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: 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: 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: 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.