The Failure of Youth Ministry

I found an interesting article from the late great Mike Yaconelli from youth specialties. It was an article about the failure of youth ministry. I thought it worth a repost. Let me know what you think...

The Failure of Youth Ministry
by Mike Yaconelli

What is the most important function of youth ministry?

A) Introducing young people to Jesus
B) Providing healthy activities
C) Involving young people in service
D) Abstinence pledges
E) Good theological training
F) Worship

Answer: None of the above.

The most important function of youth ministry is longevity. Long-term discipleship.

It's my contention that the vast majority of youth ministries focus all of their time and energy on the none-of-the-aboves and very little on longevity. How do I know?

Look at the results.

Attend any youth group in this country and notice the "ageing effect."

Attendance is directly proportional to age. The older the students, the fewer are likely to attend youth group. Typically, there are more freshman than sophomores, more sophomores than juniors, and more juniors than seniors.

I'm sure there are many reasons for this phenomenon. Older students are more likely to work, more likely to have a car, and more likely to be extremely busy. But the real reason is that older students are much more likely to lose interest in Christianity, lose the desire to stay close to Christ, or don't lose the willingness to pay the price of commitment. In the everyday battle for the souls of the older students, the lure of the secular is just too strong.

Almost every study out there shows that when it comes to moral behavior, there's no difference between secular and Christian students. They drink as much, screw as much, have oral sex as much, and party as much.

Why?

Youth ministry doesn't have any staying power.

Young people flock to Christian concerts, cheer Jesus at large events, and work on service projects. Unfortunately, it's not because of Jesus; it's because they're young!

The success of youth ministry in this country is an illusion.

Very little youth ministry has a lasting impact on students.

I believe we're no more effective today reaching young people with the gospel than we've ever been. In spite of all the dazzling super stars of youth ministry, the amazing array of YS products, the thousands of youth ministry training events, nothing much has changed.

Following Jesus is hard.

Faith is difficult.

Discipleship requires a huge investment of time. Most of us don't have the time. Or we chose not to take the time. Or our current models of ministry don't allow us the time.

So let's be honest.

Youth ministry as an experiment has failed. If we want to see the church survive, we need to rethink youth ministry.

What does that mean? I don't have a clue. But my hunch is that if we want to see young people have a faith that lasts, then we have to completely change the way we do youth ministry in America.

I wonder if any of us has the courage to try.

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Copyright 2003 CCM Communications, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

MEMO FROM THE PASTORAL SEARCH COMMITTEE

In our search for a suitable pastor, the following scratch sheet was developed for your perusal. Of the candidates investigated by the committee, only one was found to have the necessary qualities. The list contains the names of the candidates and comments on each, should you be interested in investigating them further for future pastoral placements.

Noah
He has 120 years of preaching experience, but no converts.

Moses
He stutters; and his former congregation says he loses his temper over trivial things.

Abraham
He took off to Egypt during hard times. We heard that he got into trouble with the authorities and then tried to lie his way out.

David
He is an unacceptable moral character. He might have been considered for minister of music had he not fallen.

Solomon
He has a reputation for wisdom but fails to practice what he preaches.

Elijah
He proved to be inconsistent, and is known to fold under pressure.

Hosea
His family life is in a shambles. Divorced, and remarried to a prostitute.

Jeremiah
He is too emotional, alarmist; some say a real pain in the neck.

Amos
Comes from a farming background. Better off picking figs.

John
He says he is a Baptist but lacks tact and dresses like a hippie. Would not feel comfortable around him at a church potluck supper.

Peter
Has a bad temper, and was heard to have even denied Christ publicly.

Paul
We found him to lack tact. He is too harsh. His appearance is contemptible, and he preaches far too long.

Timothy
He has potential, but is much too young for the position.

Judas
He seemed to be very practical, cooperative, good with money, cares for the poor, and dresses well. We all agreed that he is just the man we are looking for to fill the vacancy as our Senior Pastor.

Thank you for all you have done in assisting us with our pastoral search.

Sincerely,
The Pastoral Search Committee.

What A Week!

