook, you'll also find new ideas never before published on the site. This 66-page ebook includes Bible studies, games, discussion starters, art projects, song studies, and more. All for the small price of $1.99.

PLEASE READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE PURCHASE: To get your copy of the ebook, click on the "Buy Now" button below. Once you make your purchase, don't close the final PayPal window. Look on the middle of the page for the link "return to brianskirk@yahoo.com." Click it and you'll be taken directly to a page where you can both view and download the ebook immediately. Download problems or questions? Just contact us at brianskirk@yahoo.com and we'll help.

Your purchase will help us to continue providing quality youth ministry resources on this site. Thanks for your support and happy holidays!

Advent 2011 Ideas for Youth Ministry: Coldplay's "Christmas Lights"

2011-12-07T22:49:00.000-06:00

Coldplay's "Christmas Lights" offers a path to help teens explore the deeper questions of Advent.

Opening: Prepare in advance a string (or more) of Christmas lights all tangled together in a bundle. Challenge your youth to untangle the bunch in one minute or less (while showing care not to damage the lights!). Increase the challenge by having them work together with each person keeping one arm behind their back. Afterwards, invite the group to think about how this activity might represent how some people see their lives this time of the year. While so many people are celebrating and the radio tells us this is "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year," for some (including perhaps a few of your youth) this is a season of brokenness, doubt, and hopelessness. Help your students identify where that brokenness might be manifest in their schools, your community, the world.

Digging In: Read together Mark 1: 1-8. Reflect on John's call to repentance. At its most basic, the word "repent" really means to "turn around," to head in a new direction. John was challenging people to get ready for the coming of Jesus by reorienting their hearts toward God. Help the youth to consider what was going on in the ancient near east at the time that would have made John's declaration of the coming Kingdom of God so attractive (e.g. Roman occupation, oppression, poverty). Ask: Are there any similar situations going on in the world today? Where might there be people who really want to believe that God's justice and peace is almost here?

Next, watch or listen to Coldplay's "Christmas Lights."

This tune tells of a broken relationship at Christmastime:

Christmas night, another fight
Tears we cried a flood
Got all kinds of poison in
Poison in my blood

I took my feet
To Oxford Street
Trying to right a wrong
Just walk away
Those windows say
But I can't believe she's gone

When you're still waiting for the snow to fall
Doesn't really feel like Christmas at all.

Invite responses to the song. Ask: Why do you think Coldplay would create such a melancholy song for Christmas? Who do you think could relate to this tune? Why does it sometimes seem, even in the middle of December, that it doesn't really feel like Christmas at all?

Ask: The song talks of "waiting for the snow." What else do you think people in need are waiting for this Advent?

Post several large sheets of paper around the room. At the top of each, write one of these words: school, family, city, country, world. Invite the youth to take time at each sheet of paper to write down what people in need in those contexts are "waiting" for this Advent season. What might be on their Christmas lists this year? (e.g. peace, a new job, health care, less crime in the neighborhood, enough food, end of war, etc)

Reflecting & Responding: By the end of the song there is a glimmer of hope ("Oh Christmas lights Light up the street / Light up the fireworks in me / May all your troubles soon be gone / Those Christmas lights keep shining on").

Ask: What do you think the Christmas Lights represent in the song? Who might the Christmas Lights represent? Invite the group to consider how we might have a part in the prophet Isaiah's call to "Prepare the way of the Lord, [and] make his paths straight." How might each of us reorient our hearts toward God, in specific and tangible ways, in the coming year to help bring a measure of God's Kingdom of Peace to those around us? Provide each youth with paper and pen and ask them to write a short letter to themselves committing to specific ways they might do this in 2012. Seal the letters in envelopes with the student's name and plan to mail them to them in mid-January. Close in prayer.

Advent 2011 Ideas for Youth Ministry: 9 Unintended Advent Songs

2011-12-07T14:43:00.001-06:00

I've been watching a series of posts on Twitter with the hash tag:

#UnintendedAdventSong

They've generated a good list of songs that, while not intended for Advent, carry an Advent theme. Some are listed below (including a few of my own additions). I imagine you can think of others. These might be helpful in illustrating an Advent lesson in the coming weeks, using in a prayer station, or simply to help focus a moment of worship with teens. Additionally, you might challenge your youth to reveal their thoughts on the meaning of Advent by suggesting their own nominees for an "unintended Advent Song." A final thought: Provide the lyrics or recordings of each tune and challenge your teens to discern which lyrics or themes speak to the season of Advent.

The Waiting - Tom Petty ("The waiting is the hardest part/Every day you see one more card/You take it on faith, you take it to the heart/The waiting is the hardest part)

People Get Ready - The Impressions ("People get ready/There's a train a-coming /You don't need no baggage/You just get on board")

Love Rescue Me - U2 ("I stand at the entrance to a new world I can see")

Waiting on the World to Change - John Mayer ("It's hard to beat the system/When we're standing at a distance /So we keep waiting Waiting on the world to change")

For You To Notice - Dashboard Confessional ("There is a light placed up in the sky\Like the stained glass, time slows down/I wish I could sleep/I wish I could dream")

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - U2 ("I believe in the kingdom come/Then all the colors will bleed into one")

The Way - Fastball ("Anyone could see The road that they walk on is paved in gold/And It's always summer, they'll never get cold/They'll Never get hungry/They'll never get old and grey")

Solsbury Hill - Peter Gabriel ("Son," he said, "Grab your things, I've come to take you home.")

Ships - Umbrellas ("There is a light placed up in the sky/Like the stained glass, time slows down/I wish I could sleep/I wish I could dream")

Advent 2011 Ideas for Youth Ministry: Out-of-the-Box Jesus

2011-12-03T10:01:00.001-06:00

This Advent idea for youth ministry comes from a really great blog I recently came across entitled Creative Theology, authored by Callie, a United Methodist youth director.

Callie created a great lesson for Lent entitled "Letting Jesus Out of the Box," and I think it could be adapted as a great Advent experience as well. As this is the time of year we wait to celebrate the birth of Jesus, it's a great opportunity to have youth reflect upon how they understand this one for whom we wait. What image of Jesus speaks most meaningfully to them. Which image of Jesus challenges them? Provokes them? Encourages them?

Callie challenged her students to contemplate how they see Jesus and this is how the lesson evolved:

On Monday afternoon, while cleaning out the Sunday School closets of the Youth Wing, some of the youth and I ran across the big party box of the game Apples to Apples. (If you’re unfamiliar with the game, click on the link to read wikipedia’s version of the rules…very briefly, it involves matching nouns and descriptive adjectives). So, during our Wednesday night Bible study, we put Jesus at the center of the game. (The youth informed me that there is apparently a Bible version of the game that may have been more immediately relevant, but we used the real game). I scattered all of the green cards — the adjectives — around the floor, and asked the students to find the word that best described Jesus. We discussed their choices, and then went on to read some Bible passages that showed some conflicting images of Jesus: i.e. the meek and mild moral teacher vs. the conquering king of Revelation. After each reading, the youth were invited to pick up a new card.

One thing I’ve learned about my role as a youth director: every week, I get to learn, teach, and experience the lessons, all at the same time. By the end of the game, I had collected cards that said “Revolutionary,” “Rare,” and “Stunning.” My answers surprised me, as they were different from the cards that I thought I would choose.

But that was what the lesson was all about: expanding our image of Jesus. Too often we put Jesus in a box and never let him out (like Ricky Bobby from Talladega Nights, who insists on praying to little baby Jesus in a manger). But that’s no way to treat the Son of God!

You can read more of Callie's creative ideas at her blog.

Advent 2011 Ideas for Youth Ministry: Facebook Advent Calendar

2011-12-01T14:04:00.001-06:00

Try this simple idea to share an online Advent Calendar experience with your youth via Facebook.

I've been monitoring a hashtag search for the word "Advent" for several days now on Twitter and have discovered that for the vast majority of people out there the season of Advent really means enjoying the fun of Advent calendars. These calendars, however, don't count up the days of the Christian season of Advent but rather count down the days until Christmas, starting not with the first day of Advent but rather December 1. Well, when in Rome...

Why not simulate an Advent calendar experience for your youth via Facebook? If you already have a way to message your teens as a group, each day you could post a scripture verse related to the biblical stories of Advent/Christmas or perhaps offer a simple devotional, a one sentence prayer, a photo to stir the imagination, or a quick idea for observing Advent.

Hot Off the Presses: Advent & Christmas Ebook for Youth Ministry

2011-11-28T18:28:00.001-06:00

Our latest ebook, Creative Youth Ministry Ideas for Advent and Christmas, is now available, serving up a wealth of ideas for helping you and your youth experience the seasons of Advent and Christmas.

Justin Bieber's Christmas Album: Bad Theology For Teens?

2011-11-28T18:06:00.001-06:00

Have you heard the songs on Justin Bieber's new holiday album? Should your teens be listening to it?

My latest essay at Patheos responds to the many criticisms being aimed at Justin Bieber's latest album which offers up a typical mix of the secular and the sacred that defines many Christmas albums. But is he sending a mixed message to teens when he conflates romantic lyrics with biblical references to the nativity story:

The miracle of Christ's birth hardly seems to be an apt metaphor for Justin's receiving a Christmas kiss, but perhaps we should cut this young guy some slack. Particularly since his version of "Drummer Boy" offers a pretty catchy updating of a Christmas classic. Critics are suggesting that the bridge of the song in which Justin raps along with Busta Rhymes amounts to a bastardization of the true meaning of the carol. I'm not so sure.

You can read the rest of the essay and share your thoughts here.

Do You See What I See?

2011-11-28T09:46:00.001-06:00

To borrow a line from the well-known Christmas carol:"Do you see what I see" in the photo above? Look closely. Perhaps you can make out a shepherd....Mary....baby Jesus....Joseph (and maybe even a dog standing in for lamb)?

This makeshift nativity was crafted from trash by my youth Sunday school class as part of a lesson on how the characters in the Christmas story represent the "throwaway" people of their culture: an unmarried girl, outcast shepherds, a helpless baby, a poor carpenter. Why is it important that we tell the story of Christ's birth from the perspective of those at the bottom of society?

This activity is one of many available in our new ebook "Creative Youth Ministry Ideas for Advent and Christmas" available here.

VIDEO: Advent in 2 Minutes!

2011-11-27T15:55:00.001-06:00

A short little video that helps illustrate what Advent is (and is not).

It's Here! Creative Youth Ministry Ideas for Advent/Christmas Ebook

2011-11-22T15:46:00.001-06:00

Should We Help Teens "Occupy" the Church?

2011-11-08T13:55:00.000-06:00

In my latest column at Patheos, I consider the intersection of the Occupy Wall Street movement, new efforts to lower the voting age, and the call to help youth take a place of greater responsibility within our churches:

Rather than relegating teens to the backseat of Church life, as we so often do, why not invite them into positions of leadership and responsibility? Instead of limiting teen participation to joining the youth group or leading on one token Sunday of the year, why not invite adolescents to serve as the chairs of church committees and ministry teams or as leaders of worship? Like the Occupy Wall Street movement, we might find that allowing teens to lead and make decisions creates some messiness and inconvenience for those of us already in positions of power, but the passion of youth might also help to propel the Church into exciting new expressions of mission, ministry, and change for the better.

You can read the entire column and share your thoughts here.

Guest Post: The Greatest Obstacle to Following in the Footsteps of Christ

2011-11-08T13:44:00.001-06:00

Guest Blogger Jason McPherson offers up his thoughts on what we might term a "missional" question: What is the greatest obstacle to following in the footsteps of Christ, particularly for those of us living in a consumerist culture? How might your youth answer this question? How might we be called to help them name that obstacle?

I recently had the opportunity to attend a great conference called 'Sentralized' in Olathe, KS a few weeks back that focused what it looks like for the Church to be a missional people. There were several speakers at the conference that I learned a great deal from. One of the main speakers, Michael Frost, challenged people to 'listen to the heartbeat of your city' in order to find out how to be the hands and feet of Christ to them. He went on to say that we must really know the inhabitants of our community in order to effectively minister to them and we must listen to their cries.

