Is Youth Ministry Going Viral? What Does that Look Like?

I've been doing a lot of reading recently. One book I just finished is Youth Ministry 3.0 by Youth Specialties president Mark Ostreicher. Mark breaks down two previous eras in the way youth ministry was done in the past, citing some absurd examples of things that (unfortunately) happened in the course of real youth ministry. Some of you older youth guys like me remember the initiation ceremonies and the mild hazing (I remember being hung on a bunk bed by the back of my underwear as pre-teen at church camp and getting my first swirly as a 6th grader at youth camp) that went along with being the new kid in the youth group--stuff that we now know has the potential to scar kids for life (I went into youth ministry--what does that tell you?). Then he explores "Youth Ministry 2.0" where we've moved into the more civil and modern program-driven model. When he gets to the section about 3.0, he points out some cultural trends in youth ministry but doesn't really lay out what this new paradigm looks like. Another thing is that technology is changing so fast I don't think we really know what tech devices and programs are here to stay with teens because it's all coming at us so fast. I've been reading blogs and other books trying to figure out where youth ministry as a whole is headed. It seems it's going "viral." If you've ever clicked the "Retweet this" button at the bottom of a post, you've helped to make it viral (feel free to retweet this, by the way). By "viral" I mean that the information in the church bulletin is not the main form of communication. Technology has afforded us opportunities to arrange informal, spontaneous meetings with the "send" of a text message. So ministries can be "formal about being informal". And these meetings are often seen as more intimate and genuine because they were not promoted in the church bulletin, and did not have an agenda predicated by a postcard the week before.

Yesterday I read another blog post about how one youth worker doesn't plan for the summer. If there's anything I've learned from reading books and going to conferences, the last thing we should do is try to copycat what is working in another ministry. That is not my intent. But I do want to find ways to make elements of this approach work in my ministry. I've always wanted to be the guy the kids drop in on in the office and hang out, or they just come over to my house. But our church has a pretty rigid sexual ethics policy which discourages less formal encounters in ministry. Also, the majority of the kids who attend our downtown church live on the outskirts of town, some even 10+ miles away. But the more I read posts like this, the more I wonder if this is the new paradigm for youth ministry? Ministry that's not done on a Wednesday night with a band and a Power Point, but done down the street at the coffee shop sitting around a Bible and a mocha latte.

So for those of you who are reading this, I covet your feedback. Is your youth ministry "going viral." Have you gotten away from putting scheduled events in the church bulletin and gone to impromptu meetings prompted by a text message? If you've been able to do this, what obstacles have you encountered or overcome? How has this approach given your students a sense of being an insider to something more meaningful than just being part of a youth group?

A Different Approach to Evangelism

Last week, I went to a United Methodist ministry conference centered on evangelism. Now, there was a time, when I thought any sentence that had "Methodist" and "evangelism" in it was not to be taken seriously. Since the United Methodist church did not throw around the "evangelism-y" lingo I was accustomed to growing up--passing out tracts, four spiritual laws, the Roman Road, or knocking on doors--I assumed it was just not an important concept. Especially since Methodists seemed to spend so much time taking care of physical needs like building wheelchair ramps and buying mosquito nets.

I learned something, though. I was mistaken. It's not that Methodists don't do evangelism. It's that they do it differently. You see, I grew up in the Southern Baptist Church. I went to a "leadership" camp when I was in 7th grade that taught me how to share Christ with others using a little square tract that unfolded into the shape of a cross. As I grew older, I learned about other ways to share God's plan of salvation--most of which required memorizing statements or scriptures and then worrying about how to work those canned statements into conversation. And I'm not saying these were all bad. I certainly learned what Scripture teaches about God's plan to draw me into fellowhsip with him through the death of his son, Jesus Christ. But it always seemed sort of forceful.

In the Methodist church, the reason we don't talk about evangelism as much is because we are just expected to DO evangelism. This doesn't mean quoting scripture or knocking on doors. What we are called to do is come along side those we know who are living outside of God's kingdom and establish a relationship with them. Through establishing that relationship and letting those people know that we care about them, we then have an opportunity to share; not a tract, or a canned statement of faith; but rather a story of how this God of the universe has totally wrecked our lives in such a glorious way! The picture above is called "Offer them Christ" and is a depiction of John Wesley (the founder of Methodism) sending off Francis Coke (who really got the Methodist movement going in America) to America. That is what Christians are called to do, right? Offer them Christ. Not a canned speech. Not a booklet or a tract. Offer them Christ.

I'm thankful for all the things I've learned. I'm also aware that thousands of people have come to faith in Christ because they picked up a tract or someone quoted them a series of scriptures. But where is the relationship in that? What happens after the tract or booklet is dropped off? What happens when the conversation is over? That's where relationship is key. Paul said he became all things to all people that by ALL MEANS might save some. Our approach to sharing the gospel doesn't really matter as long as it is founded on relationship. It is my prayer that we can all learn to establish relationships with those who may not be living in the Kingdom of God. What are your thoughts on sharing Christ with others?

The Most Important Factor in Getting Kids to Church

I've been doing this thing called youth ministry now for a long time...and wouldn't you know, I'm still trying to figure it all out. I've read books, been to conferences, sat in formal classes, discussed with my peers, joined discussion forums, and just about everything else I can do to understand these slightly-smaller-than-me people God made called teenagers. While everyone will say that numbers don't matter, there still seems to be this unwritten pressure to get more kids in the door. Youth leaders like me are always discussing the perfect event, the perfect activity, the perfect format for our meetings (you know, hang out, then structured games, then worship, then Bible study), the perfect outreach event or trip, and how important small groups are to our ministries. And these are all good. But I think I've figured out the #1 factor in whether or not a student attends a particular church or youth group. That factor is....friends.

Yes, friends. Why do some kids want to go to a different church than where their parents go? Friends. Why do some of the kids who come to your youth group have no family members in your church? Friends. Why do some kids whose parents are very involved in your church choose not to come to youth group meetings? Friends. How could friends cause them not to come? Because their friends are not at youth group. The people they consider to be friends are in 7th period algebra or on the basketball team with them. They are playing video games with them on Friday nights before crashing out on the living room floor with a half-eaten bowl of popcorn.

So, what do we do when a kid in your church doesn't consider the other kids in the youth group to be "friends"? This is a common thing in my group as we have 5 school districts and nearly 10 campuses in the area around my church. I also changed churches my 7th grade year because I was the only kid in my youth group who went to a particular school and felt I had absolutely nothing in common with the other students there (which was true). I went to a smaller church with a smaller youth program because of one thing. Friends. So here are some things to help kids connect and make their "friends from church" just their "friends".

1. Schedule games and activities that encourage the kids to interact with each other. Play silly games that encourage interaction and team building.

2. Allow for informal relationship building with time for kids to hang out. Video games are a great way for kids to connect with each other.

3. Encourage kids to spend time together outside of youth group.

4. On short trips, discourage your kids from bringing video games or MP3 players to encourage interaction with one another. (On long trips your kids may go crazy without these things and will probably eventually bond anyway.)

To be honest, though, I wrote this post not because of my expertise, but because of my frustration. It seems the main reason I have some kids who are not as active is because they don't consider the kids at church to be their friends. Some of them attend other churches. Some don't come at all. Some of my kids who do come are very active because of the friendships they have there. What is it that you do in your youth group (or out of it) to allow kids who go to different schools or run in different social circles to build relationships and become friends?