What a week this has been! Have you ever had a week when everything just seemed to go wrong? Well, that was my week. I turned my back on a friend, lost a friend to death and just felt like everyone in this small town had it out for me.

See, it started out so great, just another day of having fun laughing with friends, ministering to people and seeing lives changed. Then all of a sudden, poof! It was like somebody ripped the carpet out from underneath me.

We were all out to dinner just sitting around the table eating and telling jokes, sharing out our day of ministry, when out of nowhere someone at the table announces he's going to die. That isn't something you just say; it's not like, "hey pass the salt, oh, by the way, I'm dying, how's the meat loaf?". No, there needs to be preparation, a lead in a buffer. But no, not this time.

We were all shocked, nobody was saying anything, it was too quiet. That eerie quiet. So I spoke up and said, "I won't allow that to happen", as if I could stop it.

That was a week ago. The group all got together again tonite. We were all in the room, kinda hiding out to regroup and see what our next step was going to be. Nobody was really sure what to do. Should we all separate and go back to what we had done before we formed our group or should we continue with the ministry. To be honest, we were a little scared to go forward, but nobody really wanted to admit we were scared.

I was just about to leave when I heard a girl screaming! I turned and there was my buddy Luke, screaming like a girl, screaming "Ghost!!" We all turned and there in the room stood a man who appeared from out of nowhere. His voice sounded familiar, that soothing calm, familiar. He held out his hands and said, "Peace be with you."

Out of all the things He could have said, that was the one thing we needed to hear!

At that we realized it was our friend who had died! Jesus was back! My heart leaped. I wanted to jump up and hug him, but I was in to much shock to move! He sat down with us and once again for once last time and ate with us. We laughed and shared stories and shared about how our ministry was going to go on....

Until I meet you again on the road,

The Disciple Peter

Ten Easy Steps to Guarantee a Successful Youth Ministry!

I found an interesting article from the late great Mike Yaconelli from youth specialties. It was an article about 10 easy steps to a successful youth ministry. I thought it worth a repost. Let me know what you think. Do you agree, disagree, done it, seen it done, been involved in it??

Ten Easy Steps to Guarantee a Successful Youth Ministry!
by Mike Yaconelli

1. Dumb Down the Gospel. Employ attractive phrases such as, "Since I’ve known Jesus I’m happier, getting better grades, and captain of the football team!" Even better, reduce the complexity of the gospel into group cheers (i.e., "Give me a J!") or simple worship choruses like, "God is so good...blah blah blah." (Try singing those words in Ethiopia.) Or even better, try out some hip slang (i.e., God is "phat"; Jesus is a "hottie").

2. Count. Constantly make everyone aware of your group’s attendance figures and the increases in attendance. Make numbers an issue by setting attendance goals for each activity and reward the group for reaching those goals. Spend lots of time throwing pies at the leaders if goals are reached.

3. Put Your Students on Display. As soon as kids become Christians or rededicate their lives or show real growth, put them in front of the group and have them share their testimonies—especially if they’re physically attractive. Let young people talk about their faith as much as possible and don’t worry about the fact that most young people have no clue how complicated and rough the real world is with or without Jesus.

4. Don’t Allow Down Time. Hey, kids today are MTV kids! They can’t sit still for any length of time. Silence, solitude, prayer, meditation, fasting? All totally lame in the eyes of this generation! Nope, keep ’em busy, active, noisy, and shuttling from one Christian rock concert to another. Fill every moment of your program with something to do—otherwise you’ll lose their attention (which would be disastrous because then they’d have to pay attention to God and their souls).

5. Stay on the Technological Cutting Edge. What would Jesus do? Are you kidding? Jesus would have the best sound system you ever heard, along with a DVD player, the Internet, instant messaging, the coolest Web site, and of course a digital TV. Show your kids that when it comes to the latest technology, Christians are right there! I mean, who needs to read when you can watch?

6. Create Celebrities. Make sure your young people get an earful and eyeful of the latest Christian music stars, video stars, and NFL players who profess their faith in Jesus on national television. Encourage your young people to worship, idolize, and live under the illusion that these people are somehow better, deeper, more Christian, more together, and more dedicated than them. Let them believe that the marketed images of these celebrities are completely representative of them—even though you know it isn’t true.