Here is my issue. I understand what Michael Frost was getting at. I understand the necessity of having listening ears and sensitive hearts in order to properly and effectively do the work of the Kingdom in our communities. You don't start an 'Obesity Recovery Club' in a village that is full of people who are starving nor do you offer English speaking classes for Japanese people in a town that is 70% Caucasian and 30% Spanish. Listening with a prayerful heart is essential.

But what if the greatest desires, wants, and 'needs' of my community is a flat-screen to replace their 'old tv' from 2005? What if what people desire most is a better car than the one they already have now? A job that pays better so they can afford to go out to eat more and to support an excessive lifestyle? Someone to repave their driveway so it looks as good as they neighbors new driveway across the street?

I hope my point is coming across. What does ministry look like to a community and a people (adults and youth alike) whose greatest desire is to get more and have more than what they already have? What does ministry look like to those who have been fully baptized into a lifestyle of consumption, comfort, and getting everything we want?

Before I go on, I thank God that I was not struck dead as I typed those last words. I see the signs of consumerism in my own heart on a daily basis and I must bring that before the Lord in repentance regularly. I do not write as one who has 'arrived' but as one who sees the the stains of consumption in my own heart and life.

Alan Hirsch makes a great point in his book 'The Forgotten Ways' by saying the greatest obstacle in the Western Church when it comes to following Jesus is not Islam, Eastern Religions, New Age Spirituality, or whatnot. Instead, the greatest obstacle is consumerism: the belief and desire that life is all about doing me and getting mine. Consumerism preaches instant gratification and immediate results whereas the way of Jesus is found in pouring one's life out in servant love to one's brother and sister. It is in the daily surrendering of one's own selfishness and asking God to renew our hearts to look more like that of our Lords. It is the complete opposite of the consumer mindset. The text that continually comes to mind is the descent of our Lord spoken of in Philippians 2. We serve one who being in the very nature God made himself nothing (2:5-11). When God's people embrace the way of Jesus and the way of the servant, we begin to loosen the entangling strands of consumerism upon our lives.

So, what does ministry look like to those who have become entrapped in the ideology of consumerism?

Jason McPherson is an Associate/Youth Pastor in Independence, Missouri. Originally from Nashua, NH, he is a diehard Red Sox fan and has since also grown a liking for the Royals as well. Along with his love for the BoSox, Jason enjoys all things active, including disc golf, ultimate frisbee, biking, and whiffle ball. Jason received his M.Divinity from Nazarene Theological Seminary in 2009. He has been married to his wife Rachel, a fellow New England native, for four years. The two have one child, ‘Dunkin’, who is a 6lb long haired Chihuahua. You can read more of his thoughts on his personal blog here.

Why Do We Say Thanks? A Youth Ministry Bible Study

2011-11-07T16:19:00.000-06:00

Back by popular demand, here is a Bible study just in time for Thanksgiving to help your youth explore the spirtual practice of gratitude.

Opening: Play a quick game to test your teens' knowledge of Thanksgiving. Using the list of facts and answers below, create a set of note cards with just one fact or just one answer per card. Give all the cards to the group and challenge them to work together to match the right answer with the right fact. When they think they are finished, reveal the correct answers.

1. Pounds of turkey consumed by the typical American in 2007: 13.8

2. Pounds of expected U.S. cranberry production in 2010: 735

3. The year killer-turkey horror movie “Blood Freak” was made: 1972

4. Dollar amount (in millions) of Thanksgiving weekend movie box office earnings in 2009 : 275

5. Percentage increase in the volume of household waste between Thanksgiving and New Years: 25

6. Time in minutes it takes to make Stove Top Stuffing: 30

7. Number of pounds the average person puts on between Thanksgiving and Christmas: 1

8. The value (in billions) of the turkeys shipped in 2002: 3.6

9. Number of cities in U.S. named “Turkey”: 3

10. Number of years the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade was suspended during WWII: 2

11. Cubic feet of helium needed to inflate the Jimmy Neutron balloon in Macy’s parade: 12,300

12. Number of days the first Thanksgiving celebration lasted: 3

You will find a nice graphic with most of these facts and more here.

Digging In: Ask the group if they can think of times that they forgot to say thank you to someone – maybe a relative that sent them a gift, a favor offered by a friend, or a simple act of kindness by a stranger. Why do they think they didn’t bother to say thanks? Ask the youth if anyone has ever failed to thank them for some deed or favor they considered important. What did it feel like to be forgotten or slighted? Read together Luke 17: 11 – 19, the story of the ten lepers. Ask: Why do you think the nine lepers failed to say “thanks” to Jesus? Why do you think the writer of Luke wanted us to remember the story of the one who did come back to say thanks?

Reflecting: Invite the group to consider why we might offer thanks to God. Does God need to hear us say “thank you?” Do we benefit from the spiritual practice of offering thanks? When in our lives do we actually take time to do this?

Responding: Invite youth to write a prayer of thanksgiving using an outline like the one below. Explain that you will collect the prayers and read them aloud and challenge the group to guess who wrote each prayer. Teens will want to avoid using obvious references to themselves that will easily tip off to others whose prayer is whose. Of course, this will also encourage them to think more deeply about what they are thankful for and to avoid the more obvious and shallow responses such as “I’m thankful for my 2010 convertible” or “I’m thankful that I get to go to Florida for Christmas vacation.”

Prayer of Thanksgiving: God of everything, today I'm thankful for all the good things which flow from you. I'm thankful for (things in creation)_____, for (things that come to me without costing money)________, for (important relationships)_____. I'm also thankful for (something you have learned about life) __________, and for (something you have learned about yourself)______. I'm thankful for (something blue) ______, (something big) ______, (something little)______, (something edible), _______ and (something that smells good) ______. Lastly, I'm thankful for (something that comes to you from God) ______. Amen.

Closing: Finish with a circle prayer, asking each person in turn to share one word that represents something important in their lives for which they are thankful.

Leaving Attractional Ministry Behind: An Interview with Calvin Park

2011-11-02T13:17:00.000-05:00

Faithful readers of this site know that we've been talking about leaving behind attractional youth ministry from almost our very first post. I have coined the term "distractional model" to critique this approach which is more about entertainment than ministry and we offer a new way forward in our book Missional Youth Ministry. Recently, fellow youth minister Calvin Park began to explore his own journey toward a new understanding of ministry with youth. You can read more about it at his blog. We invited Calvin to share some of his thoughts on the topic, his reason for making the shift, and the challenges and blessings he expects to see along the way. For anyone about to start the journey away from attractional youth ministry and toward something more deep and meaningful, Calvin's responses below will offer you hope and some thoughts on a path forward.

Calvin Park currently serves as Director of Youth Ministries at Gaithersburg Presbyterian Church in Gaithersburg, MD. He holds an MA in Biblical Languages and an MA in Old Testament from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He and his wife are expecting their first child soon, and they dearly hope he'll be ever bit the geek that they are.

What do you understand attractional ministry to be and how does it differ from the "model" of ministry you are working towards now?

Attractional youth ministry is difficult to define. It's incorrect to assume there is this monolithic thing called attractional ministry. It varies from ministry to ministry. I've written quite a bit on my own blog about what attractional youth ministry is, and I'll probably revist the topic in the future. It's just extremely broad.

In short, however, I think attractional ministry is ministry that is focused on me (as the student, not the youth pastor). It is ministry that places my desires, needs and wants ahead of others. It is ministry that entertains instead of discipling. It is ministry that attracts instead of sends. In other words, when we seek to attract youth to our ministries through any means other than the Gospel of Jesus we've missed the point; and we may be implicitly teaching our students that--just like our culture--the Gospel is all about them. As the old adage goes, what you win them with is what you win them to.

In terms of how this differs from the model our ministry is now working towards, we're still in the process of discerning where God is leading us. At the least, I think a different kind of youth ministry has to include three elements:

1. Intergenerational diversity - No longer can we confine youth to their own ministry apart from the larger church and expect them to grow into fully committed disciples of Jesus. Not only do the students miss out, but the rest of our churches miss out on what students have to offer.

2. Depth of faith - We need to understand that students don't want a five minute devo that we threw together on the way to church. They are searching for a hope in the midst of a difficult world. That means we need to be willing to wrestle with some hard questions. We need to encourage doubt and questioning overall. One thing that is close to my heart is helping students learn the whole story of God--not only the easy, sanitized, out of order parts. The whole story teaches us about who God is and who we are. That means that, as youth workers, we have to go figure out who Athaliah, Ahitophel, Jael, and all the rest are. That way we can help our students know who they are and--in doing that--help them know who God is and who they themselves are.

3. Outward Focus - I'm pretty sure you guys here at Rethinking Youth Ministry would label this "missional," and that works for me too. What I'm trying to get at here is that, IMO, we really need to help our students learn that the Gospel demands we place others above ourselves--not in a codependent sort of way, but in a loving, self-sacrificing, Jesus sort of way. I think this has to start with our programing. If our programing is built on the idea that we have to attract students to our ministries with games, lights, free stuff, etc, then we implicitly teach them that they ought to be A) concerned with what they get out of it and B) the Gospel isn't actually radical enough to warrant their attention. Instead, our programing should implicitly teach students that the Gospel is life-giving and worthwhile and that they ought to be concerned with sharing the life-giving love that Jesus' way of life opens to all of us.

What was the impetus for your decision to make this shift?

For me personally, this has been a very long journey. I started to realize something was wrong with the youth ministry status quo when I became dissatisfied with the lack of depth I saw in youth ministries while I was in college (studying Bible, with a minor in Youth Ministry). I started reading on the topic, and within a few years a number of statistics started to come out that revealed a major problem in youth ministry: students tended to leave the church after high school.

So, my own dissatisfaction with shallow teaching of Scripture and theology combined with the situation "on the ground," to create very fertile soil for some new ideas to take root. The next step for me was to read books like Contemplative Youth Ministry, Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry, and eventually Almost Christian. These books have had a major impact on my thinking.

In my present ministry, a lot of our efforts to rethink youth ministry are a direct result of the tendency we see in our own church for students to be disconnected from "big church," and also for some of our very involved students to end up entirely disconnected from any local church once they go to college.

How have you/will you help your church, volunteers, and youth in your ministry understand and make this transition?

I think it is different for each group of people. The other staff members at my ministry are largely on board and happy to see this transition beginning to take place. I am blessed to have an extremely supportive supervisor, and also a very helpful and caring senior pastor. Both constantly help and challenge me to continue this process. Parents see the statistics and want their children to have a faith that lasts--even if we are all walking a journey together of figuring out how to do that. In fact, most of the adults in my context want a deeper, more outward focused, more generationally diverse ministry. They may not know how to get there, and change can still be scary, and sometimes there is concern about whether students will really come just for Jesus, but we are really all on this journey together.

One thing I'm learning is that students will probably need the most help making this transition. I'm discovering that it's really helpful to talk to them about it, explain what's going on and why, give them input. Then, do all of it over again. Explain what you see the differences between attractional youth ministry and a different kind of youth ministry to be. Then explain it in another way. Then in yet another way. Sometimes students will only hear that the entertainment is going away, and they won't understand why. They might see some things changing and not quite understand why. So explain it again. Give them a chance to plan things, and help to guide them through the process of thinking differently about things. In my present ministry, we've typically done "fun nights" as events to which we encourage students to invite their friends. I have encouraged students, instead, to invite friends to our normal midweek meeting or our Sunday morning meeting. At both of these meetings there is a lot of prayer, a good amount of Bible, and plenty of religious talk. It's been a transition and sometimes students are still like, "Would my friends really want to come to a church thing?" The answer, of course, is yes, but sometimes it takes a while to realize that.

Something that has been helpful for some of the students in my youth ministry is my blog. I never intended for my blog to be something that would help explain things to students, but for some of those who read it, hearing me talk about things in a more general, objective manner has really helped them to understand what I mean when I talk about ministry and why we're making some of the changes we're making.

What do you foresee as challenges or conflicts as you make this shift?

One of the challenges is that we all become familiar with certain ways of doing things, so any change produces stress. As we attempt to become more intergenerational in my ministry, I expect students to resist the idea of adults "invading" programs, and I also expect some adults to resist ways in which we try to help students become involved in other programs. It's going to be a learning experience all around.

