Youth ministry
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The document discusses the history and current state of youth ministry. It outlines five common models of youth ministry seen in the Diocese of Mississippi. These include the traditional, Christian education, confirmation, retreat, and worship models. It emphasizes the importance of investing in youth ministry and working with the Diocese to build strong, sustainable programs that meet the needs of youth.
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Youth ministry
- 1. By: Bill Cruse Director of Youth Ministries The Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi
- 2. Culture of Investment Mission Work In South Dakota Episcopal Youth Across Europe
- 3. What We Are Investing In:
- 6. We Create Youth Culture With Our Stories • What we say about our church is heard. • How we say it is heard louder. • We can welcome or discourage someone with the story about our youth ministry. • Tell A Good Story!
- 7. We Create Youth Culture With Our Stories • 4 Youth • Do I tell about failure? • Do I tell about success?
- 8. 1,800 pounds of food More Youth Came!
- 9. Traditional Youth Ministry It was founded 1881 by the Christian Endeavor • Weekly prayer meeting with Youth Leadership • Promote earnest Christian Life • Increase mutual acquaintance • Make youth more useful in the service of God.
- 10. The Rise of the Para-church 1940s Young Life – October 1941 2015 Goal: 2 Million Active Youth Youth For Christ – 1944 Campus Life Ministries – mid 1960s Teen Challenge – 1958 Para-church programs are still vibrant today
- 11. The 1970s: Modern Youth Ministry Rise in Denominational Youth Programming Youth Specialties: 1st Conference 1970 Inter-Denominational Youth Ministers’ Conferences, Workshops & Resources Youth Ministers Became a Life Long Profession.
- 12. The Current State Multiple Program Models (22 & Counting) Para-church & Church partnering are successful Massive Camps & Outreach Organizations Persistent Goals: Connect Youth with Christ Empower & Equip Youth for Ministry
- 13. Continuing Education 6000+ Youth Workers 2 Conferences Masters of Divinity In Student/Youth Ministry
- 14. The Traditional Model Works (Always Has) We have to expand into schools & communities Prayer, Community Strategies & Partnerships We Need Authentically Episcopal Ministry There is a cultural expectation that youth ministry be taken seriously Full Time, Paid, Vested Ministers Education is Critical
- 16. 1. Helps teens integrate into the larger, intergenerational community of the church. 2. Resists the status quo & helps churches stay relevant in a changing culture. 3. Focuses on inviting those who are not already part of the church into the deeper narrative of God's plan for humankind. 4. Reminds us that teens are not marginalized members of the body, but full members in the kingdom of God. 5. Helps the church focus on the way of Jesus & People instead of structure and process.
- 17. Youth Programs In Diocese of MS There are at Least 22 Youth Ministry Models In Mississippi we see Five Traditional Model Christian Education Model ○ Sunday School Model Confirmation Model Retreat Model ○ All programming is overnight, weekend or school break events Worship Model ○ Acolyte
- 18. The Wal-Mart Metric If you have a Wal-Mart in your town, you have the resources & money in your community to support a full time youth ministry.
- 19. How Many Youth? Diocesan Jr. High MS Jr. High Diocesan Sr. High MS Sr. High Diocesan Youth MS Youth 468 127,710 624 170,280 1092 298,000 Students
- 20. Vibrant Youth Ministry will impact our churches & the Diocese We have resources in our communities We have 5 youth ministry models working in the Diocese today. Our evangelism & growth potential is unlimited.
