Youth Ministry 3.0: A Manifesto of
Where Weve Been, Where We Are &
Where We Need to Go by Mark
Oestreicher
Read Youth Ministry 3.0
In Youth Ministry 3.0, you’ll explore, along with Mark Oestreicher and the
voices of other youth workers, why we need change in youth ministry.
You’ll get a quick history of youth ministry over the last 50 years. And you’ll
help dream about what changes need to take place in order to create the
next phase of youth ministry—the future we need to create for effective
ministry to students.
Personal Review: Youth Ministry 3.0: A Manifesto of Where
Weve Been, Where We Are & Where We Need to Go by Mark
Oestreicher

It's not a long read, but it will get you thinking about where youth ministry is
going (and needs to go) in the years ahead. In fact, if you are assessing
your youth ministry (something all churches should do and redo every so
often) then this one is a must for your whole committee as you take a look
at what teenagers need, how they respond to culture and society (and the
church), and how God is calling us to meet those needs.
In the book, Mark Oestreicher writes about the processes that youth
ministry has gone through in general over the decades (youth ministry 1.0
and youth ministry 2.0 - though this isn't a simple "history of youth ministry"
book). When Mark gets to youth ministry 3.0 he explains that we youth
workers need to be less focused (in fact, not focused at all, almost) on
programs (small groups and discipleship) and not even on "forcing" or
"manipulating" relationships but, rather, on being "with" our kids (present) -
each in his or her own world experience. This presence is more in a sense
of communion - not so much as the sacrament (though how he describes it
is very sacramental) but more so as community around God and with
creation. He moves from this into a missional focus, which I really
connected with and think youth can, too. The missional focus is a
somewhat "praxis" or "practical" outlook on YM 3.0. In fact, if a sequel to
this book were to be written, that's the direction I'd see it going as youth
and adults who work with youth would allow God to take them together into
mission.
If you're looking for a "how to" at the back of the book, you won't find it.
How could you? That would be programming. But with YM3.0 Marko
introduces us to a topic we all should be in conversation over - how to
reach and "be with" youth today who have a hard time trusting and "being
with" us.
My review doesn't do the book justice, and I encourage you to go online
and check out a few reviews (many are on Marko's blog site:
ysmarko.com)
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