It is also natural for us to be selfish, and so the move to focus on others instead of ourselves has caused and will cause some consternation. I'm sure there are other challenges or conflicts that will arise that I'm not thinking of just now. The path is long, and to be completely honest, I'm not sure anyone in the youth ministry world really knows what the end result looks like--which might be good, we have a tendency to seize on "one size fits all" models, and that simply isn't reality.

What do you think you lose when you move away from an attractional form of ministry? What do you hope to gain?

I'm not sure there are any positives that we have to lose when we move away from an attractional youth ministry. For instance, attractional youth ministry takes the immediacy and importance of students' problems and crisis very seriously. That's good. I think we can move away from an attractional form of ministry without losing that.

We will lose the focus on entertainment. We'll probably also lose some of our safety. Certainly we'll be pushed to love others in radical ways that we might rather not have to navigate.

In terms of gain, I hope that down the road our youth ministry helps students have what the folks at Fuller would label "sticky faith." I hope that our students learn that the Gospel is better than laser tag. I hope that our students learn to rest instead of constantly do. I hope our church learns and benefits from having more students involved in worship, and more adults involved in ministry to and with students. I hope I grow right along with my students. I guess, in short, I hope that we are able to live out the faith together and share Jesus' love with a world that is hurting and desperately looking for hope--not entertainment.

-- Calvin Park

Why Are Youth Still Staying Away From Church?

2011-10-27T11:49:00.000-05:00

The Barna Group and David Kinnaman continue to share findings from their five-year project surveying youth and young adults on their reasons for disconnecting from the Church. In particular, the study looked at those youth who had been active in church but are no longer. The respondents shared many reasons but six major themes emerged for what seems to be keeping youth away from organized Christian faith:

1) Churches seems overprotective (e.g. resist, demonize, and ignore real-world issues and problems).

2) Youth experience Christianity in the Church as shallow (e.g. not relevant or connected to an experience of God.)

3) Churches appear antagonistic to science.

4) Churches take an overly-simplistic or judgmental view of sexuality.

5) Youth struggle with exclusive claims of some Christian churches.

6) Youth sees the Church as unfriendly to those who doubt.

Their findings suggest that churches ignore these issues at our own peril. Twenty years ago we could rely on youth leaving the church for a few years, then marrying, starting a family and coming back. This just isn't the case anymore for most youth. Adolescence stretches into the mid-to-late twenties and many young people put off school, career, and family much longer. Additionally, the internet and social media are exposing young people to a vastly diverse world of ideas, religious beliefs, and culture. In other words, its a whole new ballgame. I'm currently reading Kinnaman's latest book You Lost Me: Why Young Christians are Leaving the Church and Rethinking Faith. My review to follow soon.

Christian Haunted Houses: Scaring the "Hell" Out of Teens?

2011-10-20T10:22:00.000-05:00

It's that time of the year again. As Halloween approaches, I get to plug one of my favorite youth ministry documentaries : Hell House (see trailer above). Let me be clear: I love this documentary but couldn't disagree more with the subjects of the film: Christians who believe fear is an appropriate tool for bringing teens into discipleship in Christ. You can watch the entire documentary online here.

Relatedly, my current essay at the Patheos site shares more about the nature of these "hell houses" and why I think there has to be a better way to evangelize youth:

But all these hell houses, supposedly aimed at pointing teens toward wholesome lifestyles, reek of irony. In their efforts to offer a Christian alternative to supposed pagan elements of Halloween, they end up using the worst cultural elements to attract teens: violence, sex, blood, and carnage. Perhaps most telling, according to the director of the Hell House documentary, is the apparent excitement expressed by the Christian teens who help to organize and present the gruesome scenarios.

You can read the entire essay and share your thoughts here.

Relational Youth Ministry...At A Glance!

2011-10-19T15:45:00.000-05:00

Take a quick look at this photo. To what is your eye eventually drawn to in the image?

In all the noise and distraction of the advertising, what we notice most is... a face. It is the one thing in the photo that holds the most meaning. Consider how this image might speak to the current discussion about attractional and missional youth ministry. What might all the distraction and visual "noise" in the image represent? Our over-programmed ministries, full of activities that have little to do with the life of faith? And what of this single face? Could it be a reminder that when all the programming is said and done, what really matters in our ministries is relationship: our relationship with each other, with the people we are called to serve, and with God?

What do you see in this image?

Missional Youth Ministry...At A Glance

2011-10-13T11:56:00.001-05:00

Preparing for a recent presentation on our book, Missional Youth Ministry, I attempted to redesign a simple visual way to compare the earlier youth ministry paradigm known as "attractional youth ministry" and the emerging paradigm many would label "missional youth ministry" (you can click on the image above to see a larger version). Though I resist suggesting these two views of ministry are in complete opposition to one another, I find it helpful to set them side-by-side to point out the differences. In summary:

Attractional Youth Ministry

The weekly meeting/worship service is the focus.
Marketing is used to bring participants into that meeting.
Evangelism is focused on making participants into members of the group/church.
Programming (Bible study, mission, fellowship, worship) is all designed to draw or attract participants into that weekly meeting and church membership.
Most of the work is done by professional or paid ministry staff.

Missional Youth Ministry

The mission of the Church (big "C") is the focus.
Participants are sent out to embody that mission in the world.
Evangelism is primarily about living out and telling the good news.
Ministry, rather than programming, makes up the bulk of the activity. All activity (study, mission, fellowship, worship) is seen through the lens of "What is our mission?"
Strong emphasis on the priesthood of all believers -- empowering youth to find their own call within the ministry of the Church and to live it out in their daily lives.

Certainly there is overlap between the two models, but the greatest distinction is that one is more inwardly focused toward the Church as institution and the other more outwardly focused toward our call to ministry in our own daily context. Your thoughts? How might you change or tweak this model? What is missing? Does this connect with or push back against your understand of "missional?"

Will Your Church Be Celebrating "Jesus-Ween?"

2011-10-11T10:14:00.000-05:00

An organization based in Calgary is inviting churches to participate this month in "Jesus-ween," an evangelistic alternative to Halloween. This is a new twist on the old practice of giving out those creepy (and scripturally inaccurate) Jack Chick tracts, intended to scare kids in an entirely different way on Halloween night when they start reading the little comic somebody dropped in their goodie bag:

What about your Church? Any alternatives planned for Halloween? Do you even see a need to provide an alternative to the cultural observance of Halloween?

Back to School: Are We Planning for Ministry or Programs? Pt. 2

2011-09-28T11:47:00.002-05:00

As we enter a new fall season, are we preparing for ministry or programs? This was the question we posed in part one of this two-part series and we offered a way for you to help your teens define their ministry together long before you fill the calendar with activities. In this post we'll offer a way to help your group formulate a mission or vision statement that can become the yardstick by which you measure all your ministry together in the new school year.

After helping youth determine the "who" of your ministry together (i.e. who will you invite to be part of your fellowship), it's time to focus on the "what." The following is an example of how we helped our youth explore the mission of our group.

Step One: We introduced the group to the following quote from German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer as way to frame our discussion: "There is probably no Christian to whom God has not given the uplifting experience of genuine Christian community at least once in his or her life. But in this world such experiences remain nothing but a gracious extra beyond the daily bread of Christian community life. We have no claim to such experiences, and we do not live with other Christians for the sake of gaining such experiences. It is not the experience of Christian community, but firm and certain faith within Christian community that holds us together. We are bound by faith, not by experience." -- D. Bonhoeffer

To my pleasant surprise, this quote stirred up an amazing amount of conversation among the youth. They latched onto this idea that the purpose of our time together is not to be the activities and programs that we schedule -- the experiences. Sure, we enjoy the lock-ins and the pizza-making parties, but these should not be the focus of our ministry nor the main reason that we decide to participate. Experiences are important but we have to be grounded first and foremost, the teens argued, in our faith as a community of Christians.

Step Two: Next, we split into smaller groups and introduced several biblical texts that connect with the understanding of mission in the New Testament. My personal "go to" scripture for this purpose is Luke 4: 14-30 (Jesus reading from Isaiah.) With these words as inspiration, we provided each group with a stack of paper rectangles like those you see in the photo below. We challenged them to work together and to think about how they would define our ministry and work together as a group. As they brainstormed, they were to write any words that popped into their heads onto the paper, one word per sheet. Groups were also encouraged to use some words from the suggested scripture texts.

Step Three: After the small group brainstorm, we came back together and each group shared their words and laid them out on the floor for everyone to see. As you can see from the photo, responses included such words as faith, God, mission, inclusive, respect, love, and diversity. The youth then worked together to sort the words, placing similar words together, grouping words that seemed related, and so on. Out of this organic process, there began to emerge a group of the words that all agreed were of most importance to defining our ministry. Using tape, we started posting these words on the wall and arranging and rearranging them (much like magnetic poetry) until finally we had a cohesive mission/vision statement that we all felt expressed who God was calling us to be together. This approach is much looser and in some ways more chaotic than just sitting down and trying to write a mission statement, but I've used it with several groups now (including adults) and have found that it encourages much more creativity and freedom of thought (and much more room for inspiration of the Spirit!).

Our mission/vision statement will remain on the wall of our gathering space all year and we will turn to it regularly as we begin to plan programs, events, and ministry to be certain that all we do stays focused on that vision for ministry.

Great Youth Ministy Idea: You Teach Me!

2011-09-28T09:21:00.000-05:00

Try this idea for encouraging active Bible learning in your teens.

TJ, a youth ministry colleague, recently shared with me a clever approach he takes to engaging teens in Bible study. In a way, he does the very opposite of what many of us might try when introducing a new text. TJ gathers the teens in a room, gives them the scripture citation and tells them he's leaving for awhile. The Challenge: When he comes back they are to be ready to teach him what the text is all about. TJ says that the first couple of times he tried this the teens were a little slow to catch on, but now when he returns to the room they often have a flipchart page ready with all sorts of interesting observations and points of discussion ready to share with him.

This approach really is a great way to engage the brain. It allow the learners to show you what they are already thinking, which portions of the text connect with them, and what questions are forming in their thoughts about the scripture's context, language, and meaning. This sort of foundation can allow you as the adult to lead a much richer follow-up conversation and takes the focus off of you as the "keeper of knowledge and right answers" (though I know many of us love playing that role!). It's also a great way to encourage youth to take charge of their own learning.

Book Give-Away Winner plus Fall Planning Ideas!

2011-09-20T16:31:00.000-05:00

Our congratulations to Cheryl Hatch for winning the random drawing for a copy of our text Missional Youth Ministry. Thanks to everyone who entered the drawing by sharing with us what your youth ministry will be focusing on this fall. What a really amazing list of ideas we received! Everything from studies on missional living, to prayer, to bullying. Below are many of the ideas submitted. Lots of great suggestions so you may want to bookmark this post when for you need a little inspiration during future planning:

This year our focus will be getting to known the arch of the Bible.
Our focus will be service as related to justice...and congratulations!
In sept we are focussing on building the culture of our youth group through team-building, covenant making, etc. in october we will focus on loss and grief because of some tragic losses that our teens experienced over the summer.
My theme for the first two weeks is called: life transformed. It is testimony driven.
I am taking our group through the "how to" of missional living in school, home, and church, while keeping Jesus' relational life as our model.
Our theme of study for this school year. So the first unit is: Who is God? We will talk about God as Creator, God as one who keeps promises, the language we use to talk about God, etc. etc. Should be fun!
I'm teaching ideas adapted from Stomping out the Darkness by Neil Anderson. We're looking at our identity in Christ and changing our thinking.
This year our weekly gathering will be going through the book of Jonah and our small groups are going through "Crazy Love"- Our whole church has a theme of "commissioned to love".
Our theme for the year is "Who do you say I am?" and we are now looking at Jesus' life, death, and resurrection.
This quarter we're doing the History of God's people, helping our students understand God's faithfulness to and relationship with his people over time.

