Saturday, October 20, 2012

The Seasons of Youth Ministry



What is Growth in Youth Ministry? How do we measure it? Increased numbers? Increased committment? Deeper relationships? Intergration with the wider church? Sometimes in youth ministry we can feel we face an impossible job in which the goalposts of success move depending on who you are talking to.



There is always an ebb and flow to youth ministry, as there was with Jesus’ ministry. There were times when he had thousands of people following him, yet other times he seemed to play down the attention of thousands, in a bid to invest in just a few.

Likewise, this ebb and flow is accentuated by the nature of young people. Young people are in a constant state of growth: There’s the physical stuff; the physical transition from childhood to adulthood. But there is more than meets the eye: They are growing their sense of identity, they are constantly testing out their moral compass and making changes to who they are. They are growing their worldview and trying out new ideologies, trying to see what fits best. All in the context of a post-modern, fast moving, upgrading culture. 

In her book 'Practicing Passion', Kenda Creasey Dean calls this the Patchwork self. Young people are constantly applying new and discarding old patches. The Patches represent moral views and cultural nuances.This is the growth context in which we work. And I for one wouldnt change that for the world!

Therefore a growing youth ministry is always changing and responding to the changing reality. Just because it works right now, doesn’t mean it will work tomorrow. I'm convinced that every September is a new start; you may have the same young people, team and environment, but your group will have grown and changed significantly over the past year (or even over the summer). Don’t get complacent and don’t make assumptions!

A growing ministry recognises that youth ministry is a process of observing, responding and shaping your ministry. The youth worker is a contrast tinkerer, tweaking, developing and responding to the changing landscape.

So which is best? Does God want us to have increasing ministries or should we resist growth and keep things small? At the risk of sitting on the fence, I think that the answer is both. Ministry is about seasons, there will be seasons of numerical growth (spring) and new commitments, equally there will be seasons of depth (autumn).
 




Recently I learned that trees grow all year round. In Spring, the tree grows in height and colour. It is a time when the growth is at its most evident for all to see. The growth seems effortless and the tree is at it's boldest and most striking. In autumn, the tree loses it's colour, it stops growing upward, but it continues to grow. The growth is unseen, in the depths, as the tree grows it's roots. It is much harder to see and celebrate growth and to the untrained eye it seems as if there is no growth at all.


Youth ministry is like a tree. There, I said it. Spring is the season of evangelism and numerical growth. It's not hard for you (and your church) to see the fruits of the growth. You are surrounded by colour and your ministry just seems a bit taller. The hallmarks of a youth ministry spring is increased attendance, increased interest, new relationships being formed and an increased sense of momentum.

The autumn season is marked by unseen growth, but growth is still taking place. In autumn, our groups feel routine, it can be hard to be encouraged and there may be some numberical loss. But it reveals the young people that are not going to last the winter. 
In youth ministry, this is the season to grow deep. Numbers may fall, but this is time to give more attention to less young people.


How can I grow in the Spring season?
If God is calling us to a season of growth, where should I start? Observation. Observe your current situation. Are there any young people in your youth group? Is it possible for them to bring friends? What is the level of buy in from your young people? Involve them in the process. Friends of the young people is the obvious place to start.

But what if you feel called to reach out to a new group of young people? I would start by asking lots of questions: What does mission look like? Who is God calling us to? Is the ‘mission group’ compatible with my existing group? How will discipleship need to look like for this new group?

Young people exist in subcultures: bmxer, sporty, music. Therefore I would advocate a youth ministry that takes this in to consideration. Marko (in the book Youth Ministry 3.0) suggests that youth ministies should have multiple youth ministries to multiple subcultures. He says: 

‘One youth ministry will only reach one kind of kid, one subculture. Multiple youth ministries within the same church have the opportunity to establish contextualised, present (not driven) ministries of communion and mission in multiple youth culture contexts’. Mark Oestreicher

How to grow in the Autumn Season
The autumn season is the time to grow deep. It is the season for discipleship. Think mentoring, exploring the gifts of your young people and allowing them to use them and think integration into wider church. This would be the time to invest in your small groups.

In July's Youthwork Magazine, Krish Kandiah suggests a radical rethink of how we disciple. His reason? 7 out of 10 young people will not make it to their 20’s and still be in church. Inspired by the Sticky Faith initiative, he suggests three ways to stop the rot:

1. Desegregate the church whenever possible
2. Discover the gifts of your young people and allow them to use these to shape the church
3. Reverse that ratio: work towards having five adults investing in every one young person

And finally: Essential building blocks for growth
  • Prayer and discernment: Seek God and observe your environment
  • Be intentional: know what you are setting out to achieve in this season
  • Seek out the right help: Get the right people in the right places that model discipleship and are prepared to commit for a generation
  • Be faithful: To God, to you, to your church
  • Keep moving: Recognise that you never arrive
  • Sell the vision: Get buy in from the whole church. Shout about what you do.


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