There are a number of good books out there on how youth ministry should be Bible/Gospel-centred, or Family-based/driven/integrated. And I agree that youth ministry should be shaped by God’s Word, and God’s Word should be central in it. I also agree that parents play an important role. But one thing I haven’t come across very much in the books I’ve read is where the church fits in.
I suppose the role of the church in youth ministry could be a spectrum from ‘there is no youth ministry; church has no age specific groups; all in together’ to ‘youth ministry runs independently to church’.
What I believe to be a good balance is something in the middle of the spectrum. Where there is a youth ministry (that has all the usual things – Bible talks and study, prayer, social time, food etc) but at the same time the young people are fully involved in the church (present at the main church gathering; serve alongside different the adults).
Here’s how we’ve tried to implement this at the church I’m involved with:
- We have a youth ministry that runs each week during term time on a Friday night (mixture of study nights and socials). There is also a fortnightly Bible Study for an hour before church, plus a weekly youth run prayer meeting.
- There are no groups for children aged 11 and over during any of the services.
- Of the 52 morning services we have each year, almost 1/3 of them are Family Services (in the sense that the whole church family is present).
Some of the results we have seen are:
- We often have more young people present on a Sunday morning than at our youth ministry.
- The young people serve with adults where it be in the music group, Sunday school, helping with refreshments, on the PA, or setting up for the service and so on.
- Children are used to sitting through a church service from a young age.
- We have yet to see a child drop out after they get too old for the children’s groups (and hopefully that will be the case when they get too old for the youth group).
However you do it, one of the most important things that a church can do is integrate their young people into the church – make the youth ministry CHURCH CENTRED!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Have you read Christian Youth Work by Mark Ashton – it’s super
I read it at college – could do with reading it again probably!