Youth Ministries

“I don’t believe I have seen you here before. Is this your first visit?” said the ruling elder to the young man one Sunday morning in the church parking lot. On the one hand, by attempting to greet a visitor he was doing something ruling elders ought to be doing. However, the young man hewas greeting was me; and I had been part of the staff of the church for about ten months as the youth director. To make matters more awkward, he was part of the session that interviewed and hired me. Add to this uncomfortable situation the fact that two of his children were actively involved in the youth program and I found myself at a complete loss for words. Sitting in my car on the way home, I vacillated between embarrassment and anger at having to explain to him that I was not a visitor but actually a staff member of the church. Before I had pulled into my driveway, I had decided that regardless of whether it was his responsibility to know me or not, I needed to be more proactive in communicating to people who I was and what the youth program was doing.

If I could offer any advice to youth directors from my parking lot faux pas, it would be to make sure that you are constantly communicating to other staff, elders, and parents who you are, what you do, and what is going on in the youth program. I continually hear stories of youth staff who arebeing let go because of a lack of communication. The age old question that makes all youth pastors cringe, what do you do all day? is one that we have to answer or run the risk of further alienating youth ministry from the rest of the church. I have to confess that each time that I am asked that question, my hackles get raised, my fangs begin to jut out, and I want to go into attack mode. Yet, I know that almost nothing hurts a youth program more than a defensive, angry youth director. This is why I believe a little preventative maintenance in this area can go a long way in heading off potential conflict and might keep a few more youth directors employed.PCA.

Here are several recommendations that have come from youth pastors around the PCA

1. Keep youth activities posted in multiple places in the church.

Regardless of which direction you go in as you attempt to enhance communication about who you are, what you do, and what is going on in the youth program, the important thing is to learn to embrace the “what do you do all day” question instead of going to fist-a-cuffs each time it gets asked. I am more convinced than ever that if church leadership. parents, and congregations understood what the youth ministry staff does and why they do it, then Job security for vocational youth workers would not be as precarious as it is today.

PCA Youth Ministry Updates:

Over 150 youth gathered at Ridge Haven conference center, February 13-16, for Youth World Awareness Weekend (YOWAW). This was a great opportunity for students to be challenged about their calling and learn about ministries around the world. David McNeely and Ryan Fisk were the main speakers and did an excellent job helping students understand the purpose and power of missions. As always, Dean Conkle brought his unique brand of humor as the MC. Congratulations to MTW, MNA, Ridge Haven, and CEP in this collaborative effort to help high school students live missionally in the kingdom. Check out the website www.ridgehaven.org/rhyowaw.html for more information and next year’s dates.

in January, fifteen youth pastors from around the country gathered at covenant Seminary to think through issues facing youth ministry in the PCA. Discussions included everything from a theology of youth ministry to the validity of our calling. Of the many potential outcomes from the symposium, perhaps the most exciting is the possibility of a national gathering of youth workers in 2011. Please be praying about the opportunity to bring 200-300 youth workers together for several days of solid teaching, encouragement, worship, and relaxation.

Don’t forget YXL (Youth Excelling in Leadership), July 6-11 at Covenant College. This is the PCA’s high school leadership conference designed to help students further shape their world and life view. The speakers this year are Danny Clark, RUF pastor at College of Charleston, and John Craft, RUF pastor at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and our worship leader is Eric Ashley, pastor of college and career at First Presbyterian Macon. Activities will include whitewater rafting, ministry projects, and leadership activities. We will explore the theme LIVE FREE through the book of Galatians in an attempt to figure out what it means to be set free by Christ as broken people in a broken world. Check out the website https://archive.pcacdm.org/yxlto find out more about this conference led by CEP and to find out about a scholarship offer from Covenant College for YXL students.

