I shared a month or so ago on this blog that I was not
worried about students of Trinity leaving the faith: I am burdened by many
around our country, but I believe if we do things biblically, get the gospel
right, focus on the importance and sufficiency of the Word, and teach strong
biblical doctrine that we will have a church full of genuine believer’s that
will not turn away from the faith - because they ARE genuine believers. Over
the next few weeks I am going to post some discussions from this blog http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2012/04/02/a-brief-history-of-youth-ministry/ and
then will summarize some thoughts after we have posted all of them. I hope this
will cause each Christian parent to think things through, and even give some
explanation as to why there has been such a shift over the last couple of years
in the way we see student and children’s ministries.
A Brief History of Youth Ministry
Editors' Note: Everyone has an
opinion about youth ministry. Parents, pastors, and the youth themselves have
expectations and demands that don't always overlap. But the rash of dire
statistics about the ineffectiveness of youth ministry has prompted rethinking
in these ranks. So we devote one day per week this month to exploring several
issues in youth ministry, including its history, problems, and biblical
mandate. The Gospel Coalition thanks Cameron Cole and the leadership team of Rooted: A Theology Conference for Student Ministry for their help in
compiling this series. Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham, Alabama,
will host their 2012
conference from August 9 to 11. Speakers Ray Ortlund, Timothy George, and
Mary Willson will expound on the conference theme, "Adopted: The Beauty of
Grace."
**********
To read books on youth ministry these days, it is hard not to
get the sense that this experiment we call youth ministry in the local church
has failed. This perspective is not shocking or new. Mike Yaconelli, founder of
Youth Specialties, stated this rather
boldly in Youthworker Journalin 2003. According to
Lifeway Research, 70 percent of young people will drop out of church after high
school, and only 35 percent will return to regular attendance. Christian
Smith's National Study of Youth and Religion found that most American teenagers
have a positive view of religion but otherwise do not give it much thought.
Kenda Creasy Dean, in her book Almost Christian asserts, "American young people
are, theoretically, fine with religious faith---but it does not concern them
very much, and it is not durable enough to survive long after they graduate
from high school." This result is far from the intention of most youth
ministries. Smith describes the religious outlook of teenagers as
"Moralistic Therapeutic Deism," a far cry from the gospel of Jesus.
To get an idea of where we have come from, let's turn back the
clock more than a half century. Space here only allows the broadest overview,
so bear with the generalizations. Back in the 1940s Jim Rayburn began a
ministry to reach teens at the local high school, which became Young Life (YL).
Their mission---to introduce adolescents to Jesus Christ and to help them
grow in their faith---remains to this day. The strategy was and is for caring
adults to build genuine friendships with teens and earn the right to be heard
with their young friends. At the same time, Youth for Christ (YFC), was holding
large rallies in Canada, England, and the United States. YFC also quickly
organized a national movement that turned to Bible clubs in the late 50s and
60s, shifting the focus from rallies that emphasized proclamation evangelism to
relevant, relational evangelism to unchurched youth.
By the early 70s, churches began to realize the need for
specialized ministries to teenagers and began hiring youth pastors. Some of
these were former staff members from YL and YFC. With this the church imported
the relational strategy of the parachurch movement. During the 70s, youth
pastors seeking to reach large numbers of youth for the gospel began to employ
a more attractional model. Gatherings with food and live music could draw
enormous crowds. Churches found that large, vibrant youth groups drew more
families to the church, and, therefore, encouraged more attraction-oriented
programs. Later in the decade, this writer watched leaders swallowing live
goldfish in both the church youth group and local Young Life club when we
brought enough friends to reach an attendance target.
By the 80s the emergence of MTV and a media-driven generation
meant church youth ministry became more entertainment-driven than ever. Youth
pastors felt the need to feature live bands, video production, and elaborate
sound and lighting in order to reach this audience. No longer could a pile of
burgers or pizzas draw a crowd. By the end of the decade the youth group
meeting was being creatively inspired by MTV and game shows on Nickelodeon. The
message had been simplified and shortened to fit the entertainment-saturated
youth culture. By the start of the 21st century, we discovered many youth were
no longer interested in the show that we put on or the oversimplified message.
Christianity was no different from the world around them. Some youth ministries
intensified their effort combining massive hype with strong messages that
inspired youth but did not translate to everyday life. We realized we were
faced with a generation whose faith was unsustainable.
The Result
What happened in all that? First, we moved from parachurch to
church-based ministry (though the parachurch continues). In doing so, we
segregated youth from the rest of the congregation. Students in many churches
no longer engaged with "adult" church and had no place to go once
they graduated from high school. They did not benefit from intergenerational
relationships but instead were relegated to the youth room.
Second, we incorporated an attractional model that morphed into
entertainment-driven ministry. In doing that we bought into the fallacy of
"edu-tainment" as a legitimate means of communicating the gospel.
Obscuring the gospel has communicated that we have to dress up Jesus to make
him cool.
Third, we lost sight of the Great Commission, deciding instead
to make converts of many and disciples of few. We concluded that strong
biblical teaching and helping students embrace a robust theology was boring (or
only relevant to the exceptionally keen) and proverbially shot ourselves in the
foot.
Fourth, we created a consumer mentality amongst a generation
that did not expect to be challenged at church in ways similar to what they
face at school or on sports teams. The frightening truth is that youth ministry
books and training events were teaching us to do the exact methods that have
failed us. The major shapers of youth ministry nationally were teaching us the
latest games and selling us big events with the assumption that we would work
some content in there somewhere. In the midst of all this, church leaders and
parents came to expect that successful youth ministry is primarily about having
fun and attracting large crowds. Those youth pastors in recent decades who were
determined to put the Bible at the center of their work faced an uphill battle
not only against the prevailing youth culture but against the leadership of the
church as well.
The task before us
is enormous. We need to change the way we pass the faith to the next
generation. Believing in the sufficiency of Scripture, we must turn to the
Bible to teach us how to do ministry (rather than just what to teach). Students
need gospel-centered ministries grounded in the Word of God.
