Changing Education Paradigms – How does this apply to Youth Ministry?
Take a look at this video and consider how this conversation impacts youth ministry – share your comments below.
Relational Youth Ministry
working together to navigate youth ministry well through relationships—where every teenager matters…….
Ministry to Upper Classmen….
I’ve been in ministry since 1993 and one things has been true in all those years of ministry: Keeping seniors connected is challenging.
I don’t mean to suggest that it’s impossible. And furthermore, this isn’t a doomsday message that “we’re losing the battle for our kids before college” because I don’t necessarily think that’s true either. What I do think is true almost across the board is that our upperclassmen are obviously growing up–and with that comes a new sense of busy and more importantly for this conversation, and new sense of value.
You’ve probably already figured this out, but humor me for a moment–I’m learning that our older youth, as they come to the final years of high school, are wanting more and more to be associated with “what’s next” in their lives. Most seniors have an anxiety about their coming college age years so it’s not surprising that during their senior year they start exploring relationships and spaces that prepare them for the “what’s next”.
I’m finding that as effective youth ministries (whatever that means), we must find ways to reach these youth in their new culture, their new value, their new perspective.
One of the ways we’ve found that is interesting, is creating a space for this part of our community to re-invent itself. I really value having our upper-classmen connected to our younger students, but I’ve also seen the value that our seniors having in sitting together intellectually wrestling with that new perspective. So this year, and this is certainly not a new idea to ministry global, but a new thing for us, we started what we creatively (sarcasm) call “Community Night”.
The rough outline is simple: Invite our seniors to one of our homes, get them together around a shared theological conversation that is pointed at theme “thinking on your own”, have some food, bring in a few different voices to teach(from week to week), and the next thing you know formation is happening! It’s been pretty simple and very awesome.
So with that in mind, I figured I would share one of the resources that our speaker Chris Folmsbee brought to the community this past week. After Chris taught, he showed us this video, summed it up, then we had a great discussion about a ‘life anchored in the Eucharist“. Check it out and see what you think. I’d be interested to hear what other ministry focus’ work for you with your upper-classmen.
Thanks for reading,
Tim
Youth Ministry Internships
When I started out in youth ministry back in 1993, I was taught the value of an internship program right away. My greatest youth ministry training came as an intern in the mid-90s, and I’m honored to say that through the years “having” interns has been one of the greatest joys in youth ministry for me.
For those of you out there who are, have been, or supervise interns, how have you seen these training progrms best run? What type of expierences and learning activities seem to be the most effective and how do you evaluate those efforts?
Thanks for your thoughts!
Tim Ciccone
Short Term Mission Trips: Effective or Something Else?
Last week our high school group sent out two teams on week-long short term mission trips. Our under-classmen went to do work with in inner city LA and our upper-classmen and some of our college students headed to Guatemala. We have great relationships with both areas we travled to and have been to both ministry sites mutliple times.
Both trips, from a short term formation standpoint, were very effective. All of me wants to say they were “awesome”, but that doens’t tell the whole story. These type of trips have become a vital part of our youth ministry and they are a cornerstone of the spiritual formation plan we have for our youth.
Over the last two decades the idea of short term mission trips has been debated in certain circles as to their effectiveness in youth ministry and the potential damage to a community.
My question for you is this: Do you use the tool of “short term” mission trips? What are the benefits of short term trips like this? What are the potential challenges/downfalls of a short term trip? What are some of the standards and ideas that youth workers must communicate to their youth to make short term trips valuable?
The missio Dei and Youth Ministry: Part 1
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–by Tim Ciccone
-The Mission Conversation-
The last few years I’ve found myself on a journey of discovery–discovery surrounding a healthy conversation concerning the missio Dei–the mission of God. My move to Kansas City more than 3 years ago placed me in a community of great youth ministry minds. The conversation concerning “mission” in youth ministry more found me than any real effort of seeking on my part. I’m grateful for this community and the way that God is using these wonderful conversations to shape who I am as a youth worker.