I truly want my youth group to be more about mission work community involvement than the previous year. After only having the Youth Director gig for a year now, going on my first two mission trips with my youth this last summer (LA and KC) I was deeply moved by watching THEM serve others and simply be examples of God's grace... I was the novice when it came to mission trips and my youth really showed me how it's done! I want to continue the tradition of service and justice and kindness and compassion.
Our focus starting off, has been on christian morality in a morally gray world.
Our motto this year is Know (God), Grow (in Faith), Go (to serve).
This fall we are going through Jesus' parables and getting a deep look of what the Kingdom of God looks like and what that means for our lives.
just being hired at a church as the there first full time youth pastor, I am going to do my best to build the program into a more mission/service oriented program. We will begin this approach starting next week!!
To kick off the fall, we are doing a church wide series titled "Not a Fan" . Following this series, our mid-week services will titled "Who Do You Say That I Am" and will be focused on different roles and aspects of Jesus. Meanwhile, our life groups will begin a Bible Study in the book of Genesis.
B.L.I.T.Z: our september to December theme is Called out and Sent out.
We are focusing on studying other religions as to gain respect for other people. One of those will also be focusing on Christianity and what we may not know about it.
This fall we have a small group meeting at a local high school whose focus is subversion. Each week the students have a mission that subtly subverts the strongholds Satan has established in the culture of their school.
This year we are going to spend some time looking at what it looks like to follow Jesus in all aspects of our life.
Our study is on what it means to have and practice faith; we're interested in applying it concretely to matters such as relationships, peer pressure, parents, sin, and missions.
This year's theme is better expressed as a logo Eternal God of Paradox. It is based on Revelation 22:13 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." In essence we are looking at paradoxes as understanding our very complex God. Consider that God wants us to be in relationship with him, to know him, and to love him, and yet, we can never fully understand him. This is a paradox. Christ's divinity and simultaneously humanity is a paradox. In our faith, and specifically in the Lutheran faith, we deal constantly with paradox. We as humans are fully sinner and fully saint. How can this be? So it's a different way of learning more about God while knowing we can't fully solve the puzzle.
I'll end with the age old paradox. Can God create a stone so heavy, that God couldn't lift the stone? Attend our class and you'll have an answer (there really is one!)
As a new youth leader at this church, I have spent time getting to know the youth during their mission trip and their Sunday night youth groups.They all have such giving and caring hearts! They have recently come up with a name for their group EPIC (Endless Possibilities In Christ) and we are using 1 Timothy 4:12 as our Scripture statement of faith "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity." My goal is more of a focus on this Scripture verse and how it ties into thier new group name and how to share their faith by what they do and how they act every day.
We will be kicking off our fall with a new theme verse: Luke 24 - the road to Emmaus. Using this verse as our focus. Exploring how our hearts might burn as Jesus walks with us and opens scripture to us as we are on our walk.
For the very first series for our youth, we called it, "Back2School Blues" - we focus on the different roller coaster of emotions teenagers go through due to family issues (broken, blended, or even healthy families); due to bullying/cyber bullying; peer pressure, not fitting in, etc....some of the emotions we are looking at are "sadness (blue), anger (seeing red), jealousy (green with envy), etc...
It's my first fall on the job so we are looking at Jesus life for his message and his method of ministry.
We will be focusing on study about stress and how God can bring restoration, peace and control back to their lives.
Since the students go back to school so early here in Mississippi, we are already into our fall study and emphasis. We have a series going as a whole church called the Journey of the Souls. We have been exploring the journey we are on together and the different stages and landmarks we find ourselves along the way and how we can grow deeper in our faith. We are also doing an emphasis on The Kingdom of God and finding Heaven on Earth during our more in-depth serious time. When the Journey of Souls is over we will be digging deeper on relationships using Len Sweet’s book 11.
For our middle school youth our first series this year is about prayer. Why pray? Who do we pray to? When pray? How do we pray? Our hope is to give them a strong prayer foundation to start the year off.
Our first high school study is going to focus on 2 Timothy - a very exciting book for us to dig into with teens :)Our middle school always starts with the same 4 lessons - who are we? who is God? who is Jesus? and who/what/where is the Holy Spirit?
The leadership of our church has asked the congregation to come together next weekend for a “retreat” to discuss and identify the top 3-5 priorities of the church. The church is in a time of exploring how we deepen our ministry and how we respond to the needs of the congregation. One of the major priorities is getting this feedback from the youth: Where do you feel God’s presence in our church? Where do you feel God calling us to be as a church? What things should be a priority for the church? I am excited to see what the youth come up with for this. I think it’s truly exciting to work at a church that puts the youth voice at the top priority! I think youth allow us to see outside of the box sometimes. Where we put a “oh, that would never work”, they don’t. They dream big… and what better way to deepen and to grow than to live into these kinds of BIG ideas!

Video: Ani Difranco Rethinks The Lord's Prayer

2011-09-20T13:55:00.000-05:00

This past Sunday our youth group began a long-term study of the Lord's prayer. In my background research, I came across this interesting rethinking of that prayer by Ani Difranco:

Our father who art in a penthouse
Sits in his 37th floor suite
And swivels to gaze down
At the city he made me in
He allows me to stand and
Sollicit graffiti until
He needs the land I stand on

Here are some thoughts on the meaning of the words. What do you think?

HT: Cobus Van Wyngaard.

Back to School: Are We Planning for Ministry or Programs? Pt. 1

2011-09-15T11:29:00.005-05:00

As we enter a new fall season, are we preparing for ministry or programs?

The temptation this time of the year is to create a full calendar of programs and activities for our youth. Lock-ins? Check. Game night? Check. Bible study? Check. Christian Concert? Check. Parents love these calendars because they can see at a glance every activity for the next nine months and know exactly how their family calendar will (or will not) line up with the youth group calendar.

But in our rush to show how organized we are, have we substituted preparing for ministry with simply calendaring programs and activities? This was the question our youth ministry team recently asked. So, before we put a single lock-in or game night on the calendar, we gathered this past weekend with our youth to simply focus on the questions: Who are you? Who are we? What is the purpose of our ministry together?

Step One: We began by inviting the youth to reflect on their own identity as part of our group. We asked them share about their interests, their talents, their families, their friends, their learning styles, and so on. Learning more about one another invited us to see the diversity of personalities and gifts within our ministry.

Step Two: The youth divided into groups and were asked to think about what sort of ministry we wanted to be and who would be a part of it? Who do we want to include? Who do we hope would feel welcome in our fellowship? The youth then wrote down their ideas on lots of post-it notes. We then brought the groups back together and compared answers. Interestingly, one group had written down categories of people while the other had written down qualities of people. As they went through their piles of post-it notes, they found many similarities and many cases where the category from one group matched the quality from the other group (e.g. musician and song-writing ability). The teams became excited as they realized the diversity and agreement we had on just how welcoming we hoped our ministry might be. Some of their responses on the post-its included: athletes, artists, intellectuals, doubters, believers, GLBT, rural, urban, visually impaired, differently-abled, nerds, musicians, peacemaker, republican, democrat, actor, studious, agnostic, atheist, nurturers, young, and old. We collected up all the post-its and some of the youth then worked to creatively attached them all to a poster board for use later in worship.

Step Four: Next, we invited everyone to scatter about the building or outside the building and find one object that in some way represented what our ministry means to them or what they hoped our ministry might be able to be as we moved into a new school year together. After ten minutes, we regrouped and shared. Here were some of the objects and explanations from the group:

Chair - Our ministry provides support for the members and reminds us that God is always there to hold us up.
Cup of water - A reminder that our faith is a vital part of our life.
Colored pencils - Symbolizing the gift of our diversity and how all of us have something to contribute.
Clothes hanger - Our ministry supports us as we try to live out our faith each day.
Track shoe - A reminder that we journey together in faith, keeping each other on track (and the spikes symbolize how we also are called to help each other from losing our footing).
Coffee mug - Our group as a place that is warm, comforting and safe (and the cup had a lipstick stain on it -- a reminder that we are invited to come with all our imperfections).
Cross necklace - An outward sign of who we are, reminding us that it is important that we work together to become outward signs of Christ.
Light switch - A reminder that we are to be light, and to help illuminate and teach each other.

And so we ended this first part of our retreat with a firm sense of who we are and who we wanted to be and a commitment to be open to all who might come to join us in ministry. Our next task in the retreat was to establish a mission and vision statement -- one that would shape all of our ministry for the new school year. More on that in part two.

Missional Youth Ministry Book Give-away

2011-09-12T17:38:00.001-05:00

We're celebrating and that means a free book for one of our faithful readers!

We are pleased to announce that our new text, Missional Youth Ministry: Moving from Gathering Teenagers to Scattering Disciples, has already reached a second printing after just a few months in publication.

We are thankful and honored by all those who have purchased the book and let us know how it has been helpful in their ministries.

In celebration of this second printing, we invite our readers to enter a drawing for a free copy of the text. To enter, all we ask you to do is let us know what your first study, program, or thematic focus will be with your youth this fall. Share your plans either by submitting a response to this post or by emailing us at brianskirk@yahoo.com. We'll share all responses later on this blog. Entries need to be received by Friday, Sept. 16.

Talking with Teens about 9-11

2011-09-07T08:12:00.002-05:00

Will you talk with your teens about 9-11 this week? If so, how will you help them reflect on this event that is a part of their childhood and yet not something they really remember?

This Sunday will be the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S. Most of the youth of today were preschoolers or primary-age when the attacks occurred. Their memories of the event are less first-hand and more an amalgam of all the things they have seen, heard, and read in the years since.

How should we talk with our teens about 9-11? The truth is, it will be different for each group. As you are the expert when it comes to your ministry and your teens, ultimately you are best able to discern how to challenge them to be thoughtful and honest in their discussion of an event that continues to affect the politics, economics, and social conditions of the United States.

Below are a few suggestions to help you in your planning. These are just the beginnings of ideas. Hopefully, something here will click and help you develop the right path for your group:

Discuss "Where was God on 9-11?" This question has almost become a theological chestnut at this point but, honestly, can your theology answer the question in such a way that you'd be willing to share your convictions with a person whose loved one died in the planes or was burned to death in the twin towers? This is a tough question worth wrestling with as your teens discern their own understanding of who and how God is in the world. This response may be typical but leaves the door widen open to simply throw up our hands and do nothing in the face of an inexplicable God. Why not share it with your teens and let them discuss it?
Watch stories of 9-11 Kids - Help your teens see the effects of that day on the children of 9-11 victims, many of whom are their same-aged peers. You can find a few possible videos here, here, and and one of a series of videos interviews with children of 9-11 victims here.
View a portion of the documentary "Beyond Belief." This film details how two 9-11 widows opted not to respond with anger or a call for revenge but rather reached out to help other widows in Afghanistan -- women whose own husbands were casualties of the U.S. war in that country. (available from Netflix and for purchase or download).
Debate: Violence versus God's Love - Those that died on September 11 were not the only victims. Thousands more died in the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, including U.S. soldiers and approximately 100,000 civilians in Iraq alone. Challenge your youth to consider if violence and war was the best response to September 11th. What other options could have been considered? What was the Christian response? Do we trust more in violence and might or in the love of God to heal the world?
Share Emotions Through Art - Help your youth brainstorm their thoughts and emotions about 9-11 and turn those feelings into an artistic expression, perhaps around the themes of forgiveness, peace, justice, mercy, reconciliation, and community. Their creations could be a vision of a better more hopeful world for the next generation of children.
Invite Others to Share Their Stories - Invite young adults and older adults to come and share their stories of that day -- where they were when they heard the news, what impact it had on them, and how they think the world has changed since then.
Pray - Adapt any of the prayer stations ideas on this blog and simply develop a quiet, thoughtful and maybe even silent hour of prayer, encouraging your teens to focus on the needs of the world.
Do something About It - Share with your youth about the "Jesus, Bombs, and Ice Cream" event being organized by Shane Claiborne. Invite their responses -- they might even be inspired to create an event of their own.
Need More Ideas? Check out this article from Youthworker Journal.

Other thoughts? How will you talk with your teens about 9-11 this week?

Want To Take an Urban Mission Trip?

2011-08-30T20:05:00.003-05:00

Looking for an opportunity to involve your youth in an inner-city mission experience?

In the "old days," I usually didn't start thinking about our summer mission trip until sometime in January. But these events have become such a staple of youth programs that I find most youth leaders start planning next summer's trip as soon as they return from this summer's trip! With that in mind, we offer you a few recommendations for urban mission opportunities in our city of St. Louis.

The Urban Mission Inn - This ministry is hosted at Union Avenue Christian Church (Brian's church) and offers dedicated space for groups of 20+ people. Housing area includes bunkbeds, air mattresses, showers, full kitchen, and meeting space. In addition, the ministry offers to help schedule mission projects for your group. In the summer of 2011, over 400 youth and adults were hosted at the Urban Mission Inn. Coming in 2012: All groups will be provided with a complete urban mission and justice educational resource to help you prepare for your trip, debrief your experiences during your trip, and extend the experience once you return home.