Have you noticed lately that teenagers are doing some pretty amazing things? Take Zac Sunderland for example. This seventeen-year-old homeschooler from California was recently featured in ESPN: The Magazine, chronicling his attempt to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world. That’s right. 25,000 nautical miles by himself in a boat built in 1972 that he bought for six thousand dollars. During his voyage, he has been chased by pirates, caught in severe storms, dealt with equipment breakdowns, and is currently about 3,000 miles from home. To a reporter’s question about what he plans to do next, Zac responded that while he does not have plans yet, he does know that going to college to work a 9-5 job will be difficult. You can follow his exploits on his blog, www.zacsunderland.com/blog.

Or how about Bonnie Richardson from tiny Rochelle, Texas, (population 600) who for the last two years has single-handedly won the state team track championship for her school? Bonnie is the entire track team, and at each track meet she runs 7-9 events in the course of a day. The town and school are so small that they do not have a track for her to practice on. She trains on a dirt track for running events and at a rival high school for the others. You can read about her incredible accomplishments at highschool.rivals.com.

Perhaps you have heard of a teenager from Atlanta named Zac Hunter, who at the age of fourteen decided that he needed to do something about modern-day slavery around the world. As a seventh grader, he started Loose the Change to Loosen Chains to try to raise money to release the estimated 27 million people in bondage. This teenage abolitionist went on from there to write books called Be The Change and Generation Change. A quick Google search will let you read several articles written about him.

Finally, let me mention one other website about young men who are doing incredible things. On www.therebelution.com, brothers Alex and Brett Harris challenge teenagers to stop wasting their lives and do significant things for the glory of God.

Click here to read the full publication in PDF (Acrobat Reader required)

Here is why I mention these young people in a magazine about discipleship. It seems to me that though most PCA churches express a verbal commitment to youth ministry, we fall short at giving students the chance to practice their faith. Dr. Chap Clark, professor at Fuller Theological Seminary and author of several youth ministry books, believes that churches that call teenagers to radical obedience and do not allow them opportunity to put into practice their faith are in actuality abandoning teenagers. Let me explain.

Regardless of what adults may think, teenagers are influenced by what adults tell them; but they often lack the social, emotional, physical, or spiritual development needed to process what they have been told on their own. Studies continue to show there is a short window of opportunity for information to be acted on until it becomes irrelevant. This reality makes me wonder if student ministries that talk about dropping nets and following Christ, stepping out in faith, dying to self, living for Christ, being salt and light, and going into all the world to make disciples but do not give students opportunities to do these things, or that only allow students a chance to lead recreation at VBS once a year, might actually be guilty of perpetuating the myth of the irrelevance of God’s Word to “real” life.

I can already hear the push back from people regarding my last statement. I know that some feel the church is a place of protection and shelter for young people, and I have personally experienced what happens when teenagers who radically step out fail miserably. I hear the stories from youth pastors of conflict that has arisen when adults were afraid of teenagers doing ministry at the homeless shelter or practicing street evangelism. However, after twenty years in youth ministry I am more committed today than ever to the belief that God calls even thirteen-year-olds to radical obedience. Sometimes that call has messy results. Will they at times goof it up? Absolutely. Will they do it differently than you would? Probably. But as I said at the start of the article, teenagers are doing some pretty amazing things; and perhaps it would behoove the church to have adults move out of the way and see what plans the Lord has for this next generation.

Ministry to and with Youth Leaders (as well as 6th – 12th grade students)

The Youth Ministry Department of CEP exists to be used by the Lord to help, in a wide variety of ways, those who work with youth and youth themselves: all to the honor and glory of Jesus Christ. (I Cor. 10:31)

Helping those who work with Youth-

• Offering resources and materials that those who work with youth (including parents) can use to help youth and themselves.
• Putting on conferences, retreats, and seminars that minister to Youth Workers, their spouses, volunteer youth leaders and at times youth themselves (see below).
• To provide, in essence, a Pastor to Youth Pastors, Youth Directors and Youth Leaders.
• Available to consult with churches, through correspondence, personal interaction or via seminars, regarding Youth Ministry at whatever level they are at.
• Work with various colleges, seminaries, and churches, keeping current on Youth Workers and potential Youth Workers looking for Churches to serve Christ at and Churches looking for Youth Workers to do ministry in their Churches.
• Offer Regional Youth Trainers to give in-person help to those who work with youth on topics strongly related to Youth Ministry.
• Offering a Youth Ministry web site that is informative, edifying and helpful.