I really believe that this conversation about “mission” is wonderfully significant concerning the way we understand not just youth ministry–but ministry as a whole–and in so many ways shapes how we live out the calling on our lives as youth workers.
This is where I’d like to begin–a simple journey of discovery. I have more questions than answers. I won’t even try to pretend to be an expert on this subject, but rather a youth ministry theologian trying to find his way in the deep waters of the seeking God.
I’d like to begin where others have ended: examining different authors and theologian’s take on mission–and I’d love your input.
Recently a friend of mine urged me to read through “Transforming Mission” by David J. Bosch. I’d like to start with some of his introductory thoughts on what an “Interim Definition” of mission looks like—read this with me as I paraphrase much of what he states in the first section of his book.
Bosch’s Introductory Definition of Mission:
1. “The Christian Faith is intrinsically missionary”
–Mission belongs naturally to the faith of those who follow Jesus. Bosch goes on to say, “all generations of the earth are objects of God’s salvific will and plan of salvation”. Wow, what a great purpose! He goes on to say “Christianity is missionary by its very nature.
2. ”Missiology seeks to look at the world from the perspective of commitment to the Christian faith“
–Truly a way to filter our gaze on every created thing in the world.
3. ”Never delineate mission too sharply and too self-confidently. Ultimately, mission remains undefinable“
–Bosch suggests that at best, we can get close to understanding what mission is and how it works, but to characterize it further would be to take away from the beauty and vastness of mission.
4. ”Christian mission gives expression to the dynamic relationship between God and the world”
– “God’s self-communication in Jesus Christ”.
5. ”Mission is an act of faith“
–Bosch states “Our missionary practice is not performed in unbroken continuity with the biblical witness; it is an altogether ambivalent enterprise executed in the context of of tension between divine providence and human confusion. The church’s involvement in mission remains an act of faith without earthly guarantees.”
6. ”The entire Christian existence is to be characterized as missionary existence”
– “The church begins to be missionary not through its universal proclamation of the gospel, but through the universality of the gospel it proclaims.“
7. ”Foreign Missions is not a separate entity”
–”The missionary nature of the church is grounded in the gospel itself and not any one situation. The difference between home and foreign missions is not one of principle but of scope.”
8. ”We have to distinguish between mission (singular) and missions (plural)”
– “The first refers primarily to the missio Dei (God’s mission), that is, God’s self -revelation as the One who loves the world, God’s involvement in and with the world, the nature and activity of God, which embraces both the church and the world, and in which the church is privileged to participate. Missio Dei enunciates the good news that God is a God-for-people. Missions refer to particular forms, related to specific times, places, or needs, of participation in missio Dei.”
9. ”The missionary task is as coherent, broad and deep as the need and exigencies (demand) of human life….”
–This is the mission of God meeting our whole life….
10. ”Mission is God’s ‘yes’ to the world”
–”When we speak about God, the world as the theater of God’s activity is already implied. God’s love and attention are directed primarily at the world, and mission is ‘participation in God’s existence in the world”
11. “Mission includes evangelism as one of its essential dimensions“
12. ”Mission is also God’s ‘no’ to the world”
– “If on one hand we assert God’s ‘yes’ to the world as expression of the Christian solidarity with society, we also have to affirm mission and evangelism as God’s ‘no’, as an expression of our opposition to and engagement with the world. If the Christianity blends with social and political movements to the point of becoming completely identified with them, it becomes a religion of society.”
13. ”The church-in-mission may be described in terms of sacrament and sign”
–”It is a sign in the sense of a pointer, symbol, example or model; it is a sacrament in the sense of mediation, representations, or anticipation….it is a foretaste of its coming, the sacrament of its anticipations in history.”
I’d love to hear your thoughts on how we work this out in youth ministry….take for example, the young man or woman who are finding the fresh place of faith discovery—really turning the corner of owning their faith–how are we showing, leading, teaching, preaching, breathing this idea of mission to them?
So, consider the following questions:
–What parts of this to you understand best and practice?
–How do we work this out with our youth?