The Urban Mission Experience - This ministry is located at Epiphany United Church of Christ on the southside of St. Louis. They provide sleeping space, offsite showers, and a full kitchen. In addition, they will help groups set up mission projects and offer a poverty simulation.

The Bridge - This ministry, connected with Centenary Methodist Church, provides a host of services to homeless persons. They also offer volunteer opportunities for youth and space to host mission groups (whether your group chooses to serve at The Bridge or not) as well as an impactful educational experience on homelessness called "The Walk."

Looking for an inner city mission experience beyond St. Louis? We can't recommend more strongly The Center for Student Missions. With locations around the country (and one in Canada) this faith-based organization welcomes all denominations and offers housing, meals, a full schedule of urban ministry volunteer projects, and a host who travels with your group throughout your stay.

Are We Practicing Fast Food Youth Ministry?

2011-08-29T12:07:00.003-05:00

Fast food restaurants know how to manipulate the teen brain in order to sell burgers and fries. Do we sometimes resort to the very same tactics in youth ministry?

In my latest essay at Patheos.com entitled "Fast Food Youth Ministry," I consider the connection between fast food marketing and the ways in which we market church to teens:

Perhaps it's not surprising that our fast food restaurants long ago discovered that the quickest way to a teen's heart is not through her stomach but through her brain. We can just chalk it up to good business and savvy marketing. But I sometimes wonder if the Church uses these same tactics in a way that undermines our own efforts to offer teens an authentic, transparent, and mature experience of the gospel.

Case in point: How often in youth ministry do we attempt to lure youth into our churches with those things the brain craves? Yes, there is the requisite junk food—the pizza and chicken nuggets and chips and soda heaped on tables at just about every youth gathering. If it works for the fast food joints, why shouldn't we use it, too? But of course we don't stop there. We intuitively know that the brain craves novelty and distraction and so we throw in promises of entertainment as a way to entice teens.

You can read the entire essay and share your thoughts here. You might also want to read this interesting article that takes the discussion in a different but related direction.

Create Your Own Outdoor Labyrinth

2011-08-15T22:37:00.001-05:00

Walking a labyrinth can be a great opportunity for helping your youth focus on the journey of faith.

With most of us getting ready to kick-off a new school year in our youth ministries, why not spend some time with your youth focusing on the journey of faith -- both the journey of the past and the journey you are about to make together into the future? The labyrinth is an ancient Christian spiritual tool for aiding individuals in meditation and prayer. In many ways, it symbolizes the walk of the journey of faith. We enter a labyrinth with a prayer or question offered up to God. The journey into and out of the labyrinth provides time to offer thanks for those who have walked with us on the journey of faith thus far and to seek guidance from God's Spirit for the journey ahead.

If you aren't lucky enough to serve a church that already has a labyrinth, it's pretty easy to make one of your own. Labyrinths can be painted onto canvas or taped out on a floor with masking tape. But one of the easiest methods is simply creating an outdoor labyrinth using a few stakes, a piece of rope, and some biodegradable spray paint. You can see in the images below the outdoor labyrinth we created at camp a few weeks ago. It took about 30 minutes to finish. The full directions can be found here. Ideas for how to use a labyrinth with your youth are here and here.

CULTURE WATCH: Should You Be Watching MTV's "Teen Wolf?"

2011-08-08T10:30:00.000-05:00

MTV has a hit on its hands with their new and darker version of "Teen Wolf." But is it worth watching?

For my latest column at Patheos, I took some time to check out this new ratings winner from MTV and was surprised at what I found:

Here's a shock: MTV is actually capable of producing a television show that is not obsessed with sex, drugs, pregnant teens, and the bad behavior of twenty-somethings living in New Jersey. While recent MTV productions such as "Skins" and "The Hard Times of RJ Berger" failed to find a substantial audience even among younger viewers, their latest offering titled "Teen Wolf" is a bona fide hit and is based (primarily in name only) on the 1980s movie starring Michael J. Fox. . . . It's not hard to see why this series is playing well to younger MTV viewers. U.S. culture right now is enjoying a preoccupation with books, movies, and TV shows exploring the lives of a host of supernatural teen characters from werewolves, to vampires, to wizards with telltale scars. Even as some Christian commentators knock this brand of entertainment for immersing teens in the world of the occult, I can't help but think that the attraction is something much simpler and more innocent.

You can read the entire review and share your thoughts here.

CULTURE WATCH: What's Up with "Pumped Up Kicks"?

2011-07-27T09:20:00.001-05:00

Foster the People's "Pumped Up Kicks" is one of the most-played summer songs this year and offers a catchy, breezy tune paired with some pretty disturbing lyrics about a boy contemplating an act of violence. Mark Foster, lead singer of the group Foster the People explains the lyrics:

"Pumped Up Kicks' is about a kid that basically is losing his mind and is plotting revenge. He's an outcast. I feel like the youth in our culture are becoming more and more isolated. It's kind of an epidemic. Instead of writing about victims and some tragedy, I wanted to get into the killer's mind, like Truman Capote did in 'In Cold Blood.' I love to write about characters. That's my style. I really like to get inside the heads of other people and try to walk in their shoes."

We recently offered a series of posts on the problem of teen bullying.

CREATIVE WORSHIP IDEA: Growing with God

2011-07-26T20:56:00.000-05:00

Try this simple hands-on worship experience to encourage your youth to seek growth in their faith.

Once a year in the summer our church joins several others in our inner city neighborhood for an outdoor worship experience just prior to the jazz concert in a local park that we co-sponsor. The service is open to anyone who might be in the park early for the concert and we are often joined by neighbors and strangers alike.

This year our theme was "Growing with God." We focused on the story of creation and how we are part of God's ever-expanding movement in the world. At one point in the service, we invited people to come forward and take a slip of paper and write a prayer for those things in their lives for which they would ask God for growth (e.g. patience, trust, compassion, understanding). They then folded up these prayers and placed them in the bottom of a small paper pot (see photo), added a few spoonfuls of potting soil, a couple of flower seeds, and more soil. These were topped off with a tiny bit of water for good measure.

Next, participants used sharpies to write on the outside of the paper pots a prayer for those things they would wish to see growth for in the world (e.g. peace, economic justice, access to clean water and food for all, etc), and to contemplate how God might be inviting us to be a part of that growth. Each pot was then placed with the communion elements and formed into the shape of a cross. We then shared in communion and a communion feast of the various foods each person brought to share. Neighbors who just happened to be in the park were invited to join the feast as well and to share their fellowship with us.

At the end of our time together, each person was invited to take home someone else's pot, plant it in the ground, tend it, and contemplate how we are called to serve together in community to bring about growth in each other and God's Kingdom.

Youth Ministry and The Google-fication of God

2011-07-22T19:16:00.001-05:00

What does the search giant Google have to do with youth ministry?

In my latest essay at the interfaith website Patheos.com, I ponder this question and explore what it means to work with teens in progressive Christian congregations. In part one of the essay, I look at the parallel between the tendency to see our faith through the focused lens of our personal worldviews and the way in which Google, perhaps suprisingly, contributes to the limiting of that worldview:

[E]ven though Google was expected to make our personal worlds larger by connecting us to a vast storehouse of diverse information, in truth it has only helped to make our worlds smaller and increasingly homogenous. The more you use Google, it seems, the more it "learns" you and begins returning a narrow selection of results reflecting back your own opinions, politics, interests, and prejudices.

In part two, I argue for an approach to sharing the faith with teens that both values diverse thought but which also sees certain elements of Christainity as non-negotiable:

Are there aspects of Christianity to which we would say to our youth: "Here I stand. We have much latitude in how we interpret the faith, but around these issues we should all come together as one"? . . . .[W]hat I offer here are those non-negotiables that invite teens to take seriously the long tradition and history of the Church, to be in dialogue with the forebears of their faith and to seek an understanding of Christianity that is centered in the discernment of the community rather than solitary personal preferences.

You can check out these and other youth ministry essays at Patheos here.

GREAT YOUTH MINISTRY IDEAS: The Lord's Prayer Revisited

2011-07-21T22:07:00.002-05:00

A colleague of mine, Brian Brandsmeier, has crafted what he calls "The Mindfulness Version of the Lord's Prayer" and has graciously permitted us to share it. For a prayer that many of us say at least once a week, sometimes the words can cease to have much meaning as we slip into rote recitation. Often during Lent our church will use a different version of the Lord's Prayer each week just to tune our ears once again to its message. We'll definitely be adding Brian's version to our list and I'd encourage you to see how this prayer might resonate with your youth:

Holy Presence, your name is truly sacred. May your vision for the world be realized, and may your will be done in our lives as it is in heaven. Provide us with the goodness of food and remind us to enjoy it mindfully. Forgive us for the times that we have rushed through life, not noticing the small miracles around us. And please forgive those who haven’t had enough time to notice us. Lead us all into abundant life in the here-and-now of our lives, and lead us away from the busyness that makes us live too far in the past or future. For the here-and-now Kin-dom, here-and-now power, and here-and-now glory are yours this moment and forever. Amen!

Brian and his wife Sara describe themselves as "two mystics on a journey of faith and discovery" and regularly post thoughtful liturgy and original music on their blog. I encourage you to check it out.

Meeting Jesus Over a Cup of Cold Water

2011-07-18T13:49:00.000-05:00

Sometimes we are so focused on bearing the image of Christ to others that we forget that "the other" just might be sharing Christ with us!

Is it possible to encounter Christ in the simple act of sharing a cold cup of water? Several weeks ago during our local mission trip, we spent an afternoon attempting to hand out bottled water to people in the city.

Near the Arch, we spotted some people huddled under a highway overpass. We decided to see if they might want some water and we began arguing over who would bring it to them. Let me be clear: we weren't arguing because everyone wanted to do it. In fact, no one wanted to do it. It was a little scary, walking up to strangers who were hidden in the shadows of the overpass, not knowing what sort of reception we might find.

Finally, two youth and one adult stepped forward. One teen asked, "What do we say to them? Do we have to talk about Jesus?" Our reply: "No. You don't have to talk about Jesus. You will be Jesus." And so off they went, with a cooler of bottled water. One of the youth reported that as they approached the people, one person appeared to be pointing something at them. "A gun?" he wondered. No, one of the persons was simply pointing out that our group was entering their "space." The three homeless persons welcomed our three, graciously accepted the gift of water, and as our group turned to leave, one of the strangers said, "God bless you."

Wow. Here we thought we were the ones coming to share God with them, but in fact God was already there! And they were sharing God's blessing with us. It was a reminder that even as we Christians engage in mission to help those in need, we'd better be prepared to encounter God in the most unlikely places and to receive Christ's hospitality in the guise of people we would least suspect. And sometimes this profound learning can happen over an act as simple as sharing a bottle of water.

Whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward. - Matthew 10: 42

5 Reasons To Take Your Youth on a Local Mission Trip

2011-07-07T01:24:00.002-05:00

Unless you are an even bigger procrastinator than I am, you've already made all the plans for your summer youth mission trip. But it's not too late to add a local mission "trip" to your schedule, too! That's what our youth group did this summer as we decided to serve right in our own backyard.

Each day of the week we gathered at the church and then went out to serve in food pantries, ministries reaching out to low-income families, a local charter school for inner-city kids, and an opportunity to pass out water to homeless persons. True - it wasn't as exotic as a trip to Mexico, but the ministry we did together was just as impactful.

Now, let there be no doubt: I'm a fan of long-distance mission trips (and even heard my first call to ministry with children and youth during a mission trip when I was 18), but there are some great reasons to consider a local mission experience for your youth:

Cost! Cost! Cost! It's simple math: a local mission experience, organized thoughtfully, can be a model of responsible stewardship. You sleep on your own church floor instead of renting motel rooms. You save gas money with less driving. You could even save money on food by inviting church members to help supply meals.

Time! Time! Time! Since you aren't spending several days driving to and from your destination, you have more time to devote to the mission work itself.

Context! Context! Context! When travelling to a new place, it takes time to get your bearings and understand the needs of the setting. When you stay in your own backyard, you are already part of the context and can better understand the real needs of those in the community.