Helping Youth themselves-

• Overseeing YXL Conferences (formerly PYA)- These conferences stress the development of Christian leadership in the students, embracing Reformed theology that is taught throughout the week, and a Biblical worldview that the students are encouraged to learn and apply to their daily lives.
• Available to teach students/youth groups from the Word of God, in a variety of settings (retreats, camps, conferences, seminars, youth meetings, etc.).
• Organizing YOWAW (Youth World Awareness Weekend). This weekend encourages greater growth in Christ, knowing what the good news of Jesus Christ really is and making sure that Missions (home and aboard) is a part of our worldview.
• Development of material that youth can use in private, in small groups and even with the rest of their family to know Jesus Christ and grow deeper in Him.

There are certain lessons I have learned over the last decade and a half in youth ministry. I learned early on that taking students to play paintball really means open season on the youth pastor, and I learned that something always gets broken during a lock-in. I figured out that playing dodge ball allows me the opportunity to get back at “that” student, and I realized that the back seat of the church van provides students with way too much privacy. I have observed that youth group couples rarely last and that most parents judge a youth program by whether their child is having a good time at youth group. I found out that playing youth group games in the sanctuary never ends well and that students seldom bring Bibles to church. I also realized that the most effective way to help students connect the dots between faith and life is having a youth group that worships together, prays for each other, and participates in missions experiences.

taking students to play paintball really means open season on the youth pastor…

At YXL this past summer (CEP’s denominational leadership conference for high school students), the Lord blessed us with great times of worship and prayer. It seemed to the leadership of the conference that the next step would be to take on a mission trip as many of these students who would like to go. Though we attempt each summer to incorporate some type of ministry experience into the conference, like street evangelism or a service project, this would be our first attempt at a full blown mission trip. Because as a conference YXL hopes to help students better understand how to be leaders in both the church and the kingdom, it was important that our mission trip be connected with a local church and allow students to engage with people who are not involved in a church.

On December 27th, students and adults from seven states and one foreign country gathered at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Fayetteville, GA for a day of training, team building, and corporate Sabbath worship before heading to our final destination, Chattanooga, Tennessee. Our host church, New City Fellowship Chattanooga (www.newcityfellowship.com), allowed us to join with their new church plant in the East Lake neighborhood of Chattanooga to lead a Christmas VBS program and do work projects in the community. Hope for the Inner City (www.hope4.org) provided our lodging and Brian McKeon, director of 3RInternational mission agency, served as our coordinator for the trip. During the course of the week, we painted rooms, cleaned church basements, raked leaves, went door to door visiting folks from the neighborhood, picked up kids in the church van and put on a one of a kind YXL Christmas VBS program. But of all the things that happened during the week, it was the times I saw the light bulb switch on in students’ minds about the relevancy of their faith to all of life that made the late nights, early mornings, and sleeping on the floor worth it.

In certain circles it is currently en vogue to question the effectiveness of what has been happening in youth ministry over the last three decades. As a result, many of us are rethinking our youth ministry paradigms and methodologies. However, I left my week in Chattanooga reminded again of the many lessons I have learned in youth ministry. Foremost on my mind was the connection between faith and life for students that happens when they worship together, pray for each other, and participate in missions experiences. Perhaps the answer to all our questions about effective youth ministry can be found by allowing students to do those three things.

For more information about YXL, check out our website – www.pcacep.org/yxl – or the website about our sister conference in Glorieta, New Mexico – www.yxlglorieta.org.