- 22. A Structural Plan is a simple formula that you work all day every day. It is step-by-step how to build youth programs. Church ownership is critical. Volunteers are central. It orders events so that growth can happen and their aren’t unnecessary setbacks
- 23. 1. Identify all issues, from everyone 2. Check for Understanding 3. Reach Agreements
- 24. This is hard work. It is going to take a long time. Longer. We can no longer gamble. Youth Ministry Culture is created with our voices. Christ must permeate all aspects of the Youth Program (planning, meetings, lessons, retreats, etc.) Your team has to: Develop Trust through Constructive Conflict Make Group Commitments & Hold Each Other Accountable Focus on Group Results
- 25. You are not going to compete with the next church. The Gospel is not measured in Gyms. People who spend all their time with youth are volunteers. Youth Ministers are only as good as their volunteers Volunteers are only as good as their training & education
- 26. Stress related physical & emotional issues Inability to talk openly about family problems Drug & Alcohol abuse Mental Illness including Suicide Abuse (Physical, Emotional & Psychological) Bullying (Physical & Digital) Weakness & Body Image Issues And many others
- 27. Invest in a culture of Youth Ministry Work with me, the Diocese and each other to build youth programs Build partnerships for ministry in your communities Meet the Needs of your youth
Editor's Notes
- The Lord Be With You Almighty God, guide us where we are need, to do the work that you would have us to do. In the name of the Father, the Son & the Holy Spirit. Amen.
- My name is Bill Cruse. I’m here because of ministers both Episcopal and not took the time to invest in me. I had youth directors who invested time, prayer, pastoral care, encouragement, in me; while creating a culture of youth ministry. Luther Ott … Took a chance on me as a youth director. Bishop Gray showed me the Episcopal Church could be my home. Chuck Culpepper helped me as a Youth Minister when I was wet behind the ears, and Annie Elliott gave me a chance and support to run DOY. And finally Bishop Seage asked me to take the position as Director of Youth Ministries. I am here today because along my life, I was surround by a Culture of Investment. Investment in me, but more importantly, Investment in Culture of Youth Ministry.
- How do we do this? 2 rules to start The we start building a culture & sound structures
- 1st is the Minka Rule Other people are eager enough to tell us no. Let them tell you “NO”. We can’t start by limiting ourselves and imposing false boundaries. When you start to say “No” or “We can’t” … we stop advancing the Kingdom.
- We Create Youth Culture With Our Stories
- Let Me tell you a story about the MS Food Network. I set out to do a new, meaningful outreach ministry in Jackson with St. James’ youth. We chose the MS Food Network because you spend 3 hours making 30 pound boxes for the hungry in the greater Jackson area. You show up and they have everything ready to go. You just get to work. We planned, publicized, recruited, taught theology, prayed, everything. Our first day arrived. (Slide)
- Let Me tell you 2 stories about MS Food Network. 4 Youth. (Slide) I had to decide what story I was going to tell. (Slide) (Slide) 4 Youth or Work Worth Doing?
- This Story: 8 people packed 60 boxes or 1800 lbs of food in 3 hours.
- This is the “If you build it” model. It focuses on exceptional programming, usually in the evening to attract you into the life of the Church and form them in the Christian life. It was founded 1881 by the Christian Endeavor During a revival, 57 youth joined a church. They needed program to meet the needs of this new community. The result was the founding of Traditional Youth Ministry. Weekly prayer meeting with Youth Leadership Promote earnest Christian Life Increase mutual acquaintance Make youth more useful in the service of God. This grew into the primary model across all denominations until World War 2 (Slide) A Brief History of the Christian Endeavor: Phyllis R. Meadows
- 1940s there was a shift to the campus ministry. Young Life: Presbyterian - consider the neighborhood high school as his parish and develop ways of contacting kids who had no interest in church Youth For Christ: - YFC REACHES YOUNG PEOPLE EVERYWHERE, WORKING TOGETHER WITH THE LOCAL CHURCH AND OTHER LIKEMINDED PARTNERS 5 Ministry Principles Widespread Prayer Loving Relationships Faithful Bible Study Collaborative Community Strategy Adults Who Empower Teen Challenge: … faith-based solutions for youth … struggling with life-controlling problems, such as addiction.