Flexibility! Flexibility! Flexibility? Road trips require everything to be planned out in advance in detail. Failing to do so can end in disaster. Local mission experiences are much more forgiving. Leave something behind? Just run back to the church and get it. Car trouble? Call the senior pastor to come to the rescue. Teens' schedules too full to attend the whole mission experience? Why not let them just drop in and out of the work schedule as their time permits?

Future! Future! Future! On typical mission trips, you might work at a site once or perhaps several times but eventually you head home and leave that ministry behind. On a local mission experience, you have the chance not only to sample ministry sites in your own town but you can then commit as a group to continue to partner with that organization throughout the year, sharing your talents monthly or even weekly as missionaries to your own community.

What other advantages might there be to a local mission experience?

What If Youth Ministry Came with a Warning Label?

2011-07-06T21:32:00.000-05:00

A colleague recently posted this image on Facebook of a sign he encountered while hiking. Reading it caused me to wonder: What if our youth ministries were so challenging and potentially life-changing that they had to come with a warning label?

What if, instead of promoting our youth ministries with words like "Fun!" "Exciting!" and "Wacky!" we had to tell teens: Caution! Joining this ministry may result in powerful, spiritual currents taking your life in a new direction. Stay back if you don't want to be changed or suddenly see the world in a new way! If you join us, you may die and be born anew to a life of compassion, justice, mercy, peace and love. You have been warned!

What is Progressive Youth Ministry?

2011-06-28T08:33:00.003-05:00

The interfaith website Patheos just finished up a two week online symposium on the topic of progressive Christianity. It's been interesting following the various essays and realizing how differently many of us define the term "progressive." I guess this makes sense as progressive Christians tend to resist rigid categories, literal interpretations, and overly dogmatic assertions.

In my essay, I attempted to answer the simple question "What is progressive youth ministry?" I share briefly about a recent intergenerational study at our church that looked at the big questions of faith. We discovered our congregation was even more theologically diverse than I suspected and we actually celebrated our willingness to live with our theological uncertainty:

From the perspective of ministry with youth, a progressive theology challenges us to help teens embrace that theological uncertainty and to see faith not as a destination but as a journey. Teens need to be free to ask difficult questions, challenge traditional beliefs, and reevaluate their understanding of Christianity without fear of being labeled "unfaithful."

I finish the essay by suggesting four quick, basic approaches that might guide those of us striving to lead youth ministries in progressive and/or mainline congregations. You can read the entire column here. This peice serves as a companion to the guest post I did awhile back at the Jesus and Teenagers blog on this same topic.

COMMUNITY BUILDER: Inside-Out Teen Self Portraits

2011-06-21T22:22:00.000-05:00

Looking for a way to personalize your youth space and help teens learn more about each other? Try this creative activity which encourages youth to share who they are on the inside.

This activity is designed to help your teens celebrate their identity as beloved children of God and to share something about themselves with the rest of your group. Begin by using an overhead projector to help you cast a shadow of each teen's profile onto a sheet of black paper taped to the wall. Have the youth help trace each person's portrait in pencil onto the black paper.

Next, invite teens to cut out their silhouette from the black paper (using one continuous cut), paper clip the silhouette to a sheet of white paper, and trace their profile onto that paper.

Now the fun part: encourage the youth to show who they really are on the inside (their likes, dislikes, thoughts, dreams, doubts, fears, gifts, questions, loves) by filling in their "head" with glued on magazine images that reflect their identity. No need to stay completely in the lines on this part of the project because the last step is to glue the black negative cut-away piece back onto the silhouette to create a black background for their portrait. To extend this activity, invite youth to use gel pens or white colored pencils to write words on the black background. You may also want to invite youth ahead of time to bring photos or copies of photos from home that they may want to use in their collage.

Close by reading together Psalm 139: 1-18 and sharing together your thoughts on what it means to say that God knows us intimately and loves us completely. How should this understanding affect how we live with and love others?

Book Give-Away Contest Winners

2011-06-21T00:21:00.001-05:00

Thanks to all who entered our contest to celebrate the release of our new book from Youth Specialties/Zondervan. The winners, drawn at random from all who responded, are:

Roger Shock

Jeff Nelson

Benjer McVeigh

In particular, we want to highlight all the great responses we received to the question: "What is the mission of your youth ministry?" For anyone looking to develop a missional youth ministry, any of these would be a good start for your brainstorming:

Empowerment, discipleship, social justice, fun and worship to name a few of the concepts I work with in ministering to youth.

The mission of youth ministry is the same as any other ministry - to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

All ministry is about translation - the translation of the gospel to people with a wide range of other languages. This translation takes place in a lot of ways, but the primary way we translate the gospel is through authentic, loving relationships, and by modeling the gospel by doing the things that Jesus did. That means we heal the sick, feed the hungry, welcome all, break down barriers that society puts up.

The goal of our youth ministry is to help kids deepen their understanding of God's love and ways they can experience, grow, and share that love.

My mission is probably best summed up by 1 Thessalonians 2:8

"Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well."

Share the Gospel, share life, love students.

I like to use a form of group spiritual direction as a way for teens to recognize that they do have body, mind and SOUL! And they rock!!

To bring them in from the world and introduce them to Christ. Build them up with love to be Christ-like, Train them for their God given gifts, and send them out to share the gospel and lift up the name of the Lord.

Youth Ministry is about sharing the story of our Christian faith such that youth can understand it, embrace it, love it and share it. It is also about modeling what it is like to BE Christian, putting God first among life's priorities. It is also about loving these kids as they are, where they are at a time when they question whether they are loved at all by anyone.

To develop relationships between youth and caring mature Christian adults so that the love of Jesus Christ and of the Body of Christ on earth will become the most important thing in their lives and to give opportunities to youth to use their gifts in the work of the Church NOW.

Personally, my goal is to show them that they can have a real relationship with God. I want the goal of the youth group to be to seek Him and to desire Him above all else. To know that satisfaction can only be found in Him - not of the world. And, I want them to know that they can help and be involved in their communities. That what they are doing here and now does matter.

This question has highlighted, to me, the need to find a better way to state our mission so that it reflects the larger mission of the UMC, which is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Currently, our stated mission is: to be an inviting and accepting community for the youth and their friends that surrounds youth with unconditional love; that nurtures genuine relationships; focuses youth in the inspirations and traditions of the Christian faith; energizes and equips youth to extend the love of Christ to the world.

Youth ministry is about teaching and encouraging teenagers to love God and love others with everything we have and to find their purpose within their community.

Our mission for youth ministry is to serve, disciple and send the youth of Ambridge to serve, disciple and send others.

Love God and love others.

Our mission is to be hyped about our Savior, and create disciples who know what it means to love, serve and praise our awesome God.

To see students and their families transformed by the saving love of Jesus...same mission as our church.

Our Youth Mission statement is: We praise Christ as he dwells in our hearts through faith. We care for all of God's children as we reflect God's light to the world as ambassadors of Christ. We help others to grow in faith by preparing people to follow God and obey his commands.

Our mission is to provide opportunities for young people to taste and see that the Lord is good by serving those who are suffering so that Christ might be revealed among us.

I think the mission of youth ministry, as was mentioned above, is the same as the church's mission: to love God, love people, and make disciples of Jesus Christ. However, I think we have the additional responsibility of meeting the unique needs of adolescents and their families, and empowering teens to live out the gospel for themselves!

My mission as a youth minister? To connect with teens right where they are, show them that God loves them just as they are, and walk with them into the next step of their spiritual journey, wherever that may lead.

"Missional Youth Ministry" Free Book Giveaway

2011-06-15T13:06:00.001-05:00

To celebrate the publication of our new text Missional Youth Ministry: Moving from Gathering Teenagers to Scattering Disciples we are running a contest this week to give away three free copies of the book as a thank you to our readers who helped make this project possible.

This text, written from a mainline/progressive/emergent perspective, argues for a holistic approach to youth ministry, challenging adult leaders and volunteers to help teens create ministries focused not on numbers, entertainment or programs but on the mission of the Church.

How Do I Enter? There are three ways to enter the contest:

Comment on this post by answering this question: In your view, what is the mission of your youth ministy?

Subscribe to our blog by using the "Follow By Email" box at the top right of the homepage.

Tweet a message about this contest which includes the hashtag #missionalyouthministry.

Each way earns you one chance in our random drawing for a free book. Contest deadline is Sunday, June 19.

Want to see what the book is all about before you enter? You can read sample chapters here and here or click on the "Browse Inside" icon at the bottom of this post.

Browse Inside this book

Get this for your site

Can Twitter Help Shy Teens in Your Ministry?

2011-06-14T09:40:00.042-05:00

As an introvert myself, I've always felt the need to look out for the shy teens in my ministry. So much youth ministry programming seems to be aimed at extroverts, from big events where we cram 100+ students into one big noisy space or games that require a person to interact with a group and look silly in front of everybody (just for fun, of course). There's nothing wrong with activities like these, but we at least need to be sensitive enough to reallize that for introverts they can be sources of stress and even make a teen feel uncomfortable and unwelcome.

It's important to have ways for introverted youth to participate without having to draw attention to themselves. I use a variety of approaches, including:

Inviting youth to talk in pairs or trios about a discussion question before we discuss it togther as a group. This gives them a few minutes to rehearse an answer and perhaps be more comfortable sharing it with the group becuase they've already tried it out on someone else.
Purposefully planning activities that incorporate silence.
Making certain there is a balance between big group and small group activities.
Allowing teens to "opt out" of group games and the like if they choose.

Now some thoughtful teachers have begun to see how Twitter could be used in the classroom (and, I would argue, in youth ministry) to allow introverted youth to engage in group discussions and share their ideas and thoughts in the safe space of the internet via Twitter. I'm sure some hip youth ministers have already started using this approach in large group settings (and some churches in worship), so why not also apply it to your regular ol' Bible study time or when your small group is just sitting around talking about poverty, or peace or relationships?

Are You Ready for Camp?

2011-06-13T19:16:00.001-05:00

Heading off to church camp in the next few days or weeks? Before you go, you might want to check out some of these classic posts from our blog below.

7 Ways to Guarantee a Lousy Church Camp - Just some quick thoughts on things to avoid if you want to be sure all your youth feel welcomed and included.

Creative Prayer Stations for Church Camp - Complete descriptions with photos of interactive outdoor prayer stations you and your youth can set up around the camp.

Rethinking Church Camp - A suggested daily schedule that can provide more time in your camp day for youth to attend to God's presence and practice sabbath (with some helpful comments from our readers!).

Can Your Campers Handle a Night of Silence? - A description of an all-camp contemplative event which many of our youth rate as the best part of their week every summer.

Bonus link: Don't miss the treasure trove of ideas at the Ultimate Camp Resource.

"King of the Hill" on Attractional Youth Ministry

2011-06-09T16:31:00.000-05:00

"King of the Hill" rethinks attractional youth ministry.

Graduation?

2011-06-06T16:02:00.007-05:00

It’s official . . . summer has finally started. The graduations are all finished, the temperature is well into the nineties, and the cicadas are so noisy it is hard to even think.

Several years ago, at a youth ministry conference, I listened to a well known speaker spell out in perfect detail exactly what his youth (assuming they didn’t leave the church or move) would learn from the first day of kindergarten to the final day of graduation. At the time, I was pretty impressed with the spread sheet that was produced. And I thought to myself: Maybe I can create a similar spreadsheet with the youth I work with? The goal, at least for me, wasn’t to have the youth necessarily learn a right or wrong about religion, but rather expose them to a number of different theological explorations--from the earliest writings of the ancient church all the way to the book of Revelation.

So one summer, I tried to lay out an entire twelve years of Christian Education. I did make a spreadsheet and for a while I tried to coordinate all of the different pieces. It was difficult to put into action though and I wasn’t sure if such a rigid schedule of teaching allowed for the creativity and freedom that is needed in Christian Education.

But now, I realize that by thinking in terms of a twelve year spread sheet I missed a big component of what learning is. We never really graduate from our faith. Our faith and spirituality should continue to grow every day. What I believe now is not what I believed ten years ago and not what I will believe ten years from today. So this summer, as we already begin to think about fall planning, I think it’s helpful to think about the ways in which we are preparing our youth to continue learning for a lifetime, regardless of what they have just graduated from.