7. Let Youth Group Take the Place of Church. Oh sure, encourage your kids to attend the contemporary service—even though you know most of them never will because church is "boring," filled with "dull, old people," and the music "sucks." Whatever you do, though, don’t suggest that worshiping with people they don’t like and connecting with people who are older and wiser just might save them when their adolescent view of the world is shattered. Just keep convincing your students that youth group is a good substitute for church.

8. Tow the Parental Line. Whatever you do, don’t cause friction with parents by suggesting to their kids that grades, SAT scores, financial security, college degrees, and athletic scholarships really don’t matter. Just accept the fact that most parents want their children to attend youth group as long as it doesn’t interfere with hockey, football, ice skating, tennis, ballet, or baseball practice. And don’t encourage young people to resist their parents’ attempts to smother the call of God on their lives, either. After all, you could get fired!

9. Ignore the Arts. Never encourage painting, dance, sculpture, writing, poetry, ballet, or trips to the museum, symphony, and opera. Stick with activities that rock! The WWF rules!

10. Live in the Now! Verify the success of your ministry by visible, measurable, observable results you see now. Don’t waste your time worrying about lasting results. Who can wait?! Go for the instant return. Hey, once your kids leave youth group, you aren’t responsible for what happens to them anyway, right?

11. "Us" Versus "Them." (Yeah, yeah, I know I said "Ten Steps"—sue me.) Convince your kids that the only way Christians can make a difference is through public, physical confrontation with the "world." Explain that this "world" is "them," and Christians—the good guys—are "us." And since it’s us against them, we have to "stand up for our faith." Encourage them to march in rallies, wear slogan-filled T-shirts, hang banners, and do whatever it takes to get in the world’s face. Convince them that the Devil and his demons are running around, wreaking havoc—and the only way to deal with the Devil is to confront and "bind him." Don’t let them believe that evil is much more seductive, much more camouflaged and tricky than they could ever imagine. And whatever you do, don’t start getting into Jesus’ strategy of powerlessness.

Now go get 'em!

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Copyright 2000 CCM Communications, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

IT DOESN'T ADD UP

God, I have been doing some figuring on my calculator and I have come to the conclusion that ministry just doesn't add up. I have been doing this for over a decade and I have to say, it seems that Your people are getting worse. I now know why you called them a "stiff necked people".
Why would someone want to give up a 9-5 Monday- Friday job to do ministry? No matter what the day is, you are really never "off". Don't get me wrong I love doing what you have called me to do, it's just that the numbers are starting to weigh heavily on the side of more negative than positive. Let me show you what I mean...
Now, before You jump in here, let me show you my figures, cause as we all know, figures don't lie.

1. Everybody in the church thinks they are your boss
2. You have nere one "True friend" in your congregation (always having to keep a little distance, for job security)
3. You are disposable and replaceable at any time
4. Your family is uprooted and in constant state of never "settling down"
5. People wonder when you are getting a "real job"
6. Jealousy in your pastorial staff
7. Your wife starts to "hate" ministry because of all she has seen go on behind the scenes, from staff members
8. Ministering now is measured by the "Numbers Game" ("how many are you running now??")
9. Deacons meetings....need I say more?
10. People who have no idea what "Ministry" is are on the personnel committee looking for pastors.

So as You can see Lord, it is getting pretty stacked up in there. I just don't no if it is worth it anymore. I wonder if the young ministers in seminary are told these things to look out for when they get into ministry? How many are getting taught to deal with a pushy deacons, members who think check books make them the king in the church, and parents who say you aren't spending enough time with their teenager? You see, it just doesn't add up.

Oh, Lord, I thought I would share this with you also. I got a text the other day from one of my teenagers from a past youth ministry I was in and we were talking about how they were doing. He says that he is still in Your Word and growing. In fact, he is inviting his friends to church. He wanted to thank me for all that I had taught him and for believing in him when no one else would....

As I think back on that conversation I start to wonder...

Maybe it does add up.

Thank You, Lord!

Pastor J