Can youth ministry make it in the church?

I want to believe, “yes.”

Theologically I believe that all ministry is best expressed through a community of people committed to loving God and loving others. This is the body of Christ, the Church.

I also believe that there are tremendously amazing youthworkers around the world that are committed locally to loving adolescents who have been forgotten and marginalized. I believe that there are parents that are grateful for youthworkers who serve as another adult in their kids’ lives. They appreciate another person committed to believing in their kids and supporting their families who navigate the many demands of life.

So, yes, youth ministry can be expressed through the church… I’m just not sure if it can be expressed through most existing church buildings and church institutions.

My wonderful weekend with a group of amazing Episcopalian youthworkers reminded me of the ongoing tension I hear from youthworkers that transcends location and denomination.

We spent a considerable amount of time discussing the need to employ incarnational ministry that sends youthworkers to the margins- where adolescents are, meeting them were they are at. Incarnation values connecting with others on their terms over our own. It’s a commitment to be teachable and present. It’s a promise to be transformed as much as it is to transform.

The challenge, it seems, is that many youthworkers feel that their hands are tied and boxed-in through their church-based ministries. They feel expected to do ministry within the bounds of a narrow ministry philosophy; they feel constrained by institutional politics; and sometimes they feel forced to work with adolescents in venues that are more formal and programmatic than up-close and personal.

It makes me wonder if youth ministry in the institutional church can survive. I have hope it will. I’ll keep hoping as long as there are courageous churches who admit that their commitment to youth ministry is tied to their own commitment to change themselves.

Youth ministry cannot be the afterthought. It cannot be the additional project. It cannot be the extra perk. It must be an embraced commitment by the whole faith community. Youth workers must be sent out, encouraged, and even expected to lead the pathway toward a missional theology that expresses an up-close gospel. The local church must not only support this direction… but also follow in the same path.

This does not mean that we discard tradition. In fact we value the tradition of our spiritual mothers and fathers when we embrace a gospel of passion, a ministry of relevance, a commitment of change, and a hope of redemption. Tradition must be embraced as a spirit of ongoing incarnation, not ongoing familiarity.

Youth ministry must creatively address the needs of the adolescent community and these needs must be addressed from a whole-faith-community perspective.

This weekend, I experienced a genuine desire and passion by youthworkers to reach out to adolescents. Prayers where offered up. Tears streamed down. And we were all reminded of our awesome and overwhelming calling.

My hope is for the church to not neglect her responsibility to support youthworkers like these, and to have a vision for serving all adolescents who are in the margins, inspiring the whole church to the margins.

To youthworkers everywhere, I say, “let’s go there.” For this is what it means to be the church.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 21st, 2007 at 2:38 pm and is filed under Church, Culture, Youth Ministry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.