Comments on: Youth group reflects its church

By: MattCleaver.com » The Plight of Youth Ministry

MattCleaver.com » The Plight of Youth Ministry — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 10:26:31 +0000

[...] I found two posts (here and here) that touch on this topic both from youth workers more experienced than I. Believe me, the book [...]

By: john

john — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 01:31:38 +0000

High School Grads leave the Church in my opinion partly because youth Leaders never confront the fact that it happens year after year and nothing seems to be done differently to change it.

What I have done in the past as a YM was to try and explain to the High School Youth Group that they will leave their current circle of faithful friends and move on to a whole new set of friends who do not share the same faith. If a person does not have a strong foundation in faith, they will more easily swayed away, or brought into something new. Either another Church , or a cult, or a keg party, or a group of loosers. Best to find a Christian Community at School, a Newman Center or Chapel right away and hang with them,

By: Two year anniversary of this blog » Life in Student Ministry

Two year anniversary of this blog » Life in Student Ministry — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 11:02:18 +0000

[...] not ritual September 18, 2006: Short rant on attitudes toward church worship September 25, 2006: Youth group reflects its church October 9, 2006: The need for solitude in worship November 16, 2006: Issues in Youth Ministry: What [...]

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 22:29:21 +0000

Hey “Withheld,” sorry to hear about your frustrations, but at least maybe it’s encouraging to know that you’re not alone with this. There’s no such thing as a perfect ministry, but I would love to think that imperfect ministries are always taking steps to correct areas of weakness. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. Hang in there, though, for the sake of the teenagers if for no one else. God bless you guys!

By: withheld

withheld — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 19:49:19 +0000

We definitely have that problem! My husband & I are running both the student ministry and the young adult ministry. We have laid out some real challenges to the two groups and have also been breaking religious strongholds and lies. Awesome transformations are happening, but we keep seeing our guys get roped right back into the same patterns that the church is in. It sure is frustrating, especially since we can actually see these changes in the majority of both groups.

Unfortunately, in our case, our limitations are a direct reflection of the spiritual state of the “bug guy” himself. Just this weekend we had a leadership meeting about how bad he thinks things are going at our church. All blame was placed on our congregation, you know, they are just lazy. Since our church has no set up structure of job accountability for the pastor, the CEO and final authority, we are really struggling to get through some basic problems that most churches can remedy quickly. (Example: We have serious communication problems. In an upbeat open discussion of staff & lay leaders, we presented a solution/system for it. Everyone was jazzed about the solution and ready to commit to the work ahead. Then, all of the sudden, we were harshly reminded that pastor has a degree in advertising and communication. Huh??? *dazed* So, now we have to marinate in this communication problem until… well, I guess until the second coming.)

I contend that, at least in this case, the state of the youth/young adults reflects the church which reflects the staff and the pastor. It is so discouraging to see an authentic breakthrough in our young people, only to have it die beneath the crust of complacency and pride that we have here. And it’s not just happening in the young people, it’s also happening in our adult small groups. There’s a breakthrough, then it dies. We, too, are praying for the fires that are igniting to help kindle the flame in the church, but we need it on upward to the leaders who are squelching it. It’s just so disappointing. Every time I think about this, even in writing these words, I have a sickening lump in my throat from disbelief and heartache for our flock.

By: Jason Deuman

Jason Deuman — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 14:23:22 +0000

I have noticed this in the churches that I have been apart of. If the adults are not active in the life of the church, the students won’t be either. That kind of excitement and buzz for the gospel almost always needs to come from the adults, the parents and the elders. It can start in the youth ministry but that seems to be a rare exception. I pray that our ministry can start the fire in our church, but I know that if the whole church caught the vision of the Gospel in our community it would really start a blaze.

By: Why graduates drop out of church » Life in student ministry

Why graduates drop out of church » Life in student ministry — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 19:04:19 +0000

[...] Looks like a recent study from George Barna confirms my thoughts about why 85% of high school graduates never return to church. I think parents need to take their own spiritual growth seriously and then intentionally model that at home. With a higher value placed on spirituality in the home, hopefully that will lead to a higher value of church. The home is where it needs to start, but the church could still stand to re-evaluate its strategies, too. [...]

By: paul

paul — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 21:56:30 +0000

I see this a lot too. It reminds of of a message I heard from Blaine Bartel from 180 where he challenged the idea of youth pastors trying to cast there vision to their sr. pastor. He says that is never good because it goes against his leading. Better would be to become a reflection of the vision the sr. pastor is casting.

This makes it very important to get with a church that is in line with your own heart.

By: JimmyBob

JimmyBob — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 20:36:28 +0000

Liam, yeah, after reviewing my comment, I did seem to be generalizing…a lot. I agree with you too that youth leaders have the task of bridging the gap between young and old. I want to let you know that I have 9 volunteer youth leaders in addition to my wife and I. Out of those 9, 2 of them are grandparents and 3 of them are actual parents of teens. The others are in their 20s. So, I was really generalizing when I spoke about the older generation. It really is a case by case thing. Young people can be quite self indulged. But, I feel that it really should be the responsibility of the mature to make sure the younger one’s get it and desire it. Is there really an alternative?

By: Liam Bantock

Liam Bantock — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 18:47:18 +0000

You make a great point.
I remember a quote I once heard that went something along the lines of “why is it that the older generations talk about whats wrong with the younger generations as if they had nothing to do with shaping who they are.”

Jimmy Bob, I agree with you that there can be an element of the young people not wanting to be like the older church they see, however I do think that can be a generalisation as well. Sometimes they don’t see what some of the older people are doing because young people are so self indulged. Part of the role of th youth pastor is to highlight the good in the ‘adult’ church. i.e. the 90 year old guy in my church who visits 30+ people a week in nursing homes and helps out lots of local causes.

By: JimmyBob

JimmyBob — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 05:42:30 +0000

Couldn’t agree with you more Tim! I’ve witnessed exactly what you’re saying. The healthier the whole church, the more healthy the youth ministry.

Sometimes I feel like the sacrifices and energy we make aren’t strong enough to counterbalance some of the junk that is happening within our teens’ families. I also feel occasionaly that it’s a lost cause to get any of the older folks in church to see beyond their generation. They really are set in their ways and extremely opinionated. It is rare to see an older person express understanding or compromise. Even the pastor has trouble with this, although he does try on some levels.

I would echo you resoundingly that it is not the Youth Ministries that are failing to make a difference. It is the main body of adults that is failing to incorporate and recognize the importance of young people. They have nothing to look forward to or get excited about. They don’t want to become the boring, judgmental, and authoritative adults they see each Sunday.

Perhaps youth ministries do have some culpability in this, however. Maybe they are too relevant and exciting. Students get used to a certain way and they don’t want the Old School style of the “sanctuary.” They might try it for a few weeks, but they get bored fast and start skipping. Just a thought.

By: Mattopia

Mattopia — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 17:06:10 +0000

The Plight of Youth Ministry

The statistics of students leaving the church soon after “graduating” from youth ministry are well-documented and widespread. I don’t feel like finding and posting links right now, but they’re out there. Anyone who has been…