Aurora training

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. 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

13. 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

14. From children to young people.
What are the changes that affect
spirituality?
Imagination
Choice
Innocence
Perspective
1b Values of Youth Ministry
Spiritual formation

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

16. 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
God.
1b Values of Youth Ministry
Spiritual formation