–And, if your willing, what areas of growth do we as youth workers need to be paying attention to in God’s mission?
God’s Calling to a Volunteer Youth Worker
–by Ralph Sweatte
Called to Volunteer?
After our high school youth group’s Fall Retreat, I was waiting for my wife to pick me up at church, when one of the parents stopped by to tell me how much she appreciated my effort and work with the high school students. She concluded our conversation by saying that “(ministering) to high school students” was just not her calling. And recently I watched a PBS special on “The Call”, a documentary that is following several folks through their working in full time ministry and being called by God as a preacher, rabbi or mullah. And I started to think about something my good friend Tim Ciccone commented on in an email – to think about being “called” into youth ministry. I guess I had just never considered that God set me aside to do His bidding among high school students. Isn’t that what a “Call” means? Set apart to do God’s bidding in a specific area of ministry? Or is that just for the folks in the PBS program.
First, just let me say that this blog involves my own personal understanding of “being called to serve”. See, I am about as close to a being called theologian as I am at being able to flap my arms and fly, so I do not understand the full theological explanation of “The Call”. From reading the Bible I do understand that several people did experience a clear “call” to ministry. For instance there is Moses and the burning bush, that one is hard to miss. Or the prophet Samuel as a very young child, dropped off for the original Super Manny to keep on the straight and narrow. And my personal favorite is the account of Saul being called as Paul, through temporary blindness. However supernatural their calling may have been, it is not what comes to my mind, when I think of having spent umpteen years hanging around high school students and the people that enjoy doing the same. From teachers to youth pastors, folks I admire for putting some very valuable time into a student’s life.
I really do enjoy, and count it as a blessing, being able to volunteer for mission trips, service projects, small groups and retreats. You see, I look at these opportunities as payback. It is a chance to provide some payback for those that helped me emotionally, physically (thank you coach Leahy for the gut busting 20’s), and spiritually (from my dear friend Fr. Bill) as I moved into young adulthood. When I consider the time, and yes frustration, that comes with those teen years, it is my honor to be able to try to follow in the footsteps of some of my personal spiritual giants. I doubt if any actually received an audible call from God. Well except for the Jesuits, a call which they no doubt needed in order to deal with me.
I recall hearing another wise friend explain to me on how do you know when you were doing God’s work, and his answer surprised me. He said, “You look to see where God is at work, and that is where you need to be, so go”. And I do firmly believe that our LORD is definitely at work in the hearts, minds and souls of high school students. I also consider that being called can at times be a burden to live up to, especially when facing the tough issues in this life. And it is at those times that I am really helped by the words of two other friends. Pastor Ridge Burns once told me that working in a young life is worth it all, when you see God’s finished product, “that’s payback”. And while at times the “call to youth ministry” will seem to be a hard road to follow, I can reflect back on my dear friend Rev. Keith Robinson, who once told me that “we don’t have to work with high school students, we get to work with high school students”. And then try to stay a step ahead as they run to where God is already at work.
Peace.
God’s Calling
God’s Calling… , by Reid Olson
A former student from our youth group, now in seminary recently interviewed me for a leadership class. “What, or who influenced your call into ministry?” Without a breath, or a second of reflection, I blurted out, “My parents and my youth pastor.”
I grew up a missionary kid in Central and South America and watched my parents minister God’s grace in settings and that many kids never get to experience growing up. I saw my dad pray healing over people and observed many who gave their life to Christ as I experienced childhood. It was part of my DNA to experience the grace of Jesus expressed in and around people.
My youth pastors in JH & HS helped give me an expression of deeper faith as I learned how to articulate my faith story for peers through high school. I can honestly say I heard the voice of God call me into full time vocational ministry at 18 years old when I was giving a quick talk at youth group about growing up in Ecuador and giving my heart to Jesus when I lived in the missionary Nate Saint’s house. When kids told me later that they prayed to accept Jesus into their life because of what I had said that night, I was hooked. God grabbed me and I heard a call to go to Christian college and study pastoral ministry.
