Seeking Unity Within Diversity A Vision for Chain Reaction Youth Ministries

Diversity variety or multiformity Unity the combination or arrangement of parts into a whole

Within the world of Youth Ministries there are diverse ways of understanding youth culture; youth ministry in relation to the church; youth ministry in relation to the world. Finding unity of vision within this world doesn’t mean denying the diversity of parts, but rather finding a way to unify them into a whole.

My Vision For Chain Reaction Is Made From Unifying the existing models of Youth Ministry Understanding my particular burdens & Integrating your concerns

Unifying the diversity of Youth Ministry models means understanding their basic forms: Strategic Model Missional Model Inclusive-congregational Model Family-Based Model Preparatory Model

An Inclusive-Congregational Model “The task in youth ministry, as the case in building up the local church, is not to study and describe the ministries as such. Rather, the task is twofold – to sensitize every discipline of ministry for its relevancy to the youths (as part of the whole) and to rediscover and define the place of the youths as part of the congregation. The question then becomes, How can theology and the congregation ( in which theology functions) become more sensitive to and aware of the youth? How can the youths become more sensitive to and aware of theology and the congregation as a whole? In short, how can youth find a place in their church?...A church’s youth ministry is not a mere supplement to the whole, but as much of the essence of the congregation as any other age group…I am convinced that many so-called parachurch and interdenominational youth organizations would never have been necessary if the congregations had been willing to change and fulfill their calling.”

The Preparatory Model “The Preparatory approach to youth ministry can be defined as a specialized ministry to adolescents that prepares them to participate in the life of existing churches as leaders, disciples, or evangelists. Students are viewed as disciples-in-training, with opportunities for service both in the present and the future. Developmental dynamics suggest that youth ministry be viewed as a laboratory in which disciples can grow in a culture guided by spiritual coaches…[The local church] teaches youth, guides their activities, and helps them move into the world of adults.”

The Missional Model “For those raised in the church, a youth group may not feel like a private club with its own culture, rules, and norms, but to many of those on the outside that’s how it has felt for decades. As the secular culture becomes increasingly post- Christian, the gap widens between those who feel disqualified for membership and those who don’t. The gulf between the church youth culture and the secular youth culture increases, but the official-yet-unwritten mandate of contemporary youth ministry has stayed the same for years….there are cultural barriers that separate adolescents from adults…youth ministry as mission is defined as the community of faith corporately committed to caring for and reaching out into the adolescent world (of both churched and unchurched young people) in order to meaningfully assimilate them into their fellowship.”

The Strategic Model “Youth pastors should become spiritual midwives and assist in birthing new churches. They would begin as age group specialists but would be chosen to work with a group of students from the time the young people entered high school until they reached their mid-20’s. The primary objective would be to develop a team of spiritually mature young adults and start a new church…It is time to stop thinking of youth ministry as a lifetime commitment, and begin viewing youth ministry as giving birth to a biblically and culturally relevant church that will, in time, give birth to additional churches in response to the needs of future generations.”

The Family-Based Model “…the contemporary crisis in youth ministry has little to do with programming and everything to do with families. There is a strategic priority of under girding the families of the youth with the wider Church family that is often left un-used. Youth, as their families do, grow through connection with their wider body. The question is are we connecting youth with nurturing relationships that will last them after they complete their teenage years, or are we exploiting them as public relations tools to make our ministries appear more successful than they really are?” The best place for these types of lifetime nurturing relationships are their believing family members so are ministry ought to be based around them. We should seek to develop families, and not just youth alone, into maturer disciples of Christ.”

Understanding My Personal Burdens If you took all these five models together you’d be able to pretty much draw out my personal burdens for youth in today’s American churches. Here’s the hills I choose to die on: Statistically 80% of youth leave the church after they exit youth ministry. We must wrestle with how to integrate and prepare youth to transition between their church experience now and their church experience of the future, otherwise they will not be here in four years. Statistically 70% of people who come to a saving knowledge of Christ do so between the ages of Our youth are living in their most strategic time of life, ‘chained’ as it were to their unbelieving friends in their schools, we need to empower our youth with a missional vision to reach them. High school and college years are among the most developmental years of their lives, are we being strategic in ministering to families and not just youth in order that they have a more permanent base from which to get discipled throughout life. Are we giving our youth an experience of community, truth, and love that will encourage them to continue to work through all the hypocrisy they will grow increasingly aware of within our churches.

Integrating Your Concerns Ephesians 4: Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. While unifying the diverse models of youth ministry are helpful, and understanding my own personal burdens is necessary; integrating your concerns for these youth is vital to me. Without both hearing and working in light of your concerns, we could not minister the way Ephesians describes the church ministering – together as one body.

Goals For Our Vision Process Pay attention to the diverse models of youth ministry others are using and learn from them Heed the particular burdens laid upon my heart as Chain Reactions pastor Integrate your concerns and assessments of our youth and their needs Seek the Lord for his grace and mercy to redeem both us, our vision, and especially our youth as a ministry of and not apart from East Lanier

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Seeking Unity Within Diversity A Vision for Chain Reaction Youth Ministries