How about you? Anyone else try to diagram out what their youth should or should not learn?

Creative Worship: Can I get a Witness?

2011-06-06T10:48:00.013-05:00

If you’re looking for a fun way to kick off summer activities with youth, consider focusing on the passage taken from yesterday’s lectionary reading—the Ascension of Jesus, Acts 1: 6-11. This is a text that some youth might find appealing—it’s not too often that we talk about Jesus flying up into the sky...

Begin with a conversation focusing on how youth initially interpret this passage.

Next, spend some time focusing on the words, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Ask your youth: What does it mean to be a witness for Christ? As a witness for Christ, you have the possibility to live your life in response to the one who has changed your life. All of your daily actions are intended to be a reflection of the witness of Christ.

Finally, have some fun with this Bible study. Encourage youth to email or message you throughout the week pictures of them “witnessing” to others, whatever this might be. The pictures might include anything from showing hospitality to studying the Bible. When you meet the following week show the pictures as part of your offering for worship and consider also showing the pictures on Sunday morning worship—a reminder that youth are part of today’s church, not just the church of the future.

Guest Post: Emotionalism, Youth Ministry & Other Things I Hate About Acquire the Fire

2011-05-25T11:00:00.005-05:00

In our efforts to try to tap into those things teens care most about, how often do we risk stepping over the line into emotional manipulation. Guest blogger and youth pastor Jason McPherson shares his thoughts on this issue and offers a challenge to those of use serving youth in the Church.

There are some youth ministries (and churches) out there who believe that the level of emotion that one experiences in their worship, prayer times, testimonies, etc, is an accurate gauge of one’s discipleship and growth as a believer. The equation is pretty simple: the greater/deeper emotional response = the greater/deeper encounter with Christ. And while emotion should definitely not be suppressed or avoided, we must be careful not to blindly adopt this equation of ‘emotion = discipleship.’

Fast forward several years and I find myself as a youth minister. My first year at the church we attended Acquire the Fire' because, as one student informed me, "that is what our youth group did every year before you became... It’s the best event that we go on." With the help of smoke machines, loud bands, and youth speakers who can tell gripping stories filled with well-placed tears and effective pauses, ATF has mastered the skill of evoking an emotional response from teenagers... And just like all highs, it is, and was, just a matter of time until the crash. How can we expect anything else? How are the teens supposed to get as excited back at their local church when our ‘worship band’ consists of just Bob… a balding middle-aged man who is still learning to play guitar? All that to say: I no longer attend ATF. Every once in awhile a parent or student will come up to me and ask why we don't go to ATF anymore. While my response varies depending on who is the one asking me, my most common response goes something like this, "Because discipleship is a marathon... It is a daily decision and a daily directing of our paths toward Christ. We don’t go to Acquire the Fire because I don’t want to teach our teens that their ‘level of emotion’ determines the truth of the gospel and the necessity to pursue a deeper walk with Christ, even when we don’t feel like it… Something along those lines.

I speak as one who was quite susceptible to emotionalism as a teenager in the youth ministry I was a part of growing up. Discipleship and spiritual maturity was all about who generated the greatest emotional response to a sermon, music set, at a retreat, an alter call, and so on. One particular night I remember my youth pastor challenging us during a time of corporate confession (around a bonfire of course) to "not hold back and be real before Jesus." As students began to share, I was well aware of my sin and didn't want to leave that night still 'hiding my sins from Jesus.' So, as a 17 year old teenager, I confessed everything in front of the group... Everything I could possibly think of. The mood had definitely been set by my youth leader and he later commended me for how open and honest I was. While I believed I was being obedient to God at the time by airing out all of my garbage, I look back at the whole experience and cringe at how honest I was before them... Not because confession is wrong but because of the young ears who heard all of those confessions. I lacked the discernment that 'confessing everything' might not have been the best thing to do.

Up until just a year or so ago, I experienced quite a bit of guilt and shame when I would compare the current student ministry I find myself in with that of the one I was a part of growing up in my teenage years. I remember the emotion filled testimonies... I remember worshiping with my fellow teenage peers... I remember some great retreats that we went on together. And quite honestly, I don't see that as much with the youth ministry that I am currently leading. At times I wonder if I am in the wrong. I wonder if I have become so cautious about not being manipulative that I have actually robbed them of something deeper. However, what I have begun to see is something that has less highs and lows and something that appears to be more true and lasting.

My conclusion is a very predictable one. Emotions are some of the very fabrics that make us human. As youth pastors/leaders, we must seek the healthy balance of not suppressing and avoiding a Christian faith that is void of emotions, which would be unhealthy and lacking. Also, we must make sure that our chief aim is not to simply seek out an 'emotional response' from our students because that has little to do with the gospel and more to do with adolescent development.

May we all seek to honestly and faithfully preach, teach, and present the gospel in a manner that is accessible and understandable to our students.

What's Wrong with A Busy Youth Ministry Summer?

2011-05-24T12:15:00.010-05:00

What's on your youth ministry's calendar for this summer? Camps, camps, and more camps? Mission trips? Retreats? Lock-ins? Road trips to amusement parks?

In my early days in youth ministry, summertime was always a chance to amp up the activity level of our youth program. Everybody was out of school. None of the younger youth had jobs. We all had lots of free time on our hands. So we created summer calendars packed with trips and events and theme nights at the church. Maybe in those days that all made sense.

But what is the reality for the teens you serve today? If they are like mine, most of them are attending at least a few weeks if not months of summer school. Most of them have jobs (why, I'm not exactly certain). Most of them have band camp, sports camp, theater camp that is required if they want to participate in fall events at school. On top of that, there are family trips and activities. What time is left for church? Or more to the point: what time is left for sabbath? Our scriptures are ripe with calls for sabbath, both as a way to remember God and as a way to respect that all people (all of creation, in fact) needs rest. Sabbath is also a reminder that, in our tradition, even God rests:

Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Work six days and do everything you need to do. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to God, your God. Don't do any work—not you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servant, nor your maid, nor your animals, not even the foreign guest visiting in your town. For in six days God made Heaven, Earth, and sea, and everything in them; he rested on the seventh day. Therefore God blessed the Sabbath day; he set it apart as a holy day. (Exodus 20: 8-11, The Message Bible)

This summer why not give yourself and your teens a break? Slow things down. Get rid of the over-scheduled calendar. Provide opportunities for your teens to simply catch their breath, rest, appreciate a time of quiet reflection, and perhaps even silence. Some possibilites include:

Meet regularly at a coffee shop for no other reason than to just sit and talk and catch up on each other's weeks.
Cut-back your schedule of activities and encourage your youth to use the extra time for rest.
Have a Sabbath lock-in. This one definitely won't be an all-nighter! Design the evening around restful, quiet experiences where teens can read, play cards, or just lie out on a couch and nap. Set an early bedtime and talk about the scriptural understanding of sabbath and why it's important.
Schedule opportunities for your youth to get together and just play...simply. Invite them to bring a frisbee, a football, and so on and just enjoy an evening together hanging out on the church lawn (No Bible study!)
Covenant to rest together. Pick a time each day that you all agree, whenever possible, to stop whatever you are doing wherever you are and simply rest and enjoy a time of silence.

I'd just offer one warning: the more rest you build into your summer youth ministry, the more likely you will be to never go back to the old ways of over-programming your time with teens. Sabbath is habit-forming!

What other suggestions can you think of to help teens experience Sabbath this summer?

Creative Idea for Youth Ministry: The Gospel in One Word

2011-05-17T22:56:00.000-05:00

How do you sum up the gospel in a single word? Challenge your teens to do just that with this creative activity.

I often stumble upon great ideas on the Soul Pancake website that seem perfect for adapting to a youth ministry setting. This recent post is a good example. Readers were challenged to represent a single word that held importance for them by using everyday objects. You can see some of the examples posted here. I would take this a step further and challenge youth to try to sum up their understanding of the gospel in a single word (or phrase) and use everyday objects related to the word to create their image. For example, if the word is love, they might create it out of candy hearts. If the word is joy, they might use something that makes them happy...like cupcakes! They might create "peace" out of pieces of dismantled toy guns.

You could either do this as a group activity or have teens work on this independently and upload their photos to the web. The photos could be use to open up a conversation that might give you helpful insights into how your teens understand the core of the gospel message.

If you need more inspiration, here is another whole blog with these sorts of images.

The Killing of Bin Laden & Youth Ministry: Are We Asking the Wrong Questions?

2011-05-11T11:11:00.000-05:00

In our rush to judgment as Christians regarding whether the faithful can celebrate the death of an enemy, have we missed the most important issue of all?

Yes, I know. I'm very late to the game on this whole Bin Laden issue. That was last week's news, right? What more could there be to say about it all? In my latest column at the Patheos interfaith website, I wrestle with that question and wonder if, now that the air has had a little chance to clear, there might be something more important to talk about than whether or not it's okay for the faithful to cheer on the murder of an evildoer:

This week I invited the youth in my church to respond to this debate. I was pleasantly surprised to find that none of them were eager to charge up the hill of faith with either the banner of pacifist peace or the banner of righteous judgment. Instead they clearly felt the whole situation was too complex for quick and easy answers. The questions they offered suggested they were struggling with some ambiguities: Was bin Laden actually still a threat to us or was he just a figurehead? And if it was he was just a figurehead, were we justified in assassinating him? Did killing him actually solve anything? What might the other side do now in retaliation? Can our government get in trouble for murdering a foreign citizen? What happens next in this seemingly unending war on terror?

You can read the rest of the column here and share your thoughts on what I think the real issue is at hand for Christians (and Christian teens) in this debate. We'd also welcome your responses to this post from awhile back in which we take a look at how often youth ministries use the lure of violence to attract teens.

A Youth Ministry Parable

2011-05-11T08:40:00.000-05:00

Why are we in youth ministry? What is it really all about?

A colleague of mine from seminary recently shared a thoughtful parable he wrote in which he finds himself on the front steps of his church on Easter morning after the worship service and everyone else has gone home. To his surprise, as he is sitting there eating leftover Easter candy, up walks Jesus:

"So," he says, "how'd it go today?"
I shrug. "They played tic tac toe."
"What?"
"The high schoolers. They were playing tic tac toe or something during my sermon. I saw them. One of them even looked up to see if I'd noticed, like they were getting away with something; like I'm a moron." I pop another egg into my mouth before I get too carried away.
He helps himself to another handful as well. "That's the first thing you respond with? A couple kids drawing on the bulletin?

The rest of the parable spins out this conversation and really asks why we even bother with this whole ministry thing at all. What motivates us to keep going even when we are unsure anyone is paying attention? It is a parable written from the viewpoint of a senior pastor but it speaks just as profoundly to anyone in youth ministry who has every asked, "Am I making a difference with these young people?" You can read the entire parable here.

Youth Ministry Bible Study: What is Mission?

2011-05-02T22:33:00.002-05:00

How can we help teens think more intentionally about the radical mission of the Church?

In progressive/mainline churches, when we speak of "mission" we are most often speaking of the work of the Church, who and what we are called to be as followers of Christ. Our mission is most tangible in the ways that we live together as community and the activities to which we give our time and treasure. In this understanding, everything from worship, to youth group gatherings, to building a Habitat for Humanity house have the potential to be mission-focused.

As our youth ministry prepares for a week of hands-on volunteer work this summer -- work which we hope will continue throughout the rest of the year -- we took time recently to invite our teens to explore just what we mean by the word "mission" and how it connects to the life of Jesus and the life of the church. The program we used is posted below:

Getting Ready: Mission Possible (5 min.) - Begin with this "Group Draw" community builder activity. In brief, teens work in teams of three to recreate a simple image. Only one teen can see the image and must communicate it to the others with sign language. Only one of the teens can watch this person and share verbally what he or she is describing. The last teen attempts to draw the image, though is unable to watch what the others are doing. For the image, use the photo to the right (found here). Afterwards, discuss what it was like to do this challenge.

Digging In: What is mission?

Read together Luke 4: 14-30, depicting Jesus' journey back to his hometown and his reading from Isaiah in the synagogue. Ask: How might this text helps us understand what Jesus believed his mission to be? What did he feel called to do? Why did the people of his hometown reject his mission? (Note: the text implies that he felt the justice of God was for all people, including gentiles, and this is what angers the crowd) What might this tell us about the challenges of participating in God's mission of radical justice for all? What challenges might we face if we participate in God's mission to the oppressed, the poor, and the captive?