Not every kid is called like this. Every call is completely different, some are pulled out of a life of drugs or porn or addiction to adrenaline and God uses that as a platform for sharing in His Kingdom. Some have a heart wrenching painful story of parent’s abuse, or a divorce or a shameful past that God has forgiven. I used to want a testimony that was cool like that. Many of our high school youth talk about wanting a cooler story that God can use to bring others to Christ.
When one thinks of “call” it seems like it should be an audible voice of God that strikes at the heart and compels one to transformation action and lifelong service. In some cases it is, but not all. Some calls are resisted like Jonah, or argued like Moses. Some are compelling like Saul/Paul, or agreeable like James, John, or Andrew. Some callings are even sought out like Nicodemus, or Zacchaeus. No call is the same. God is too creative for that.
The important thing to understand here is “your” calling. What is God asking you to do and be for His Kingdom? Mostly, Jesus asked people to follow. That’s all. Just be faithful and follow Jesus and he would take care of the how and the where. For some, God asked them to simply say, “yes”, like Mary and Joseph parenting the Messiah, or the lame man, “Would you like to be well?” Even for others, Jesus asked them what they wanted, “I want to see,” replied the blind man.
One of my favorite “callings” into immediate ministry is the woman at the well. “Go get your husband.” “I don’t have a husband.” “You’re right, you’ve had 5…” “And the woman ran to her home town and told the people to come hear the man who told her everything she had ever done.” That’s a calling to evangelism and ministry like I’ve never seen.
Big or small, fancy or plain, it doesn’t matter the format. What does matter is the response. What if Mary said, “No, I’m only 14″? Or Peter said, “Um, no, I’d rather gut fish”? Or what if Jesus himself said, “Wait, uh, Father not your will be done, but mine’s a better plan”? What then?
Think about it, God’s call isn’t some mysterious ethereal life-altering trajectory into menial servitude and drudgery. It’s a simple “yes” to small moments. Stepping into decisions led by faith from the God who is bigger than your plans and might just see the future a little clearer than you can, is what God’s calling is all about.
Interviewer asks, “What, or who was it that first influenced YOUR call into ministry?” What’s your answer? How do you respond to God’s calling in your life?
Previous Post
–By Ben Zabel
What does it mean for me to feel called to youth ministry? Do I feel called right now to be in youth ministry? Did I ever feel a calling to youth ministry or did I just make a choice to do this? How can I figure out who decided I should be in youth ministry, was it me or God? If I am called to youth ministry, what does this mean? These are all questions that I have been wrestling with for a while now.
I am going to assume Read more
Youth Ministry IS a Stepping Stone….
–by Ben Kerns
Don’t you just hate it when people look at student ministry as a stepping-stone? How dare someone take our calling and belittle it to a mere hoop to jump through. I have had heated and passionate conversations with many colleagues around this topic, and as I write this today, most of those people have done just that. They used to be in student ministry and have stepped into another calling. The problem is, at the core of our being, we fear that it might actually be true, student ministry really is a stepping-stone.
For many young people who sense a call into ministry, student ministry is the only real place for someone to work out their call. As a recent college graduate there is only one option to explore vocational ministry, and it is with students. I have yet to see a church Read more
Blessed When You’re Broken
–by Alicia Vela
Last year I found myself in a situation I hope no one will ever find themselves in although because of the very nature of our lives, others will be in that same place too. I lost my dad after years of a tumultuous relationship. My dad was an alcoholic for most of my teenage years and into my early adult life. Immediately before he became sick I had spoken to him only a handful of times over the course of two years. Then one day last November I found out that he was in the hospital after being found unconscious in the hotel he had been staying at. After a long three week battle, waiting to see if he would regain strength and brain function he passed away. Immediately it felt like my world had shattered and I did not know what to do or how to deal.
In this time of loss and tragedy Read more
Relational Youth Ministry
Welcome to Relational Youth Ministry (.com)! This is the official website/blog for the book "In Transit" and a great place for youth workers to collaborate. We are glad you're here!
