Comments on: The Death of Youth Ministry (pt 3) | Parents Don’t Take Youth Ministry Seriously

By: adam lehman

adam lehman — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:33:49 +0000

I’m forwarding this to all the parents in my youth ministry.

PSYCH!

By: nikao | a collective » Blog Archive » The Death of Youth Ministry (pt4) | Youth Pastors Don’t Take it Serious

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:36:59 +0000

[...] having idea after idea shot down. Weekly, they have parents make clear to them that they value youth ministry as little more than a good time. Youth pastors are relegated to managing a little church within a church and often have a hard time [...]

By: UYN Newsletter #12 « UYN Newsletter

UYN Newsletter #12 « UYN Newsletter — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:44:53 +0000

[...] Interesting title, fascinating reading! Check the series out here: Part One; Part Two; Part Three. And make sure to listen to this related sermon by Voddie Baucham called, “The Centrality of [...]

By: Vince

Vince — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:33:23 +0000

I totally agree with you Skip. I just thought it was understood so i didn’t get into the details here.

A person who is solid spiritually is also solid in the 4 other areas (physical, cognitive, emotional, relational)

By: Skip Crust

Skip Crust — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:21:48 +0000

Love the post, it’s unbelievable how many chords you are striking here.

Here’s my only dig…

You state “Youth Pastors have (or should have) a single focus of caring for the spiritual journeys of youth”.

What would happen if the Youth Pastor’s single focus WASN’T caring for the student’s spiritual journey? Don’t we want to teach them a wholistic view of what it’s like to live as a Christian in our world? What about teaching them good life skills like how to treat people with respect, financial responsibility, and balancing work and play? Although those things RELATE to their spirituality, they typically aren’t addressed as just part of life?

If the job of the church (in part) is to love our world, part of that is helping people relate their spiritual lives to their world. We teach basic life skills to adults in church (financial responsibility, caring for the poor/oppressed, balance in our lives), why wouldn’t we do the same for teens? Most churches would like a senior pastor NOT just to address the spiritual needs, but to try and teach Christianity as a lifestyle as opposed to one facet of a life. This means trying to meet more than just the spiritual needs. Teens are no different.

If youth pastors took a more wholistic view of teen ministry, they might get more of what the parents are driving at. The parents see all the areas of the kids’ life that need maturity, the youth pastor (often) sees only one. Therein lies the conflict.

Thoughts???

By: Vince

Vince — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 04:42:19 +0000

Good call mike

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 03:28:55 +0000

I hear you on this one Vince. Add one more to the fray. The parents who make being involved in the Youth Group a punishment. There are parents who say that because of their bad behavior at home, the only place they are allowed to go outside of the home is Youth Group. You know those kids…from the second they get to youth group, you can’t find them. Half the time, they invited their friends to pick them up behind the church and then get dropped off just before youth group is over. Or if they have friends without wheels, the friends all decide that youth group is the place for them…and the youth pastor has to put up with kids who do not ever want to be there.