- Mike Yaconelli (1960s – 2003) http://youthspecialties.com/aboutus/ourstory Youth Specialties Wayne Rice (1960s – 2014) www.waynerice.com Southern Baptist Allen Jackson (1980 – Current), http://www.nobts.edu/Faculty/ItoR/JacksonRA/ Southern Baptist David Rahn (1985 – Current), https://www.linkedin.com/pub/dr-dave-rahn/5/748/826 Para-church & Professor Mark DeVries (1986 – Current) http://www2.diosef.org/www2/MARK-DEVRIES-BIO.pdf Presbyterian Doug Fields (1986 – Current) http://www.dougfields.com/dougs-bio/ Fuller – Non-Denominational
- Youth Specialties Hosts 2 Conference for Youth Workers, volunteers, spouses & college students a year. The goal is training, idea exchange, networking, resource marketing & MIP spiritual renewal. Duke Divinity School offers a M. Div with a Student Ministry emphasis. http://divinity.duke.edu/sites/divinity.duke.edu/files/documents/academics/paradigm-mdiv-student-pastors.pdf Youth & Family Ministry @ Southern Seminary http://www.sbts.edu/bgs/leadership-and-discipleship/degree-programs/mdiv/youth-and-family-ministry/
- The first place to begin talking about Mississippi is “What is youth ministry doing for our churches?”
- Youth see the world differently, and help us stay relevant in a changing world. We evangelizing in Youth Ministry. At least in the Confirmation classes. Youth Ministry holds us to our baptismal vow to proclaim Christ in word and deed. We are all one Body. Sometimes it is easy to not include a teenager. Then it is easier to not include someone else. Youth Ministry reminds us of our Christian obligations. If you want to talk constitution, & church structure in Youth Group: good luck. This is a constant reminder of how Christ is relevant now. We know some reasons. What youth ministry exists in the Diocese?
- Traditional Model Promote earnest Christian Life Increase mutual acquaintance Make youth more useful in the service of God We have 5 models of youth ministry in this Diocese. They may not be what you want, but if we are honest, we have youth ministry. We can talk about effectiveness later, but for now the Story has to change. Most of you “have a youth ministry program.” So let’s talk about who can expand. An expansion on Mark DeVries 19 models of Youth Ministry.
- After talking with a Merrill Lynch financial advisory about where resources are, they came up with The Walmart Metric. That means 50 of our churches have the resources in their community to begin building full time youth ministry. Not meeting the Wal-Mart Metric does not mean you cannot expand. How many youth are there and how are we doing?
- 2013 Parochial Reports’ Church School Numbers Number of Students: Courtesy of the Mississippi Parents’ Campaign Diocesan Jr. High 468 MS Jr. High 127,710 Diocesan Sr. High 624 MS Sr. High 170,280 Diocesan Youth 1092 MS Youth 298,000 (MS TOTAL: 2,967,00) 0.37% This is the point were we say “Numbers Don’t Matter.” Numbers do matter. We have unlimited growth potential. If we expand to 1% of the youth in the state, we will more than double the size of our Diocese.
- To begin capitalizing on the lessons from history and the resources around us and to begin excelling and expanding our current programming we have to have strong structural support in place.
- I’m not going through the whole structural plans at this podium. I have them. I know of others. I want to work with you on implementing and working these plans. Today, let’s talk how to start, so you can begin to take on this task.
- Youth Ministry is a church wide effort. Wardens, Administrative Assistants, Parents, Coaches, Teachers, Councils, Social Workers, Grandparents, Guilds, Sextons, you never know who is a resource for your youth ministry. People see the world from their prospective & truth is to big for one person to have all of it. 3. Consensus isn’t going to move this forward. There will be to many views, and you need to honestly hear from everyone. Then we have to make the best decision we can.
- Gambling on leaders and losing is the most devastating thing to your youth and the morale of your church. You always lose when you gamble. It is time to work, not gamble. What you say and how you say it matters. If your youth program looks like a community center, I’m willing to argue you aren’t connecting everything to Christ. We have to articulate how Christ matters here and now, in the lives of our youth. We have to talk about our liturgy and sacraments, how they give grace. We also have to show & teach examples of ways God is moving in the lives of people every day. Jesus cannot be the part you tack on the end, or the lesson you hope they figure out. It has to permeate the program and the meetings. If your program isn’t intimately connected to Jesus, more often than not the community you will end up with is the community that has no where else to go.
- We are not called to be the church across town. If they have Gyms and facilities that make you jealous, stop competing. We are called to spread the gospel. The hardest one for us as we build our playing field is to stop hiring volunteers. Structural soundness begins with agreements and builds from there. Once we know who we are and are structurally sound we can begin to meet the needs of our youth.