Opportunity or Despair?Youth Ministry at the Crossroads

ELCA GatheringPractice Discipleship Team

Welcome

HistoryYouth ministry has changed!

Our time• Overview• Opportunity• Encourage and Equip

Welcome• name and congregation• high school memory of church• one hope for youth today

goals• landscape - faith of youth• discipleship today• future opportunities

Landscape

From the air

National Study of Youth and Religion

5learnings

Teen are not rebellious about faith, rather they are open to

religion• Youth are not flocking to "alternative" religions and

spiritualities.• Yet, faith is not a viable or central element of their life.• The vast majority of the teenagers identified themselves as

Christian – either Protestant or Catholic - or as Jewish or Mormon.

• Only about 8 percent said faith was not important at all.

de facto creed Moralistic Therapeutic Deism

• A God exists who created and orders the world and watches over human life on earth.

• God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.

• The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.

• God does not need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.

• Good people go to heaven when they die.

Teens could not speak the second language of faith

• A vast majority of teens are "incredibly inarticulate about their faith, their religious beliefs and practices.”

• Faith is a second language … and young people are not catching the faith religions profess. In other words, faith communities were not passing on the faith in word and deed.

• Learning the language of faith will require, among other things, being immersed in a culture where the faith is spoken in the present tense and where it is practiced being spoken.

Parents are important

• Three out of four religious teens consider their own beliefs somewhat or very similar to those of their parents.

• Parents, whether they know it or not and like it or not, they are in fact always socializing youth about religion.

• It is not whether or not parents are passing on faith, but what faith/beliefs parents are passing on!

“a significant minority”

Yet, for a small percentage (8% of teen where religion was important)

of young people faith was not wallpaper, but an active, integrated

part of their lives.

from the ground

Groups• make a list of 10 things that describe young people today

Exemplary Youth Ministry Study

It’s about nurturing

faith

• Seeks Spiritual Growth• Possesses a Vital Faith

• Practices Faith• Makes the Christian Faith a Way of Life

• Lives a Life of Service• Exercises Moral Responsibility

• Possesses a Positive Spirit

aspects of mature Christian faith7

particular aspects in congregations

• Particular Theology – Sense of the Presence and Activity of a Living God– Emphasis on Spiritual Growth, Discipleship and Vocation– Promote Outreach and Mission

• Particular Qualities of Ministry– Reflect Congregational Priority and Support for Youth Ministry– Foster Significant Relationships and a Sense of Community– Develop Committed Competent Leadership

• Particular Ministry Practices – Focus on Household or Families– Common Effective Youth Ministry Practices– Custom Designed, Integrated Approaches to Youth Ministry

3

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Congregational Assets

Leadership Assets

Age-Specific Ministry Assets

Family Assets

assets within areas4

It’s about a living GodIt’s about discipleship

It’s about relationships It’s about leadership

Four Learnings

Share• What did you hear?• What was troubling?• What is hopeful?

Where do we go from here?

Christian way of life is no longer the normFaith communities are not passing on the faith

World isn’t going to pass on the faith“church” language is not familiar to most

Bad News

Youth are open to faith and religionYouth are open to parents and significant adults

Actions are importantIt’s time to be creative and discover new ways

Good News

what now?• learn to be bilingual• recapture catechesis• offer hope

help youcommitt

edbelieve good

timeremember

prayer