Reflecting: In small groups, take time to look again at the airplane image. Ask: As a metaphor, what might this image have to say to us about the mission of the Church and how we carry out that mission? Challenge the students to consider what the plane, the parachutes, the people, and even the act of skydiving itself might represent in our call to mission. (Note: In our discussion, some of group saw the parachutes as God, supporting us in mission. Others saw the parachute as representing us, supporting and uplifting those we are called to serve in mission. Some saw God as the plane. Others saw the plane as the Church. Several noted that the group jumps together, reminding us that we participate in mission as a community. Finally, we discussed how mission, like skydiving, takes us out of our comfort zone and involves risk and challenge.) After a few minutes, share your observations as a large group.

For a second metaphor, watch this video. Again, discuss how the various images and elements might be metaphors for mission (Note: this video as metaphor may be less obvious than the plane image, but it yielded some rich and unexpected responses from our youth).

Wrapping Up: Share that mission "is not what we do but what we are." Mission is the self-proclamation of the Church to the world about our deepest values, the most important parts of our identity, and who we are at our core. It’s our witness -- what we profess to be to the world. Ask youth: How would you sum up our mission in a word or phrase? What would you declare our witness to be? Invite each person to write their word or phrase on a speech bubble (as in photos at the top) and snap their picture. Use the images for a bulletin board display in your church or perhaps share them on your youth website or blog as a public online witness to your understanding of the mission of the Church.

Video: Transforming the World?

2011-04-29T10:43:00.003-05:00

Optimist from Brian Thomson on Vimeo.

A simple but captivating video that seems to me a metaphor for how we are called to help transform the world. Or is it a metaphor for how we see the world differently on this side of Easter Sunday? Or is a metaphor for the power of community, working together, to create something beautiful? What do you think? Maybe show this to your youth and let them share their thoughts, too.

Image of the Day: Missional Youth Ministry?

2011-04-28T23:11:00.000-05:00

Share this photo with the other leaders of your youth ministry. Invite them to reflect on what it has to say about your work together and how we are called to serve teens in the Church. What metaphors do you see in this image that might relate to youth ministry?

Teens, Royal Weddings and Marriage

2011-04-26T21:11:00.000-05:00

The Royal Wedding spectacle begs the questions: How is popular culture helping to shape what teens and young adults think about marriage?

My latest column at Patheos looks at how teens in the U.S. approach the subject of marriage, a topic at the forefront right now as we here in "the colonies" get all excited about the royal wedding happening in our mother country of merry old England:

Surveys...indicate that a majority of teens feel it's a good idea to live together prior to marriage in order to build a relationship. In the past, the Church would have collectively condemned such a suggestion. But in a culture where "The Bachelorette" picks a mate to marry in a matter of weeks from a pool of men selected by a television casting agent, we might want to take a step back and consider if our young people have a better handle on what it means to be married than the entertainment culture surrounding them.

You can read the entire column here and share your thoughts.

RESOURCE REVIEW: Doodle

2011-04-21T16:09:00.000-05:00

Here's a nifty tool for setting up a meeting time for your small group, adult volunteers or other youth ministry colleagues: Doodle.com.

The site allows you, without cost or need to register, to set up suggested times for a meeting and then invite the participants to indicate which times work best for their schedule. No more need to send out emails and hope to get everyone to "reply all" and then sift through everyone's feedback. And, instead of just setting up one meeting time and seeing who can make it, you can suggest multiple options and see which ones work best. The site does other things too. Check it out here.

Film Review: "Source Code"

2011-04-13T17:21:00.001-05:00

My review of the new sci-fi flick "Source Code" is now up at Patheos.com. Yes, it's mostly a Saturday afternoon popcorn movie, but for your youth who catch this film there might be an opportunity to use it as a springboard for discussing themes of grace and second chances:

Getting beyond our sin to accept God's offer of a "do-over" is often hard, uncomfortable, scary work. In the film, Stevens has to face the reality that in order to uncover the terrorist, he must be willing to return to that train over and over, each time experiencing the horrific explosion and his own virtual death. If he's not willing to do this, his controllers tell him, more people will be lost. To get to new life he has to be willing to walk through the valley of death. Or as one character puts it in the film, "The world is going to hell. But there's hope in the rubble. But first there has to be rubble."

You can read the entire review here.

Jesus and Cage Fighting?

2011-04-12T14:54:00.003-05:00

We spend a lot of time on this blog talking about the different ways we can help connect youth to the church. Some individuals try to host really big events that draw in large numbers of youth; while other gatherings are more contemplative and smaller in attendance. Both methodologies work well and have their own strengths and weaknesses.

The other day though, I came across something completely new. According to this article, “cage fighting” is being used by several churches to attract individuals, including youth. The author states that, “The sport is seen as a legitimate outreach tool by the youth ministry affiliate of the National Association of Evangelicals, which represents more than 45,000 churches.”

On the one hand, I can sort of (and this is really a stretch) see why individuals might use cage fighting as an evangelical tool. There are always different approaches and methodologies that are going to be used to draw people to the church. Some will work better than others. Fair enough.

But on the other hand, I just want to say: Really? It’s pretty clear to me that Jesus, at the very least, opposed violence. Personally, I feel Jesus was a pacifist. I have serious questions about a church that both promotes and encourages violence.

Is it wrong to judge though? A number of youth I know really like (for reasons I cannot understand) cage fighting. If this draws them to the church, is it wrong to stand in opposition?

We’d love to hear your thoughts.

VIDEO: A Creative Way to Share the Good News?

2011-04-12T12:01:00.000-05:00

The weather is getting warmer is this part of the world. I could see adapting the approach in this video as a way to get teens outside and spreading some of the good news to others.

Youth Ministry as Family Ministry? Be Careful What You Wish For Pt. 2

2011-04-12T08:02:00.000-05:00

This is part two of a two part essay on the changing face of family in American culture and the implications those changes have for ministry within the Church. You can read part one here.

A NEW VISION OF FAMILY

Scholar John Dominic Crossan has observed that Jesus is often depicted as attacking what many today might term “family values.” Though there are many biblical texts to which we could turn, two are particularly instructive for understanding Jesus‘ vision of “family“ in the realm of God: Mark 3:31-35 and Matthew 10:34-38.

In the passage from Mark, the reader is presented with a concept of family that does away with biological ties. Here Jesus sees those who follow him to be a new kind of family, one that even takes the place of blood ties:

Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, "Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you." And he replied, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" And looking at those who sat around him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."

In this passage, attachment to the biological family is seen as a possible danger to one’s commitment to discipleship. This was no academic issue for disciples who found themselves in the position of having to leave family, village, and traditions behind in order to follow Christ. Jesus makes it clear that family is not defined as one into which you are born, but one which you choose and which is open to all. It is interesting to note that in this passage there is no reference to father, neither in the announcement of the arrival of Jesus’ family, or in his new definition of family. Some scholars interpret this to be an acknowledgment that only God is to be the father of the community of believers. In this respect, Jesus is defying the political and social structures of his day that placed the human father at the head of the household. Christian community then was to be founded not on the Roman Empire’s notion of society and familial structure but was to emerge as a new form of family that valued committment to Christ over blood ties.

Matthew 10:34-38 offers an even more biting attack on the traditional family structure in the Roman Empire:

"Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one's foes will be members of one's own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.”

Often this passage is seen as referring to familial tensions between believers and non-believers because early followers of Jesus often had to chose between family and faith. However, Crossan offers a more insightful viewpoint that takes into account Jesus’ new vision of family. The typical Mediterranean family might consist of mother, father, a married son and his wife and an unmarried daughter. It was a hierarchical system in which each person was answerable to someone else, with the men occupying the highest places of power. Matthew (perhaps taking a cue from Micah 7:6) depicts Jesus attacking this hierarchical system of family life that was a product of Roman society. The division is not between those who believe and those who do not. Rather, it is a division across both gender and generations. Argues Crossan: “Jesus sets parents against children and wife against husband, sets, in other words, the Kingdom against the Mediterranean [culture].”

For Jesus, the ideal family is not one established by society, built upon power relationships and the support of the surrounding culture. Rather it is a vision of family that transcends previous relationships and calls one beyond ties of blood and law to embrace the entire community as “family.” In his deconstruction of hierarchy, perhaps Jesus is also calling us to dispense with our own hierarchical systems which allow us to idealize one form of family to the exclusion of all others.

Jesus’ radical vision of an all-encompassing family of God opens the door for the Church to claim a new understanding of community, not based in biology but in Jesus’ vision of a family open to the diversity of all God’s children. The Church’s call to “koinonia” or communion is the call to gather around God’s table from of all our different walks of life and family structures. It is the call that invites us to see that, ultimately, it is the saving grace and love of God through Christ which binds us together. Single, married, divorced, adopted, widowed, gay, lesbian, partnered, and blended and nuclear family – our real goal should be to embrace all people into God’s family and to celebrate the many ways God has brought us together into community and relationship with one another.

Note: To read more, see Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography by John Dominic Crossan (Harper Collins, 1994).

What Would You Do? Addressing Bad Behavior in Youth Ministry

2011-04-08T17:12:00.003-05:00

I was contacted recently by a youth ministry colleague with a dilemma regarding discipline. I know many of us will be able to relate to the issues below:

I have a youth group with the average attendance around 25. Over the last couple of months I have been having problems with them showing respect to peers and leaders. There always seems to be talking going on when the lesson is going on and just through out the night. I find myself and the other leaders sitting patiently and waiting for them to settle down and give us their attention and this is after we speak in a loud voice for all to hear. Who do I get a hold on this? It disrupts our growing, learning, and with having to stop to gather their attention is taking up a lot of time. I need some ideas on haw to handle this.

So what are your thoughts? How have you responded to situations like this in your own ministry or how would you respond to it if it happened at your church?

Update: Joel Mayward has written a very useful post on this topic and has some great thoughts on how to deal with discipline issues with youth.

Image of the Day: A Prayer for Peace

2011-04-08T11:44:00.000-05:00

Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

when there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

and where there is sadness, joy.

Grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console;

to be understood, as to understand,

to be loved as to love;

for it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying [to ourselves] that we are born to eternal life.

Amen

COMMUNITY BUILDER: Hula Hoop Havoc!

2011-04-08T09:26:00.000-05:00

Try this community builder as a way to help your teens experience cooperation and teamwork.

This activity may be done indoors or outdoors. You will need five hula hoops and about 50 tennis balls (or some similar object -- I suppose you could use rubber chickens if you really wanted to!). Mentally plot out about a 25 foot square playing field. Place one hula hoop in each corner with the fifth hula hoop placed in the center of the playing area. Pile all the tennis balls inside the middle hoop.

Next, divide your group into four teams (perhaps designating each team with the name of one of the first century churches such as Corinthians, Philippians, Romans, Thessalonians). Invite each team to stand together next to one of the four hula hoops in the corners of the field. Share that the object of this challenge is for their team to get all of the tennis balls inside their hoop. The following rules must be followed: 1) You can't defend your own hoop. 2) All the balls have to be removed from the middle hoop before you can start taking balls from other people's hoops. 3) You can't throw the balls. Give them a minute or so to strategize and then start playing.

Now, what will likely happen is that there will be a wild frenzy of passing, grabbing, and stealing tennis balls, all to no avail with no one close to accomplishing the goal. Take a pause in the game and then let rethink their approach in their teams. Play a few more crazy minutes and pause again. This time call the whole group together and invite them to talk with each other about how this could be accomplished. With luck and perhaps a little encouragement from you, they may come to the conclusion that they need to work together. Suggest (if no one asks) that there is no rule against moving the hoops. Eventually they will come to one of two possible "winning" solutions: 1) 3 of the teams agree to "lose" so that one team can accomplish the goal or 2) Put all the balls in the middle hoop and have all teams place their hoops around the middle hoop, thus reaching the goal for every team of getting all the balls inside their hoops.

This activity could be followed by a great debrief discussion about why we tend to see activities as competitions first and opportunities for cooperation second. How might this challenge reflect the difference between the values of our culture and the values of God's Kingdom?