Youth Ministry 3.0

I recently read the book Youth Ministry 3.0 by Mark Oestreicher from Youth Specialties and
I have to say that I had a hard time at first and did not get it fully----but after taking some time to process the information I have been able to take away a few things. I don't think he is saying that youth ministry is not working--what I took was that the way we have been doing youth ministry is not as effective as it once was because of how youth culture has changed. I can relate to this because that is exactly some of frustrations that I have been experiencing lately (see pg.118-119). What I have been doing is not working and I have realized that and have implemented some changes particularly with our large group (more crowd and community friendly). He talks about youth culture fixation being based on affinity---we can't program something that all students are going to like or relate to-- so we have decided to try some different monthly events in place of our normal Sunday service (this month is Kickball) to try and reach different groups of students on a more regular basis but still providing the large group service twice a month and with the other week we will be doing a service project. I am going try this format through the summer and then evaluate and see what we think. The other big piece he talks about is students just need authentic community in their lives which is where small groups and caring leaders (someone being present in their lives on a regular basis--doing life together)--again this is something that I am working on and implementing when school starts. I still believe in the purpose driven model---but I also think you need to be willing to tweak or change something based upon the culture of students that you are trying to minister to.

Learning Lots

I feel like I have learned so much in last few weeks----that I just wanted to share a couple things that have been impacting my life. I have been trying so hard to build and make "The Journey" a successful youth group that I have forgotten to rely on God's power. There were two verses that have really hit home recently--Matt. 17:20 and Luke 16:10--with faith as small as a mustard seed--nothing is impossible, and being faithful in small matters before you are given more. To me these verses are talking about our ministry---being faithful in what we have now before we are given more and relying on God's power and having faith in all that we do. I can't wait to put these learning's into practice and share with our leaders and see what God does in and through our ministry.