You can see his original take here (although, a second revision will be coming out next month).

Did you and your team create that diagram/idea or did you adopt it and make it fit your program?

i meant after in the sense of pursuit, not after in the sense of completion. basically are you pursuing the assimilation philosophy of ym?

do you have a sunday service for youth (both jr high and high school)? or are they encouraged to attend church with their families?

1. I’m not interested in pegging each student into a apathetic/interested/excited/passionate box. The graph of spiritual maturity over time is not a straight upward arrow. It’s a jagged line, sometimes with growth spurts and then later with setbacks. Evaluation is difficult and not always helpful as a true indication of the work of your ministry versus the role of the Holy Spirit in spite of you (which is always the case, by the way). Generally speaking, I think we’ll have a very visible evaluation of it if kids are actually changing their lives by applying the Word, that sense of excitement and passion builds, and especially when their unsaved friends start coming to faith in Christ. Can’t get much more tangible than that.

2. Umm… never really asked them, actually. I don’t use a lot, though, so I think I’m safe.

3. You can find the 30 Core Questions in the Deep and Wide Thesis. I personally don’t think it’s a complete list, but it’s a starting point anyway. We’re combining some questions and digging deep into each one. (BTW, that thesis needs a LOT of revisions, so don’t get too critical of it too quickly.)

We hit some world religions naturally when we discuss the deeper theology behind what we believe as opposed to the heresies that other religions have adopted, but no, we’re not intentionally studying other religions. I honestly find it odd that youth groups do that, actually. Do your teens have such a firm grip and understanding of scripture that the best use of your teaching time with them is to study someone else? I understand it’s helpful because of the world they live in, but I think lies are easier to dicifer when you have a rock solid grip on the Truth.

I’m not giving them my denomination’s doctrine — I’m giving them MY doctrine since mine is the only one that’s right. lol! Totally kidding! I actually disagree with my denomination is several key areas (which is why I can never be licensed or ordained here), but I have total freedom to teach what I believe. Usually I play devils advocate for all positions and let the kids argue with me using their typical Sunday school answers, which is great for stretching their thinking and understanding, showing them that it’s not all black and white.

4. No model of evangelism is beneficial or effective unless you and your teens actually USE it. I doesn’t matter to me if we use Pray, Pursue, Persuade versus the 4 Spiritual Laws (what I grew up using) versus anything else. What’s important is that you train them in something just for the sake of having a confidence booster, and then make sure they USE it.

5. What do you mean, AFTER assimilating them into the church body? They already are assimilated. Hopefully that’s a natural part of every church, not something that happens after they graduate because then it’s too late.

And yes, the inter-generational aspect is becoming bigger because the YM is being more intentional about partnering with parents (a section of my report that I didn’t include here).

I have a few questions/curiosities regarding your youth ministry contextual missional model.

First, how are you going to measure or determine what kids are excited/interested/apathetic? And how often will you assess?

We all know that the adolescent spiritual development is messy. An adolescent spiritual journey is like a roller coaster ride. Their freshman and sophomore year’s they are loving Jesus and their senior year they are distant from Jesus.
In my opinion, determining what kids are interested or what kids are apathetic is too subjective and actually very difficult to do. It is like trying to pin down mercury.

Second, do you find that your students find your Biblical acronyms helpful?
For some odd reason, my students dislike acronyms. They think they are cheesy and too basic and simple.

Third, what are some of your core questions? Are you exploring other world religions? Are you giving them more of your denominational doctrine? Or are you teaching them the many perspectives with certain systematic topics?

Fourth, how beneficial has your evangelism model of: Pray, Pursue, Persuade been? What is the feedback of the students who have tried to persuade their friends about Christ and it didn’t work?

Lastly, does your YM missional model go after assimilating these students into the church body? And are you doing activities that are more inter-generational?

I thought our youth min was fairly simple, but you’ve inspired me to potentially simplify even more so that we can be as effective as possible in ministering to teenagers.

Cheers!