When I first interviewed here at FUMC in 2008 a committee member asked me how I felt about cheese puffs and shaving cream. The group showed me a picture of FUMC youth on Ski Retreat playing a game that required a person to don a trash bag and shower cap and smear shaving cream all over their head and face. Team members would carefully pitch cheese puffs, lodging them in the shaving cream to tally-up points for the side. Was I the kind of pastor to do such things or would I be one of those stuffy academic types who could not be playful?
Looking at all of the pictures of youth ministry in Lamson Hall I find it easy to thank God for all of those youth and adults who have said “yes” to the shaving cream and cheese puffs. I am thankful for service projects like the 30 Hour Famine and CROP Walk and for all of those late night gatherings around illuminated crosses and for the Bring Your Own Bible studies and for the scores of programs offered by church leaders. I am also thankful for the relationships youth counselors Matt, Susan, Laurie, Sara, Michelle and Diana (and other over the years) have built with these kids.
Yet those pictures also make me aware of kids who do not seem to be a regular part of the life of our congregation. It happens in every church; young people get enthusiastic about big events but are largely absent from worship, education and service at the host church. Lately we have noticed in this church that youth events like Mystery Tours and Lock-Ins and Bible Studies draw fewer and fewer teens. And, like most churches, we have watched as teens are confirmed and then disappear into the woods of high school. My favorite book on youth ministry is “The Godbearing Life: The Art of Soul-Tending for Youth Ministry” by Kenda Creasy Dean and Ron Foster (1998). Here is how they explain the problem with many churches such as ours:
“The problem we have discovered after a hundred years of youth groups, is that the youth group is notoriously unreliable for fostering ongoing faith. The youth group model—sometimes referred to as the “one-eared Mickey Mouse” model of ministry—created an environment in which youth, isolated in an “ear” on top of Mickey’s head, had only marginal contact with the rest of the body of Christ. The congregation worshipped in the sanctuary; youth met in the basement. The congregation gathered on Sunday mornings; the youth gathered on Sunday nights. The congregation listened to sermons; youth heard ‘youth talks’. The congregation had Bible study; youth had devotions. The congregation had a budget; the youth had a bake sale.
Nothing that happened in the life of the congregation as a whole looked even vaguely familiar to youth ghettoized in youth groups and vice versa…When youth graduated from youth group—the only form of ministry they had ever experienced—they effectively graduated from the church as well. Those who returned to church as adults often found worship an alien experience, a distant second to the warmth and intimacy they remembered from the youth ministry of their teen years.” P.30
I see the author’s point: The youth ministry of the church should dovetail neatly with the overall ministry and movement of the congregation. How can we do that better at FUMC? Please be part of a discussion at our Facebook page which is Hope For Hudson. http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=135&uid=109123902448060
This summer I am looking forward to working with adults and teens on youth ministry that does what few churches have been able to do—inspires teens and adults together, forging a love for God and a sense of purpose and virtue that lasts a lifetime. I have a few ideas about how to do it and I expect that you do too. Please share your ideas!
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