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Do We Need Youth Ministry Any More? (continued)

Related article from May/June 2003 issue

My husband came in with the last issue of this journal and announced, "Hey, I think you made Youthworker!"

In the previous issue of "What's On My Mind," Dan Kimball mentioned that a person spoke up at the Emergent Convention in San Diego and declared that we should do away with youth ministry, citing the lack of family involvement, the lack of really understanding the way people—especially adolescents—learn in today's culture, and the rampant consumerism that consumes a majority of youth ministry programs. Well…that person was me.

Kimball's words and comments about the nature of family-based ministry and the need for separate gatherings for young people and a greater need for families involved with youth ministry were profound. But what exactly did I mean by this comment?

First of all, let me say that I love youth ministry. I've been doing youth ministry for nearly 13 years. I'm deeply involved with a youth ministry organization called Rock the World, and I teach youth ministry at Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry. I, like many others who do youth ministry, had profound, transformative experiences during my own years in a youth ministry. These experiences taught me about life as a follower of Jesus and provided me opportunities to lead and discover who I was.

Youth ministry has had a profound impact on me, both as a young person and as someone still involved with young people. I wonder, however, if our preoccupation with youth ministry as a career option has tainted the way that we view it.

The Context

During the first night of the Emergent Convention, Chris Seay of Ecclesia drew parallels between the Reformation and what's going on in today's culture. He cautioned us that, in a hundred years, some of what we're hoping to rid ourselves of during today's culture shift may be the very things the church might lament losing. At that point, Chris asked several people, myself included, to make some comments about what needs to be done away with in our culture and why. I stood up and declared that we should get rid of youth ministry because:

• Our default mechanism in Western culture demands that we separate age groups, not allowing them to learn from and live with each other.
• Our teaching is based on a model of education that's not helpful and produces people who possess facts but haven't necessarily been transformed by Jesus.
• Instead of challenging the consumerism in our culture, youth ministry provides yet another thing for kids to consume.

The Discussion

You may not like or agree with my assessment of youth ministry; some days I don't agree with it either. When I said what I did, I hoped to raise the question and inspire people to talk about the issue. Too many youth ministers are unwilling or unable to honestly wrestle with these issues because their livelihoods are attached to the ministry.

Youth ministry as a whole would be in a much better state if those workers would confront these hard questions about what youth ministry means today, even if their jobs were in danger:

• If our default mechanism in Western culture demands that we separate age groups for learning/life transformation, how do we, as the church, find ways to integrate the generations? Is it possible that we need to go through a time of total family-based ministry to swing the pendulum back to some point of balance? Would that let us think in new ways about how to minister to and with young people in cooperation with other young people and older folks?
• In the modern era, possession and mastery of facts has been of high importance. Instead of just offering students a set of facts to memorize, how can we help them focus on pursuing life transformation with Jesus? How do we take into account the developmental levels in which middle school kids, high school students, and young adults find themselves? How do we invite students to live out what it is to follow Jesus? How do we challenge students to be transformed by Jesus while avoiding legalism? What is real spiritual formation?
• How do we deal with the concept of consumerism in today's culture? Is there an appropriate time for give-aways? Are there ways in which we treat students differently because of the way they dress, act, or the types of media they like? Are we becoming producers of worship experiences—mere spiritual capitalists offering students another thing to consume?

There are many ministries out there full of students who are being transformed by Jesus. But from time to time, we must take a moment to question what we're doing and why. If we do, we'll be even more helpful as we seek to see the lives of young people transformed by the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Related article from May/June 2003 issue

Holly Rankin Zaher is part of the Rock the World, a coordinating group member of Emergent, and currently the Visiting Professor for Youth Ministry at Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry.