By Mike North

1. 1b Values of Youth Ministry
Values of youth work and ministry
• Relational Discipleship and Spiritual Formation
• Educational
• Empowering
• Equal opportunities

2. Relational Discipleship and
Spiritual Formation
1b Values of Youth Ministry

3. Relationships are essential to
youth work.
Walk with. Be with. Do with.
WITH.
Jesus spent time WITH his friends /
disciples. He did life WITH them.
How relational is your youth work?
Relational
1b Values of Youth Ministry

4. Biblical reflection: What does the Bible
teach us about relationships?
Not at a distance. Not disconnected.
Not private. Not fake. Not just a teacher.
Not just an entertainer. Not just an events
manager, or crowd control. Not just
supervisors. Not just helpers or volunteers.
Live CHURCH with your young people.
1b Values of Youth Ministry
Relational

5. The importance of accountability (relational
team)
Young people need real ‘friends’ more than ever
Supports good mental health
How do you build relationships with
your young people?
1b Values of Youth Ministry
Relational

6. John 15: 12-15
My command is this: love each other as I have loved
you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down
one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if
you do what I command. I no longer call you
servants, because a servant does not know his
master’s business. Instead, I have called you
friends, for everything that I learned from my Father
I have made known to you.
1b Values of Youth Ministry
Relational

7. 1b Values of Youth Ministry
Relational
Experience:
What good examples of appropriate
‘friendship’ do you have with young people?
What makes for positive relationships with
young people?
- Listening, caring, commitment, laughing
with , crying with, time…

8. Experience:
How relational is your youth group?
What could be achieved through
better relationships in your youth
work?
1b Values of Youth Ministry
Relational

9. The youth worker never gives up.
The youth worker cares more for others than for self.
The youth worker doesn’t want what he/she doesn’t have.
The youth worker doesn’t strut,
The youth worker doesn’t have a swelled head,
The youth worker doesn’t force him or herself on others,
The youth worker isn’t always “me first,”
The youth worker doesn’t fly off the handle…
1 Corinthians 13: 3-7 (Adapted from The Message)
1b Values of Youth Ministry
Relational

10. Why is discipleship important?
Relational isn’t enough.
Jesus said “follow me”.
How can you nurture discipleship?
Discipleship
1b Values of Youth Ministry

11. 1b Values of Youth Ministry
Discipleship
How can young people access the Bible?
What can young people do to live out their faith?
Practice being a Christian in safe
places… then go!

12. 1b Values of Youth Ministry
Relational
Discipleship
Live Youth Work Conversation on
Relational Discipleship (21st July 2020):
www.facebook.com/graeme.bigg.7/videos
/10158827741605337
More conversations like this from:
www.facebook.com/groups/LiveYouthWor
kConversations

13. Spiritual formation
Spiritual Development: Not just a Christian
thing…
Inner life, existence and meaning
Everyday living whole life openness to God
Invest in spiritual formation - spending time
reflecting on God’s love, presence and plans for
us
1b Values of Youth Ministry

14. I want to suggest that our role is to
support young people in
encountering, receiving and
embracing the vision of the good life
that Jesus talks about when he
describes ‘life in all its fullness’
(John 10:10).
Jo Whitehead (Christian Youth Work in Theory and Practice,
p148)
1b Values of Youth Ministry
Spiritual formation

15. From children to young people.
What are the changes that affect
spirituality?
Awareness? Cognitive development?
Imagination? Peer pressure?
Nurture culture, environments and patterns
1b Values of Youth Ministry
Spiritual formation

16. Spiritual disciplines…
• Prayer
• Reflection
• Worship
• Scripture reading
• Fasting
• Pilgrimage…
1b Values of Youth Ministry
Spiritual formation

17. Set the stage for God to work…
Striped back encounters with God
can be powerful.
Consider: no tech, no phones,
no distractions… just intimate
closeness with each other and
1b Values of Youth Ministry
Spiritual
formation

18. Welcome to

19. Assignment 1 - Compulsory (1,000 words)
Choose one of the values of youth work listed below. Using
the material covered in the training session and other
resources, discuss how they affect good youth work practice.
Provide examples from your own setting.
Values:
Relational Discipleship and Spiritual Formation
Educational
Empowering
Equality and diversity

20. You should aim to include elements of the following
within your assignment:
 Theological reflection
 Theory from the online sessions and/or from the reading list
 Quotes from books and articles that you have read and engaged
with
 Critical analysis of the theory you have incorporated within your
assignment
 Your own thoughts and ideas
 Relevant examples from your own practice or experience
 Actions or changes you will make within your youth ministry as a