This time I’d like to initiate a discussion about the goals and purposes of youth ministry. If you’d like to join, please listen to the interview at this link:
http://www.whitehorseinn.org/whiarchives/2014whi1211jun22.mp3
Provocative quotes from the interview:
- “The churches with no youth programs are retaining their young people into their 20s at a higher rate that those with big youth programs.”
- “Digital media have ghettoized young people, and thereby delayed the onset of adulthood.”
- “If you want to become an adult, you have to hang around adults.”
- “We don’t need to tailor discipleship or worship to youth, or to anyone; we are called to tailor ourselves to discipleship and worship.”
- “The embrace of youth culture can lead to the uncritical embrace of pop culture, which is driven by consumerism and immediate self-gratification.”
Questions to consider and discuss:
- Why have youth ministry?
- What makes youth ministry different from adult ministry?
- What are the purposes and goals of youth ministry?
- What are the pluses and minuses of shaping the worship experience to what is familiar and comfortable to youth culture?
- What kind of youth ministry will help to incorporate youth into the larger church?
- What kind of youth ministry will help youth to become mature Christian adults?
Please respond with comments on the interview or answers to the questions above. Thanks for joining the discussion!