Thursday, February 22, 2007
Youth Ministry?
A man whom I highly respect has recently spoken out against youth ministry as a ministry within the local church. He is in favor of family ministries as opposed to segregation of those families into different groups. What do you guys think? I am a youth minister so I have some concerns about these comments. But I always want the bible to be my rule for life and especially for ministry. Just so you know, I am not looking to resign anytime soon but I have some questions for you. So here are my questions for you guys. Can a biblical case be made for youth ministry? Should we have seperate ministries for men, women, children, youth, etc..., or should we minister to folks as a whole body without segregation?
If this was the mainline thought pattern it would greatly affect the JMB. Obviously, the JMB should not be the focal point of this issue but I would be curious for your thoughts. Answer any of those questions you want. What think ye?
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2 comments:
I've read the articles that you're talking about and I'm not going to say really that I completely disagree with him, or that I completely agree with him. I do see where he is coming from and his proposed solution does sound like an ideal situation. But I do see some problems in trying to go to a more family based system that he is talking about. I work with youth at Masters and there are only a few kids in the group that come from Christian homes- homes in which the parents are actively involved in the rearing of their child and who are concerned with the faith of their offspring. What about these other kids? Baucham addressed this issue in one of his posts, but I'm still not sure if this family program would do the most good. I realize that I haven't given any biblical ground on which to base my concerns and the heart of the issue must come down to scripture. I guess I'm just trying to wrap my mind around the whole issue and try to understand what the next step should be.
Coming from a small brain like mine, let me give a comment on what I "think" you are talking about. I know when I was a kid, and sometimes even now, I wouldn't be able to understand what a preacher was talking about in the main sanctuary of the church. I probably would have left the church a long time ago had it not been for programs such as children church, royal rangers, and our youth group. I think all of those ministries lead you into what I would call "adult church". I agree studying the word with your family as a whole is important, but I think it also important to study the word with your peers. In school, you do not put 1st and 2nd graders in class with seniors......they wouldn't understand......however, put them with their own age and teach them in ways that they understand so that as they get older they will have the ground work to continue in their education. That is all over the place I know....but those are my thoughts.
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